reenicake

Just from personal experience, a 10" genoise will hold about 5-6 oz of flavored simple syrup. This is a bit stale, say overnight to 3-day-old... I have to say though that Europeans tend to like a more soaked cake than Amricans or Aussies do. At Le Cirque Jacques had this thing called a rain bottle that we put the syrup in. It was a plastic litre bottle, volume marks on the side, with a screw-on watering-can type sprinkler head. So we could evenly soak the three layers of full-sheet cakes (say for Opera or tiramisu) with the same amount of syrup, and it worked faster and with less crumbs then a brush. (I haven't been able to find it again, but I'd welcome any leads for this wonderous bottle.) In the meantime I find a trigger-spray bottle works well to evenly sprinkle rather than poking holes in an already fragile cake.

For yellow cake, I love Toba's recipe especially when it is very fresh right out of the oven. But it stores very well too, becoming a bit more feathery. I also like the proportions of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Moist Yellow Cake, but I tend to use the creaming method to mix because it holds together better for me (rather than the hi-ratio method she employs). I also use a yolk-whole egg combo, but same volume. Tend to agree though, it is very subjective because we all have different ideas of what makes the perfect cake... both what we are used to eating and what we need for certain uses. I have a special place in my heart for chiffon cakes, for example, but most French people wouldn't go near one. I make them in all kinds of different shapes, and fill and frost and layer, but most American cooks wouldn't dream of anything but a tube pan.

I can't boast any scientific background, but at the cooking school where I teach, we have used exclusively induction cooktops for about 5 years. I've found that they work very well for most purposes, with their best feature being that they can be moved on and off any tabletop with an outlet -- there when you need them, under the counter when you don't. They also don't need a vent, so can be used in tight spaces, office buildings, boats, etc. Very good for long, slow simmering or precise heat control -- we had one at the old Le Cirque at the Palace hotel and we used it a lot for sugar work and chocolate sauce. Easy to clean and hygienic. Cons: movable but heavy. Sometimes the convenient-sized pots (especially saucepans and rondeaus) are not induction-compatible. Flambeeing is a pain, and so is reducing or evaporating because it takes so long -- sometimes the unit will simply shut off after abou 45 minutes. No repair service or tech support. Have no experience with it in the home, although I do remember about 12 years ago in the Philippines they were featured at a Tupperware-type party my mom's friends had. That one was made of pastel fibreglass or something similar and had coordinating pots.

not that I've done a ton of metallic, but copper color for copper, warm yellow for gold and grey for silver or platinum work for me. If you need a fabric texture, try a veined rolling pin then airbrush. Go back with dry color in some areas to give that light-bouncing effect.