nightscotsman

Since the cake is for a special occasion, I think it's worth taking the time to rebake. To test for doneness it is usually necessary to poke a skewer or knife into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean it should be done. Just touching the top is not as accurate for most cakes and may be misleading.

Tyler Florence has a Caramel Apple Pie recipe over on the Food Network site. Is has a red wine caramel, so it may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it does sound good.

I would bring all my own stuff - both equipment and all ingredients pre-scaled in separate, labeled containters (get some cheap deli or Glad containers with lids), including separating eggs and squeezing and zesting lemons. If they are able to supply you with a set up, it will be tools you've never used before and may not give you predictable results. And you don't want to waste time (or make a mess) scaling ingredients as you go. Keep as many aspects of this presentation within your control and there will be fewer surprises and you'll be much more comfortable and able to charm your audience. Oh, and if you can scare up an assistant, they can be a big help in handing you tools and cleaning up as you go along.

I can tell you that Norman uses pre-colored cocoa butter that comes in squeeze bottles (check out Chef Rubber). And the luster he gets is from spraying the chocolate molds with colored cocoa butter using an airbrush, and then dusting with gold or silver powder. The thin layer of cocoa butter is actually quite transparent, so the metalic dust makes the colors really pop out.

Lavender is actually a traditional marshmallow flavor in France. You could try to find a food-grade extract, but another method would be to heat the sugar and water for the syrup with some dried lavender (maybe a couple tablespoons for the half recipe) and let it steep for awhile. Strain out the flowers, add the corn syrup and proceed with recipe.

Well, if you're more comfortable toasting nuts in a skillet and it works for you, then by all means carry on. However, doing larger amounts on the stove top can be awkward to say the least, and toasting in the oven really isn't that tricky. Make sure your oven isn't any hotter than 350 - actually 325 would give you more even results - and give them a stir once they just start to toast. Yes, you need to take them out before they get too dark, but using a lower oven temp should give you a little more leeway on time.

Try Williams Sonoma for Valrhona cocoa. Of course it will be over priced, but they should have it.

50/50 by weight.

Freezing does not kill salmonella, or most other bacteria that causes food poisoning. Anyway, it's the yolks that potentially carry salmonella. We learned in school that the whites actually have some antibacterial qualities that protect the growing chicken embrio, so it's much safer to eat raw whites, even if they are left out at room temp (uncovered, so they don't mold) for several days. We did this in school all the time with no problems.

I think she's referring to the half cup of liquid in the half recipe I posted above. I would use 1 cup in the full recipe. I experimented with pumpkin marshmallows a couple weeks ago and found that 3/4 C of pumpkin with 1/4 cup water to bloom the gelatine worked well to give good flavor, along with 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp ginger. Again, this is for the half recipe, so the boiled mixture was 6 Tbs water, 1-1/2 C sugar, and 1/2 + 2 Tbs corn syrup. The finished product was a little overly wet, so I would cook the syrup a little more to maybe 245 F to compensate.

Well, according to whatscookingamerica.net, the hot sugar syrup used in Italian meringue or pate a bombe doesn't actually cook the eggs enough to kill salmonella: So the risk isn't really changed from eating raw eggs anyway. But then, I'll eat rare hamburger from a reputable restaurant as well.

I wouldn't change the rest of the recipe - the added sweetness of the apple cider won't be noticed since marshmallows are basically whipped sugar to begin with. however, you will get more flavor if you start with a cider that's on the tart side, like a fresh pasturized juice, rather than one from concentrate. For even more flavor, you could also use cider in the boiled sugar mixture instead of water.

I wouldn't worry about the humidity. The mixture should whip up fine and the gelatine will set, though you may have to recoat them in the starch/sugar mixture after a few days. Potato starch does seem to hold up and resist moisture a little better than corn starch. I've been able to find it at healthfood stores and asian markets. The tangerines will make great marshmallow! Just use all juice instead of water in the gelatine mixture: (1/2 batch) 1/2 cup tangerine juice 2 envelopes gelatine Optional - 1/2 tsp vanilla Bloom gelatine in bowl of mixer. 6 Tbs water 1-1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs corn syrup pinch of salt combine and cook to 235 F. Pour into mixing bowl with gelatine and whip until fluffy and thick - about 10 minutes. Spread into sheet pan lined with foil sprayed with non-stick spray. Let set uncovered for several hours or overnight. You'll fill about 1/3 of a standard half-sheet pan. For a stronger flavor you could add some freshly grated zest to the juice and gelatine, though the finished product will have bits of zest interupting the smooth texture.

Glad you enjoyed dessert. If you were there on Sunday, then I made your petit cream brulees - vanilla, vanilla with raspberries, chocolate with ganache, and mango/passion with mango pieces. I also made the banana beignets last week for the first time, so your wife may have had some of mine. They are a very soft yeasted beignet with lots of beer and rum filled with passion fruit cream and banana slices.

poured sugar or isomalt would work for the glass, but would have to be quite thick for large expanses. You might consider using sheets of gelatine instead. Or you could do a clear caramel from fondant and glucose like Oriol Balaguer does for garnishes - it would be thinner than poured sugar and might be a little sturdier, but still relatively fragile. 600 g fondant 400 g glucose combine and heat to 160 C. Set pan in ice bath to stop cooking. Pour onto Silpat and spread to 3-5mm. Let cool and cut into pieces. Place pieces on a sheet pan between two silpats and heat in the oven to soften (don't let it color or bubble). Use a rolling pin to spread thin and cut shapes while still warm and soft.

Actually, shortening is 100% fat - no water - so even if it melts it probably isn't the cause of the soggy crust. There are most likely two culprits: 1) more sugar in the cookie crumbs which would tend to absorb water from the filling. 2) the more refined flour in the cookies is much more absorbant than the whole wheat flour of graham crackers. I would lightly prebake the crusts to dry them out and help moisture poof them, and if you have to store them overnight, I would leave them out at room temp rather than in the cooler (which can be very humid).

I personally have no problem using and eating desserts with uncooked eggs as long as the eggs are stored and handled properly. In fact, the tiramisu that we make every day uses fresh uncooked yolks and whites and we have never had any issues.

Ah, the corporate hiring process strikes again. Hope you've got enough hair left for the second test.

I just wanted to bump this back up top since we are still looking to fill several pastry positions. We just lost our assistant pastry chef in charge of breakfast pastry (the "Danish Team"), so that opening has been added. Check out the jobs available here (select "Bellagio" under Property and "pastry" under Keyword).

Oh, I forgot one other detail about the preparing the cheesecakes in metal rings - we brush the inside of the rings with butter and dust with sugar to prevent sticking and ensure a clean release.

I can't believe we're already starting to make Christmas cookies. The banquet team just made a few hundred for a group here last week. Trees, gingerbread men, etc. all decorated with colored royal icing. Cute stuff, but who orders Christmas cookies (and other holiday themed desserts) at the begining of November?

Oh, I hope you consider having dessert as well. The donuts are really good - they're a light and moist beignet in donut form filled with banana caramel and served with two dipping sauces. Or the brownie with espresso milk shake - the brownie is super rich with a layer of fluffy flourless chocolate cake baked on top.

I happen to really like Fix (especially the desserts ). The food is very well prepared and creatively presented. Cocktails are also interesting - I recommend the cucumber martini or the pineapple mojito. I might suggest doing Circo for lunch on Thursday and dinner at Fix (since Fix doesn't open until after 5:00 pm).

There are two main differences between the flexi and ring mold versions: the small flexipans are meant for mini-muffins so the edges are slightly rounded and they don't have straight sides, and you can't bake them with a crust (which is why we place them onto cookies after they're glazed). Chilling just doesn't get them hard enough to unmold without damaging the shape. We use both the flexipans and ring versions as two-bite petit fours depending quantity - it takes a WHOLE lot less time to make 3000 of the flexi version. For smaller groups and VIPs we use rings since they do look much nicer with the perfectly straight sides and look more like tiny versions of traditional cheesecake. For individual desserts sold retail and for room service we use the ring mold method.

JB Prince sells a range of rings in single serving sizes. Although I think some of the smaller ones we use were custom made (yeah, it helps being a huge hotel with an engineering staff that can manufacture just about anything we need). For a cheaper alternative you can have a metal shop cut slices from aluminum or stainless steel piping. Some may not consider these "food-safe", but I can tell you they've been using rings made this way at Charlie Trotter's for years.