chefette

Sounds like a job for the infamous Sugarveil stuff

after you fill and crumb coat your shold chill to set - then add successive layers of buttercream chilling to set in between until you have enough buttercream on (maybe 3 coats?) then you do a final smoothing and cover with fondant then decorate. It is tough to cover a cake that hasn't been set/chilled because ut is soft and slippery

The dessert is called Anise-Honey Beehive Composed of 3 circles of genoise: 3”; 2”; 1 1/2” With anise mouse in between each layer and then piped around the outside in rings so the whole thing looks like a beehive No reason that you could not do something similar with a full sized cake that actually tasted good Personally I do not care for anise so I would go more for a honey, lemon combo But the recipe in question utilizes genoise baked off in sheets and cut in circles as described. Licorice essence (3 sticks licorice root boiled 1 hour in 1 liter water-I recall that you allow it to reduce) Honey syrup (120 g honey, 120g water, 10g anisette brought to boil and set aside) Honey lemon coulis (120g honey, 120g lemon juice, 1 star anise brought to boil for 30 seconds and set aside) Anise Mousse composed of a crème anglaise (300g milk, 50 sugar, 5 yolks) cooled Bloom 3 gelatin sheets and melt into 25g Licorice Essence then add to anglicize Let anglicize partially set up 150g heavy cream whipped to soft peak Italian Meringue (200g sugar, 200g whites) Fold half of the whipped cream into the anglaise, half into the meringue then fold together Use honey syrup to soak cake circles Pipe mousse onto 3” layer, top with 2” layer and pipe with mousse, top with 1 1/2” layer and pipe extra mousse around to create beehive appearance Chill until ready to serve. Serve with Honey-Lemon Coulis decorate with marzipan bees Chef Vicky Wells from Pastry art & Design and FCI pastry program

If you check out old issues of Pastry Art & Design Vicky Wells did a cute beehive dessert. I think it is from about 1998. I have the recipe but of course not with me - I can post it on Monday.

First of all - I would basically stick with the base French Buttercream recipe. I like the following: 5 yolks (about 100g) 1 egg (about 50g) 400 g sugar 80g water 700g unsalted butter You can just caramelize the sugar from the recipe - but then it is really too hot to add to the eggs and you would need to cool it enough to combine well. Can't say that this is the recommended approach Assuming you go with a reasonably dark caramel I don't think that you need adjust the sugar. I think that you can add the caramel in a variety of ways: Make a dark caramel and add enough water to make it a very thick liquid (as if you were adding the cream to make caramel sauce) cool and add to buttercream to taste. You can make a caramel powder by pouring your hot caramel out on a silpat or parchment to allow it to harden - pulverize it in the food processor and then add that to the buttercream. It tends to ball up on contact with moist ingredients so you may find it works best to use the caramel powder to add to you hot sugar syrup or make a paste by adding a bit of water and then mix that in. I am not advocating any quantities on the caramel because I think it needs to be to taste. I often make up quantities of hard caramel that I keep in airtight boxes with dessicant then pulverize it when I need some. But that is just my go-to inventive approach. You can probably find a recipe.

If you can - you should try to use gelatine sheets, but if you are going to use powder - a gelatine sheet generally weighs 2g. 1 of those little envelopes of gelatine is normally equal to 2 1/2 - 3 sheets of gelatine I would bloom and melt 3 1/2 packets of gelatine in about 150g water warm your vinegar and glucose (you can use light corn syrup if you don't have glucose - I don't think it has that much of an affect) in a small pan and add the bloomed gelatine to dissolve in a steady stream add the warm liquid to the combined 10X and corn starch while mixing on lowest speed with the paddle. this will appear impossible at first but works itself out mostly - add a little (very little) extra water. scrape the pastillage out onto the very clean counter lightly dusted with corn starch (amazingly enough pastillage will magnetically draw the only black speck in the vicinity). Knead this thoroughly until it is smooth and pliable. I find that adding a little extra water by moistening my hands periodically is helpful. You don't want your pastillage to be too wet, but maintaining a pliability is important. Like bread dough it should be firm and smmoth and clean the counter and not stick to your hands or the counter. Cut the lump in half or even quarters and wrap each very well in plastic and store in a zip lock bag with a damp paper towel. Try not to roll out more than you need for each piece at hand. Also don't try to be too ambitious and cut out to many pieces at from one sheet. Until you get your cutting zen and timing it is best to stick to a single piece. Immediately rewrap any excess from the rolled out sheet. The pastillage is easiest to work with the day you make it. If you use it another day you will need to knead it up well. You can even microwave it just a few seconds - I would stick with about 6 second blasts. Othyerwise it just melts. You can wrap and freeze excess pastillage for later use. Allow plenty of time for drying - Depending on thickness - you should probably allow 24 hours. The real thrill f pastillage is in the sanding process to ensure smooth perfect edges. - Make plenty of extra pieces to allow for breakage.

So what are you planning to make?

Thanks Wendy - that was swet. My biplanes are actually pastillage - not gumpaste although I made some of the more delicate components from gumpaste. specifically - the little windows. In2Pastry - pastillage in definitely stronger than gumpaste and is better for structural work where gumpaste is lighter, more delicate, allows you more working time and does things like stretching and frilling better than pastillage. The Ewald pastillage actually is a very nice and workable recipe. Ewald even does fairly thin flowers with it. If you haven't worked with pastillage before it does work differently than gumpaste. you will want to lightly dust your work surface with cornstarch before rolling out. you have to work quickly and cleanly bec ause the surface will start wrinkling as it starts to form a skin almost immediately. You can extend the working window by creating moisture to prevent surface drying. Some people roll out then freeze so that a natural condensation forms as it warms. I prefer using a steamer (mostly for larger jobs or pieces that require many intricate cuts before being shaped. If you want curved or shaped pieces you need to locate or create forms for drying and shaping. If you are sticking with flat pieces - or pieces than can be dried on a flat surface (I like sheets of styrofoam since they are clean, flat, and allow some air flow to the bottom so they dry a bit faster) you need to fluip the pieces every few hours or they tend to warp slightly or develop a tiny lip on the bottom side. Good luck with your creation.

What pastillage recipe are you using now? Strong pastillage is generaly thick pastillage Pastillage is by its very nature brittle. If you need it to be weight bearing you need to think about the structure and possibly use pastillage to cover cardboard, styrofoam, or some other support piece. If you cannot use some material that is actually strong you need to think about structure and design as I mentioned before. One option is to use multiple thin layers with air space in between so that the load is borne by many pieces over a wider base. But if you are not in a competition that forbids use of non-edible infrastructure and you want some specific look - then use another material and cover it with pastillage. This is a recipe I like alot - it is from Ewald Notter 850g 10x 150g cornstarch 10g gelatin (sheets) 30g glucose 15g vinegar I usually need to add a bit more water - about 50g

I didn't follow your link to check the recipe - but the Le Cirque/Jacques Torres recipe is a good one. At Le Cirque they bake them in a convection oven which allows them to bake at 250 without a water bath. It still takes about an hour and when they say jiggly - well - they don't mean very jiggly. The baked brulees are chilled thoroughly. When you want to do the sugar - you dab off the moisture. Jacques used light brown sugar that we baked to dry and then sifted. We would sift a thin layer on the custard then another - then under the Salamander - which is a pretty intense broiler. Other places, I have used white sugar or turbinado, even sugar in the raw. You should try again.

Dairyland carries Sevarome Peach Paste - which is AMAZING http://www.dairylandonline.com/Catalog/Det...px?prd_id=GB886 Perfect in ice creams, sorbets, buttercreams, creams.

Like Wendy says - it is possible but not desireable. Stick with the cupcakes. If you don't do the stand thing and decorate them pretty and plate each one like a mini cake you will probably be loads happier before, durring, and after the big day. Steve and I (both pastry pros) did our wedding cakes and I have to say it was alot of stress and work at the last minute that we didn't really need. I did 60 small two layer cakes for my sister's wedding last summer and it sure is alot of work not to be taken lightly. You are looking at some reallly cute little cakes produced by a pastry pro and comparing them to some cupcake displays. Of course the cakes are adorable - but think about your ability to really carry this off when you are the event coordinator for 50 guests on your big day when you want to be rested, beautied up and relaxed. If you really want to do it yourself - stick with something simple and do kickass cupcakes. If you really want adorable little cakes buy them.

I too think you would be more successful in the pastry forum with this quest Just a note to detractors of changing the traditional Christmas pudding out of fear that the public would not accept it - note that the requestor has declared that this treat is in fact for the cooks at the restaurant on their day off and is not for the public. I have to admit that I have only had a Christmas pudding once (and that was when I was maybe 10) so I do not have the taste indexed readily in my mind, but, if I were planning to deconstruct and serve a pudding I might approach it in the following way: 1- Cake element (rich, dense, very moist: maybe apple, introduce chocolate?) small, served warm 2- Fruit element: could go with candied zest (not purchased) brunoise or thin strips with a bit of syrup 3- creamy caramel sauce 4- Caramelized cinnamon gelee in cubes or strips 5- Rum/Nutmeg ice cream (like egg nog) Serve with cinnamon crisp tuiles This way you address the basic flavor, textural, and temperature elements of the pudding

Well, I admit that I was oversimplifying - to a degree in the comments I made. But - and I ask you to seriously ponder this in the depths of your soul: Are the people that you name as Great Chefs great because of their innate understanding of food and incredible cooking ability? Really? Really????????? Being a good chef is really about being a good manager - of oneself, of the establishment, and of the personnel in the kitchen. Most people with innate understanding of food who are loving, creative cooks just cook and most people never really know they are there. They are what make great chefs great. You are the people who do your work. Now you are getting down to great cooks - as in wow - great food I could die and go to heaven happy now that I have had the ultimate meal and great chefs - I acknowledge and admire your stellar culinary resume and assume that you have astounding skills - love your book - great photos by the way ( I KNOW, I cannot help being all cynical and tongue in cheek - its just part of my quirky sense of humor and emperor has no clothes outlook on life) And as Carrot Top originally asked - what is the whole great thing anyway? I know there was an answer - but it just does not seem satisfactory here since the perception about great anything is widespread recognition and acknowledgement of accomplishment. I think that if you go by your oddly elastic definition of greatness then there is no lack of great women chefs - is there a shortage of widely publicized famous women chefs? Why yes there is - and shame on all you male food writers for failing to recognize greatness when you get it put before you on that plate and give us the accolades that are our due. Plenty of the great food that you see and taste and thereby use as proof to support the greatness of some celebrity chef du jour got cooked up for you by a great woman chef in the back of the house. Is greatness a personal decision, a localized assumption, does it require a good review in the newspaper? Must Gourmet Magazine select you as a rising chef? Need one publish a glossy book? Must you move beyond cooking books to the coffee table book status in order to be considered great? Name the people - male and female who are great chefs - we went through this about a year ago and some people wrote down the tried and true list of well knowns (regardless of whether they had ever sampled their cooking or seen them in action) and some people wrote of chefs that they knew personally - worked with or for, or whose establishments they frequented. So is this about celebrity or cooking ability, and how does celebrity status equate with cooking ability? How exactly does cooking ability become celebrity? How many people have to know your food and say it is great before you become a great chef? Where are all the great women truck drivers? waiters? construction site managers? Why don't we care about that? Do we just care about the disparity of recognition in the chef world because within the last 10 years it has become well publicized and sort of sexy and wishful (God only knows why) as a profession? Maybe I am secretly a red head too Carrot Top. As Sinclair is saying in several of her posts I think that part of the problem is that women do tend to pursue cooking for the satisfaction and love of the cooking whereas (and again - slight oversimplification coming) men go for the glory - cooking is but a means to an end.

I am sorry if this comment - or comments- that I am about to make has been made but I ran out of patience and time after 2 pages of posts and had to jump in with my 2 cents. It seems that maybe this discussion is not starting at the right spot. Why don't we go back to Karen's early list of profession, vocation, occupation, job... categories that had nothing to do at all with men or women. What makes any human (man or woman) want to be a chef/cooking professional? Is it the sexy long hours? The heat? The heavy lifting? Perhaps the answer to many of our questions is more appropriately in the question - do both men and women become chefs for the same reasons? If men and women's drives in becoming cooks are different then the results will be different - no? Then ultimately we go back to the question - are men and women only different from one another in average body size, hair growth, and appendages? Do we view the world the same? Do we approach problems the same? Are we the same? We are also accepting that being a chef is somehow great. That publicity, hype, and high prices are the determinants of great chefness. We are not actually talking about the ability to do great cooking or great food. And, if you look at the biographies of many of these great male chefs they seem to acknowledge the source of their cooking interest and cooking skills to their mothers and grandmothers. But another question is this: Is great cooking the primary basis of being a great chef? Is it possibly part good fortune, management skills, a feel for publicity, good connections, the same basic stuff from most professions? So ultimately the question being debated here is the same old question about why women are less represented in the upper echelons of power. So - what are the success factors for a chef? 1- Mentoring - getting associated with the acknowledged, recognized top people and establishments in the field 2- Flexibility - willingness and ability to go to where the opportunity du jour is 3- Networking - making sure that you know where the power is, who has it, who is going up and who is going out. Building bridges and relationships, making sure that people know who you are and see you as good, as available, as an asset. Being able to leverage and maximize your relationships 4- Balderdash - being good at just unabashed self promotion, sucking up and feeling confident about it the whole time - no self doubt - being vocal and observed 5- Empire - leveraging all the above to build an empire Forgive me - but I think that this is the path to great chefness that many in our current environment have taken or are busy taking. The whole hard work, grindstone, earning respect and all are but quaint mythology for many if not most. This is not to say that I do not believe that there are many chefs out there who have not risen to greatness through their hard work and innate skills - but this is the very hardest way - a true Cinderella story. I believe that it is rare that the good hearted, dues-paying, hard working good cook becomes a great chef.

(Q) 1. Is it feasible to make a change this late in life? Well... I would say that it is possible - and from time to time it works out but at 44 many chefs -- like pro athletes -- are hanging up their hats, resting on their laurels, or making calls from the sidelines. This is a hard change to make. Like someone else mentioned your opportunities for success depend greatly on the market you are in and your expectations. Keep in mind that in busy markets the dues paying entry level people with futures are mostly in their very early 20s and have already been busy cooking for 5 years plus and associated with mentors of significance. Dues paying and progression in the kitchen don't necessarily parallel the dues paying and progression of the office. As a career changer and culinary school grad you will be an 'outsider' a dabbler. This is very difficult to overcome. (Q) 2. What is it like to work in a professional kitchen? You should invest some time working in a pro kitchen in some realistic capacity prior to making such a big and life changing decision. Working in a kitchen as a newbie is mesmerizing, thrilling, every day is filled with wondrous chef magic and it is great. As a newbie checking things out you will probably not be able to get in more than a day per week or so and that is enough to really learn the ropes but it doesn't really open the book to you so that you know the full aspect of working in a kitchen full time 6 days a week. Doing something once a week is fun and exciting, you get a glimpse into a different world than the one you drudge around in - but when you move there it is filled with repetition. You have to do the same chopping, slicing, dicing, tossing, sauteeing, grilling, saucing every day. (Q) 3. What is there to do besides working in a kitchen? You could just enjoy cooking. Cook for friends. Start a gourmet supper club. Have fun. (Q) 4. From the time I get out of C school, what is the progression of positions in a kitchen and how long does it typically take to advance? You get out of cooking school about $25K in the hole. There is no set time period or progression of positions in a kitchen. Sometimes you shoot straight upwards, sometimes you get rattled around in the lower levels for a while but never go anywhere. You just never know. QUOTE: I know I will be paying some dues when I start working in a kitchen...that's a given. I say bring it on if I get to use my new knives (can you tell I love my knives?). I am also of the frame of mind that I have no problem doing the grunt work if it's a means to an end. No matter where you are in life, it all comes down to your knowledge of the basics and paying my dues will reinforce those basics making me stronger. This is an attitude that - while very public spirited and commendable, especially in the young and inexperienced - will get you just about as close to nowhere as you can go (in my very humble opinion). For you to come into this field and succeed as a 45 year old you will need to be on top of your game. Sell yourself and your skills, management, accounting, organization, maturity, enthusiasm, talent to the max and don't ease up, don't accept grunt work don't allow yourself to sell yourself as an entry level lover of the joy pf cooking. You will need to sell yourself as a pro with vision. QUOTE: Accounting is no longer working for me and I need a change. The salary is not so much an issue as enjoying life which should not exclude what I do for a living. I'm willing to take a lower salary if I enjoy what I do. I know it will be hard work but believe me, I'd rather but cutting down vegatables than staring at a computer all day long. My wife is totally excited by what I'm contemplating and is behind me 100% should I choose to go for it. Don't be too quick to condemn your current life - and don't assume that just because you like cooking and you are thrilled with your new knives that you will enjoy what you are doing chopping down veggies. QUOTE: I too have been thinking about the later-in-life career change. Questions that have arisen include: 1. Can I stand on my feet for 14 hours a day? 2. Can I stand taking an 80% pay cut? 3. Is this just another of life's "the grass is always greener..." scenarios? 4. Is being a cook or a chef all that much fun or, like most any job, does one tire of the rat-race after a while? Those ARE the pertinent questions.

who are you buying caramels from? They will probably have good suggestions on packing and shipping them - they may even ship for you. On the Fedex comment - I do not see why Fedex would not ship caramels - why would they even need to know what was in the box? I Fedex chocolates and all sorts of things.

Well, saying that you are shooting for a "hip" "Young" "urban" client you probably have to take many things into account: people in the 21-32 range like fun hip places where they can potentially meet fun hip people - usually involves opportunities to drink and be surrounded by tunes - so you need a good drink menu and fun bar food - lots of apps from my NYC friends and experience people are looking for a variety of styles and foods - from a country/homey style (which they probably see more as "retro") to things that are exciting and a bit strange - but as pointed out earlier - not so strange that they would not like them. Seems that among the young hip crowd there is potentially a real need for keeping price within a stylish range - cheap enough to bring people often but not so cheap as to be overlooked seems that having an ecclectic mix of things from vegetarian to sushi, latin, to euro and burgers is important as well but without starting to look like the cheesecake factory. You might consider several dishes that are easily shareable as apps or sides Things that need to be eaten with the hands or wraps (I think that the lettuce wrap at PF Changs has gotten way more raves than it deserves almost enturely because of the sauce mixing by the waiter and the fact that you wrap up the filling in the lettuce cups. Seems to me that people sort of get a kick out of the "learning" or instructional care of their waiters.

I said molecuular compatability because I was reading something about Heston Blumenthal (of molecular gastronomy buzz) and he was saying that he was interested in the molecular composition of food to inspire pairings that wre based on the molecular compatability of the items. It is possible that this may have good results but it seems to me that it is sort of like expecting everything that is blue to automatically work well together. But that's just mu opinion. I was also reading on another thread about someone who used guassian (blur?) for plating, also mentioned that they liked to design cuisine based on scientific theories such as Einstein's relativity and were considering Schroedinger's cat for future inspiration. I think that this is intriguing from an intellectual standpoint but I am not at all sure that it has any validity or relevance whatsoever to the diner. I also find it interesting the emphasis on making a meal into an 'experience' in the Trio philosophy. It makes me think that people must just be way way way too bored. Anyone up for the roller coaster experience meal? How about the haunted house? Maybe one of those glorious days of your youth when you were facing down a plate of sqash or lima beans in a deadlock with your mother now there's a dining 'experience' Do any of you think it is interesting how chef's and restaurants have started manufacturing fancy politically correct food philosophies? Is it even possible to be a professional cook without a food philosophy? How came none of them has anything like "No yucky vegetables or fish" ? I once thought I would have a restaurant called No yucky vegetables or creatures that breath water.

edited

amccomb, you might want to do a little looking around first re the recipes. Check the Recipe Gullet as well as the pastry threads since there has recently been much discussion on locating the best chocolate and white cake recipes which you may find useful. Also, there are several discussions on buttercreams: Italian, Swiss up to you. After you look at those you might want to get back and discuss what you think would best meet your needs. In terms of cake planning and construction - that has also been very well covered several times. I would suggest a search on wedding cake. Several people have discussed their methods for frosting, covering, stacking, securing, and transporting cakes. Again - look for these and get back with questions and I think it will be more productive. I am sure that it is well within your power to accomplish this task. It sounds as though you have at least worked with larger cakes before. And you are here doing your homework to make sure you don't make silly mistakes. For the bright intense colors you will probably like a coloring paste instead of the normal home food coloring. You can get pastes in most cake/candy decorating stores. They may even be available at craft stores like Michaels that carry cake decorating supplies. Otherwise there are many on-line sources such as Beryls. My normal go to Buttercream is an Italian Meringue Buttercream 16 oz sugar with 1/3 cup water cooked to hard ball slowly pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream ensuring you do not hit the beaters (in a stand mixer) into 6 large eggs whites at soft peak (whipping entire time on high speed) continue whipping until bowl is cooled (just slightly warm to the touch) Beat in 20 oz unstalted butter (softened) add 1 T vanilla extract

Do you have a 'food philosophy'? What is it and how do you use it? Only the best Only the freshest Organic Finest Extravagent Exceptional Most talented chefs Creativity Simplicity Balance Art Chemistry Molecular compatability Interactivity Memory Fun Architectural Metaphycical Here are some interesting examples http://trio-restaurant.com/cuisine/philosophy/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/poshnosh/philosophy/simon.shtml http://www.yogajournal.com/food/toc_1.cfm http://www.philosophynow.org/archive/articles/31iggers.htm http://www.clifbar.com/eat/foodPhilosophy.cfm?location=mojo

OK - I admit - I am intrigued. I am actually wondering if the whole trunk (which is in contact with the surface of the cake) is chocolate (tempered or moddeling brushed or sprayed with tempered) then he stuck the branchlets (wire coated or painted with chocolate) onto the trunk.

I think that the whole branch thing is just wire wrapped in tape - possibly brushed wuth chocolate. I downloaded the image and zoomed in and that is what it looks like. You could try doing it in wire wrapped with modelling choc or creating and shaping the branch and dipping that in chocolate or spraying it. But I think possibly the branches actually on the fondant may very well be piped or modelling chocolate - so if that is true the whole branch would have to be coated for integrity. I am interested in the crack/flaw on the lower left. That may be the key. maybe it is chocolate formed around wire. I Love the cake - it is really pretty and very clean

When you mold pieces part of your achievement should be a beautiful shine so you want to avoid getting your finger prints on your leaves - cotton gloves or those white polyester waiter's gloves will work. I would store the leaves flat with plastic or special candy seperator pads in between the layers, tightly wrapped and kept in a cool dry place. You could keep a container in the fridge but that is unnecessary and subjects your chocolate to nasty odors which it readily absorbs and to moisture so I would not recommend that. Theoretically you could do your leaves now and with careful storage they will be just fine come October - but I find that especially in the summer the chocolate takes on a film and it gets a bit funky tasting (in my humble opinion) So I would wait til closer to the event to mold up your leaves. You will probably want to do your truffles no more than a day or two ahead so that they are at their peak - you could do your leaves a couple of weeks ahead and they will be fine. But I would definitely practice several times before October so that you start feeling more confident with tempering and molding - so that you know how much chocolate you will need - how much time it takes.