Wendy DeBord

Agreed, I can't get the dry colors to dissolve properly. I was struggling to get PCB colors and I just recently got a similar product thru Albert Uster Co. . You can also color your couveture then thin it down with cocoa butter and use that to spray thru your brush. If your in a hurry and want to play now, I found oil based colors at Micheals Craft Store, in their baking section. Wilton is producing small jars of color, selling them in sets of 4. They aren't bad, in fact they have secondary colors that I can't mix with my PCB colors.

That's a pretty excellent review, makes me want to stop by! Go Melmck!!

I make my own transfer sheets. I've used my badger 250 airbrush with stencils on acetate. The coarseness of that air brush will not give you a fine image. Also when you have a stencil laying flat on acetate the cocoa butter wants to bleed under your stencil, smudging your image. But once you cut these into shapes the image isn't quite as important as the splash of color. You have to choose your design carefully and not over saturate your cocoa butter on the sheet trying to get a lot of detail. I find finger painting on acetate looks good. For the most part I'm just getting color and abstract designs doing this. I also splatter on the cocoa butter for a nice effect. This is similar to dusting your acetate with cocoa powder or gold dust and then pouring on your base chocolate in a contrasting hue. You can get very detailed and specific images using a piping bag and drawing on images using colored chocolate. It's not much different then doing color flow in royal icing, your just using chocolate instead of frosting.

Phifly04 you can use any good fudge recipe you like that has "fillers" like nuts or jimmies and simply not add them. Or visa versa you can add fillers to a plain recipe.

Just curious, what are you doing with your badger? Truffles? If so, we talked about Norman Loves method in a previous post that might interest you. Also, welcome to The eGullet Society!!

Sometimes when you have a really soft fondant I find it best to leave it thicker when I roll it. Then when I lift it to place it on the cake (I usually drape it across my arms) I find it stretches easily into a thinner layer, just how I would have intended. If your thin to begin with, thats when you have to worry about it tearing as you adjust it over your cake.

When you strain, do not press down on the tea or herbs.

I make RBL's chocolate oblivion torte frequently. The quality of your chocolate is very important in this item, it's the only flavor. Choose your brand wisely. It's much like eating a plain ganche. I like to add a liquor, oil or herbs to add dimension to it's flavor. This is a rather unusual item and combo with the fondant to use for a wedding cake. I would suggest you serve it with whipped cream and some fresh berries or berry sauce. Something to lighten and counter balance the heaviness of this. A plain piece with rolled fondant will not be appealing to a wide audience. To cover this item with rolled fondant will require a thick layer of fondant or you'll have to frost it first with butter cream to whiten it up or your dark cake will show through. You could use white chocolate ganche with added white food coloring-that would probably taste better then frosting this cake. If you could, I think a simple whipped cream frosting would be the best way to finish this cake. But that would effect your traveling and decor. You'll need to level the batter in your pan before baking this. Attempting to level this "cake" is nearly impossible afterwards. To unmold this, I freeze it in the pan then use a torch to heat the pan. It pops out perfectly and this cake always is smooth, easy to finish. Typically when I make this item I add other elements to it to make it more interesting. Eating it plain becomes boring to your taste buds quickly. I often use a cake layer or a base of white chocolate for contrast. Then I use some sort of topping too to add a textural contrast too. I'm not fond of traveling with stacked wedding cakes but because of the density of this cake it should travel well. I also do not believe you'll be able to use straws as your support system with this particular cake. I don't believe you'll be able to insert them thru it's density. Your cake could break as you insert a doweling or any support system to this, so proceed with great caution. If it was 3 layers or less I probably wouldn't use any supports for this item.

Welcome to eGullet JohnRichardson! I once worked at a club were chocolate souffles were their most popular banquet dessert, so I've played around a bit with these. There are a couple ways to make a chocolate souffle. You can make a base as you did or you can use almost straight melted chocolate with whites. When you make a base, it's typically a pastry cream. That pastry cream dilutes your chocolate flavor so you have to punch up your chocolate flavor, in my opinion. I typically use Bo Friebergs recipe for chocolate souffles because of it's reliability and flavor. He begins with a pastry cream base and adds additional cocoa powder and chocolate liquor to enhance the melted chocolate taste. I personally like the additional cocoa powder because it really does punch up the flavor and the liquor gives it a bit more complexity but still keeps you on the chocolate track. When I've added other liquors I find you must be very cautious because they easily compete with the chocolate flavor instead of punching it up. Souffles made by melting chocolate, folding in yolks then beaten white do have a stronger chocolate flavor then souffles made with a base. But I think they taste less interesting and complex. You get a big chocolate bang like a chocolate mousse but the quality of your chocolate is really all you get, so it needs to be a statement and eaten by people who like dark or bittersweet chocolates to be appreciated. At one time I went thru a series of tastings with one member seeking the perfect chocolate souffle. Her perfect version. I got in a couple high end chocolates for this. I made souffles with and without bases and in the end she (and the kitchen staff) liked the souffles enhanced with cocoa powder and using average mid range chocolate. A couple things to consider when making these: They aren't nearly as fragile as some people suggest. I open the oven during baking to view them, with no negative consequences. I can judge when their done by looking at them. The top should be dull (no longer shinny raw) and certainly not dry or cracked looking. You must not over whip your egg whites, you exhaust them and dry them out. It's better to slightly under whip them for a better rise. I fold my whipped whites into my base using a whisk. I find it does a perfect job folding in. You do need to handle your souffles gently after they are removed from the oven. Setting them down hard on your counter will begin their deflation. I bake mine at a steady 375F. until done.................typically about 25 minutes for a soup cup sized portion. When I've eaten other peoples souffles I've often found them improperly baked. Too many people want to bake it on too high of a heat, too quickly. The exterior shouldn't be done while the center is still a molten cake, underbaked looks shinny wet in the center. To tell when it's over baked it will deflate really quickly when broken with a spoon into a mass at the bottom of the cup. It's hard to say if your frozen whites will work as well as fresher whites. Lately I can't get any volume out of the purchased egg whites we buy in cartons. That's due to the addition of preservatives where as your own frozen whites won't have that. But I'd test your whites and start over if they don't give you the volume fresh ones do.

None of us can know the real details of Anns business and personal life, but from what I've read in this thread it seems like she did herself in. I can understand how one can get burned out and beaten down in the bakery business. Retail bakeries are about a lot of little sales and anyone opening a bakery ought to know that before opening their doors. There's so many pastry people that would have given anything to have Ann's success. I think life is full of compromises and if you don't ever make compromises your handicapping yourself without realizing it. Too much of what I've read here doesn't sit well with me. Owning your own business and enjoying being able to tell people it's my way or the highway is childish. You can't control other people, only the way you respond to them. Granted I'm no angel, but for goodness sake every job has you kissing someone's tail so you might as well do so for your own profit and personal benefit.

I use cut up thin mints (Andes) in cheesecake instead of candy cane for a mint accent. Depending upon your tastes I opt for a mint extract instead of a mint liqueur. Personally I find peppermint schnapps to be sickening sweet, whereas using a mint extract or oil only gives you the mint flavor without any added notes. You can put chopped up candy canes in a topping for your cheesecake. I mix some with white chocolate, chop it up and sprinkle it on top of my finished cake, for crunch. Depending upon your time schedule I find making toffee a pretty simple item. The price difference between purchased bars and homemade is huge.

I believe 25 degrees is correct, many pie recipes will make note of that in their recipes. I think jgarner53 gave you some very good advice. Do you have any other questions we might have missed?

Assuming your using this for edible products only, definitely don't use non-edible solvents on your brush. This brush cleans up rather easily with hot water flushed through it. I use dish soap to clean the bottles and brush when needed, making sure to rinse it off well. On occasion it might clog up on you. Any clogs always happen in the feed bottle or tip because nothing but air passes thru the brushes head. I have a thin poker from badger I insert into the feed tip to dislodge any clogs. I've also found a twist tie with the paper stripped off it works really well to open up the tip.

Some oils/flavorings smell much stronger then they taste, peppermint is one of those. So when your using them you have to rely on tasting it away from the aroma.

You guys ROCK! Although I'm swamped at work and can't participate with this right now, I'm REALLY enjoying seeing your photos and thoughts! Excellent work everyone!

If you can, wear rubber gloves as much as possible, you'll need to wash less. For me, I find that not drying my hands throughly causes iratation and often times my brand of soap can be too harsh.

See, NOW there's another Creative idea! I don't recall seeing any of these real tips when I read thru "The Making Of A Pastry Chef".

There's a difference between working with people who aren't familiar with pastry chefs and their job and people who don't care. No job is perfect, there will always be small issues that drive you crazy at a job. I believe that people have to be told what's wrong, for them to realize someone else has a problem. I have verbalized the issues that lead to my melt down and they have taken action. You have to admit, to the hot side many of our issues look pretty bizarre and petty. They've never experienced egg whites or heavy cream that won't whip. It's not logical. The drilled holes in sheet pan corners is GENIUS! That, plus hiding them in the freezer are Brilliant ideas!!!! What totally creative solutions! Leaving a job isn't something any professional does easily. You have to evaluate the situation. In my case I can't expect people to read my mind and to know my job. Once I've verbalized problems if they are ignored, then it's time to consider moving on. No one is has done anything wrong intentionally! Just the opposite, they jump thru hoops to please me. It's all really about communication and finding creative ways to solve problems. I'm working on those skills, but I'm a long way from perfecting them.

I'm on to eggnog creme brulee also. I can't sell anything pumpkin past Thanksgiving day. I also do several peppermint items during December.

Looks great Kevin! .............exactly like the photo in the book.

I use a recipe from Martha Stewart for my gingerbread. I'm sure it's posted on her site under cookies. I make a mock-up of my houses using cardboard first. Tape it together to make sure it all fits right. Then use the cardboard pieces as templates to cut your gingerbread. For royal icing I use: 3 egg whites 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1 lb. xxxsugar An important tip: royal icing that's very stiff (you'd have to use more sugar then the recipe I posted) and dry is less strong then royal icing that's moist. I think the recipe I've posted gives you a perfect royal icing consistancy.

That makes a difference. Also, we are here to help you, don't hesitate to ask questions! New bakers are always welcome, we enjoy helping and turning people on to baking.

I don't beleive you can tell the difference between a cheesecake that's been frozen and a fresh one. Provided that you've got a good cake to begin with and it was wrapped well in the freezer.

Are you referring to corn syrup or maple syrup? Yes, the eggs make this a custard of sorts, so having enough makes a difference.

I've resorted to stashing equipment in previous jobs. I hate having to do that! In my current job I've bought some of my own equipment so I don't have the frustrations. When the hot siders ask to borrow my equipment I feel like a B---- to say "no" (oh the looks they give you) but darn it I'm not rich and supplying equipment for others too. Currently we have about 15 sheets that are flat and I sort thru 3 stacks of sheet pans everyday to find the flat ones. So does the morning salad guy. Try to explain to him that it doesn't matter if your tray is flat holding a bunch of salad plates but it does matter to me when I'm trying to bake a sheet cake. They all think your crazy, selfish. I love when the pans are soooo warped that as you insert them into your speed rack they stick, then you give it a nudge.............. and it pops up so the top of my cakes hit the rack above it. Urg........ I have sympathy for you RETREVR, we all face those obstacles!!! The best I can offer you is to put it all at your chefs feet, don't take any of that on yourself. It's not your battle to fight. If you can't meet deadlines, oh well, sometimes you gotta let things fall apart before anyone notices and attempts to fix it. Then let them kill themselves over how to fix things.