Bruiser

I'm making lemon mousse domes that I would ideally like to fill with a sauce/ syrup that won't completely solidify when the domes are frozen. The idea is that when you cut into them the sauce would flow out onto the plate. Any ideas? Thanks!

My standard go to chocolate cake recipe is made with mayonnaise (just eggs and oil emulsified), I usually have housemade mayo at the restaurant but I acheive the same results with store bought. It's ridiculously moist, chocolatey, and tortes like a dream when I do specialty cakes. 3 eggs 350g sugar 240g mayonnaise 2T vanilla extract 280g all purpose 85g dutch cocoa (I use valhrona) 7g baking soda 1g baking powder 2g salt 290g water (can be cut with other liquids such as coffee,liqueur, etc) Mix the eggs and sugar, until lightened and at ribbon stage. Add in mayo and vanilla. Alternate between dry mix and water. I bake this in a half sheet at 325 convection high fan, for about 10-15 minutes for a 3/4inch layer. It also multiplies well (I havent gone past 8x) Hope this helps.

Has anyone else made Pichet Ong's Peanut Butter Cookies from his cookbook? They are unreal. He uses brown butter in them, and sprinkles sea salt on top and it makes such a difference. I'm making some tonight, so I will post a picture tomorrow.

but how do I buy it? i dont see a link, or dimensions

completely diff shape am i looking at the wrong one?

Looking for a corset shaped cookie that will be about 4-5 inches tall. Someone recommended a dog bone cutter for this but I find them too narrow in the center for what I need. If anyone can provide like that would be great. Also, for decorating w/ royal icing, should I spend $$ on the special pastry tips or will my cornets suffice? This is what the bride wants for her shower Corset cookie

I had the same question a while back and here is what my helpful fellow eG'ers came up with. ← thanks do you know if the acrylic cracks when something warm is in the display? i noticed this when i would put warm muffins, sticky bins, etc. on cake stands with the plastic lids. Either we'd end up with spider cracks or the lid would crack altogether.

I'm having trouble finding countertop display cases. Unfortunately, my boss wasn't thinking straight when he began renovations at our new cafe/bakery. The barista station in front is where everything is being diplayed. Right now we are using cake stands to display the pastries, but there is never enough room. Plus all refrigerated items are kept in the back. I'm trying to find a display that is no more than 14 inches deep (REALLY narrow counters) and about 3 feet wide, with two shelves. Also, I'm looking for one refrigerated display case with the same dimensions. I know we can have custom displays built but Im nervous that it will be incredibly expensive. It's a brand new business so we have to be careful. Thanks!

i always eyeball mine. i trust instinct over a thermometer or "cooking time" plus, i probably use a larger pot when i make it, and with a larger surface area, mine cooks faster. and i strain because i'm a little paranoid. one of my quirks I guess. i remember taking a class with biagio settipani and as i set up my ingredients for his pastry cream demo, he just threw the eggs right in the pot with all the other ingredients before i even turned on the gas. i remember looking at him and saying "but, i was always taught---" "ah, the french, with their fancy techniques, they make everything so complicated" and you know what, it came out perfect.

this is by far my favorite chocolate cake recipe and it's incredibly easy to make. i can't recall when I got it, but it was used in one of Johnny Iuzzini's demos at The Chocolate show. 3 large eggs 350 g. granulated sugar ----------------------------------- 242 g. mayonnaise (homemade or store-bought) 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract ----------------------------------- 282 g. all purpose flour 85 g. dutch process cocoa powder 7 g. baking soda 1 g. baking powder 2 g. salt -------------------------------------- 292g. water -Place eggs and sugar in a stand mixer and whip on high speed - about 2 minutes- until light and creamy, (not necessarily ribbon stage) -Scrape the bowl and add in your mayo and vanilla, mix to combine. -Whisk together your dry ingredients, and alternate them into your egg/sugar/ mayo mixture with the with the water. (I usually do 3 additions of dry, 2 additions of water) Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 until tester comes out clean. I've never timed it, due to my oven being a bit screwy. But I've used it for layer cakes, cupcakes, wedding cakes, etc, and it turns out every time.

my recipe is exactly like yours, only i use 4 eggs or 6 yolks (depending on how rich wan t it to be. i generally cook mine until the first two bubbles pop the surface, and then i strain it into a bowl, whisk in my butter and cool it over a ice bath. if i use it the next day, i make sure to whisk it for a minute or two and it should be good as new. i know some people that throw it in the blender or food processor too. good luck.

...is it possible to store all of my cookbooks in one place? As someone who has a huge collection of cookbooks I use for reference on a daily basis, these new e-book readers seem like they'd be incredible for chefs to have all of their resources / recipes / etc in a neat little 10 oz. device. Does anyone know if cookbooks will be made available on these devices, or if we can copy the ones we have onto them?

i've tried the spoon cookies, and to me they were "eh" the first day but got better a couple days after. I've also cut them out into rounds and baked them that way. In regards to brown butter cookies in general.... I find any way possible to sneak it in to recipes. I always have some on hand... and just sub it in to any recipe that I can. Pichet Ong makes an unbelievable peanut butter cookie with brown butter

i spent 6 years working dinner service (which meant 12 pm til as late as 2 am), which I thought I hated. Until I decided to quit and run the bakery end of a cafe. Now I go to work at midnight, and usually stay until 3 in the afternoon. My body hates me. but hey, at least I have peace and quiet the first 8 hours of my shift

I couldn't agree more. I miss having money. Pastry gets the worst end of the salary/ hourly pay. This is IMO, due to the fact that a "bone roaster" progresses from garde manger to hot apps to fish-veg to meat-veg etc. etc. and each promotion can result in a slight raise (50 cents to a dollar more per hour). Pastry cooks don't necessarily progress from station to station in the eyes of management, so i rarely saw raises in the pastry department. I worked with someone that hadn't gotten a raise in 10 years. $10 per hour is what I started at as a pastry cook (50 hr/wk), and stayed there for a year. After 3 months with no pastry chef, I fell into the "Chef" role. I did the job that needed to be done, working 60-70 hours. Then after a 6 mos. went by I grew a set, and told them I love my job, but throw me a bone. I got bumped to $13. Mind you, I was also tossed into the position at 21. I left "romantic fine dining" and now I'm "Executive Muffin Wench" at a Cafe/Bakery making 600 a week (off the books) and my hours run 70 - 90 hours a week. I don't know what your financial situation is, but we all suffer for our craft. The passion is what matters. Good luck with school!