AnnieWilliams

Olive Nation has pure fruit extracts. You don't need to use much. I have the cherry extract and it's delicious. If you taste a little bit it will taste like pure fruit. I absolutely love Watkins, but they are still artificial. Olive Nation is natural. I tried David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream and it was awesome. I think I did 6 yolks instead of 5. But it was incredible. I used my small red Cuisinart ice cream maker that my mom gave me, and poured it into a square Tupperware container when it was done churning. That's the only one I've made so far. I'd like to try chocolate next time.

Before I started using a scale, I would pour my flour into a bowl, aerate with a whisk, and use the dip and sweep method. I never ever had a problem with any of my recipes! By the way, You can find some really reasonably priced scales on Amazon.

Weighing is definitely the way to go, especially if you need consistent results every time. Here is a video on YouTube by Rose Levy Beranbaum. She gives an alternate method of measuring flour if you don't have a scale:

Cuppin? Sorry, I got nothin.'

Thanks so much for sharing this! I really appreciate it!

Does anyone have a good apple spice cake recipe which could be used for a wedding cake? My girlfriend requested one for her wedding in a couple of weeks. Most I've seen are more rustic/homey and I need something that cuts well without crumbling all over the place. I read that some people use their favorite carrot cake recipe and use grated apples instead of carrots. This is definitely doable, but I just wanted to see if anyone else has a better way of doing it. Thanks!

Hi Diana, I think I added 1/4 to 1/2 cup of praline paste to a half batch of IMBC (the other half I flavored with Grand Marnier and orange peel for a different buche). It actually didn't change the consistency. I also added a few tablespoons of Frangelico.

I made some back in December for some buches I was working on. Wow, was it a pain! Mine was a mix of hazelnuts and almonds. I first put them in the food processor, then in the VitaMix. Well, the VitaMix gets hot when it runs for a while, so it started to melt the sugars and solidify them again. So I took it back out and put it in the food processor again. Mine was really thick. I really should have added some kind of nut oil but I didn't have any and no stores in my area carry things like that. I ran mine through a sieve and it still wasn't as smooth as a commercial product. I mixed it into Italian meringue buttercream, which dissolved the sugars and made the final product substantially smoother. It was still slightly grainy from the nuts but it was really good!

You can definitely freeze them and the recipe I posted cuts cleanly. They are soft and chewy and not crumbly at all. As written, they are appropriate for Christmas time, but you can use any dried fruit, chocolate, nut, or candy add-in. Most recently I used dark chocolate in place of the white chocolate, used Heath bar toffee bits in place of the cranberries, and made a chocolate buttercream for the top. You can also add any spices or extracts you want.

Ok seriously use the recipe I posted below. I have baked this several times and you can change up the ingredients as you want to. I have made the original a couple of times but I have also used dark chocolate and Heath bar pieces and they have been fantastic. They are always moist and chewy. You have all the key players for chewiness-brown sugar, melted butter, and eggs. http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/White-Chocolate-Cranberry-Blondies

Well I was wondering about that. I think he compensates for the lack of fat with more egg yolks, but I may be mistaken.

It's different than most recipes I've seen because it doesn't include any butter... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Plain-Genoise-353190 Has anyone tried it?

I haven't found it to be tricky-just tricky to get it to not be ugly! Ha!

I have the English version of the Laduree book, which I bought from bookdepository.com. I have not tried any recipes from the book, but I have seen on a few blogs where people have tried the vanilla eclairs or one of their macaron varieties and liked them a lot. It is definitely more of a coffee table book than anything. People are complaining on Amazon about its impracticality in the kitchen, but you know ahead of time that it has gilded pages and a suede cover so I don't see what the big deal is. Definitely photocopy or just hand copy the recipes from the book. That way it won't get damaged if you tend to splash around in the kitchen a bit like me. In that other thread I started, one of the links someone posted shows a comparison of the cookie-topped choux and regular choux. The cookie-topped choux rose higher and more hollow, and it definitely looked better/smoother after it was baked. Now I just have to carve out a Saturday and experiment!

Yes I would agree with you on the machine. Maybe that's how they get outside so smooth. Mine are always lumpy and bumpy and craggy looking, and there is probably no way I could actually stack them without them leaning. I have also wanted to try a St. Honore. There is so much I would like to try, but not enough time to do it all! Something I found interesting-I purchased the Ladure Sucre book (the one with the gilded pages and the suede cover) and one of the chef's notes said that for one of the recipes (I can't remember exactly which pastry but it was choux filled with creme patissiere), you should fill it the night before so a "positive reaction" takes place between the filling and the pastry. I found this interesting because I always heard that you shouldn't fill until the last minute so that the choux stays crisp. Obviously filling them overnight would soften the choux a bit. I always do this anyway because I don't have time to fill and glaze pastry at the last minute, so my choux is never crisp. What are your thoughts on that? Which Pierre Herme book do you have? I am adding to my wish list on Amazon since my birthday is at the end of the month.

I personally am making all kinds of stuff. Unfortunately I haven't had a reason to make a croq, but I would love to! I made eclairs a few months ago and the things looked shabby. I was recently asked to provide some French desserts for a luncheon in May. It's kind of a big deal because of who will be there, and the hostess wanted to make a good impression by providing something "different." A few of the desserts I had in mind called for choux (I had considered religieuse since they are definitely different and she is going for more individual desserts). But I knew the way that my choux had been baking would make rough looking pastries. I really like Laduree's religieuses, because the choux looks perfect. I am not sure if they are baking theirs with the cookie disk on top or not. That was suggested to me in another thread. I would also love to try the salambos and the Paris Brest. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. Thanks!

Here is another one that I completely forgot about. She did an internship with Pierre Herme several years ago and blogged about it. This is her new blog, but she actually did a whole post about the skills required: http://www.likeastrawberrymilk.com/2012/06/how-to-become-a-pastry-chef-the-checklist/

There is also one coming out next month on the 26th (my birthday!). It's called Patisserie by Christophe Felder. I struggle with choux too. Did you see my thread I posted a couple of weeks ago called "Perfect Choux?" You might want to check it out.

Sorry for my delay in replying-I had a long day at work yesterday and then I came home and piped about a billion white chocolate snowflakes. Anyway, thank you so much everyone for replying. I think that is a good point about baking them low. I think mine have always been baked in the 425-ish range but I can't be sure, as I have played with the higher temperatures over the years. Maybe that is the key. Maybe the issue is putting them in a super hot oven makes them puff too fast, giving them their rough appearance. I will definitely check out those links you guys posted. Thanks again for all your input!

Is there a special technique piping choux so that it is very smooth and even after it's been baked? This is the best way I can describe what is "perfect" to me: http://www.parispatisseries.com/2010/10/22/laduree-religieuse-rose/ Generally when I pipe choux for cream puffs or eclairs, they look a little rough after they are baked. I am using a wide, round tip to pipe. I have started using Pichet Ong's choux recipe and it is quite good, but no recipe I've tried has been smooth, so I'm convinced it's in my technique. Is it as simple as using a water-dipped finger to smooth them out once they have been piped? Or is there a special technique to piping them out that I'm missing? If anyone could help me I'd appreciate it.

See, it's not "just a cake." It's dessert to feed however many people are at the event, custom baked and decorated to that client's specifications. People won't think twice about dropping $7 for some crappy pre-frozen dessert from Red Lobster or another restaurant, which never ceases to amaze me when those same people complain about a $3-$4 per serving quote. Luckily the people I am working with now don't feel that way, they were just shocked at the price of the berries. In the past I have had to explain the "it's not just a cake, it's a huge amount of dessert," and that seems to put it in perspective for them. I wasn't surprised about their dissatisfaction with the price. If I received the quote I gave them I would be shocked too. I estimated $3 per berry, and actually went with 300 berries for the high number to allow for bad ones (my original estimate was 250 total for the cake). They are very young and most people don't know what goes into making any baked good, let alone something of that magnitude. I did find some local people who could do it cheaper so I passed on that info in the hope that it will help them out.

Sounds good. Please let me know about your results. I explained how much it was going to cost, and they didn't like the price at all. So I think they are going to find another person to do the strawberry part of things, which I am ok with. However, it would be good to know for future reference. The Guittard A'Peels are the same as the Barry coating.

Thanks for your reply. I think I'm just going to have to do some experimenting to see how they will work.

I hate them. There, I said it. I am just not a fruit and chocolate person. Thank you for your understanding. Anyway, I have been asked to do a wedding cake covered in the dang things. By the picture I was provided, I am estimating about 200 berries. I plan on buying the white A'Peels from Guittard (the berries are all covered in white chocolate) to dip. My question is, what is the best way to dip and store these? There is no way I am going to be able to dip them the day of the wedding. It's going to have to be the day before or earlier, if that's even possible. I'm a one-woman kitchen so I need to do as much in advance as possible. Luckily the cake is simple. It's basically a flat-iced four tier with a simple bead border. I would really like your advice about the best way to dip these and store them. I have read some conflicting information regarding whether or not to wash or refrigerate, so I appreciate the help.

Great, thanks so much for your help!