LCS

I used to see an ad in Modern Baking for a company who offered this, but they're not in my most recent issue and I can't find my old issues. Google only brought up one site that just does an "outline" of a car, boat, etc., but I need something bas relief (if that's even the right term...?) that will show contours. Know anyone? Or anyone has old issues of Modern Baking they can look through for me, pretty please? Thank you!

I really have to back Reeni's suggest of rum buttercream on banana cake. I made this once and it was amazing.

I like Flavorganics. Even if natural, everything else I've tried still tastes artificial. Ouch! That price is outrageous! You can buy coconut powder at most Asian grocery stores for about 1/5 of that price.

Milk is mostly water, about 90%. Milk solids are what remain once the milk has been dehydrated: fat, protein, and minerals. I have always assumed that milk solids listed as an ingredient in food is simply powdered milk. The reasons for using powdered milk versus fresh milk in mass produced baked goods would be a lower production cost and a longer shelf life. ← Hmmm... on one Google search finding, I read that milk solids still has liquid in it and powdered milk is made from milk solids with the rest of the liquid removed.

I only see "milk solids" on ingredient labels of inferior baked goods. Why would one add milk solids to a recipe? What does it do exactly? Google searches were not very helpful and they sure as hell didn't teach me this at L'Academie de Cuisine... I'm sure my instructor would be gasping in horror why such an ingredient is even piquing my curiosity, but it's just something I've seen on labels for years and have no idea what it does. For milk and white chocolate, it makes sense, but baked products?

I boiled it for 5 minutes and I LOVED the results! Of course I put it through a sieve first to remove the seeds so between that and the boiling, I lost about 50%. But the texture is so perfect that for now, I don't care about the loss. But I know I will when I get more orders for jam fillings, so I really do need to start making my own. K8, thanks for the recipe. I will give it a try. Is there a reason why it has to be a Granny Smith Apple as opposed to another variety? I'm assuming because it's low in sugar? Or does it actually have more pectin? As for vegetarian thickening agents: Agar- I tried this back in pastry school and it just never worked for me. I remember having to make Bavarian domes and I ended up using 3x the amount than gelatin and it still melted quickly. I tried it in a few other things as well and the same results or worse. I'm sure it works for some people, but I'm not one of them. Kudzu- never tried it, because after agar, I was turned off by all that stuff. I also could never find kudzu except for Whole Food$. Xanthan gum- tried it in jam and it doesn't give very nice results. It was the first thing I tried. Works well for other things though.

Tweety- I'll try boiling it and see what happens! The gelatin idea sounds awesome, but alas, I don't use gelatin as I'm a vegetarian. Chefpeon- I do pipe a dam. This isn't a dam issue; it's a slidy issue. A place I used to work for had a very thick and delicious organic jam (that came in 5 gallon buckets) that stay put and didn't slide. And the stuff I use now... if you don't eat it the SECOND it comes out of the fridge and you take too long to eat, it slides while you're eating it! You stick your fork in and all three cake layers start sliding, even with a thin layer of jam. I've tried so many brands and keep coming across the same problem. But I can't buy a 5 gallon bucket or else it'll just go bad. Well... unless I buy stuff with preservatives in it. *sticks tongue out* Has anyone tried adding more pectin to jam? Hmmmm.... Or does anyone know of a vendor that sells organic filling/jam that's thick and comes in smaller sizes? Even though the place I used to work at was very high volume, they didn't use their filling quick enough and it would always get moldy before it was even half-way empty.

I tried some jams that I absolutely adore and they taste great in my cakes. However, unless served direct from the fridge, they're too runny and the cake layers slide around a bit, what to speak of when a customer picks it up and takes 30 minutes to drive home. How do I go about thickening it up so it's more stable?

Thanks for explaining that. I read through too quickly and missed the part about adding it AFTER the dough is made. Makes a lot more sense when I actually READ the posts. Haha.

I've never tried it, but I just have a question... why does adding coloring make it dry?

I've had the pleasure of meeting Tom of The Painted Truffle on a couple of occasions. His Key Largo truffle is DIVINE. White chocolate, coconut, and lime. *drool*

Sculpted cake orders are my husband's favorite kind because I bring him the scraps. Perhaps you have a loved one who likes cake scraps?

I've seen dessert sushi done with chocolate fondant, chocolate plastique, fruit leather, and on Just Fab's site, they use colored soy wrappers. What ARE those? I did several searches and couldn't find them. What else can be used? I wanted to try fruit leathers, but I've read they turn gooey if not eaten right away. I thought about spring roll wrappers (which is what the soy wrappers look like), but the color (or lack thereof) is pretty boring. Also, what is the normal filling? I've seen recipes that are regular rice recipes using coconut milk instead of water with some sugar added, but most often when I see in photos look more like a thick rice pudding.

Ooo... I hope you find his info. I'm interested in checking those out.

So cornish boards are just masonite boards? Where'd that whacky name come from? Cornish? Anyhow, this is what I was explaining that Ron pre-drills holes through masonite boards so the dowel can go through. Thanks for the tip on rolling out the fondant. I will have to see what kind of low table I can get into the shop. I keep turning down free help because I can't handle having people in my most sacred space, but it looks like I'll have to get over it because you're right, how else will I lift that thing? Haha. Re: Cakewalk, my cake was the simple argyle/quilted one with lace buttons. There was supposed to be a gumpaste monogram topper, but the photography staff broke it (not just one, but the spare one as well). I was so grumpy because I had several more at home I could have brought, but they never bothered to call me. It was such a simple design that it really needed the topper. Meh.

Yes, it is common, but there are people who don't want to be common and want a real show piece of a cake. I read about a "small" Indian wedding of 200 people where the bride ordered a mammoth $10k cake because she wanted a BIG CAKE. I also saw an article where a news personality got married and her cake served 1000 people (I saw the pic and it one tier was about 12" high!) I never thought I would be asked to do something like this, but I realize the direction my career is going in, this type of request is surely to pop up sooner or later. Sugarella, thanks for the tips! I've heard of the stress free supports and have ordered from Earlene before and Creative Cutters as well. I've never heard of cornish boards. I will definitely check them out! I never though of acetate. I use the same technique (just on a silicone mat) and was concerned finding a mat big enough. My local art store has large acetate sheets in several thicknesses to choose from. One of my friends said she rolled fondant out on a vinyl table cloth once because the fondant needed to be rolled out the size of the table! My real concern with that is being able to roll it out evenly. I was in the Cakewalk last year and now I'm kicking myself for not asking the designers how they covered cakes so large. One was a HUGE cube shape (about 2 feet high!). Looked FLAWLESS. I would definitely transport each tier individually. Any other way is too scary! Oh and I didn't mean a central dowel like one of those dinky 1/4" ones that you stake through the top to the bottom. I meant the method Ron Ben-Israel uses where you have a thicker/sturdier (perhaps 1" diamter?) dowel that you attach to the bottom and the other end is sharpened. You pre-drill holes through the center of each cake board and cake and put it on the dowel along with the other supports in each tier. For a cake this size, I would not use that as a means to transport the cake stacked, but just as something to hold it together once I set it up. But I guess if I used the stress-free support system, I wouldn't need that? Good call on the stability of the cake table. It's been quite some time I showed up at a venue and they had a flimsy cake table, but for something this heavy, I would have to be sure to double and triple check that the staff would have a hefty table!

The largest wedding cake I've had to make was for 350. I've seen much larger wedding cakes, but never really bothered to figure out how it's done since "I would never get an order that big". *ring ring* "Can I make an appointment for a consultation? My wedding is in April and I haven't been able to find anyone who can make an eggless wedding cake! How many guests? About 700". Me: *jaw drops* She may simply want a much smaller cake completely for ceremonial purposes since there will be lots of other desserts served. It's an Indian wedding and for many of my Indian friends, cake is not traditional for them so it's often an after thought no matter how lavish the wedding. But what if this bride IS interested in a cake large enough to serve all 700? How is that even accomplished? I picture myself lifting cake layers with hydrolic lifts (ha), icing a 10" high tier with spackling tools, using plywood (ok haha, masonite) halfway through the tiers for support, and PVC pipes for dowels with one large or several smaller central dowels staked all the way through. Definitely assembling on site. But rolling out fondant to 50" evenly? I guess I'll need to buy that sheeter faster than I thought though that would only help me up to 30" (btw, any of you own a fondant sheeters? If so, I have questions for you). And what about the other 100 things I'm probably not even fathoming right now?

I would use less flour or replace it with wheat starch over cornstarch. I can taste the cornstarch and it tastes, well, starchy.

I'd like to bake lots of individual cakes and cheesecakes. Instead of fumbling around with a ton of 3" pans, I'm looking for something like a muffin pan where the cavities are 3" in diamter and maybe 2" high. Also something like this, but again, in 3" instead of 2". And preferbaly something with more cavities, like the size of a full sheet pan. Does anyone carry something like this?

That's funny because I think Hershey tastes burnt and find it dry. Later I found out that it's because they burn their beans on purpose to give it more "flavor".

That is absolutely adorable! I might to use the firecracker idea for a cake I have to make for the Asian American Journalist Association charity dinner next month.

Congrats! I wish you the bet of luck in your endeavor. This is not an easy city to open a business in. Be prepared to pay a lot of bribe money! That aside (oh, and the ridiulous city wage tax) I absolutely love this city.

I converted to Hinduism and when my temple has functions, I steer clear of anything with rose! But just a few months ago, a pastry chef friend of mine let me try some of her fusion desserts and the rose was AWESOME. I am making rose paste shortbread cookies as we speak (taking a break from the oven). I can't wait to see how they turn out. --- As for what I make that I don't like to eat... hmmm.... most of my vegan desserts! LOL! I'm veg (but I eat dairy) so I'll take butter and cream over margarine and soymilk any day!

Thanks to everyone for their replies! ^This is the reason I was thinking of. I moved into a house 5 months ago and still didn't unpack my books so I can't find my Cake Bible, but a pastry instructor friend of mine mentioned this to me. That if the dairy produce it sour (lemon juice added to milk, buttermilk, or sour cream), then it doesn't steal away from the chocolate flavor. I've been using water in my chocolate cake recipe all along with rave reviews so I think I'll just change the mixing method, but otherwise leave it as is.

Add more batter.