Wendy DeBord

Ditto!

I own all but one of his books. There was a time that he was VERY influential in my learning. I found working thru his recipes very educational and I still use a several of his recipes (and get raves over them). Every recipe works from him, even those that seem to break all the rules (like adding a liquid to chocolate). I think his mousses, buttercreams, ganaches all stand up to anyone one elses....but, over all his cakes are more average (yet very worth making as a learning tool). Some of his cookies and cakes are just average, but there are a couple really excellent ones too. I learned from him to stop being a slave to written recipes. He does a lot of combining like putting cheesecake, ganche, cake, frosting all into one torte. That was something I had never seen before his books. His garnishes like from his voodoo cake are really fun and good to know. So yes, I highly recommend his book and his work.

First, real quick: no one here dare make fun of anyone one elses work, we are about learning and sharing.............so no one should ever feel shy about showing their work. It's a great way to learn from others more advanced.........and there's always someone more advanced, around here! Sorry for the quick rant. Anyway I think your leafs look great, I'm certain your bride will too! Yes, shades of green are usually horrible straight out of the jar. I usually wind up adding yellow to get a more life like green as well as black or blue sometimes. As far as your question on the ganche...........yeks.......you might even want to triple it. It's so thick that you need alot more quanity then you would with a dark chocolate ganche. It's also easier to pour it and have enough that you don't have to go back and patch in ganche on the sides. When your done if you have too much, you can reheat that ganche and use if on or in other desserts. I can't wait to see your finished cake, I'm sure it will look great! Good Luck!!

I don't own a single Alan Dunn book, so you all got me shopping. If you only could have one of his books, which one would you choose? Which one is going to rock my world and be the most versatile?

I do like the dowel idea................I might have to work on that. I know I'd have to bolt it down in a couple places or I'd knock the whole thing off the wall at some point. BUT it also exposes my property to everyone in the kitchen..........(which wouldn't be a hassle if they returned things to where they got them, but they don't). I'm such a clutz that any container or compartmentized items gets spilled about once a month and then I have to re-sort my tips. That's how I wound up with one box of tips floating loose.....

Has anyone used powdered fruits for flavoring their macaroons?

Without dragging out my books for some exact quotes..........I've seen countless examples of single layer cakes being called a "torte" when they didn't contain nuts or layers. (Doesn't Alice Medrich do that?) Guilty, I've reached the point of using the word pretty loosely as I've seen it done in countless books. I use 'torte' and 'cake' interchangeably.

If I recall correctly, writing chocolate requires the same handling as couveture. I don't want to temper something I'm using to write a quick message with. I use ganche if I need chocolate writing, otherwise I use frostings.

Miaomee, I betcha Annie would be impressed with your website too. Please share? We have such a wonderful group of cake artists here, a new member should be shocked by the quality of artisans we have posting!

Hero is what I've been using, it's better then others I've tried (I'd gotten some tasteless goop along the way). BUT, preserves you get in the grocery store have more intensity. It's a toss up, the grocery store stuff bakes horribly but if you mix it with Hero it's a livable compromise. still waiting for what the B. uses........

O.k......I admit, if it wasn't for my spouse........I'd jump thru fire to work in a great kitchen like that Neil. Ohhhhhhhh photos, love to see them!

Nice cake Keith! What did you use as your ink thru the silk screen? I love working with chocolate plastic but I haven't mastered putting images on it. I usually paint freehand with warm chocolate diluted in cocoa butter. I played around once trying to use pcb cocoa butter colors on it, but that didn't come out nice. I'd love to know how to paint on plastic chocolate. Anyone???

If you shuffle that 2:00 am shift to midnight- I'm fine, I can work all night, just can't get up in the morning...........cause I can't get to sleep at night. My spouse starts at 4:30 a.m. but that's like a natural time for him to wake. He's always telling me that half the day is gone before I wake. But then at least I can stay awake for Monday night football.........so I get to poke back at him. Nothing fun starts at 4:30 am on your day off and when your friends want to do something you can't stay awake late enough to be any fun.

Lord, how I hate fishing thru my tips to find just the right one. I currently have a metal box I store my tips loosely in. I used to have one of those Wilton boxes where the tips stored up right so you could easily view them.........but that cheap thing broke right away, besides it not being big enough....and who needs 4 tip holders all broken and rubber banded together. I've also seen those fishing tackle box styled sorter they sell too. And of course theres those wire racks your supposed to dry your bags and tips on....... Oh and then we have those little drawer cabinets, but you have to memorize which tip is behind which drawer and who in the world takes the time to put them back in the right drawer all day long. NOTHING seems to work well when it comes to storing my pastry tips. Have any of you figured out a good system you'd be willing to share?

At the risk of sounding like a nit picker..........I don't think you can label Herme's lemon cream as synonymous with lemon curd. They are very similar and start out being the same thing but his addition of butter by whipping it in changes not only the texture but it changes the tange/taste, toning down the lemon quite a bit. Just my opinion.........

Ideally, I'd like to cut each design once (although on a 18 x 24" size with multiple images for production...everything has to be about production) and be able to use it for multiple applications: tuiles and hot sugar. I'm sort of done using materials that aren't totally up for the task. Now.....when it comes to individual images to spray or dust onto a plate-there I'll pay less and use the shower liner stuff. So I'm off to Home Depot again, armed with more knowledge, thank-you.

Are you buying dirrectly from them? I've been looking for someone in the States who's rep.ing them because my work is difficult about who I order from.

Darn it, I've looked for that before (seen people mention it in PA & D tips column) and never been able to find it. In your home depot by what other items is this located (it's not near the shower stuff in my store)? Also, how durable is it over time? The thing with the plastic lids is I have a dilemma that my plates slightly humps up in the center........so that's an obstacle to getting a clean impression. The clear plastic lids off containers just don't flex enough on my plates. If I cut the re-enforced sides off each lid it's better........

Welcome to The eGullet Society Claussen! I use pan spray whenever I need to grease or butter a pan. Look at the ingredient list on the a pan spray and make sure it doesn't contain water. The sprays that contain water aren't always effective, sometimes they make things stick.

I've noticed differences too. If you go back and look thru candy making books all of them point out the heat shouldn't be on high. I think your thoughts on evaporation would be the most logical answer. I don't think you can shoot for a time frame because your batch size will make a huge difference. I believe that using a moderate flame should be your time guide. But.......lets see, perhaps someone will have the exact knowledge on this.

Questions: How interesting is it (is it "Herme'" good?)? Does he cover any ground that's new, different, exciting? How does it compare to similar books? Do his forumulas look exciting, are they mainly traditional or are they more contemporary? How many pages is it? What are the chapters titled? What percentage of the book is formulas, does it contain alot of detailed photos? Is it all truffles or does he go into other candies? I saw it for $120.00 some place else, so that's a good deal Neil! I was lucky to attend a demo with him and I'm very interested in owning this book.

It's written by Jean-Pierre Wybauw. It's calling my name everytime I see it while shopping. I'm hoping to find opinions and details by someone who already owns it before I purchase. Thanks in advance.

Anyone have opinions and experience cutting your own stencils? I've cut my own stencils using an exacto knife and wax covered cardboard. They obviously have limited use as the cardboard self-destructs over time. I use these rigid stencils for tuiles only, so far. I also have purchased many stencils at craft stores over the years. I find the thin plastic stencils work well in some applications and not so well in others (such as air brushing on plates). So far, I like the small metal stencils the best for their detail of design and their size works best when used on my plates. But I'd like to invest the time and effort to come up with far more versatile stencils for several applications. I'd like to cut my own stencils for: tuiles, poured sugar decorations, smaller air brush applications and xxxsugar designs for my plates. The best selection on materials seem to be here: http://www.chefrubber.com/Shopping/shopdis...ting+%26+Tubing Before I purchase, I'm curious if any of you have preferences and experiences on which sheets and depths work best for what purposes. Have you had any problems cutting through these materials? Is an exacto knife sufficient or do I need to invest in a heat type cutter? Any opinions and experiences on how well these materials handle repeat use, etc.?

Nice work (as usual) Annie. I'm glad this worked for you! Next time (I know there will be) try adjusting the speed in which you move your arm.......if you go faster your strands will be thinner (like you wanted). Granted when you go faster your likely to send threads everywhere........but you can get them even thinner. P.S. I love the star on top. That opens up new thoughts on how to decorate these in my future! Handmc, yes you can make individual bouches. They look best when you bake smaller sized puffs. But then as you eat this it's more choux paste to filling ratio. Where as larger puff's I think taste better/in proportion to the filling. There's been several individual bouches published in various baking books over the years. I think the addition of raspberries would be lovely!! You can add a blanket of raspberry sauce on your plate too.

I go one step less and I don't dock my weighted pp sheets. No need to if your weighing it down. But I do add another step, I almost always spray or brush on hot corn syrup 3/4's of the way through my total bake. It caramelizes on my pp looking good and extending it's time frame.