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StephMac

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Everything posted by StephMac

  1. First off, you're a braver caker than I to even think about much less acutally attempt this! I've seen a couple of the Food Network cake shows where the competitors/decorators ship their cakes only to have the airlines lose them/delay them/etc. Granted, you're sending yours UPS or FedEx, which may be better at tracking and delivering... That said, I have no idea what it would cost to ship everything, but would you consider buying an extra plane ticket for the cake and carrying it onto the plane yourself? I believe some decorators do this for high-end clients, and if the shipping fee is very high, maybe it would be worth peace of mind? Whatever you choose, let us know how it goes (and take pictures )
  2. The s'mores are GORGEOUS. What an excellent combination! Aw, man, I drooled on my keyboard again...
  3. I get it too... Honestly, I mostly get it for the presentation and dessert display ideas; as SuziSushi mentioned, some of the cake decorating ideas are nice, and the cookie decorations and recipes are usually good. What can I say... I like the pretty pictures! I've also used some of their recipes as jumping-off points for dinner dishes, but I can't use most of them as written - I just don't have that many bottles of Wish-Bone Italian Vinagrette laying around the house
  4. Wow - almost time to start! My one moving tip: Label EVERYTHING on multiple sides of the boxes, because if things get stacked with the labels facing the wall, it's not fun And thank you so, so much for writing about all the steps and decisions and back-and-forth involved in this project... DH and I are currently attempting to buy a home, and we're pretty much resigned to the fact that we're going to have to do some sort of kitchen work down the road. Having this thread to come back to - and live vicariously through - is a huge help. Good luck, and here's to a sudden improvement in the local take-out options...
  5. If you're only going to get one, the original, classic bundt pan or a plain tube pan is probably your best bet. As they say, it never goes out of style... My personal favorite is the cathedral pan, which I just got last year and makes a spectacular gingerbread : http://www.nordicware.com/b2c/product_deta...t=4&prod_cat=18 And I like the fleur-de-lis pan, too- it's not overly fancy, but very elegant: http://www.nordicware.com/b2c/product_deta...t=4&prod_cat=18
  6. Hmm, the concorde idea sounds interesting - I'll have to think about that one! Placing the pirouette cookies on the outside of a cake or other dessert and tying it all with a ribbon is the idea I started with, actually (great minds think alike)... but since I make cakes for almost every other occasion, I'd like to see if I can do something without cake or with very little cake this time 'round. Still, a cake surrounded by pirouettes will definitely be my go-to plan if the others don't work out! Thanks! Keep 'em coming!
  7. Hi, all - I'd like to make a dessert using the hazelnut-chocolate filled pirouette cookies... my mom loves these Pepperidge Farm cookies, so it would be quite appropriate for mother's day However, I'm not sure which flavors would be good here - something berry sounds good, but then maybe it's better to stay in the chocolate realm? Mom likes pretty much anything, so the options are open. I was first thinking of using the pirouettes to encircle a raspberry-topped cheesecake, but that's probably going to be too heavy after dinner. Now I'm thinking maybe some kind of mousse torte would be better... or maybe a modified tiramisu using pirouettes instead of ladyfingers? All suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
  8. Geez... I'd like to read the article just for a laugh. I liked the NYTimes - I think it was the NYTimes? - article that had the two writers attempting to make the cake for their friend's wedding... and chronicled all their trials and tribulations, as well as their costs: pans, books, ingredients, more ingredients for when they screwed up, etc. Much more realistic, and very grounded in reality. I'd like to see the tech writer attempt the cake project You know what the other thing is that people forget when they consider making their own wedding cake? Transporting it! A work acquaintence was thinking about making her own wedding cake... until I reminded her that on the day of the wedding, when she has a zillion things going on, someone - either herself or a friend or a relative or whoever - was going to have to drive that cake over an hour from her home to the reception, and she'd have to hope that it got there in one piece. She changed her mind pretty quickly. I made the cake for my own wedding. Why? Because I wanted a whimsy style cake and knew that it would be out of my budget if I didn't make it myself; because I didn't want fondant and I wanted to use my mother's buttercream recipe, the one I grew up with and love; and yeah, I wanted the challenge, because I love making and designing fun cakes. However, I made three test versions of the cake, gave myself plenty of time to set it up, and arranged for the venue to store my cake overnight. I knew what I was getting into!
  9. I tried cheesecloth once, with little success; either the seeds went through the cheesecloth (even when double-layered) or the non-seedy pulp got stuck and refused to go through. I ended up mostly with raspberry juice and a handful of tasty, but still seed-filled, raspberry solids. I was thinking about trying it again, maybe using it more like a sieve and pressing the puree through with a spoon or something, but haven't had a chance yet. Let me know if you find a successful method!
  10. I too, stand in cake's corner, and not just because I love to decorate them. It's something about the texture, I think, the way it can mesh with so many icings and fillings and fruits and such. Now, I do love me a good pie, and a lemon tart after a meal is much appreciated, but... it's just not cake. My dear husband, however, wouldn't even pause if asked this question. He's a pie guy: Apple, preferably made by his grandmother (how do you compete with grandma? It's no contest, no matter how good your pie). Which is why we had this at our wedding: Yup. Wedding cake and wedding pie. I made the cake and the topmost mini pie; grandma made the middle pie, local bakery did the bottom one. It was pretty cool
  11. StephMac

    Top Chef

    I'm sure the Scotts were aware of the reality-show part of it, and the trade-offs involved, and I'd guess that at least the food budget was comped (well, I'd hope so!). According to a blurb in the SF Chronicle on Wednesday, one of the Scotts is public relations chief for ACT (American Conservatory Theater), so he's probably a little familiar with how this TV-reality stuff works. And they did show several comments by guests saying "hey, this is good" about various dishes, so I'd wager that most of the crowd had a decent time. As others have said - it was probably better than the dinner food at my wedding! Although I feel kind of bad for the Scotts, in that the food wasn't quite what they quite expected, I think I feel worse for the chefs. It wouldn't have been so bad if some of the restrictions were slightly different - if they didn't have a set time limit for shopping, for example, so they could run to a fishmonger early the next morning instead of using the grocery store supplies. And yet... they've hooked me for the rest of this season; I've got to find out how the whole thing ends up. Don't know if I'll come back for a second season if the format stays the same...
  12. StephMac

    Top Chef

    Y'know, after this week's show was over, I realized it was not fun to watch. I just felt bad for pretty much everyone: the Scotts, who were clearly excited by the menu at first but rather sad when looking back at the end; Leeann, who was upset by her failure to produce the menu she pitched (due in part to her own fault as well as lots of other things); the other chefs, who knew they didn't do as well food-wise as they could/should have and were tired out of their gourds mentally and physically; and the guests, some of whom had less-than-great meals. I do think the judges seemed to have high expectations of what the food/experience should be, given the restrictions and rules placed on the chefs. Basically, it seemed like the chefs were almost set up to fail - they weren't told of the 16hour deadline before planning menus (time would have been a huge consideration when it came to complexity); they weren't allowed to source premium ingredients; they were given only one hour to shop; they felt like they had to execute the menu chosen by the Scotts with few changes... I bet if they did swap out the salmon for a fresher fish, the judges would have called 'em on the carpet for not producing the menu the clients approved. That said, Steven was the right choice to go, although I don't think Leeann reined him very well - especially since she experienced his FOH attitude in the previous challenge. I'm sure the hotel had a service captain or manager or someone that would take care of service instruction; I'm sure they've done a zillion other wedding and banquets and know what they're doing! Steven should have been in the kitchen, at least washing and de-stickering the Chinese spoons if nothing else. Interesting that the wedding planner commented on the lovely "sweeping" service, but according to Tom's blog on the Bravo site, that was only done for the head table - not for the other tables. Yeesh. And the chefs must have been really tired not to snap at the wedding planner when she talked about how her clients always expect excellent food and accept no less... somehow, I'm guessing her caterers have more than 17 hours to plan, source, and cook the meals for her events. Then again, maybe it was edited out For being thrown together the way it was, the cake did look pretty good with the orchids, though.
  13. This might be too complex or time consuming, but what about molding a small chocolate baby rattle? You could make a small hollow ball for the rattle and fill it with little mints or hard candies - anything that would make a noise when shaken - then attach a chocolate handle. A little chocolate piping around the seam (maybe with a colored chocolate?) and maybe a piped-on name or design, and it would be cute. She could tie on nametags or thank-you notes with a bit of ribbon, too, and present them in a little box or bag. I do think the marshmellows would be really sweet, though. A little mini-layette set of baby socks, baby jacket, and a baby hat made of marshmellow would be cute Good luck!
  14. LindaK, one suggestion someone made earlier might solve the cold/warm problem: you could save the top crepe and brulee it just before serving, then place it on top of the chilled stack and serve. That way, the top layer of cream won't melt, but you can have the cake at the temperature you prefer. I've seen the Food Network program where they show a chef at Lady M making the cake - I think it was on "Sugar Rush" - and they used a giant, round heated metal tool of some sort to brulee the top crepe. Almost as if you took a metal detector and heated it up, then used that to caramelize the sugar - I think it was maybe 4" in diameter? So it really only took a quick circle with this big heatsource to finish off the top, rather than a longer session with a blowtorch. Maybe that's how they avoid re-chilling the mille crepe and risking a softened brulee? Honestly, I liked the cake better a little chilled vs. room temp - it seemed to have more flavor, somehow. Then again, a coworker of mine didn't like the mille cold, and microwaved it to warm it up
  15. I finally got a chance to make the mille crepe for my mom's birthday, and it turned out pretty well, despite being hamstrung by a time crunch at the end (more time to set up in the fridge would have helped a lot). Next time it will be even better! And since I've never made pastry cream before, I am ever so grateful for Megan's version of the NYtimes recipe - otherwise I probably would have freaked out by the sudden thickening as it comes to a boil. Thanks for the useful real-world description, Megan! I ended up with about 15 crepes, and I added a layer of raspberry preserves mixed with crushed frozen berries (from last year's garden) under the top crepe. I did this because I knew I wouldn't have time to re-chill the cake after bruleeing it, so I hoped that the preserves wouldn't "melt" as much as a layer of cream would. And it actually worked pretty well - the raspberry provided an excellent sweet/tangy counterpoint to the rich cream layers. A question about the bruleed top - I caramalized it right before serving, and the hard sugar made the cake a bit difficult to cut without squishing everything out of place. Would this have been less of a problem if the cake had been more thoroughly chilled? Also, does LadyM serve their mille crepe chilled, or room temp? Just wondering... -Stephanie
  16. If you have the freezer space, how about ice-cream sandwiches? You could make 'em with basic chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, or get really fancy with the flavors. Or if you're looking for truly nibble-sized treats, what about making miniature cookies, sandwich in the ice cream, and then dunk them in chocolate and sell them in bags of 3 or 5 to be eaten on the go? They'd be like mini Its-Its, yum!
  17. I'd definitely echo what others have said about getting the design set and squared away as early as possible - that gives you enough time to find equipment and practice! K8's demo is awesome. Oh, and maybe this goes under the "For Heaven's sake, don't ____" category, but I've found that "simple and traditional" doesn't mean easy! Some people may consider a "traditional" wedding cake to be three tiers, stacked, with swiss dots; others think of a "traditional" wedding cake as pillars, ruffles, overpiping, and plastic bridesmaids on staircases. That'll make a big difference in your planning! As for stands... you could try checking out eBay if you (or the bride) has their heart sent on a silver-type stand; some catering companies and linen/table rental companies will also rent those types of stands. I've made a cheap stand out of a ring of styrofoam wrapped in colored tulle, which came out kind of cute - it raised the cake up off the table a bit, and even if no one saw it, at least it matched the decor. Oh, and here's my other "For Heaven's sake, don't ___" suggestion: if you're delivering the cake, map out the route ahead of time and try to drive it at least once before you have to do so with a cake in the car. It can help alert you to any rough roads, hairpin turns, or steep driveways that would be a rude surprise later on. Good luck!
  18. Okay, now I totally want to make one of these for my mom's birthday! Any ideas on using a non-pastry-cream filling for either some or all of the layers? Like, would it cause major structural weakness if I added a couple of layers of apricot preserve (say, 4 cream, 1 preserve, etc)? Or would it ruin the texture of the mille crepe cake to do so? Maybe just a flavored cream would be better. Oh darn, does this mean I have to make some to experiment?
  19. As someone who's long lurked the eGullet forums before getting up the gumption to actually post, I'm eternally grateful for those here who do share recipes, and for those who do the testing, and re-testing, and experimentation and are gracious enough to share their results and opinions. Frankly, those types of posts have helped me in two ways: they've either made me more excited and confident about trying the recipe, or they've convinced me that it's going to take far more skill than I have right now I share most of my recipes -- there are a few "family traditions" that I don't share, simply because they're like heirlooms to me. And I've never had anyone get snooty when they hear that reasoning, thankfully. I can also tell when someone asking for a recipe is really going to make it vs. just file it away - the ones who are really interested ask lots of questions about the process, or if you added something different, or if you used a particular type of chocolate or flour. I also try to ask friends and resaturants for recipes often when I've tried a dish and loved it, and I always make sure their name remains with the recipe - so they will always be known as Becky's Gingersnaps, or AJ's Cheesecake, or Judy's Pie Crust. My mom has lots of recipes in her files that are "named" with the recipe's originators, and I have copies of those same recipes... to me, it's a way of honoring the chef or recipe creator as well as making sure the foods always have a good story with them. And I've found that sometimes restaurants or stores are willing to share lists of ingredients, even if they won't provide the exact measurements. Which is how I discovered that the local upscale deli demands only Miracle Whip for its chicken salad
  20. Oh my, I've been giggling continuously at work all week reading this thread. As an amateur baker and cake decorator, most of my lessons are cake-related: -I will never again flip a cake out of a pan without having a secure grip on the pan and the cooling rack. I was baking the 5th of five 9" round layers to make a coffee-mug shaped cake for a departing coworker. It was now 1am: the cake was done, had cooled a bit in the pan, and I needed only to turn it out and cover it, and I could go to bed. I placed the cooling rack upside down on top of the pan. Gripped both and picked up to turn over... as I spin the rack and pan over, I watch in slow motion as the still-warm pan slips from my fingers, slides along the length of the cooling rack, and flings itself end-over-end across my table (something like a trebuchet-style catapault, actually) where it strikes the corner, bounces in the air and proceeds to hit a chair on the way to the floor. I can't see where it landed, so for a split second I think "Maybe it stayed in the pan!" Well, about half of it did... Rebaked layer was done at 2am, got up at 5am to start icing it... finshed cake looked darn awesome, though... -I will always wear my ove glove when testing cakes for doneness, because my knuckles don't need any more striped burn scars from the top heating element. Ow. -macadamia nuts that taste kind of funny on their own will not become magically delicious when baked in cookies. -I will never ignore the angel food cake recipe's instructions to place the pan on the lowest level oven rack. I will also not under-estimate the rising powers of said angel food cake batter. Because when you put it on a middle rack and it not only overflows onto the bottom of the oven and coats the racks but also rises up and sticks to the top of the oven, it's going to make a lot of frickin' smoke and is a real &$%# to clean up. -don't allow your husband to store ziplock bags of powdered sugar near a bag of leftover garlic-rubbed crostini toasts, even if they're heavy-duty plastic. I didn't realized the sugar had picked up the garlic taste until I had made two double batches of buttercream -- the garlic was faint, but definitely discernable, and I had to toss and remake both batches with new supplies... that'll teach me to try and get stuff done early (Husband's defense: "But I made sure the bags were sealed! Yellow and blue makes green!" ) -Using a combination of colored sugar and cinnamon as coating for snickerdoodles turns them into snicker-don'ts. Looked like sad, dirty sugar cookies. Ate the poor dears with our eyes closed and made a new batch for giving away. [Moderator note: This topic continues here, I will never again . . . (Part 3)]
  21. Patrick, I'm sure you could use the plastic coupler by itself to pipe choux - and they also make a giant plastic coupler that's got to have at least a 1" opening on it, like this: Giant coupler
  22. Mmmm, roasted peppers sound good.... all the combinations sound good! I'll give a cream cheese base a try, maybe whip in a little cream to lighten it up a smidge. Thanks for the suggestions! I think I'll be eating choux puffs for dinner all week... oh, darn!
  23. onehsancare, I was humming "chouxbie dooby doo" while writing, too! As for a screen name - yeah, it's a good one, and would be perfect if I had more choux experience... although it would be a great name for a puppy, wouldn't it?
  24. Thanks! I'll try a "dust cover" of plastic wrap and a paper towel lining with tonight's batch. While I'd love to make the puffs far in advance, upon further consideration my freezer space might end up being tight, so it's good to know they'll be OK for a day or two if I make them early. The puffs won't be true minis - I'm aiming for 3" or so in diameter, like 2-3 bites each, so they'll have a decent amount of filling. What about cooked spinach mixed with creme fraiche, with a dab of sundried tomato pesto on top? Hmm, maybe that's too squishy...
  25. Hi, all - long time lurker, first-time poster. Gosh, I'm so nervous! I'm working with choux paste for the first time, as I've volunteered to make choux puffs with savory fillings for a friend's baby shower. My first attempt with a basic recipe created lovely puffy puffs, of which my husband ended up eating six after declaring "I don't think I like cream puffs, but I'll try one." I'm taking that as a good sign... So while I'm happy with the recipe, I have a few questions about what to do post-baking: -One of my books says to immediately remove the small amount of still-squishy dough from the baked puffs. I did this with a few and didn't notice a big difference between the puffs that were scraped and those that weren't - should I scrape 'em anyway? Will it make a big difference in keeping them crisp? -What's the best storage method to keep the puffs semi-crisp? I'd like to make them a day ahead if possible (I'm also making the cake for the shower), but the ones I stuck in a tupperware as a test got awfully soft overnight, so clearly that's not right! -If I freeze baked puffs, how long do I need to rewarm them and at what temperature? -I'm looking for a second savory filling - curry chicken salad is the first, but I'm drawing blanks on another. Someone else is already making smoked salmon tea sandwiches, so that's out as a filling, and I'd like to do a vegetarian option if possible. Maybe something with spinach, or sundried tomatoes? Thanks for any and all help. Tonight I'm giving the Pichet Ong choux recipe a twirl - fingers crossed! -Stephanie
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