SweetSide

Just the point that I was going to make -- don't have a recipe myself though. However, I saw a show where they were making the commercial grocery store ones, and they specifically said that their cookies were crisp when made. After filled with ice cream, they had to hold their product so that the cookies could, as you said, "ripen". So, PastryBoy, don't necessarily go looking for that soft cookie... I'll be following the thread lest the great cookie be found. I love (seriously) the way they stick to your fingers -- reminds me of childhood

I'm very interested that everyone is using frozen whites for meringues.... I previously held some whites in the fridge for a day then tried to make a meringue with them and they just would not whip, even after adding a bunch of cream of tartar. So all this time I've never used whites that weren't fresh out of the shell; looks like I'll have to try this again sometime. Must've had duds that time or something. ← I'm surprised at this -- perhaps they were somehow contaminated with a trace of fat. Plastic container maybe? Done that ... I was expecting an answer about FROZEN specifically. In fact, as for the refrigeration, I was taught that eggs fresh from the shell don't whip as well as those that have been hanging out for a day or so. I'd have to go look up the whole science behind it.

This has been my favorite so far, but not the one I use the most. We also adapted this one and substituted a combination of reduced creme de cassis and black currant puree for half of the milk. That one was good... 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup whole milk 3 large eggs 1 tbs vanilla extract 2 pounds unsalted butter The one I use most often is IMBC or SMBC of 1 part egg whites, 2 parts sugar and 2.5 to 3 parts butter. Addition of vanilla or liqueur of choice.

Curiosity -- why the fresh for the meringue. I know there are advantages of using "old" whites for some things and "fresh" for others and not using frozen for some things.

This seems slick, would there be taste issues with the whites absorbing freezer tastes etc? Mike ← Put the tray itself in a ziplock freezer bag. Or double bag. As they freeze, pop em out and put them in a "collection" container. No, I wouldn't just leave them sitting out there like your ice cubes. Blech.

Don't waste those whites! They keep a long time. I freeze mine in little 1/2 cup containers, 2 whites to a container. Nothing I make needs less than two. Some people freeze them in ice cube trays (I just don't have a spare), one to a cube. Then pop them out and store the egg white cubes in a bag or other container in the freezer. You can use them for anything that needs whites -- meringue, buttercream, angel food cake, French macarons, coconut macaroons. If you don't need them -- send them here -- I'm short about a dozen whites at the moment... Yolks don't keep nearly as well.

I still don't get it.. I think.. by upside down you mean, the way it is when it comes out of the oven? so you leave the cake in the tin, but to facilitate cooling, you do the toothpick trick to lift the bottom of the caketin from the counter? Do you leave them in the tin until they are completely cold, isn't it hard to get them out of the tin then? ← Nope, not the way it is out of the oven. Literally upside down -- like the bottom of the pan is facing the ceiling and the cake is "hanging" from the inside of the pan, hovering over the counter. I've never actually done the toothpick thing (I do it differently), but you would put long toothpicks around the edge of the cake and turn it over on the counter. The picks would be holding the inside of the cake pan up off the counter and the cake would be hanging out underneath. You don't grease a pan for a chiffon because you want it to cling to rise nice and light. When time to take it out of the pan, you slide a knife around the edge and pop it out. Wish you could draw in the thread...

Oh what a crying shame to have that happen! Best of luck trying to find a new place or on a new journey -- wherever this path will lead.

If that one from Bed, Bath, and Beyond is the same one I saw in the actual store, the risers pivot so you can have the trays angled as well to fit into an odd space. Had my eye on that one myself. Not helping with the temptation to buy, am I...

I'm interested as well. I have some nice cups that I bought and have been wondering what I would like to do with them. These are small -- just the right size for a 1/2 shot. They look like little shot glasses with an opening about 3/4 inch across the top, assuming these would be appropriate for your recipes.

Please do -- I've been eyeing that cake and would love to know what you think of it!

Some thoughts -- Was the meringue mixture totally cool when you started to add your butter and the butter at room temperature? You don't want to have a warm meringue melt the butter or the mix will separate. To me -- and I'll defer to others -- it seems like a lot of sugar/corn syrup to egg whites. But, I've never made a buttercream using corn syrup in the syrup mixture (I'm assuming the corn syrup was heated with the sugar to 242F..)

I have Great Cookies (use it all the time), Sweet Kitchen (love it) and Sensational Desserts (love it). Sweet Kitchen is about half instructional in the beginning, but what I also like is that it has an extensive flavor pairing chart that I use when I'm coming up with original desserts. No opinion on Baker's Tour yet -- I have it, have read it, but haven't made anything out of it.

Ah, if you've found Jessica's Biscuit, you've already found ecookbooks.com... One and the same. Don't know about a forum on books, but there are threads on eGullet where people are baking from a single book and comparing results / recipes, etc. Just do a search on a particular book. Welcome to Cookbooks Anonymous...

I'm not the two you address, but... I have the KA book and like it a lot. Good variety. And no, it does not require their products. It is a scratch baking book, so no mixes are involved in any of the recipes that I can think of. And the ingredients are listed just as "ap flour" or "bread flour", not as King Arthur Bread Flour. As for the Gisslen book -- it does have a good number of pictures and the recipes don't produce ungodly amounts of stuff. In fact, for class (and there were only 3 of us in class) we often had to double and triple recipes to get enough of the component for our production. Depending upon where you are, www.ecookbooks.com has it for only $45 with free shipping...

Mmmm, pudding in a cloud... I forgot about that!

Off thread... but yeah... to the boardwalk, the squashed italian ice cups, frozen custard... Good luck bringing back all those memories, whatever they may be, for the patrons!

Cool, where? I'm from the shore as well with my post of the pretzels and ice cream. Point Pleasant area... Home of the orange and vanilla twist custard soft serve on the boardwalk. Ice cream was our main dessert!

Hmmm, that's interesting. Do you know when this aired? I just did a quick Google search, and Bill Yosses' bio from the Chocolate Show website doesn't mention Lady M. Nor does a Google search of "Bill Yosses" and "Lady M" turn up any matches. The plot thickens...or maybe my search skills are just busted. ← I saw that show too. Here's the link to the episode, which was a repeat. Sugar Rush It showed Bill caramelizing the top of the cake with a very hot flat iron -- way cool from my perspective. I don't get to play with cool tools much...

Pretzels and ice cream -- definitely regional as most people I mention it to think I'm whacked. But it's great -- the crunch, the salt, the cream, especially as it melts because of the pretzel salt... I'm already back sitting around grandma's table stirring the bowl with the pretzel rods (which also served as the spoon) to make the ice cream the consistency of soft serve... Edited to add: I grew up in southern NJ... This was also popular in eastern/southern PA.

Others may have other opinions, but I have the three books that you list and just finished school. IMO, the Gisslen book has more detail in terms of "how to". I go to that book first. The other two I go to when I want more ideas of how to combine the parts. Before I started school, I had the CIA book. (Didn't go to that school, and my school used the Gisslen book). While I learned a lot I didn't find as many answers to "why didn't it work". Another book I like is Understanding Baking by Amendola. Helps with the "why didn't it work" part. I'm interested in seeing the opinions of those much more experienced than me as well... Always wanting to add to my collection!

Glad it worked out -- I hope your mum loves it!

I was having a problem with making genoise at home, but never had a problem doing them at school. I posted looking for help in another thread found here (click). This may give you some direction. Once I put a baking stone in my oven, I haven't had a problem since. I just checked the recipe (I haven't made that one before) and it is identical in process as to how I make mine. Just be very careful about folding in the flour and the butter mixture. The air in the foam is the only thing that will make your cake rise. Also, DON'T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. I had this done to me on more than one occasion and ended up with a pancake. I can't recall the reference in the recipe about ribbon stage, but a lot of people don't take the eggs far enough. You should be able to "draw" a figure 8 with the foam that falls off the beater when you lift it out and it should just sit there on top. 10 seconds of sitting there is a long time. Also, don't manipulate the batter too much once it is in the pan -- you'll knock air out. And if you give the pan a flick -- like you are going to throw a frisbee -- it will spin and some of the batter will climb up the side, helping your cake to be level and to cling and rise. The reference to the egg whites in the quote must be to something else as the genoise is a whole egg foam -- there are no separate whites. Also, adding sugar to the egg whites will not help them stiffen -- it actually makes it harder for them to stiffen, but does stabilize the foam. Adding the sugar too quickly or adding too much will cause you to not get as much volume. Try again -- they're inexpensive to make -- and good luck! Your cake sounds delicious!

Aside from trying the other pastry creams recommended, one point to rememberas McDuff points out... You must bring your pastry cream to a boil with the eggs included and cook. This process kills an enzyme in the egg yolk that breaks down a starch sugar. Not bringing the pastry cream to a boil will cause the enzyme to breakdown the cornstarch and will cause your pastry cream to thin out... Sounds like the method you used was part of your problem. The devil is always in the details... especially if they were unwritten in your recipe...

Punschtorte (which I've never made) uses cake scraps as one of the ingredients. Here is a link for one example click and scroll down. As I'm not a fan of rum, I've never had the occasion to make one. But, if you like rum balls, this may be an alternative.