iii_bake

Here's the result: The cake finished almost 4 inch tall with burnt top and stuck bottom I have no removable bottom pan so i used silicone one. I got it from Crate n Barrel...but the cake stuck!?! What do we do with this type of mould though if you cannot remove the cake easily? What should i do? ( of course i will find the removable one....but what about this silicone thing?) Sad-O-Sad, kindly help iii

Dear Patirck, Again, Thanks for the advice. The chiffon is now hanging on the bottle neck! I was so ignorant that i put the cake on the middle rack...it was too close to the top heat and the cake burnt on the top. The batter fills to the rim of the mould...is it supposed to be so? When in the oven, it rose about an inch, back to the rim when took out. Is this normal? Like i said, i am totally blank about foam cake. I use silicone flute mould. Hope i can take it out successfully. I am happy with my first attempt so far. Thanks iii

As I recall, this cake was more than sturdy enough to support some lemon curd. ← Great picture and Thanks. I am bad at foam cake and would like to try this... what pan did you bake in? and what is the approximate height of the finished cake? Any warning before i jump in? Thnks ← Sorry I missed your questions, iii_bake. I baked this cake in a 10" tube pan. The finished cake is about 4.5-5" tall. Tips: seperate your eggs while they are cool, but beat your whites at room temp. Fold the ingredients together gently, but also make sure you do it thoroughly -- the batter should look homogenous -- no streaks or egg whites or of the flour mixture. Don't open the oven til your ready to test the cake for doness, and when you do that, be quick. Don't put the tube pan on top of a baking sheet as an insurance policy against drips -- air needs to be able to circulate through the middle of the tube pan. That's all I can think of. Good luck! ← Got it. Thanks, Patrick. I will go thru the recipe and start right away (with crossed fingers). iii

I have noted that down! And if there is a good class next year, I will send you a proposal n you've got to come here and take notes for me!!! ( It would also be nice to meet Sarah Phillips in the flesh of course!)

Pls Bake it and tell me about it. She said she loves sabayon and cannot imagine living without it.

Sounds very nice. I've been a fan of her desserts in various SF restaurants and of her cookbooks for a long time. I am going to get her latest release on ice cream desserts after looking through it. What desserts did you make in the class? ← She made Walnut Cake with Moscato d'Asti Sabayon Coffee Meringues with Coconut Ice cream and Milk Chocolate Towers. I attended the class of Nancy Silverton some time ago, unlike Emily, she made us feel like frozen the whole time ( i cannot say why but it was quite uncomfortable) and that tends to scare me off from famous chefs. But today, the teacher and the giver in Emily did shine through. Lovely!

I attended the World Gourmet Festival at the Four Seasons here in Bangkok, the class of Emily Luchetti ( Author of Passion for desserts etc, the 2004 James Beard Foundation Pastry Chef of the year). The dishes were not that fancy like those of Sam Mason's class i took last year BUT she is absolutely a lovely teacher and was never tired or bored with basic baking Qs from students. She happily explained things in more details so all could get the picture. ( Thanks Emily) The desserts were delicious and easy to make. Since it was such a lovely afternoon well spent, i would like to share the experience, and Emily does deserve applauses! (Will go to William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie from Paris tomorrow, hope it is another afternoon well spent.) iii

I'd be happy to show you some more pictures. I'm also going to start adding links to my larger and higher-quality images on Flickr, since ImageGullet always resamples my images to lower quality/smaller file size versions. Here are two more images of the caramel peanut-topped brownie cake. Photo1 Photo2 ← Need a piece, can u DHL to me over here?

As I recall, this cake was more than sturdy enough to support some lemon curd. ← Great picture and Thanks. I am bad at foam cake and would like to try this... what pan did you bake in? and what is the approximate height of the finished cake? Any warning before i jump in? Thnks

Here it is: buttermilk cake Sifted Cake Flour 2 1/2 C ( 250 grams) Baking Powder 1 1/2 t Baking Soda 1/2 t Salt 1/4 t Eggs 3 ( beaten lightly) Buttermilk 1 C Vanilla 1 t unsalted butter 1 1/2 stick ( 6 Ounces) granulated sugar 1 1/2 C Cream the butter (with paddle) speed 5...30-45 secs. add sugar in stream, continue creaming for 4 -5 minutes until light n fluffy pour in egg while the machine is running, spoon by spoon..continue to cream until fluffy like whipped cream ( 3 -4 minutes) Add flour in alternate with buttermilk. Flo recommends spiral hand mixing when adding flour and milk by starting stirring in the middle and form a wider spiral.. the batter will start to incorporate the flour or the milk as you go...then work back in the same manner to the middle. This is baked in TWO 8 inch pans at 350F. Grease and flour pan generously! Please let me know how it is. Ciao, iii

are you referring to "the baker's dozen" book? i have that book on hold at the library and recall flo braker being one of the authors...i think. thanks ← It's "the simple art of PERFECT BAKING"...The buttermilk version is really good... I will post the recipe if you need.

Any cautions and points i should be aware of? I tried this from RLB but the cake came out dry and unpleasant, so i am kind of scared with this two stage thing...still sticking to creaming the butter! Thnkx

Dear Wendy, I like The Best yellow Cake ever from Great Cake by Carole Walter, The crumb is very moist n tender. And for Flo Braker's..i got very good result with both the butter and the buttermilk, actually especially the buttermilk...it almost melts in the mouth. Also, one thing i would like to ask anyone who used to bake Flo's.. Does the cake shrink so much? iii

I experienced that once or twice and i thought it was the top set/cooked too soon so i put a sheet of aluminum foil on the top rack and the macaron the middle. It came out good. I can turn off the fan though but i just wanted to check what effected the different baking result. What i discovered was that the heat source from different oven system, the lining of the pan ( double or single), the rack ( top/middle/bottom) play a vital role on the feet and the top. I baked on very small batch and made notes on these effects..then i can adjust for the baking with best result. ( still somehow trying to find the way to make my macarons glossy) Hope this helps.

Actually i would say never. But the brand is very well known for their roast chilli paste..like the one used for Tom Yum. Also, the brand was established long long before Mae Ploy... it is among the very first ready made chilli paste producer. This may not help directly but i think with the fact that they are not quite a real comer...they have their reputation to uphold..so Can we assume that the curry paste will be as good?

Hi Austin and everyone, I have questions on Big (3" round, 3-4" long)Round purple eggplant.. When you roast the eggplant until done...does it get so soft and watery when done? I normally work with the long eggplant ( as pictured by Austin, that's kind of u)...and it is so soft and tender... But with the purple one...it does not seem to become tender. Is this normal...or i need to cook more? SOS iii

Normally the top will puff up and starting to crack...right...but this puffed bottom is when the bottom is not flat but puffed like the top....very small flat bottom... When it bakes the bottom start to lift up and puffed...to be exact.

Thai duck egg crab omelet is another alternative...it is also on the menu at Kittichai in New York. Simply whip up the egg until foamy...add fresh crab meat...season with fish sauce...Then fry in plenty of oil until crisp on the outside...serve with Hot steamed rice and Sriracha chilli sauce. Also...the preserved duck egg...this is chinese but also common in Thai meals. use brine 1 cup salt:4 Cups water..boil and leave to cool. Place eggs in glass jar...pour the brine in the jar to cover the eggs which will float..weigh it down with a plastice bag filled with water. Leave in cool place for 3 weeks...when done the eggs will start to sink. At this stage the egg will not be that salty. The eggs can also be left in brine for 1-2 more weeks...the white will be quite salty but with perfect yolks... When ready, drain and boil. The perfect yolks will have orange oil coming out. These eggs are to be condiment for Thai curries, having with boiled rice or making Thai style salad. I use only the yolk though. Duck eggs are firmer than chicken's so it is crispier.

Thkx for the input, chiantiglace.. The buns i was referring to is the choux piped in rounds! Out of 30 there were 4 -5 that had puffed bottoms...so i assume the mixing should not be the cause. Yah, could it be anyhing else?

Hi there, some of the choux buns came out puffed at the bottom, some were perfect. anyone experienced this before? First I thought it was the heat from the bottom but there were some good ..some puffed bottom...all from the same baking sheet (baked together). Is it the way i piped? Also, i am still bad at piping...i cannot have the nice round ball...if anyone can help explaining about the piping at the corner technique, i will appreciate it. thnx iii

I made cupcakes from Flo Braker's buttermilk cake..it is a bit domed. I need them to have flat top. Will lowering baking temperature help? I saw one English Baker have her cupcake one third filled ( when finished) and the icing is then filled to the rim, flat..very beautiful. Anyone has experience in this? iii

Charcutier & JC So sorry for this showing up late....am i late..? I messed up the tracking this issue and got lost somehow. is this still in time for any assistance? Sukumvit soi 11...is it Suk11? How was it? About the authentic Thai...i just discovered a place.. The owner's brother used to run a place called kanicha ( Sukhumvit Soi 11). Somehow he just closed the place down a few years back. Now his sister, with the same set of chefs as Kannicha...she opened the place called Foodies ( Prachachuen Road, Cement Thai village). The food is from the recipes of once of the Palaces. It is much cheaper but not less delicious. iii

FYI-- Between Ghirardelli and regular Hershey's, I would definitely choose Hershey's. Ghirardelli doesn't taste good at all! Just my opinion, of course. ← I have one can (?) of Ghirardelli...bought from S'pore..thinking i would like to try because we only have Hershey's, Van houten on supermarket shelves..I order Lindt and VH from the hotel suppliers. Your comment does give me a bit at rest...if hershey's is your pick. But as Littleisland said...it is not dutched...The dutched one i sometime use the brand that has a drawing of nurse carrying the cocoa cup ( god, forgot the name!) on the side of the can. I think I'll start working on the chiffon with Ghirardelli until i am half the way to success Then i'll switch to VH when i know my way around better. I f any of you can give me advices or warnings before i jump on the wagon, I'd appreciate it. please do help. Thnx.

I don't know where you live, but the darkest cocoa I've ever seen is Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, and that is very widely available at supermarkets in the US. It is a dutched, or alkalized cocoa, and to me it tastes an awful lot like Oreo cookies. Personally I prefer dutched cocoa, but this variety is actually over-dutched, and makes for cakes that look almost black. Hershey's first version of dutch cocoa -- Hershey's European Style cocoa, was actually much better. ← Again, about Vahlrona..ave u ever tried? It seems so dark for me..is it the same dark? ← Yes, I've used Valrhona cocoa, and personally I find it way over-priced (as opposed to their chocolates, which I do think are worth the price). In terms of color, Valrhona is typical for dutched cocoas. The Hershey's Special Dark is actually much darker than the Valrhona cocoa, because it is "over-dutched," which is I understand it enhances the browning of the cocoa when it is roasted. ← Got it, thanks. We do not have the over dutched version here i guess. I will try internet order then. Thnx

I don't know where you live, but the darkest cocoa I've ever seen is Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, and that is very widely available at supermarkets in the US. It is a dutched, or alkalized cocoa, and to me it tastes an awful lot like Oreo cookies. Personally I prefer dutched cocoa, but this variety is actually over-dutched, and makes for cakes that look almost black. Hershey's first version of dutch cocoa -- Hershey's European Style cocoa, was actually much better. ← Again, about Vahlrona..ave u ever tried? It seems so dark for me..is it the same dark?