Lisa Shock

You need to check with your local health department and see if they will clear your home kitchen. Where I live now, Phoenix, this would be illegal. (There's a law on the books prohibiting home-made goods from being sold in/from businesses.) Where I used to live, Santa Fe, would only approve you if you did no personal cooking whatsoever in your home kitchen and everything was stainless steel. (no laminate counters, no wooden cupboards, no wood at all in the kitchen) You also need the delivery vehicle approved, depending on your county's health code. Then, there's always local certification for each person using the kitchen with a food handler's card of some sort. If you are already ServSafe certified, you may be able to use that certification in lieu of a separate test. Pricing is based on the cake & icing itself, props, and other materials. -Plus estimates on time for: multiple meetings, sketches, making special props, sugar flowers, creating cutting diagrams, and delivery. As pointed out above, delivery can take hours all by itself. -And many places will not accept a cake without a cutting diagram. Making these sorts of cakes is expensive and time consuming. If you don't work your cost cards carefully, you can easily wind up in the red on one.

I'd be afraid that the cake would set up a bit before the berries burst, and then you'd have some unsightly watery pockets. Or if there's a whole layer of fresh berries at the bottom, you might risk have watery mush that won't slice or stay together well. I usually make a compote, that way I can control the flavor and make designs in the cake.

Slow is good, especially at first. You don't want too much of a friction factor heating things up. Scientific studies have been done on the speed issue: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/...20218094303.htm Remember that a % of the liquid doesn't really freeze (for crystals) until the product is packaged and sitting in the freezer with the mixer bowl type ice cream maker. I'd say that you want as little of that as possible, since those tend to be large crystals. I'm thinking that if you are willing to make a series of test batches with a thermometer, you could calculate the friction factor for several of your mixer speeds (just like in bread-baking) and then decide for yourself what works out best. This is motivating me to stat shopping around for a smaller machine with a compressor for my home. BTW, my current project is trying to replicate (without the garish color) Baskin Robbins' Red AppleJack Ice. I've had some good success with juicing braeburn apples and adding lemon juice and a dash of vitamin C powder with a 50/50 simple syrup.

BPA is water soluble, so transference via chocolate is unlikely. http://www.enn.com/health/article/37290 I personally have removed most polycarbonate items from my home, chocolate molds are problematic. So far, the main concern is small children being exposed since they seem to be most affected by it. Fortunately, most consumers for fine chocolates are adults. Chocolate is not recommended for children under the age of 1 year. http://geoparent.com/experts/health/babyallergies.htm