Wendy DeBord

First: CONGRATULATIONS ON THE JOB!!!! You've already got tons of great ideas........lots to explore. When I think about what we were eating back to the 60, 70, & 80's I remember going thru some clear trends. New convience products came into the market to make life simplier for the non-cook or busy Mother. Chocolate chips, Jello, Cake Mixes, Pillsbury instant mixes and doughs. I remember tons of different Jello molds, no party was with-out one or two. The only one I liked was the pretzel bottom with creamy filling (I think cream cheese based) and fresh strawberries in the jello. Lots of layered Jello items. Pillsbury cook-offs were huge and making items with all convience products was in. At my house we were eating alot of banana splits and sundaes. I was raised in the Chicago area burbs. Mom was a professional chef........so we really wanted all those cool Hostess brand cakes for our lunches (and never got from her). All those cakes........banana bars (banana cake with frosting in a bar shape), ding dongs, hoho's, definately the fruit pies (they were huge! we even bought them oursleves). Anything that came packaged was WAY cool........it might be fun to play with your presentation incorporating some sort of packaging or rememberance. I also remember Julia Child and Graham Kerr having a HUGE impact on what my Mom was making and our neighbors. We'd have meals from all over the world. Mom used to love making anything with crepes....... Chinese restaurants burst into our area and she'd make fortune cookies and almond cookies. This is a really easy and fun (I think) topic to research. I've collected tons of older baking books and you can get them for pennies. Check-out ebay........you can get tons of Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Jello, Pudding booklets. Garage sales often have hard cover books from that period. Remember too that every new convience appliance came with a booklet of recipes......... You can also find alot of info./recipes online dirrect from the manufactors of those convience products. Check out Pillsbury, Philly Brand cream cheese, etc...

Disclaimer: I'm not much of a bread baker. ............But I do make doughs using mashed potatos frequently and I prove them overnight in the cooler. It will be fine. It won't discolor or get wierd.

Grub, I have to suggest trying a different recipe. Your pastry cream is still too thin. It looks like it needs more yolks because it's a milky color. Sorry................

As a subscriber I've noticed the magazines focus hasn't been steady. I wonder if their fighting among themselves on the dirrection or if they are turning over management all the time. Theres issues that are so basic it's rediculous. I don't see anything wrong with addressing how to make simple items well, I appreciate those. But sometimes they really do go into such basic mode it assumes the reader knows less about cooking then a reader of an automobile magazine. Then they play with issues that are all light recipes.....and that's not their focus either. And who said everyday food has to consist of 4 ingredients or less? They'll write a recipe so it looks really basic and then hide additional needed ingredients in the dirrections. That's way confusing......... and no one writes recipes like that. They just need to find their focus. On the other hand, I've gotten several excellent baked goods recipes from this magazine........which is the reason I have the subscription and I'm not canceling it yet.

In IL we use the 4 hour window as McDuff stated.

I echo Nicoles comment, don't ever put them thru the dishwasher. You maybe just lucky Choux. But that's definately a risk you shouldn't take. I had similar problems with spots sticking, when I began. I was using a clean cotton towel to polish my molds. After I switched to cotton balls to polish, none have gotten stuck.......so I think the cloth wasn't polishing the surface as throughly. I haven't heard about using make-up pads......but next time I'll make that switch. Thanks Nicole. I also ditto Sugarellas steps. I do the same with-out the blowdryer step.

A bakery I worked at used cake scraps in their streusel. There is a book published on this topic, I saw it at that bakery. But I don't know who published it or when. You could probably find it with a search. I use cake crumbs in my studel or in sweet items that call for bread crumbs. (oops I see that was already mentioned) But if your a busy bakery theres just no way to really keep using up all your scrapes......... Maybe it's better to focus on making less waste. Baking more level cakes.

Generally, you can bake a souffle in any sized dish. Just give it straight sides to rise up.

I agree that the CI recipe is too sugary. It almost forms a sugar crust on top. The doctored cake mix doesn't get rid of the artificial cake mix taste. I tried all of RBL's cakes (the major ones) a long time ago against the recipe in The Bakers Dozen. I like all the recipes in the bakers dozen far more.

The frozen souffles I've done never rise as high as fresh. But they work........

I've only used them on breads. I used to make bread sticks with one end of white and the other black.......they looked cool.

It sounds like the typical frosting for a red cake. I wouldn't really call it buttercream..........more like a variation of one. When I make similar, I can tell it has flour in it too. Theres no way around that. It's not a browned roux. And it's texture is 'different'/fluffy, that's because you're using the roux. If you wanted something very similar you could use a pastry cream of your liking that had cornstarch not flour as the thickener. Sub out equal weights and continue the recipe as written. Alot of people like this frosting because it seems less sweet and not rich. * ps...........I don't know why I'm calling the cooked flour and milk a "roux"........it's something my Mom called it. Is there a proper name for that? Could I be spelling that wrong is it Roo? Roux is traditionally butter and flour................

Soooooooooo to update what I've been baking........ First, I thought we had a best of yellow cake thread, but I can't locate it. Personally, I've been seeking the best yellow cake recipe to match or beat the crumb that a yellow cake mix produces. My ideal crumb description: moist, med. to fine crumb texture, light not heavy. So far I've baked: (I had about 15 tasters, both male and female, professional chefs and not) Sarahs Buttercake: this got good reviews from my tasters.......but it's dense as buttercakes are. Can't label this a yellow cake. High ratio yellow cake recipe from P,A & D (by Glenn and Laura Rinsky): this cake was horrible. It has way too much leavening so the whole thing colapses on itself. Everyone hated this sample. SueB yellow cake by CookieMonster: I loved how simple this mixing method is. It placed second by my tasters. Again, it's a butter cake in texture......can't be called a yellow cake. Cake mix from Dawn: I thru this sample in to play with my tasters. Everyone loved it's texture but only two people liked it for it's taste. It came in second to last. Cupcake Cafe Vanilla Cake, posted by Mean Chef: This was very light.......actually too light with not enough structure. It seemed over leavened as it colapses on itself. BUT.........it sort of had potential........need to rework it's leavening. CI's Rich and Tender Yellow Layer Cake: This wasn't very good. It's not moist, lacks flavor and sticks in the pan. Moist Yellow Cake, from Martha Stewarts website: It wasn't bad........it's similar to other cakes I label as butter cakes, but it's not a yellow cake. It bakes well in shallow amounts but with deeper batter in the pan it folds in upon itself like it's over leavened. Soooooooomy results: still looking! Cupcake Cafes cake had the most posiblity as being a yellow cake texturally, but it needs to be worked on. *edited to note that thanks to momlovestocook I've moved this post and others into this, the correct thread on white and yellow cakes.

Maybe if I repost this somebody will pay attention. Feb 22 2006, 02:37 PM Post #387 QUOTE(nightscotsman @ Feb 22 2006, 01:29 PM) I tried the new Cook's Illustrated recipe last night. Very moist, with a fine, tender crumb, chocolate flavor was just OK. Good recipe, but I personally still prefer the texture and flavor of the Double Chocolate Cake. My response: Have you tried their Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake? It's also very moist with a fine crumb, but has a very deep chocolate taste. (The instant espresso is optional, but I recommend it - I use 1 Tbsp instead of the listed 1 tsp). As with many chocolate cakes, it's even better when left wrapped overnight. (You can find this recipe at www.americastestkitchen.com. You have to subscribe, but it's free). ← I read your previous post and printed out the chocolate sour cream bundt cake recipe with the intention to try it. I give it a try when I can. Glad you reposted Neils response.....I did miss that.......we independently reached the same conlusions on the CI recipe.

I finally baked the CI recipe today. I thought it had a perfect texture..........better then any other cake. But it lacks a little in the depth of chocolate flavor.

I've read similar at other sites about them not paying........... I've tried to tell everyone about 'Pastry's Best' magazine............pastrynet.com....finally we have a competitor and one that might actually do a better job. So..........support them (even though it's a free publication). You can get a copy of it thru them, they mail to your home or thru different suppliers. I started a thread on them, just do a search in P & B. One of our members wrote a great article on brioche in the last issue. I learned more recently about the man behind the magazine. David Kee was the person who owned Classic Gourmet out of Alanta..........I loved that company. Anyone else remember them? They were selling top notch ingredients before the main stream of pc even knew about them. He also was the person behind the Southern Pastry Classic, competition.

MichaelB I'd love to see your kitchen.............too. Just wanted to mention, when I began working as a chef my family had a successful caterering business..........so I saw tons of kitchens! One that stands out 20 years later in my memory was this great kitchen, everything was very nice, the family had children AND the catcher was..........they put up a mirrored backsplash throughout the whole kitchen.........including behind the stove. We spent forever cleaning those mirrors before we could leave that party. Before computors were a everyday tool in everyones home I wound up working in a 'space age' designed kitchen. Their ovens were basicly computors and you had to know it's language to increase or decrease the heat. Of course, I didn't catch on and I had to have the hostest helping me all night use her oven. That stunk. Even today, I wouldn't have found that a cool/practical oven......it was an expensive toy they got talked into buying. I've been torturing myself for a year or so now, thinking about my needed kitchen remodel and what I want vs. what's practical/logical, etc... We have a small house (it's only 2 of us) it would be considered a "starter" home for anyone purchasing it from us.......so I try to keep that thought in mind as I plan/design. I'd love some input if any of you had some about this issue: Our house is a tri-level. When you walk into my house you walk dirrectly into our living room it's got a cathedrel ceiling and the kitchen is the only other room on that level. What seperates the two rooms is a free standing wall, which doesn't reach the ceiling. From my living room I have bookcases along that wall. From the kitchen that wall has my stove with a vent hood above it that doesn't vent out of my house.....it just recirulates (so basicly it does nothing). That wall also has my pantry cabinet and my refridgerator. So here's what I'm trying to deside: My husband wants to take out the free standing wall and make it a large island (that would still house my stove). Since larger kitchens and big kitchen living spaces are "in" he'd combine the two rooms into one. But I fear that it would hurt our resale because then when you walk into my house you'd be stepping into my kitchen (so to say). And although we are very neat people I fear a young couple with small children (who would be our typical buyer) wouldn't want a space that could be seen from the front door. What do you think? Help me deside please......... Then as far as what I want to do to the kitchen........as in are we worthy of our kitchens..........I want granite counters or similar top of the line look. No professional stove for me. I just want a simple stove top seperate from my oven so theres no drips down the sides. I might even choice an electric cook top for how clean they are. No clunky burners to wash/handle for me. I don't know if they make one..........but I dream of a conventional/convection/broiler/microwave oven all in one. To get rid of the counter top microwave. I'm leaning toward natural cherry wood cabinets and a blonde maple floor throughout.

OH man I just read thru this all at once............really well done Megan! I feel like I've been girlfriends with you forever......you had me smiling, laughing and totally digging this peek into your life. Gotta add, I just loved: the photo of your shoes the remark about not having to duck under trees the places you visited.....like the grand chocolate tour..........I didn't know you were into sweets........yeah for our team. when you ate your sandwich before you photographed it because you were just too hungry to wait...................HUGE LAUGHS, boy can I relate to that. loved your honesty and revealing nature.........it's like a softly scented candle that permeates your writing. I have a couple quick questions, please. How does grocery delivery work? You go to the store and shop, pay for it, then they deliver........what an hour or so later? Or do you phone in/fax in/email your order and they deliver at a certain time? Did I read that correct, it's only $3.00 for them to deliver all your groceries.........that's a steal!!!

This is exactly right. A lot of people love the Herme recipe, for example. I personally am more in the curd camp and found the Herme filling akin to eating lemony butter. The Keller recipe struck me as similar, but not to the same extreme. ← Good points. I prefer to eat baked custards myself. My favorite lemon tart recipe is from The Roux Brothers on Patisserie, by Michel and Albert Roux, page 90. It was published in 1986 by Prentice Hall Press. It's: 4 lemons (zested and juiced) 9 eggs 1.5 c. sugar 1.5 c. heavy cream Method: Use a blind baked shortbread crust. Before your done baking the crust, brush the inside with eggwash and give it a few minutes to bake on/form a barrier. That coats your shell to keep the filling from soaking into the crust, but I omit that and never had any issues with a soft crust. His filling is basicly......just mix together and bake at 300F. I've always followed his dirrections and it takes about 1.25 hours to bake this. Next time I make it I'll definately treat the filling like a brulee' to shorten the baking time. I'm in the camp that thinks Herme's lemon cream is too buttery. I don't care for it. I second Payards recipe, I like it also.............I've yet to make Kellers recipe-but I'm dying to try it. Would someone share the recipe from Patricia Wells, please?

I've used cookie cutters, they work well. As far as I know, it's just a matter of cleaning off and re-spraying your cutting utensil often. I saw some neat mini square ice cube trays at Crate & Barrel that were made of flexible matterial......I wanted to buy them, but couldn't think of what I'd really use it for, thanks, now I've got an excuse to buy them.

ditto, works well.......

I'm most curiuos about how this works out for you. I had limited success doing similar. I never got a great image reproduction on acetate with a stamp. I found it easier and cleaner to stamp, stencil or airbrush onto the completed item, whether it be a piece of chocolate, fondant or other surface. I'd love to see photos if you get this worked out.

You can find information/help in posting photos in this thread. Skip past reading post #1 and start with #2. If you need further help your welcome to pm any host or manager for assistance and you can also post questions in this Forum. Find that Forum when you look at our main page that shows all our Forums. Look toward the bottom of the page at "eGullet Society Support and Documentation Center" Forums highlighted in the blue band across the width of the page.

Hold on.............it seems like theres two questions being discussed here. 1. filling your molds with tempered chocolate to create your shell. 2. filling your hallow shells with ganache. My answer to 1. is: I use a ladle to pour my chocolate into my mold. I admit it's taken me a long time to finally figure out how to do this cleanly. I used to get the tempered chocolate everywhere!!!! The "tricks" for me are: not pouring too much tempered chocolate on the top in the first place....so it no longer spills down the sides of the mold. That used to be so messy that I couldn't recover neatly with-out stoping to wipe everything down. So now when I rap the mold on the table to release any air bubbles there isn't chocolate spilling all over. Then the second place I've learned to be cleaner is when I dump out the excess chocolate back into my bowl. As I've gotten more confident I'm able to turn it upside down with a faster motion, then I give the mold a firm tap while upside down for the excess to dump out and again a quick flip right siding the mold. Use a bowl large enough that you can't miss and drip outside of it. You can't work fast if you have to worry you'll drip over the sides of your bowl. THEN I stop a second and wipe off my hands which always get something on them in that process. When my hands and all surfaces are clean (done in seconds) I then scrape my molds to clear all excess off.......including the drizzle that happens on the side of the mold (from the dirrection of your scrape). When I'm cleaning the excess off NOW (unlike before) I don't have any chocolate running down the sides of my mold, my hands are clean and so the whole process is cleaner. Also if I think about it, I'm probably taking longer to work cleaner then when I first began (longer to neatly work). A little slower equals a little cleaner. Question 2. I like to use a pastry bag to fill my molds. But it really would depend upon how thin or thick your filling is......... Thick/cool ganache isn't going to flow thru a squeeze bottle so easily. Really thin filling you'd need to use the funnel or the squeeze bottle because a pastry bag would let your fillings leak to easily (although most of us just pinch off the end with our other hand).

Talking about the peppermint swirls....I forget where, but I saw some marshmellows that were lemon swirled and orange swirled..........on that premise you could have alot of fun. It's been a while since I tried piping marshmellows......but I'm pretty sure your going to need an assistant to apply the castor sugar while you continue piping. You'd have to pick each up and sort of put them in a sugar bath to get the sugar to coat the sides of your item well.