etalanian

I usually add leaveners with the butter, along with any salt, and spices. The fat helps the flavor of the spices and I feel everything gets mixed more evenly. Eileen

Ooops! I read your title and replied to chocolate whipped cream, which is different from ganache; missed the part about it really being ganache. So sorry. What they said is absolutely correct - a whipped ganache will work perfectly and be quite stable. Eileen

You can stabilize the whipped cream with a little gelatin. It's easy and effective. Here's a link from Cooks.com with instructions for how to do it. Eileen

I know this isn't standard procedure, but it's what I do, and works every time: I use NO water. Put the sugar into the pot (a really heavy stainless steel pot, such as All-clad, if you can get your hands on it, works well). Medium high heat. When the sugar begins to soften, stir with a whisk while the sugar melts. You can add a little strained lemon juice, if you like, to hasten this. Keep stirring the entire time, until all of the sugar has dissolved - the sugar will darken as this is happening - then stop stirring and when the sugar is as dark as you want it, add the butter, stir with a heatproof spatula, and add the cream. stir again. It's done, and no burnt sugar. et

You can double it, but be sure to use a larger saucepan. And, you probably already know this: it should be a really heavy one. Eileen

RTM is open on Saturdays, and some of the vendors are open on Sundays, too. Here is RTM's web site, and it gives phone numbers for most of the vendors. You should call a few of them (save yourself some footwork) and see what you can find out. Good luck! Eileen

Convection is the best for most baked goods. But all of the ovens I know about can be used on either the convection or the regular setting, so she can avoid using the convection if she doesn't want to use it. She should reduce the temperature of the oven by generally (for MOST things) 25 degrees from what the recipe calls for when she uses convection, and the time will also be reduced. I hope she enjoys it! As for you, one of the greatest pleasures I have found with my convection oven is roasting chickens; perfectly golden brown and as juicy as can be! Eileen

Hi, There are differing opinions on this, but I think unless the recipe specifically states that the oven should be cold at the start, it's safest to preheat. Eileen

They do sell couplers for the large tips, because I have some, but I bought them years ago and can't recall where. If you're near Philadelphia, Fante's might have them in their store, although I couldn't find them on their web site, but you might call them to see if they have them and they would be happy to ship them, I am sure. But as has been already stated, not many of us use the large couplers - we just put the large tubes into the bags. I do understand, however, that it might be more convenient to use a coupler if you will need to change tubes while piping. Good luck! Eileen

Do you need to be in the city for this? Alison Barshak is opening a second restaurant this summer in Fort Washington, very near the turnpike interchange. Her food is amazing and she is very flexible about working with her customers. She is among the top 25 restaurants in the recent top 50 that Philly mag put out. The new restaurant isn't a BYO, but she has a corkage fee for those who want to bring their own. Her food is amazing - interesting, perfectly balanced, not "precious" Just a thought. Eileen

We enjoyed an amazing hand pie from a local bakery here (Metropolitan Bakery) in Philadelphia at their Reading Terminal Market stand. The crust may have been an oil crust; it was dense yet light and very tender, and the filling was comprised of a savory curry-flavored blend of lentils and other vegetables. Very good. My husband bought one while waiting to help me load the car after teaching a class, and it was so amazing he bought one for me to try. When he handed it to me in the car he watched me expectantly while I took the first bite. He wanted to see my reaction, which was one of pure ecstasy. There is no mention of it in their lovely cookbook. Anyone have the recipe for this? Eileen

I think what Eileen was saying was that when you quadruple (double, triple, etc) a cookie recipe, all ingredients are increased equally. In other words, yes, quadruple everything. There are some who adjust the leavening and salt in cake recipes in a different ratio to the rest of the ingredients when they increase or decrease the yield of the recipe. As to exactly why, I don't know. I've never done this, or felt a need to. If I quadruple a cake recipe, I also quadruple the leavening and salt. I've never had my cakes turn out differently or negatively because I keep the ratios the same. Anyone care to explain why salt and leavening are "adjusted" when increasing or decreasing the yield of a cake formula? ← Yes, I meant that you can quadruple the entire cookie recipe. I didn't mean not to include the leavening in that process. Eileen

Hi, Dieck, Adjusting the leavening and salt quantities applies to cakes; cookies can be scaled up or down with no adjustments. Feel free to quadruple the recipe, although, be sure before you do that your mixer can handle that much dough! Good luck! Eileen

I picked up some NJ strawberries at the Flourtown Farmer's Market last week and they were some of the best we've had. Juicy, deep red, and very flavorful. I'm hoping they have them again this weekend. I served them plain (no sugar) with chocolate chip bread pudding and sweetened whipped cream. So good. Also, I called Maple Acre Farms (Plymouth Meeting, PA) yesterday and they said they would be starting to pick strawberries today. I am going over to see how they are. We eat them through the season with plain Skyr and granola. And on Shredded Oats cereal. And out of hand. And with creme fraiche. And homemade chocolate-flecked marshmallow fluff. So glad strawberry season is back! Eileen

I second the Chinatown dinner. There was a Laban review of Dim Sum Garden (59 N. 11th Street) a couple of weeks ago and we went with friends. We had mostly dumplings, along with a delicious noodle dish. Ate ourselves full - and the bill for 4 people was $27! Read the review and keep mostly to the excellent dumplings and noodle dishes they make. My daughter, who goes to college in Chicago has a group of friends she eats with - all ethnic restaurants - and they love it. A couple of months ago someone's friend was in from out of town and suggested Olive Garden. Emily and her friends had never been to one, and the out-of-town guest raved on about it. So they went there. They felt robbed. Go with Chinatown. Eileen

Try re-boiling it with a bit of cream of tartar. Add a little water beforehand so it doesn't get too thick. Eileen

No, you don't need to torch Italian meringue. Are you thinking of baked alaska being torched? Or as a topping for lemon meringue pie or the like? I use Italian meringue often to frost cakes and cupcakes; I never torch it. I can't recall anywhere hearing that it should be torched. Good luck with your baking! Eileen

If you want to halve a recipe that only contains one egg, beat the egg lightly with a fork or small whisk until smooth and you can't see any white/yolk variances, and measure it - use half in the recipe. Good luck with your recipe testing! Eileen

Try using it in muffins, quick breads, and pumpkin pie. You can also whip some into heavy cream for a nice dessert topping. How lucky you are to have such a generous BIL. It will keep almost forever in the fridge. enjoy! Eileen

Thanks so much for this valuable info. Eileen

You can also add a little glycerine syrup or other invert sugar syrup in place of the corn syrup. Eileen

Punkin712 - I'll PM you to keep this thread on track. et

Why not just make marshmallow and spread it into round molds? Would be a LOT cheaper and they will keep, if wrapped properly, for weeks. And - you can make them in many flavors, all natural. Eileen

Yes, go ahead and chop up some really good chocolate and put it in your cookies; it won't melt all into the dough. The reason chocolate chips are made differently is so they will keep their little pointy drop shape during baking. There are some wonderful chocolate bars, from Lindt and others, that are easily broken up to use as chocolate chunks. Use your favorite chocolate for the cookies. You can also make chocolate chunk brownies the same way. Enjoy your cookies! Eileen

I wonder if there is some "salty" trend going on right now. We went to the Fountain on Valentine's Day with two friends who had arranged a special chef's dinner. Everything my husband and I ate was salty. So much so that it was difficult to distinguish one dish from another. Eileen