Wendy DeBord

You'll never regret that purchase Albiston! Dorie can you reveal what your currently working on? I own all of your books and look forward to buying many more. Kevin and Lemoncurd, NICE WORK!!

I find the bigger your utensil, the more strength you need in you arm. I've had wooden blocks just like described above with a handle on one side and many prongs on the other. Your done in like 3 waves of your arm. But then my arm is burned out for the rest of the day. I've heard of using glucose instead of cream of tartar but I never knew the right proportions.........so it's 50/50? thanks.

I'm thrilled that you had a great Christmas season!! I have a strange feeling we'll all be seeing less and less of your posts. I hope you'll continue to share your experiences and success with us when you can. GO MEL!

I recall when I began making spun sugar I struggled too. Once I found a recipe for spun sugar that wasn't just caramelized sugar my struggles were over. I now use: 14 oz. sugar 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar 8 liq. oz. h2o The addition of cream of tartar made all the difference. There's really no need for a thermometer, when it's caramel color it's done. The darker almost burnt you take it the deeper golden color your spun sugar will be. This works fine also with isomalt, but it doesn't caramelize, instead you can color it. If I need to make a fair amount of sugar for a bigger project I boil several pots at once, starting them at different times so I continuously have sugar ready to go. If it's beginning to caramelize before I see I'll be ready for it, I turn the heat off. It doesn't suffer from stopping it's cooking process. I also reheat my pot of sugar to constantly manipulate it's temp.. After I've brought my sugar to the right level of caramelization I plunge my whole pot in a sink of cool water to stop it's cooking. I know many chefs pour their sugar into a glass bowl (and microwave it to rewarm it but I don't have microwavable glass at work) and work from that. To spin the sugar into thin threads/strands you have to be a distance away from your dowels so the sugar strands stretch as they are falling. I put plastic on the floor and drape a couple dowels across the lower shelf of my tables (from one table to the next). I cover my dowels with foil to ease the clean up. I've used a nail bed made for spinning sugar, a cut off whisk and forks and I find I prefer a smaller utensil like the whisk or forks. It's not really the quantity of the sugar on your thines it's the quality of it, having it at just the right consistency makes the nicest and most volume of strands. I'm most comfortable using a smaller size pot of sugar which I hold in my left hand and a whisk in my right. But in time (depending upon how much you have to make) it does kill your arm.........and I've gotten blisters on my fingers from waving the whisk so if you do a lot, wear gloves. Besides having the right formula and your dowels low to the floor (You can stand on a chair too if you like. Whatever you want to get some distance between your arm and your dowels) your last issue is using your sugar at the right temp./consistancy. When sugar is very hot it's very thin and it quickly drops off your dipping utensil, you can't spin hot sugar. You can wait until the sugar cools down naturally.....but that takes a while. That's why I plunge my pot in cold water, to speed up the process. You have to stir your pot of sugar very well while your cooling it or the outside edges will cool too much and you inner area will remain too hot. The process of spinning sugar happens as the sugar falls off your utensil mid air between the two dowels. At the right temp. you can get a surprising amount of spun sugar from each time you dip it. If it's too hot the first drip off your utensil will be a drop of sugar that's undesirable to look at and eat. So I test the consistancy of my sugar by letting the first drip happen over the pot, then I move my arm over the working area. The faster you wave your arm the thinner your strands will be. They will catch anywhere and everywhere. The way I move my arm close to my body I always get spun sugar coming from my pant leg. But I'd rather spin it quickly and get very thin threads then worry about my pant legs. You have to stop every now and then and gather up your sugar and remove it from the dowels. If you spin too much before moving it, it will mat down and become very heavy........loosing the lightness of the sugar. With the amount of sugar in the recipe I posted above I have to stop about 5 times to clean off my dowels.

Perhaps you could mention what a "special" assistant is or consists of for you? I think theres a few people out there that might shy away from appying because they don't have an exciting resume, yet. What kind of person and skill set do you want? And....is "young" a prerequisite, cause we hear from a lot of serious career changers here?

Good job! It looks very European.

I think 400F is too hot for your brownies. That's why the outside is baking too much before the inside is set. You'll get better results baking at 350F or 325f as suggested by K8Memphis.

I'll ditto Karens advice. Thats how I do it too. Unforunately I do think it takes practice to master this. Having your batters placed in your pan evenly/nicely is most of the battle. I find if you just add swirl to the top inch it is more likely to crack along your swirl as it sets.

Welcome Gweixel! I also have never had a cannoli from NY, but we have a couple decent Italian Deli's in Chicago. I firmly believe the quality of your filling depends upon the quality of your ricotta. You can not get fresh dense top quality ricotta at your local grocery store. You might be able to find it in an Italian deli or a very gourmet grocery store. If you can't get great ricotta you must drain yours overnight in a sieve. If you can't get great ricotta mix your drained ricotta with some marscarpone or cream cheese, they will thicken you ricotta. To make your filling whip the cheese with xxxsugar to taste. Orange zest, candied fruit, chocolate chips are all optional as is a splash of grand marnier or a little orange oil. I dip my ends in chopped pistachios.

O.k. everyone has their own favorites and opinions, I personally like ladyfingers only as a exterior border and a cake inside for my structure (a genoise soaked). I don't like too much ladyfinger to filling ratio myself.....I like a little more moisture and substance to chew. I don't have a recipe at my finger tips this moment but can offer some advice. A typical strawberry mousse recipe would be: strawberry puree, sweetened whip cream and gelatin. I do prefer mousses with whipped egg whites too. The better your puree, the better your mousse/bavarian. If your using fresh strawberrys you'll probably need to cook them down to evaporate/intensify the flavor. I use frozen strawberries and puree, strain and use as is. Also the addition of small chunks/bits of berry is a nice texture contrast and I think makes a better strawberry mousse torte. Yes, you can definately freeze a strawberry mousse charlotte or cake. The berry bits freeze and thaw just fine. You'll need to use gelatin to set your mousse or it will be too soft, even if you made it right before you served it. It needs the gelatin to hold shape. For a glaze I would use my puree and gelatin, no need for simple syrup or additional sugar. As to adding a little lemon juice I don't, because I can taste it usually, but if you like it's o.k. to add. Good Luck!!

I'm really short on time today, but I promise I'll post asap.

I exchange bittersweet with semi-sweet all the time with no adjustments in my recipe. Adjusting the sugar isn't necessary just optional if you want a less sweet flavor. In my area (Chicago Burbs), my clientele does like bittersweet chocolate in anything.

I can relate JeanneCake. Perhaps after the New Year you might have time to experiment with recipes. At least that's the approach I would take, I would look for a recipe better suited to the non-philly brands. Money/profit is a serious issue and I firmly believe there has to a really good compromise out there for you. If you want, I use non-philly cheese at my current job and I'd be happy to share my formula if you'd like to give it a try? I get alot of compliments on it.

I add cream of tartar in my royal icing. Formula: 3 white 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1 lb. xxxsugar The work that I saw turn yellow was in a full sun window display showcase, so perhaps the sun has it's effect. I've done other display items that didn't turn yellow, but I'm not sure I kept them as long.

I'm tired and I can't think of the exact recipe right this second, BUT Claudia Fleming has a great vanilla shortbead cookie in her book. Theres nothing unusual about its ingredients but it tastes very rich and vanilla, different then other shortbread cookies that I make.

Are you baking your cheesecakes by timing or by feel? I haven't found a difference in my finished products texture from one brand to another, but I bake by looks and feel not time. I find it's what I add to my cream cheese that determines it's finished density/texture not the cheese or so much the mixing method. To thicken a cheesecake or make a denser cheese cake add less whole eggs and more yolks and flour or melted chocolate. To make a thinner softer cake add more sugar and cream. The differences in heavy cream............I notice it when I whip it, but not (so far) when I'm baking with it. I've used recipes that call for milk or half and half instead of heavy cream and they work find with the right balance of thickeners.

Ah, I use real eggs verses meringue powder......... Joint compound, can you pipe a detailed border with it?....also I thought that was a grey tone, no?

What specificly stands out?

No way around it, royal does turn yellow in time. *With this exception: I've noticed that purchased royal icing roses don't seem to yellow. I don't know what they add to prevent that OR I never kept them long enough to see them yellow. I've used permaICE. It remains white over time. At first it was impossible to handle straight out of the bucket. Then I added some water and mixed it to a normal frosting consistancy and it handled perfectly. In fact, it was easy to use. I'm not certain who sells it, but I believe any cake decorating company would carry it. Using rolled fondant also works well and it remains white after it dries. But you still have to figure out what to use for any piping on the fondant that won't turn yellow. You can use the permaICE on fondant.

I've never sat down and done a side by side tasting using different brands to compare them. I haven't noticed any real differences in how one brand bakes from another, nor noticeable taste variances............only handling ease. But when it comes to handling them, yes there are differences. I like Philly brand for it's consistency and handling. Less expensive brands almost always leave small lumps that proper handling won't/can't get rid of. Typically there not too noticeable, but in darker colored batters they are visually unappealing.

The freshness of your eggs in no way inhibited your rise, that's not an issue. I fill my bowls to about 1/2" from the top. If I fill them all the way to the top they spill over while baking. If I fill them 2/3's of the way they only go about 1/2" over the lip when fully risen. You can tell when you break open your souffle if it's cooked right. Exactly how did yours look? As your learning how to make these trial and error will teach you a lot. Go ahead and fill some to the top of your container, see what happens. Fill them to several different heights and learn what gives your the best height. Bake a whole batch at one time and pull one out every few minutes. Open them up and look inside as you go. Save them up and compare them. You'll be able to visually see what time works best in your oven with your recipe. I don't know an exact percentage of whites to base. I think that would have to vary according to your specific recipe. Too many whites and your diluting your flavor.

I wanted to mention another thing I do that's similar. I spray my plates using stencils my air brush and cocoa butter colors. A little goes a long way and it's really easy to do quickly, easier then xxxsugar thru a stencil.

Yes you can mix your colors, but it's not as easy to do as other food colors. There are many shades and colors you can't mix, period. I have purchased all the colors available plus Wiltons line of colors.

I had a hard time finding acetate sheeting in my area, Chicagoland. What I did find in art stores was extremely expensive and much smaller then I wanted. I found some at JB Prince where it was something like . 50 cents per 18" x 24" sheet. That was a huge savings from the art store. You must use oil based colors to color chocolate. Pastes do not work properly. I've mentioned this before, Wilton sells candy coloring oils at craft stores that works great and is inexpensive. I find using dried colors dissolved in cocoa butter impossible to use. If you can, I think it's best to buy already colored cocoa butter. You can find them at Albert Uster Company and PCB Company, both are online.

I can't answer anything about your tempering machine but I can help you with a couple other concerns. Unfortunately, you should have bought the smooth dome molds if you wanted to hand apply the colored cocoa butter. There's no way around it, molds with groves and ridges can't be hand applied nicely. But you still can use an air brush to apply a spatter of color or color your whole batch of chocolate. When you looking to get color and dusts on your chocolates those are typically added to the mold, not the couveture. The liquid colored cocoa butter needs to set in a refrigerator for a moment. It doesn't set at room temp. very well. To the best of my knowledge I'm not aware of different grades of cocoa butter available for sale. So when I want to apply these techniques it might go something like this: With my finger I apply a dab of yellow cocoa butter, I swirl my finger in the bottom of the mold as I'm pulling my finger out. I refrigerate this. Five minutes later I want to apply a layer of gold dust. With a good quality brush I brush some in each mold. Then I want to apply another layer, this time a white cocoa butter. I do the same as I did with the yellow. Using my finger I apply some and spread it slightly while pulling out. I then refrigerate this. Now after 5 minutes or so I'm ready to use any couveture I choose. I choose white chocolate. I then pour white chocolate in my entire mold filling each compartment completely. I then give it a tap on the counter to release any air pockets, then I invert my mold over my bowl of chocolate. Only a fine shell of couveture will be left coating my molds. I then scrap off the excess chocolate (which can be messy) with my metal bench scraper. I then either wait for my couveture shell to firm up or I refrigerate it to speed this process up. Then I pipe in my filling. You MUST not fill your molds all the way to the top or there won't be room for your base chocolate to seal your truffles. Last step is to ladle more couveture over your molds to seal the top which when you invert them will be your bottom. Give it a tap on the counter to release any air bubbles. Then with your bench scraper scrap off the excess chocolate from your mold. When the chocolate is set, invert your mold and lightly tap it on the table and your chocolates will pop out. I find the dried colors to be very hard to work with and avoid them all together. They don't dissolve perfectly for me. If I want to color a whole batch of chocolate I use cocoa butter based colors, like the PCB brand or as I mentioned in another thread Wilton sells oil based colors that work very well coloring couveture.