hac

haha! thanks lisa! any more suggestions from egullet folks?

hi guys! been awhile since ive been here, well just as a lurker actually =P anyway, im finally opening up a small shop here in the philippines and thought id ask for suggestions rgarding the name of it. theme is mostly in purple, yellow, white and some other accents. all in pastel. kinda playful place, someting like a old european cake shop thats been turned into a dollhouse cake shop =P with small white fence and chandelier and all. what ill be serving are a variety of cakes (dcadent, meringue, cheesecake etc) per slice and as take away. ill also be open for custom or designer cake orders for bday weddings and other occasions. lastly sme food (pasta and sandwiches) will also be served as well as coffee and juices. thats why im having a bit of a hard time finding the right name. i didnt want it to be to cakey and have people shy away from not thinking theres food involved as well and not too "just-designer-cakes" and hae people think its just for that and no normal cakes to be served. any ideas guys? heres my site. hacs website just so you can have an idea. thanks much for your time and suggestion!

just made it this christmas season, took a few tries to have a taste thatll suit your likings but its very good and very diffrent! my clients loved it! just a pain to search for good quality liquors and mixes here in the philippines.

hi there, id like to try a sunflower seed or something cake, we dont really have it locally (only on some parts but very far) but i could get the seeds from the groceries =P, does anyone have any suggestions on recipes i could try? what kind of cake would it be best to mix the flavor with? filling?frosting?coating?syrup? has anyone tried one before?i would love to hear from you guys. thanks a lot!

havent been here for so long and every thread looks and sounds so mouthwatering! i cant wait to try this cake as well =P i think ill go with the chiffon for this one since i have a recipe for a creamy light one. thank you God for making Chocolate! sucks im so far away (philippines) that whenever you guys talk about restos in usa or europe..i cant get to it =c sometimes i go there but with limited transpo resources. oh well ill just dream about it =P

arrrgghhh dont even get me started on cleaning!! haha! the most simple one for me would be cleaning the metal bowls with butter and shortening..so greasy and you could always feel with your fingers that theres still some left! and also those pans that i use for a cupcake design that i make for a store.. it s ribbed inside and only about 3in wide each at 24pcs per pan! so if something sticks to it (or the shortening)....arrrggghhhhh

drum rolls...all my cookie disasters are gone! woohoo! i just lift of the mold and off comes the cookie with it. then i drop them on a cooling rack! bet i can churn in the 100pcs every 3 days now without any sweat!! thanks all!

baking the first batch right now will let you know =P

thank you and im 100% convinced now. to the store first thing in the morning! wish me luck guys!

"Who are you gonna ask? That girl over there. Summer Wheatly? How the heck are you gonna do that? Build her a cake or something." Just kidding, those look great. I wish I had the patience to do things like that. ← LoL haha! thanks! and for the good laugh too

thanks for your suggestions, i knew about the slipmats since they also told me about it at the store i went to but then they cost a lot at this stage =P im not sure i can afford it jsut yet. if only i had the extra cash to burn for this. the size of the cookie is exactly the size of the egg ring mold you use to get even shapes of eggs when cooking it.

im having some real troubles with my cookies. its wierd i make huge cakes and im having troubles making cookies =P heres the thing, i supply cookies for a ice cream shop here locally. the size of each cookie is as big as an egg ring mold so i use those in the oven as well on top of my cookie pans. ive done this before and i wasnt really having any problems. the sides were lifted and not dropped looking but thats ok since they were using it to make ice cream sandwiches. the problem started after the 300 pieces after. the cookies wont lift from the pan!! it keeps breaking or i can literally lift the pan holdng the cookie. yeesh! ive tried several ways, butter the pan, shortening, wilton pan spray, cooling them then lifting it off with a spatula or just as soon as it bakes i lift them but no luck. i cant use parchment papers since im trying to bring cost down but when i did it stuck to the paper. notes: this happend with the 1st recipe i used and it wont go back the way it was. i changed recipes 4 times and this happens everytime. the pans i use is a heavy grade cookie sheet with no scratchess and is nonstick. alternatively, i would like to ask for a more stable recipe for the cookie. i need a recipe that drops fairly wide. what i used to do is make the ball and gently push that from side to side to make the circle of the mold. comes out uneven but its ok. basically i need something that i can just drop say 2tbsp of the batter in the middle and it will widenen and not just rise. any recipe with minimal ing?its for mass producing =P thanks all! hoping for some inputs!

wow! thos are so beautiful!!! i love the carps details =P blown sugar?

thank you so much. i severely need more letter piping skills! =P to prasantrin: yes i do know what you mean, i lived in the US for a good 6months jsut last year, that was y longest stay there and i went around state to state and when i came home...it was just so diffrent..LoL. not to mention politics...oh well thats for another forum! and a whole lotsa issues! im hoping i could get the shop this summer..whihc is about 2 months away. its just hardto pick a name and the spot! regarding your statement about the cakes here thats funny because i have several american clients that constantly travel here and back for business that orders my cakes regularly. they haul it in the plane and hold it until they get there. they told me that they appreciate the cakes made here by certain people. i dont know if its true or they just havent visited enough restos there to sample sweets!

oh id like to add that if your going to go for the letting your fondant break to get that effect, roll down your fondant fairly thick as i had some problems experimenting that the fondant cracked too much and made some holes. the pagoda cake was made in 2 days since it was a rushed order so next sleep i had was 3days after! =P for this one, a friend of mine wanted something very special for the girl he wants to ask to be his gf. turns out the girl was a choclit cake addict and i happen to sell mostly chocklit cakes. so he turned to me and said a few things on how he wants the cake but leaves it to me on how i want to execute it. well actually it was like this " dude i want a cake that will surprise her, heres the message, think how it will be hidden...kaya mo yan (whihc is filipino for..your on your own!). so a few quick drafts after i remembered some things from molding chocklits for fun! and i ended up with this! this is how i made the top part of the cake. the sides have been coated with a lil bit harder than usual ganache coz i needed the strength, inside is a chocolate decadent cake with fudge cake bottom and layers of fudge whipped cream and meringue. the girl cried and said yes! honestly though it was so hard to work on the chocklit! was so scared that i was eventually going to break things and that my tempering wasnt good at all! but it made it safe..eaten like crazy people not seeing food for days. cake was 12in in diameter.

thank you all for such great comments and warm welcome! the fondant i use is the easy wayo out fondant which is marshmallow, the vodka does leave a bit of taste to it but not enough to even hint its vodka. you can try to brush it with water (just a bit) then dry it good if the cakes are going to be for kids. though imnot entirely surehow thats going to turn out since ive never tried it. im sure someone here can give out a more detailed alternative. to chefette thank you that means a lot for you to comment on this since it would not have been possible if it wasnt for your topic on pastillage and me reading them over and over and over again just to make sure i catch every detail. i used the powdered gelatin for all the pastillage work but was able to adjust it the 1st time that i was able to use it right away and is very smooth and easy to work with but drying time is soooo fast i usually end up running! =P i had my laptop on my table during the butterflys constantly reviewing your topic over and over! to prasantrin yes im located in metro manila, new manilato be more exact. are you from here too? i run this website chocolateyheaven.multiply.com to share and advertise my work as right now im still working on getting my shop and is still based at home =P again thanks all for the welcome!

its true a cake for 50 people isnt really that big so dont scare off and start planning a 20in cake bottom. as for the cake itself you can also use foil folded in half then cut and folded again at the bottom to act as feet together with the wet towel technique. just insert them to the cake batter to level off heat. i usually place them 1/3 from each side of a rectangular pan. dont forget to use nice amounts of buttercream to help 'paste' your layers together to help stability. and yes that is a very good suggestion to, if possible, delivery the cake yourself and be there to assemble it to ensure that your hardwork will not be destroyed by people that only wants to get there work done. it happend to me a number of times and it does notever feel good. for your flowers i would paint them on after coloring them very lightly as what people here said to. alternatively you can use a stamper to get some more details in the flowers as i think (judgin from the sent pic) that the flowers will be the overall highlight of the cake. so make them months in advance so that you can practise lots and get the shade that you want and dont forget to make extras since even though gumpaste dries hard, there still a possibility in might break esp during travel. and ofcourse dont forget to smile while decorating! makes a huge diffrence on the turn out =P

thank you so much! looking forward to having a great time here!

what they all said =P i always bake my cakes a bit taller thanwhat i would need to ensure that i have enough to cut away and level it with. the 'placing the cake in the ref' tip is great and what i use. you can get the wire cutters (i use the wilton one) and just set it, unmold the cake and torte away to level. alternatively you can also try placing a foil sheet on top of the pan a few minutes (10?) before its done to level off heat or you can simply rotate the cake while its baking to get through the ovens hot and cold spots. trial and error to see what works for you.

hi everyone, ive been lurking in this forum for awhile and finally decided to sign in after some questions i thought i could have helped answer went by and more impt my questions! haha! anyway im a self taught home baker that went serious here in the philippines. problem is they dont really take male pastry chefs seriously, so i needed to keep growing. i was trying to learn pastillage and browsed around this forum and came across some old threads by chefette that really helped a lot and i was able to sucesfully complete my handcut 100pcs butterflys in time for a wedding order. thats why im so thankful to the people here and i hope i could return the favor someday. i learned pastillage about 3weeks ago and orders poured in and more possibilities were open. heres some of my latest work so far. all cakes are edible top to bottom (except for a few lights) i used a brush with vodka to "wet" the fondant to give it a more aged look as i was gunning for something that looks old =P *all lights are individually plastic wrapped then encased in pastillage for food safety =P again thank you so much egullet for making me more knowledgeable and i hope i an also contribute here. though i dont know much technical terms since im a, as i said, homebrewed (meaning cookbooks, internet research and youtube =P) im still learning a long the way! i can mostly offer help in mock ups though since i love to tinker!