Wendy DeBord

Ah....and I'm just the opposite of Annie. I like an 18" disposible bag for piping on frosting and no larger. I worry about stressing out my wrists with too much weight in my pastry bag and I'm not too bothered by having to refill it often. For detail decorating because my room has been so darn hot I use a small bag of frosting, like a 9" bag. If I held a larger bag my frosting would be liquid before I used 1/2 the bag. So believe it or not, even your room can throw a variable into the equation. I'd reccomend a brand of disposable bags to you, but I get them from so many different providers I can't even recall which ones I've liked. Some are nice but are a pain to tear off the roll and they rip so there's waste before you even use them, others you have to trim the edges to screw down your cuppler, some always tear on the side, some always stretch out at the tip, some are too thin of plastic, some are rather stiff, etc........ Time and practice will tell you what you prefer. Whats needed: a good turn table a basic set of Wilton tips, cuplars and disposable bags a frosting nail (to form flowers on) sissors food coloring pastes, a variety of colors (the more the merrier) I think that's it. Everything else is extra. Brands, well the hot side chefs use ateco tips because they don't need a wide variety of tip shapes. They buy them in sets and they're easy to come across (no special orders or running to a retail store). I own all Wilton brand (I believe) and I don't find them inferior. I do buy them retail and I do search online for unusual tips too. You really can get everything you need at a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. What you get in savings buying online thru someone like JBPrince is lost in shipping charges. And.....I really don't think there are 'more superior' and '''less superior' tips. Some people even like the plastic tips because they don't rust. Everything else is extra and too often what you buy will be inferior to what you make or use instead of. For instance, you can buy an item that divides your cake so you can figure out where to put your swags. I think it's easier to pick up a round cookie cutter and mark for my swags with that. Sometimes I use tooth picks as markers sometimes I just wing it and work free hand. Another example, they sell press into your cake decorative scrolls. You'd think they would be handy, but instead they are never the right size. I once bought a crazy cake comb where you could change out the teeth pattern. But I never got it to work in the first place....so it was wasted money. I used to buy tons and tons of cookie cutters. As I've advanced I'd rather make my own shapes so their exactly what I want and how I plan to decorate my cookie. I can't begin to tell you how many cookie cutters I own that I've never used. Ones that I've never used twice, the majority of them. But the ones I've made I use all the time. Trying to jump ahead and be prepared is great!!! Unforunately it can leave you with less dollars in your pocket.........and then you come across something you MUST have and you don't have the money.

I work at a private Country Club so our "market" is very limited. It's all about pleasing people with whatever they want and minimal profit, we a non-for-profit club. That changes things. But keeping things real: we all don't work at high end restaurants. What types of product you can do really can vary from one restaurant to another. The reduced calories item is hopefully something our diabetics can order too. I definately don't have this down pat, but I want to try to do something for people that have to watch their intake. At least I can say to them "to the best of my knowledge this item has this many calories_, grams of carbs_, sugar_, etc...."

I don't know about anyone else but this past Feb. sales have been dead. Everyone is dieting and or sick and not going out to eat. Which has left me some free time to really think on my sucesses and failures and how I can do a better job. I believe I saw this at Shaw's Crab House in Schaumburg, IL they did a $1.00 tasting of any dessert item on their menu. Which got me to thinking that I've got two types of clients, those that want value for their dollar (large portions) and those that want just a little nibble. So after some thought I'm going to copy Shaw's and do a $1.00 tasting on all of my ala carte menus. I'm excited to see how well this will go and nerious that it won't. It seems to me that desserts sales "should" be near 100% if the waitstaff does their job. I'll keep you updated on how well this works or doesn't. It seems to me that it could go over well or back fire and drive down regular portion sales, what do you think will happen? I'm also going to jump into the diet dessert arena. I'll do one low cal. or reduced cal. dessert on each menu. I hope this won't highlight the rest of my desserts as being high in calories. I'm going to have to work off of published recipes so my calorie info. will closely match the amount stated in the recipe and on my menus. Just how hard is it to figure out calorie content in food? I recall burning items in grade school Science class to determine calories. Can you figure out how many calories are in an item if you add up the sum total calories of all your ingredients?

This post was originally posted in another forum. I asked to have it move over here because I believe one of our pastry people must know of some sources for these tins. Can anyone help out?

I'd reccomend waiting on any purchases other then the basics required for the class, until you get more familar with decorating. I've bought plenty of stuff I've never used and wished I hadn't. A beginner Wilton tip set won't do you wrong. I like disposable pastry bags only. My spatulas I started with"cake decorators" bent handles and now I prefer straight items I buy from the hardware store and a metal bench scraper. I like Sugar Craft's online store the best over all for decorating products because they have alot of selection.

I always thought that ability to "put it out of your mind" was something I inherited from my Father who had all his remaining teeth (about 10) pulled out prepping for dentures with-out any pain relief what so ever before or after. If I get busy I can totally forget I'm in pain until I stop, I'm real good at mind over matter with pain. But when yuk is running uncontrolably out of my nose (and eyes crying) it's gross. Sooooo, now I know it must be something we all learn in this industry. So much for genetics.......But don't we all agree that pain is one thing and sickness is another? Who know's when your infectous? P.S. I got a couple good laughs out of your post Annie.

I Love to read how busy you all were for Valentines, that's great! I'm not certain bakeries in my area pick-up any extra business that holiday. I think the florists get 99% of the sales.......so it's great to know bakeries in other areas of the country do well. I too go to work sick because it's expected, not because I want to. I'm really tired of getting sick from other employees that do the same. I recently had a cold bug so bad that I really couldn't pratice perfect hygiene. I couldn't wash my hands fast enough. I spent the whole day just washing and sneezing that what I did get done was so minimal as to be not worth working. Sneezes would just pop out of me with-out any forwarning for me to cover completely. That's gross obviously! I do think it's wrong to have people at work when their that sick. I think this is something that goes too far in our industry. It's one thing to take 1 day off, the day your at your worst......and then come to work once your functioningly sick. Verses coming in so sick that you can't function and your grossly infecting everyone else. I'm all for this brave hero thing to STOP! I don't want your sickness.

Welcome Sauceda!! This should give you all the info. you need to post a photo Loading Photos.

I had wondered if you oven was running a little hot Seth......which is hard to tell sometimes unless you use multiple ovens. When your exterior is baking faster then the interior, that's your hint....and you seemed to say that earlier. Thank-you for doing that experiment Seth! It makes me want to try this also. Your great at simplifying and de-mystifying things!

To infuse a tea, the best way I'm aware of is to steep it in your hot cream, then strain and use your cream into your chocolate.

I do think Annie is correct. I've had that cake Sara Lee cake many times over the years and I feel pretty certain there wasn't banana flavoring of any sort in the frosting. As I recall it was a very soft cream cheese frosting and I attribute the off white color to vanilla and real butter as mentioned..........and in real life the frosting wasn't tan, only off white, as most frostings with real butter are.

I pulled my book out last night to check on what I made from this book. I only tried 3 recipes, which ones and what I thought follow. Silky Chocolate Cream Pie, p.91 I thought it was strickly average. It's just a chocolate pastry cream (I think Herme's is better) based topped with whipped cream. I wouldn't make this again. Champagne Creme Brulee with Green Grapes, p. 95 I thought this was excellent. I like the stove top champagne creme brulee and the macerated grapes. This was easy to make and the brulee could be used in conjuction with any fruit or other application. Almond Meringue, p. 215 this didn't work for me as written. I didn't write any further notes on why it didn't work. I believe I was experimenting with quarts of egg whites instead of fresh egg whites.

Don't be silly....if anyone yells at you, we'll yell at them back. I actually loved Sara Lees banana cake, it was darn good for a mass produced product (maybe a little too sweet, but good none the less)! I didn't know they stopped making it. I think my banana cake recipe with a soft cream cheese frosting would make your client happy. Have you tried it yet?

I have made a couple items from his book. I'm limited on time right now but I'll post later which recipes and what I liked.

My muffin pans are made by Chicago Metallic and I'm very pleased with them. I wound up buying them retail (Marshall Fields) and the price was lower then what Kerkes has (I paid about $24.00). I get my muffin liners from Edward Don Company. Theres several suppliers to buy liners from......but you are wise to keep availability in mind.

Good luck and thank-goodness no one got hurt.

I certainly understand that my position isn't a popular one. It's honestly what I've seen over the years. When your in the kitchen watching and hearing what happens it's enlightening. 99 times out of 100 the bride doesn't have a clue about what's going on in the kitchen. It's the chef and managers job not to upset the bride during her wedding and to make everything go smoothly. After the event, who cares, they don't call her and tell her the cake wasn't generous and they had a hard time getting the amount of servings out of it. Your labor to decorate a 14" round verses a 16" round is still only pennies. Getting your lay-out/pattern and stacking your cakes takes more time then piping one more swag, etc.... I'm certainly not saying anyone here is cheap. I'm refering to cake decorators who's cakes I've come into contact with, here in my area (Chicagoland) at my jobs watching co-workers cut cakes.

I've talked about this before, but I'll mention it again since it's true and important. You all gotta realize that the person cutting the cake hasn't got your map/chart and they do their own thing regardless anyway. In todays economy very few wedding are serving a dessert plus the wedding cake. People are paying for something and should be given it. In my opinion cake is CHEAP, real cheap (it's only pennies per portion)!! Why not make sure your portions will be generous? It only looks bad for your company when the location struggles getting enough servings out of your cake. They'll go out of their way to NOT reccomend you to future brides. I draw up my cake rounds on parchement paper and mark out cuts as a person will do in real life. I use my own numbers, it only takes a minute to figure this out for yourself. In the future you'll never have a bride and groom questioning you, in my opinion it's just not worth it. DON'T BE CHEAP, that makes problems. Also every wedding I've seen involved the waitstaff wanting to try a piece of the cake too....I give it to them. It works as a great sales tool and it only makes you look that much better then the next decorator. Everyone I've seen cut a cake automaticly cuts in circles/rings inward, they don't cut as Annies chart shows. Even if you provide dirrections on how to cut your cake it doesn't get read, certainly not by the right person.........your not going to change them so you need to adjust. Sorry guys I'm very opinionated on this point!!

Truffle Guy, I only attended 1 demo by him.........I wish I had taken a class with him. He is an excellent speaker/teacher and I got ALOT out of just 1 simple ole demo. The demo was thru The French Pastry School and Albert Uster Company in Chicago. I attended other demos by them but the one with Love was exceptional......because of what Love himself put into it.

I always keep my truffles refridgerated for storage. I take them out and bring them up to room tep. before serving. You can keep truffles un-refridgerated but that shortens their shelf life.

Welcome Truffle Guy! Take some classes from Norman Love......I'd spend my money learning from him before going to a school.

Yield depends upon the size of your piped out puffs. Roughly your recipe should yield a full sheet pan 18" x 24" which (just guessing) is about 80 puffs or so. Assembling into a cone shape sure has alot of variables, mainly how big your baked puffs are and how well you stack them. I'd say based on what I do, my average base consists of almost 20 puffs, but I'm probably aiming for a taller cone then you. 12 puffs definately seems like too little....this will be a very small cone. I'm sorry, I can't be more specific....theres just too many variables. When you think about stacking them remember ........the puff may rest in between two joined puffs so it's not stacking at it's highest point. 12, 1" puffs stacked may equal 9" tall not 12" tall.

Well, I'm scared to talk about the lorAnn oils because I don't want to discourage you............ I've had very mixed results with them. Some are ok and some are just horrible. I mainly use them for hard sugar suckers. You have to use citric acid with their citrus fruit flavors or the flavor just doesn't come across at all. Also you'll find the smell over powering like you can't believe (like clear the room and you can't breath) and then the taste turns out very mild.....so it's hard to hit the right amount. The dirrections for amounts have never been right and I use about 4 times the amount suggested. So unforunately I think this will reguire some experimenting.....at least you know that.... and I'd start by making small batches to save your efforts.

Peanut Butter Truffles 2 cups heavy cream 2 lbs. white chocolate 2 cups peanut butter Melt your chocolate, because the hot cream won't be enough to melt it completely. Bring the cream up to a boil add it to the chocolate, then add in peanut butter and stir. I'd mold these in a dark chocolate shell. You can pipe a dab of strawberry preserves into the center of each before you close them. I love salt with chocolate (as previously mentioned). After I've unmolded these I'd put a dab of chocolate on the top of each and sprinkle it liberally with fleur de sal. To do the pate' de fruit I would do similar, injecting it into my ganche center with a pastry bag. Just because thats the easiest way. Of course you have to make sure your pate' is almost set otherwise it's totally liquid and impossible to pipe.

Ha..........and all this time I thought I was doing something no one else does......cause I too stir around my pudding during baking!!! Swear to god. The edges do set before the center and also the custard can sink to the bottom while the bread rises to the top. Although I only stir it once (more like pat down the bread into the custard), I bake at 325F covered in foil (usually I uncover it for the last couple minutes like a turkey). I bet your Grandmother made some darn good bread pudding! I make mine using my left over caramel pecan rolls.