Wendy DeBord

Welcome to the eGullet Society For Arts & Letters Dailey! I do add lemon zest, lemon oil or lemon emulsion to taste (and or any combination of), to any cake recipe I want to turn into a lemon flavored cake. I might do that to any type of cake, examples: a pound cake, angel food cake, white cake, sponge cake. I really like lemon oil because it packs alot of punch with only a small amount added. With lemon emulsion you do need to be careful you don't upset the ratios in your recipe. With lemon zest, I like to put it in my cusinart with my sugar to chop it very finely.......making a lemon sugar. That really releases all the natural oil from the peel into your sugar. You can do similar with orange peel and both can be used in almost any recipe thru the flavored sugar with-out upsetting a recipe.

Wow, I've throughly enjoyed reading your blog to date, thank-you. When I did my blog last week I asked for that time frame because it was a slow work week for me. I certainly can't imagine how hard this must have been for you. But I'm really grateful that you did do this during your holiday and busy time, I've learned soooo much. Back around page 2 or 3 you showed your misen place for your chiffon cake..........and son of a gun.......I got a great return on my admission fee! I always run out of bowls while working and it NEVER EVER occured to me to use plastic cups to hold my measurements! Good god that's brilliant, I can't wait to start work next week and follow your example. My chef will be so pleased I'm not using his glass bowls anymore. Questions, if you don't mind? About that brisket..........(embarrassing questions I should know the answers to, but don't) can I buy a decent one at my local grocery store? If so is it marked "brisket" or named something else? I must make one, I recall having them when I was younger and I can remember the smell exactly as I see your photographs. Is there anything cut/size or color wise I should look for or ask for when I shop for this? Do I bake it fat side up? Do I trim the meat before cooking or anything like that? So you can't tell us your secret spices, but for someone like me who's never cooked a brisket and wants it to taste great, can you give me some suggestions of what types of spices one might use, please? Alot or a little of them......... I always thought that matzo balls that sunk were bad ones, so that's wrong? Do you believe in the thoughts about never peaking at your m.balls while they are cooking or they'll be ruined? Which do you prefer and what makes them sinkers? Last, I really enjoyed seeing what you bake for holidays. I haven't seen much material yet alone photos of Jewish holiday baking published. You've covered more then any article I've ever seen. Great blog!

Well I sort of ran into similar yesterday at work. I was baking some petite cakes in a rose shaped mold I have, and NOTHING would get the air pockets out for me. The batter was pretty heavy and the pans edges didn't sloop outward so when I tapped the heck out of it, the air remained where it was in the first place. It couldn't rise thru the thick batter or slide around to the side of the pan and then upward...it was trapped. The way to resolve this is to pipe your batter into your pan. Keep you bag close to the bottom of your mold so your really forcing the batter into full contact with the pan. That should work. Also I really want to thank-you for sharing your recipe, thanks!

Wow, that looks great Mel, you've got my stomach growling. I don't think I've ever thought about a savory bread pudding. Is it really bread pudding or sort of a strada? Can you mention what flavors you make of those, please?

I've written this before, but I'll add it again. I do use some cake mixes......for various reasons. Only white cake and yellow cake................I've yet to find perfect recipes for those two flavors that people like better then what I can get out of a mix. I only use those on wedding cakes, I make everything else from scratch.

I hope some of our more expert level cake decorators will have better leads then I. I know theres at least one book on airbrushing on cakes it's written by Carol Faxton (I could have her last name slightly wrong). I've never seen the book, but I've heard good things about the author. I know you can get that book and airbrushing supplies at this site.. I've ordered other products from them over the years and they have great service. Their site can be a little hard to navigate because they stock so much but I think you can message them dirrectly at their site and they can lead you to that book and supplies.

Wendy, isn't that kind of irrelevant to whether or not the person can do the job? I admit to living in jeans and t-shirts these days because mostly the alternative for me (what's in my closet right now) is generally boring corporate clothes (button down shirts, a couple of pairs of slacks that I'm proud to say are too big for me right now). I guess it's an excuse to get something that's between the two. ← I think it is very relevant. How someone cares about their appearance tells me how they care about every little detail. Every little detail matters to me if your working for me. If you look sloppy chances are you work sloppy. If you have no style, chances are you can't put it into your work either. I don't look great, dress great day in and day out. I'm too stressed over time or too tired to care. BUT when I go into a job interview I darn well want to put out my BEST. I always get a new outfit to look fresh, contemporary, in style, successful.

ah kitwilliams beat me to the same question. Can you tell us more about that lemon praline tart, please????????? You guys are raising my blood pressure, this is like showing a junkie, crack (i think).......... it makes me want to work 24/7.

Personally, I think there aren't enough restaurants where chefs can blur the lines between sweet and savory................so it's a VERY narrow audience you'd be appealing to. I don't see home cooks embrasing this outside of 'Foodie' circles. I think the Dubies (from Canada) and even Charlie Trotters dessert book already covered this ground............

I can never own enough books. If I were to choose a topic I'd love to see covered which isn't clearly and in one place, would be tips and techniques for professionals on: production, in all applications including how you handle product in your coolers. shortcuts for production. all the tips that have run in the back of P, A & D all in one place. given by chefs for chefs. mass plating ideas. buffet concepts, putting out a nice buffet with nothing.........no nice trays, just using items commonly found in the kitchen. I feel like there are tons of books geared toward home bakers, then there are many books covering very advanced pastry.........but not alot in between. Pretend your mentoring me, tell me all your best advice and tricks. Even the most seasoned pro is always looking for new tips and time savers.

Calipoutine, sending photo copies of copyrighted materials is illegal and you should never do that or offer to do so. BUT if what you meant was you'd write it up for us, please do so on thread and share it with everyone. We all are interested.

In addition you can buy them thru large bakery suppliers. In Chicago, you can get them thru Dawn. But P & H does have the most and their website makes shopping fun.

Any chance you'd let the rest of us in on this? Which book? Gosh David I've never seen holes like that before, thats a mystery. I don't really see how what you've coated your pans with could produce that. How are you placing your batter into your pan? Are you scooping it, piping it...........?

I had forgotten about this........but I have mixed homemade white chocolate plastic with purchased fondant. It worked fine and did taste pretty good. You can do that in what ever ratios you want. Fondant mixed in with your white chocolate plastic makes it more elastic.

You can see Chefettes work on the following thread: here.

I would dress more casually if I was going into a Mom & Pop shop than I would if I was going into a hotel or larger place. Probably a pair of nice slacks, just no jeans. I'd wear a pants and a jacket (they don't have to be a set) to a hotel interview. I personally, don't like to see people come in in their uniforms, ONLY if I know the person. I think wearing your uniform is too casual. I want to see whom that person is in street cloths. And I hope that you have some style and can put together a nice outfit appropriate to you body. Going in on a job as the lead/ pastry chef I wear a suit (with style) and dress as professionally as I'm comfortable. I don't wear high heels or pretent to be something I'm not. I pick out an outfit along the lines of something I'd wear to my husbands company party.

I do my cigarette paste on silpats, then top with joconde. I find that parchment paper really gives you a wrinkled surface. After I bake them I find it best to leave them as is, not to de-pan until I use them. I do cover them with plastic wrap so they don't dry out and loose any of their flexiblity. Then when I go to use them I invert on the plastic saran. For some reason the joconde doesn't stick to the saran, but it does stick badly to parchment paper. I gently peel off my silpats. From there, I cut my strips going thru the plastic wrap. I pick up my jonconde by holding the saran and flip it over so my pattern side is up, then place my pan sprayed acetate strips dirrectly on the joconde and I can pick it up and move it around with-out any problems. Acetate is on one side and the plastic wrap is on the other side. If I'm doing a cake, I set it in my pan, then pull off the saran wrap. Then if I need more joconde to finish the circumference of my pan I pick up another strip of joconde by the saran and I can place it into my cake with-out any problems. With the acetate on one side and the plastic wrap on the other you can do a fair amount of fussing with-out doing any harm to the cake. Thanks Mel. I doubt you had a chance to check it out, but I posted photos of some of my finished petite four joconde cakelets in my blog......if you want to see the finished product.

Taylor214, we've talked about this topic so much it's exhausting to think about how many threads exist here that can help you. I highly suggest you do a site search on this and it should give you dozens of threads to read and learn from.

You can't blame your pans for items sticking if your buttering them. Give up using butter to coat any and all pans, in any and all baking recipes. The water content in butter messes with your release. Butter and flouring a pan, also gone! Neither come close to how well a spray on pan spray works. When you buy pan spray always double check on the back label that it doesn't contain water (again water makes stuff stick). Any recipe author suggesting people use butter for a release coating is also an author that only gives you volume measurments. Both are inacurate. You can give your filled pans a tap on the counter before placing them in the oven to help release any big air pockets. You can even tap a flexipan. As for posting photos you must upload your photos into Imagegullet first. You'll find the button for that on the top center part of your page. Plus your images must be 640 pixels or less. Take a look here.

Sherribabee we prefer members to share recipes with everyone by posting in public, please. You definately can post the recipe here in this thread. BUT you do have to follow our rules and not infringe on others copyrights. Briefly: you can post the ingredients exactly as published. They can't copyright a list of ingredients or measurements. But when it comes to the instructions, they own those words, so you need to describe how you make/mix that cake in your own words. It's really not hard or time consuming at all.

oops........I forgot something. If anyone would like to talk further about any of the topics I've mentioned during my blog.......I'd be more then happy to talk about the subject in another forum. You can always find me thru our private messaging system and or see me in the Pastry & Baking Forum. Good night!

When I see the words 'fabulous' and 'recipe' in the same sentence,.......... of course I'd love to try your recipe, please.

I have a recipe that I always use that I like alot. I won't stray away from it unless I read raves about another recipe. I'm not sure if it's on her site, but the recipe I like is from Martha Stewart. I got it out of the magazine sometime over this past year. If you can't find it, I'll post it for you here at a later date..........it's past bed time. Just ask, ok?

I do want to dearly thank everyone who stopped by and read this blog. It's good to know I wasn't alone! I do appreciate everyones praise. I'll try not to let my head swell, but you've all touched me with your kind words. o.k. so now I begin my last post to my blog. If I was a writer I'd come up with some great ending............but I'm not a writer, bummer. I can't end my pastry blog doing a savory meal so I have one last thought to keep you all reading. Since I don't have children I'll have to post some more animal photos. Could you see this coming? After we ate dinner the cat begged to go for a stroll around the yard. This cat: It's become a daily habit and something he looks forward to all day. How do I know that? He sits by the front door and meow's so loud so often, it drives you crazy enough that the only way you can shut him up is to do what he wants. Once he goes for a stroll he doesn't meow again until the next evening when he wants a stroll. I can add this (in a food blog) because dukie always eats as much as he can during these outtings. He caved in easily and wears a red leash while he strolls his property. He knows it the leash or he stays inside. he loves his catnip. this is now one heavily intoxicated cat...........all nipped up. he's parinoid that someone will sneek up on him while he's drunk. bathtime. and let the camera into my life fade as we check out a picture of my dwarf apple tree about to burst into bloom. Notice the sun is setting in the background..........how's that for luck!

I did cheat and eat some pistchios while I was blogging before dinner. I didn't take a photo of it because I was just going to hide that piggy fact from you. I actually did make us dinner. One decent meal out of a weeks worth. Oh wait, I made enough tonight so we'd have left-overs tommarrow, but then I won't get credit for it, so I had to tell you that now. So whew, we'll eat decent two nights this week. I mentioned that I would post the recipe I use for beef and brocoli. My husband thinks it's better then any Chinesse food that can be purchased in our area (I was supposed to write that for him). I hope someone will give it a try, I do think it's pretty good. It's probably more American/Chinesse so any Asians reading along might laugh at this recipe. I've changed the orginial recipe enough that I feel comfortable calling it mine now. Just in case your interested the original recipe came out of "Chinesse Cooking Class Cookbook" by the editors of Consumer Guide, published by Beekman House in 1980. They titled the orginial recipe, Satay Beef. Theres actually several recipe in this book that I've made that turned out quite nice, I'd reccomend buying this book if you ever come across it. It's certainly not an impressive book by a big name chef, but the recipes they have as every bit as good. Wendys Beef & Brocoli: Mix together: 6 tbsp. h20 1 tbsp. cornstarch 1 tbsp. terriaki sauce (or soy sauce) 4 tsp. sesame oil This will marinate your meat. I always use tenderloin, but I suppose you could use a cheaper cut. 2 lbs. tenderloin In another bowl, small sized mix these ingredients together, they will make your sauce later: 4 tbsp. h20 4 tsp. terriaki sauce 2 tbsp. rice wine (NOT rice wine vinagar!) 2 tbsp. hosin sauce 2 tbsp. oyster sauce 1 1/2 tsp. curry powder (I use mild, but you could use hot) 1 tsp. sugar (don't omit this, the sauce won't be right with-out it) set the sauce aside while you cut up your vegetables. 1 meduim onion, large chop 2 cloves garlic, minced (fresh not jarred stuff) bok choy (you can use as little or as much as you like, I probably use 1/2 lb.), cut into rough chunks brocolli (maybe one typical bunch from the grocery store, aprox. 1 lb.), cut into florets, and blanched briefly. I saute my onions first in some cannola oil, as they get softer I add the vegetables according to what needs the most cooking to the least. So it's onions, bok choy (the heavy white stems first), broccoli then the green tops of the bok choy. I under cook this because it's going to continue cooking/steaming during the time I prepare the rest of the ingredients. I just set it in a metal bowl uncovered. I turn my heat up to high and sear/saute my tenderloin. Again I want to slightly undercook it because I'm going to set it aside too while I make my sauce. I season by tenderloin with cracked pepper and sea salt. When it's done to your premature likings, set it aside (I put it ontop of my veg,'s cause I don't like extra dishes). * (this is important: When you place your meat in the pan, DO NOT dump the marinade in with it. If you do, your meat will NOT sear/cook properly, it will boil in the liquid. Before I put my meat into my pan I drain the marinade into my other bowl of sauce, keeping the good flavor left from the marinade, As meat begins to saute/sear in your pan it will extrude juices. I stop about 3 times during the cooking process to drain off that juice. If you leave that juice the meat will boil in it and not sear. I do discard those drippings.) Back to my frying pan I add just a tiny bit of oil and saute my freshly minced garlic. This only takes but a moment or two, because over cooked garlic tastes bitter and you don't want that. On top of the garlic in my pan I dump the sauce I made earilier. I bring that up to a boil to thicken. Add back my veg.'s and meat, stir to coat and serve on Chinesse rice. Here's how it looked while I made it: (oh, i need to add that I don't have a wok. I keep meaning to buy one but get distracted by purchasing baking equipment instead. This cooks just fine in a frying pan, turn your heat up so it resembles the fast cooking of the wok.) The meat marinating. The sauce that finished the dish. oh the frying pan is too small, but it's the biggest I currently own. normally I'd be making half this amount...........but instead of dividing this into 2 batches (hey it's my day off) I just cooked it all at once. Don't do that, do as I say not as I do. so now I'm putting this into a bowl to set aside while I finish the rest. finishing the sauce. then eat. wouldn't you know my last shot and the meat looks anemic, sorry.