RWood

I have never tried a hickory nut and had hoped to i wonder how strong they are? Hickory nuts are one of my favorites. They are similar in flavor to black walnuts, not as strong, and a little different. You need a Mack truck to crack them though . With very little reward after. I used to sit and dig them out as a kid. I've seen them online, shelled for $30/pound. If you've ever tried to shell them, you will know why. I really want some now . Been a long time.

My aunt used to make a black walnut layer cake. Loved it when I was little. I saw a similar recipe on Hammons black walnuts site http://www.black-walnuts.com/recipe/fancy-black-walnut-cake/. Been meaning to try it. The same site as a pie recipe too.

Doubt I will do just crust, may go with ginger snaps.

I have Apple Crisp ice cream in the works right now, and pumpkin pie lined up. I have made lemon meringue ice cream. It was well received, but I'm not a meringue fan. I just baked a half sheet of meringue until lightly browned and dry. Then, crushed the pieces and added it to the lemon ice cream.This has got to be one of my favorites: rosemary brown butter with hazelnuts. So good, I may put it with a fig special this weekend.

Two new ones this week: Chocolate Smoked Porter with stout candied bacon (I used the smoked porter from Stone Brewing) Sort of a Snickers-peanut butter ice cream with caramel swirl and chocolate covered peanuts. I went no egg with this one, the last couple of PB batches were grainy, and this one came out much smoother.

When I make mint chip, I only use fresh mint leaves. I've never been a fan of mint extracts, never get the right flavor. I have found that if you use a vitamix to burr the mint leaves with part of the milk/cream before heating, you'll get a lot more flavor. And it helps with a natural green color as well. It has gotten an murky brown color to it at times, but once I've tempered it with the egg yolks, it's fine.

Those were made with Tappits. There is also a brand called Clik Stix I believe. They are plastic strips with each letter in alphabet order. You just roll fondant really thin (I also add a little tylose powder to stiffen the fondant), then cut each letter. You have to whack it against the table edge to get them to pop out. Here's a link on Amazon that shows various ones: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=letter+tappits&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=34084888402&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9894582890958647268&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_1qogu7yfpb_b

The Star Wars cake got changed to Maleficent. My friend I made it for is into the whole Cosplay thing, and she usually dresses as that character. The plaque is gumpaste, painted with cocoa butter mixed with petal dusts. She almost cried when she saw it, was a big surprise.

Yoda! First step for a Star Wars cake I'm making for a friends birthday in a week or so. My first figure, I think he's cute. Now, gotta figure out a Death Star, and maybe Chewbacca.

I never thought this past week would end! I had cakes everyday, dunno what was up with that. Here are two of them: The red poppy cake was for a same sex wedding, they got married 20 years to the day they met, awww . The next one, had a lot of flowers (plus the poppies) that I had to make at home (grrrr) because at had no time at work to get them done.

Check out this link http://theshortcakes.com/blog/?p=8 It is for a kosher fondant. I have not personally tried it, but it might be a start.

I've used a base recipe like this and subbed different fruit purée's for the orange juice, and they still have the lacy look. This tuile here is made with strawberry purée, sometimes they will hold some of the pinkish color, but this photo doesn't show that.

I've seen some of her stuff, will check it.

Thanks! My next attempt is going to be a standing Thor's hammer cake. I have a friend into cos-play and that's his character. He asked if I could make one a couple of years ago, just haven't had the time.

So, one of my best friends birthday was Sunday, and I decided to attempt a camera cake for her. She picked up photography as a hobby when she lived in Singapore for something to do (her husband's job took them there). I made the lens with isomalt, and printed the logos on edible paper. I wanted to add more details, and some things could have been a little better. Just need a few decorating tools that I couldn't get in time. But, she loved it, and I knew she wouldn't cut it. She's gonna freeze it until her husband gets home next month. I hate to think what it may be like . But, the back is complete with a photo she took of her boy Huey

Had time for a special this weekend-Goat Cheese Panna Cotta, Roasted Vanilla Rhubarb, Graham Streusel. Really nice flavor, and I used the leftover graham cracker dough I had hanging out.

OK, now I gotta make some nougat

Mainly that it was very moist, soft like cake mix cakes are, and tart from the lemonade. My mom was trying to find the recipe not long ago, so I'll see if she did. It would work with any cake mix I'm sure. My grandmother either used one with pudding in it already, or it could have been that she added it. I have seen some done that jello was added in the dry mix, then mixed as usual. If I find it, I will post.

Growing up, my grandmother used to make a lemon cake like this. She used a lemon cake mix, added lemon pudding mix to that, then when it came out of the oven, she mixed powdered sugar and frozen lemonade concentrate together. Poured it over the cake and let it soak in. Everyone loved it. Haven't had it in years, I should try it with a scratch cake, but keep the lemonade.

Yeah, I'm not a plater to begin with, not something I like to do that much anyway. And I just try something for a picture, but I never know what will be done when it goes out. Our pantry guy is creative, but when there are over 500 resos on a Saturday (like this past weekend), it probably gets the fastest plating possible. It is very tasty though

I have a break from wedding cakes for a couple weeks, so I had time for a special this weekend. Salted Caramel Chocolate Gateau-walnut brownie base, salted caramel mousse, Creme Fraiche chocolate cake and chocolate cremeux. I plated it for the picture with some salted caramel ice cream I had just made, but it's so rich, I didn't end up serving it with anything else except sauce on the plate

little late for Valentine's day, but this is the dessert sampler I offered for the weekend. Chocolate Pot de Creme, Red Velvet Macarons, and Passion Fruit Meringue Tarts. I'm always trying to come up with some new ice creams because I have to make so much, and I can get bored making the same ones . So, I did buttered popcorn as the base and then added caramel peanut popcorn. If you don't use the bad for you microwave popcorn in the base, you can't get enough flavor. I used freshly popped with my own butter and sea salt, and decided it needed more so I add the caramel corn. The other, Raspberry Pinot Chocolate Chip. I'm still patting myself on the back for this one . It is so good.

Since I've never attempted this yet, I'm just going to offer a couple things I would worry about. I only make marshmallows that have egg whites. I've made only gelatin ones, and just don't like them as well. But, I did try making a s'mores style brownie with the gelatin version. The marshmallows were melted hollow shells when they came out of the oven. I figure once they melted again, they were just back to the liquid state. So, I'm wondering if that type of marshmallow would work to make RKT's the usual way. I made my usual marshmallows at Christmas to go with hot chocolate mix, and as they melt in the hot chocolate, they stay creamy. This is just something I've wondered about using my own marshmallows.

Getting ready for Sunday

I've used Americolor and it seems to work fine. They lighten as they bake, so you need to add more than you think. You need to also make sure that they are heat stable. Wilton colors say "icing" colors, and they also will make the macarons brown instead of holding the color. I've used powdered colors before, but they seem to need a lot more to get a deep color if that is what you are looking for. The ones I've used are Crystal Colors, and they are not cheap. I used half a container to get a deeper color, and at $5 a pop, that's not worth it. There are some European color brands that I've heard work well, but I don't have the names in front of me at the moment.