Aza

The cooked glaze sounds really good! Turns out they've decided to leave tomorrow morning so that I have more time to bake, which means I'll have time to powder my own sugar, as well. I may make both and send them with the cake. Thank you!

I have a friend who has some pretty severe food allergies- gluten, corn, soy, dairy to name just a few. I've managed to put together two bread recipes he's able to enjoy and have been asked to utilize one of them to make a cake for his SO. One of the two is actually made in a bundt pan, but that's not the one she has requested, and since I've never been tasked w/such a conversion (and won't be there to taste test!), I wanted to pose the question here before I begin (was asked this afternoon to drop off tomorrow on my way out of town, yikes!). Both recipes come from the Gluten Free Goddess blog, both were incredibly good, receiving raves from the large group assembled the day I brought them to share. Here's what I am needing to get to be beautiful and yummy from a bundt instead of a loaf pan, already modified with changes made for his diet (original here): Can use loaf pan or 8x10 baking pan per the recipe. Combine: 1 cup canned pumpkin 1/2 cup safflower oil 1 cup packed organic light brown sugar 2 teaspoons McCormick vanilla extract (w/o corn syrup) 2 antibiotic-free eggs 1/2 cup orange juice Whisk together in a separate bowl: 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (Red Mill AP mix) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon xanthan gum 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon cardamom 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves Add the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and stir until smooth. If the batter looks too thin and wet, add more gluten-free flour, a tablespoon at a time, to thicken the batter. Also... I'd like to make a glaze and was originally thinking 10x, ghee, a little vanilla, maybe steep a chai bag in some almond milk to stir in... but it just occurred to me that I will be unable to use regular 10x sugar due to the cornstarch. I would REALLY appreciate any insight or ideas to get around that, as well. Thanks so much!! Stephanie

I've gotten much of my chocolate for the last several years from Country Kitchen SweetArt. Much of the rest was ordered from Chocosphere- not only are the prices higher on the chocolate I love the best, shipping from more than 1/2 way across the country is pretty crazy. As a result I've ordered less and less from Choco and have made the drive to Fort Wayne. While there I do a little shopping for gadgetry and pick up the 'incidentals'- everything else I need for the chocolate I'm buying. Dusts, cocoa butter, packaging, etc. It took some experimenting to find chocolate I actually liked- they carry some Callebaut but I'm not crazy about it. Most of what they had was Peter's. A little research, a little tinkering, voila. Chocolate love. Last year I bought all of my supplies @ CK. No such luck this year. When I didn't see what I was looking for on their website I called and was informed that they did indeed stop carrying every one of the chocolates I was looking for. Does anyone know of a similar store somewhere in the boundary of Chicago, Detroit, Indy, and Toledo? I'm typing this in Elkhart, IN. Or something similar that isn't on the west coast, making shipping a terribly expensive nightmare? TIA.

I just made plans for Friday, so I'm hoping for Monday or Tuesday- with the ganache. I can't wait!!

paulraphael- I would love to get that recipe as well, if you'd not mind sharing w/another. I got a request from a friend- I bake friends pretty much whatever they ask for on their birthdays- for not a lava cake per se, but exactly what you describe. And it sounds amazingly good! Mostlylana is right, your description made it irresistable. I've never been asked for anything like this though and had never really thought to try it. Till now, lol. Her birthday is today, I had hoped to have something worked out yet this weekend to take to her. She's out of town celebrating right now so I got a few days' grace. I will probably tinker with the other recipes posted here but that one just sounds... soooooo good!

For what it's worth, my ACMC is hands down the best investment I've made- and I bought it knowing that I might not use it for more than a couple hundred pieces once a year. It simply frees me up to do other things, and makes the dipping easy. It is my machine of immaculate chocolate lovin', and I would never want to live without it again.

I shipped two to NY UPS 2nd day, 1 to Mesa, AZ and one to Knoxville, TN- the last 2 via priority mail. Everything but the toffee was completely unharmed- I'll box that bag next time. I really appreciate all of the advice!! I got some crazy phone calls when it arrived, everyone loved the goodies. Good candy boxes, candy pads, and bubble wrap. I'm actually looking forward to summer shipping to get it working too.

Got home to find my book open to that page, my pdf recipe was opposite it. We use this recipe for hard candy and have always made lollipops from it as well: 1c water 1c sugar 3/4c corn syrup I found the oils on the Lorann page here: https://www.lorannoils.com/c-6-super-streng...candy-oils.aspx Until the last few years, we used a 1 dram bottle per unless we were doing flavor combos- cherry cheesecake, caramel apple, etc. As I mentioned, we've migrated toward double-strength batches after a long day and several 'extra' bottles of flavoring. Those were the batches that received the best reviews. We also traditionally do a triple-strength batch of cinnamon, but it's more oil than will incorporate into the syrup which means it soaks into the confectioner's sugar- yum!

Ahh, and even a bonus answer the other question haunting me- whether I could ship and risk 2 day delivery vs. needing to overnight! Thank you! The shipment to Mesa, AZ will be overnighted, but the 2 to NY would need not. Excellent!! Sounds like the bigger truffles will be ok in vac pac- Kerry, did you notice any flavor transfer to the chocolates? I'll plan to layer those in the box and use the pretty packaging for the rest. Thank you all for the help!! The day has been saved, and I have the weekend to make more stuff.

I've always used a bottle of the Lorann, the smaller ones. I think they're 1 dram bottles. I'll double check my recipe when I get home, but if memory serves, it's about double what yours is. I seem to remember 3/4c corn syrup and 1c water. That said, double-flavored batches went over FAR better than the singles simply because the flavors really came through. We've done as many as 20 different flavors in a day- so the more common Lorann flavors and combinations you'll come up with do well with one, but were generally better with 2. (eta: FINALLY a question I have some experience with!! )

Given that the packing and shipping has been covered nearly ad nauseum, I should probably thank everyone for clicking on this one anyway. I searched and found quite a lot on temperature and the like, but nothing on this specifically. I've been planning to ship chocolates to some friends for quite some time now. The chocolates/candy are finally done, and I had purchased some very nice boxes, inserts, and cups to ship them safely halfway around the country. They don't fit. Oops!! A few flavors of truffles were slightly (ha!) oversized and won't fit in the trays. I'd resigned myself to the 3-4 hr round trip to pick up appropriate sized ones this weekend but had a thought based on something someone here had mentioned regarding taking them on an airplane. I forget who it was, but here's the thought- would it be possible to vaccuum seal them and layer the packages with bubble wrap and peanuts? Lovely boxes would be nice, but not only to the recipients not care what they look like, they're beginning to get anxious- and I've already spent quite a lot on the endeavour so far so if I can avoid the trip to Ft Wayne... Has anyone else done this? Do you think that the bags would leave stinky plasticness all over my hard work? Any and all input is welcome! Alternative ideas as well. Thanks!

I usually use Alton Brown's Overnight recipe- I usually make them to take into work, and the recipe works well for that. Not to mention they're quite tasty, if loaded- egg yolks and buttermilk, yikes. I'm going to try to hold off till weekend to do this if my willpower allows. I've got lots of chocolates left to finish up and ship.

After a little research I've ruled out glaceed fruits as what I'm after. Does anyone have any ideas regarding getting that thicker, chewier texture? I've got 2 batches of pate de fruits here, one of them spoken for to make pbjs, but I have plenty of stuff to make more. It occurs to me that maybe letting them dry longer would work, but that's likely not the usual way to do things. I'm thinking that if I can work out the details, it would be fun to mold and dip them to send off to the friend eagerly awaiting goodies in NY.

It's funny you mention that, Dan- one of the chocolates I'm making this year is the pbjs from Greweling's book. Not quite traditional, but I can't wait to try them! I love the look of the transfers on yours. It does seem like the jellies looked thicker, chewier- and that the solution was too easy. I'll start checking around for a recipe for glaceed fruits and do a little taste testing. For now though he seems thrilled with the idea of dipping the pate de fruits. Thanks everyone!

Title pretty much says it all. A friend requested chocolate covered jellies be found in his Christmas goodies, and the only thing that comes to mind is pate de fruits. Is it the same thing, or are they slightly different? Is it a safe assumption that the pate de fruits would really, REALLY need to be dried- and not rolled- to do the enrobing? I learn something new every year!!