Wendy DeBord

Wow! I just love seeing photos like this..........I could never see enough. I've got a couple questions (maybe some dumb ones, but oh well). The red one from Henri C. .... is it just red cocoa butter sprayed on then wrapped in chocolate? How do you think they are making the perfectly shaped mini egg meringues? Could you get any clues looking at it closely? The rectangular clear plastic containers..........the ones from Sadaharu Aoki look like thin sheets of plastic layed around neatly sliced desserts........and the ones from Charpentier and Mitsukoshi look like the desserts were assembled in the container.......is that correct? The orange dessert from Sadaharu......is the garnish dried kumquats placed on an isomalt shard? Also from the same shop, the white name tags on each dessert......are they sheets of plastic? Is Herme's signature on his pastries plastic or chocolate? Thank-you Neil!!!

I use 180F, 250F is too hot, they'll brown at that temp.. Then depending upon the size of your mushrooms it could take a couple hours. Unless they begin to brown you can leave them in the oven as long as you want. There's no rush to pull them out of the oven...ignore the recipes instructions on that point. A couple factors come into play with meringues not drying out: Your either not baking them long enough, your under whipping them or your putting them into too humid of an enviroment.

Maybe I'm missing something............. what is the title of the book, etc...?

Auesome Pam, thanks for giving us an update!! Think there might be some photos at the news stations website we could see too?

Thank-you Nicole!!! I never brushed my with syrup after baking..........never knew/thought about it.........that's a great tip to know. While we have you talking about macarons, could you restate how the French are achieving a perfectly square shaped macaron?

Add one more person who owns the Braun and loves it. I went to buy a second one where I originally purchased my first and they told me it's discontinued (Bed, Bath & Beyond). I did manage to track one down. The IB I'm referrring to has two speeds and way more power then similar IB's sold retail I've looked at.

Oops........I didn't notice there were cookies in the background, sorry.

Hum.......it's a little confusing because the photo next to the recipe doesn't match the recipe. I think I'd ask over at Martha Stewart your questions and see what they say.

I had a couple failures at work (I don't bake or cook at home). I screwed up making marshmellows (from Neils recipe which I've made several times before). I used two thermometers in my pot of syrup and still missed my temp. (under) so my batch never firmed up...........Eek! Dummy me. Oh and I screwed up a batch of fudge too.......again with tjhe same bum thermometers! I've come to really hate thermometers!! Good ones break as well as cheap ones. I calibrate them then 10 minutes later they don't work right..........Why can't someone invent the prefect thermometer?????????

I used to use this recipe for my chocolate cakes a few years back. It's a really good cake, but I find it too delicate for layer cake applications. It's from "Spago Chocolate" by Mary Bergin and Judy Gethers, published by Random House in 1999. It's a really good book, by the way!! "Roulade au chocolate pour Julia", page 32. 1 1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar 1 c. ap flour 3/4 c. cocoa powder 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 4 eggs, seperated 3/4 c. vegetable oil 1/2 c. water 2 egg whites Dirrections adapted into my own words: Put the 6 egg whites in a clean mixing bowl and set aside 1/2 c. of the sugar, that will be whipped into them. In another bowl whip together the yolks, oil and water. Sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, powder and salt. Gradually add those sifted ingredients into your yolk mixture. Then whip your whites gradually adding the sugar until they are firm. Fold the firm whites into the batter. Pour batter into a sprayed and line sheet pan (aprox. 12"x 17"). Bake at 350F. When finished baking cool in the pan...don't unmold it onto something else because it will stick to another surface regardless of how much you try to prevent that. This is a really moist chocolate cake.

Actually after reading your response Rachel, it's clear to me that I didn't have my oil hot enough. They did soak up the oil in the pan, like a sponge! I did everything you mentioned. I kept added oil to the pan while they were cooking cause they kept soaking up the oil. .......I thought the oil was hot enough (I did let the pan and oil heat up for several minutes, but my flame must have been too low. I had it at med. on my dial), but they didn't sizzle when I placed the pancakes into it. Is there anyway to make them better as I reheat them? I heated some today in the oven on a foil lined pan thinking they might crisp up, but they didn't. So is it too late once they've been fried incorrectly? .........and thank-you for your advice! P.S. they did taste pretty good.........no need to adjust that.

You all have been making my mouth water! I had to make potato pancakes tonight to have with our prime rib....just to satisfy this craving you all have forced on me. Shame on you all.......... When my family owned out catering company we always had one particular women/employee who made the potato pancakes. They were always outstanding, I never watched her make them. Somehow I thought she'd always be in my life to make them. But she's passed on and my attempts don't compare to hers. I can't seem to make decent potato pancakes..........I'm so bummed out. I can't master these darn things (note: this isn't the first time mine stunk). Sooooo I followed Rachels recipe (more or less). I only had yukon gold potatos on hand (perhaps they don't have enough starch?). I used my cusinart to grate the potatos and onion, using a med. grate (I don't have a fine or corser option). I waited to drain them...........but it took forever (so it seemed) before they leached out any water. Then I added the matzo meal, drained out the excess water before placing each patty in the med. hot oil. And my pancakes weren't crisp at all. I tried turning up the heat to high (to brown them quicker), I tried adding more oil so they were almost deep frying. Neither attempt worked, I got browned pancakes but they still didn't crisp up. Help............I have such a craving for a really good potato pancake and can't satisfy it. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? If I post a photo of my sick pp's will that help you diagnosis what the probelm is?

Did anyone who saw this years gingerbread contest/show on foodtv notice the one ladys gingerbread dough that she couldn't saw thru with her knive cause it dries so firm? I couldn't believe it...........I've never seen similar, have you?

Oh my gosh Kevin, I hope your daughter is alright?! What a horrible x-mas eve! Oh sorry, I guess I wrote that wrong in my last post. I bought the chocolates thru Norman's company in Florida....not at TJ's. I bought chocolates for my out of town relatives as x-mas gifts......and well I just had to get a fix for myself too. It was crazy.... I wanted to order 4 boxes each going to different states but I couldn't figure out how to do that thru his website. So I called dirrectly and who answers the phone, Norman himself... he sounded really jazzed by how busy he is (which is cool). Forwarned me that he couldn't guarentee delivery before x-mas and told me it would be faster if I ordered thru his website. Sure enough two days after I placed my orders all the boxes were delivered. and........they are auesome!!! I've never tasted better chocolates, it's hard to believe anyone could make better. Out of an 18 piece box there were only 2 that could be considered average tasting......the rest were incredible. The colors and shine in my photo is way off. I'm no Patrick S!!! He didn't have any "unusual" flavor combinations. Like Thomas Hass has layers of gelee mixed with ganches in his chocolates, etc... Loves' were all straight ganches no buttercreams or meringues, etc.... Usually only highlighting one flavor plus the chocolate although some had two flavors plus the chocolate. The texture of his ganches are incredible.....the flavors are very clear, cleanly stated flavors..........not subtle, but not too strong either. P.S. My favorite find at TJ's is their bread (baguette and pugelse (which I can't spell)). Finally I can buy a decent loaf of bread to have with dinner. Have you come across anything you like alot from them Kevin?

I use the recipe from the back of the box of my brown sugar to make the best caramel pecan topping (but my own recipe for the rolls) for sweet rolls. I also like the pecan pie recipe from the corn syrup bottle.

I've avoided posting on this thread, so I wouldn't embarase myself (....more then I normally do being a goof). Truth is I eat......hum.....well I eat sweets....if you can call them dessert (cause sometimes they take place before 9:00 am) all day everyday, sort of. Mostly I eat sweets at work. But like last Monday (my day off) I had to check out the newest bakery in my area, and well we've finally got a Trader Joes....so I needed to check out their chocolates, cookies, candies too. But I could probably label that a work related tasting. Finally I have something very worthy of sharing: I've been savoring each and every bite of my Norman Love chocolates. So far the 18 piece box has lasted me 3 days.............that's alot of restraint!

The beauty of this cookie is the contrast it has with sweet and salt. So if you admit the salt your taking the yang out or your ying & yang. It's the sweet and salty factor that make this a good cookie, in my opinion. If you took away the salt.............for me, it would be no better then any ole cookie. I think you'll be able to taste which two recipes are missing the salt by tasting from all three samples. I'd bring my batter up to room temp. and adding in the missing ingredients. ...adding the salt on top of the cookie wouldn't be objectional to me at all....but theres alot of people that wouldn't like it that way.

When you double a recipe, double all the ingredients. What I was addressing is that some recipes need to be adjusted.............but that's nothing for a home baker to worry about. When you get into multiplying a recipe by x20 (just as a random number) and or using huge baking pans (like 20" round)........then it's a topic you need to understand more thoroughly. But when your working with amounts easily handled in a home kitchen your not likely to ever need to know how to adjust your leavening....just go with the simple math and keep all your ingredients in proportion.

We've discussed this issue adequately here, I believe. Doubling a recipe or quadripling a recipe (etc...) has nothing to do with a failure. If you understand the method involved (whipping, beating, airating, folding, etc....) and you understand that these methods may take longer to achieve with larger batches and less time then the recipe states if you divide the recipe, you should not have failures. If you learn the basics of baking and bake by those factors (and adjust according to how much bigger or smaller your quantities are) everyone can increase or decrease a baking recipe with success. There's only a few recipe that require adjustments in your leavening when making larger batches. Also you can bake quanities in smaller and larger pans then the recipe calls for too. If you understand the basics/fundementals you quickly learn that theres many ways to achieve the same thing or make a variation. Industrial equipement may be needed if your working with more volume then will fit in your equipement....but not always. My counter top kitchen aide mixer will hold and have adequate power to double almost any home recipe....and depending upon the recipe perhaps alot more. Of course, you can't beat 10 quarts of cream in a 4 quart mixing bowl...........again that's why we stress common sense here. We work very hard to de-mystify baking...and debunk bad advise whether it's written in a published magazine, book or found online. If you need help adjusting a recipe to a larger volume or a smaller volume please feel free to ask for help here. No questions are bad questions.

So how did it go Pam?

If they are in the refridgerator they shouldn't freeze or your temp. is off. I think if it was me............I'd prep. several ways....just incase....if anything happened while transporting or for some reason you dough didn't rise as well as usual. I'd rather have several possiblities/back-ups then just choosing one way. I know it's more work......but I think it's worth it, to be totally prepared. GOOD LUCK!!!! You'll have to tell us how it went, please???? Break a leg...........

If you have the Spago baking book, theres a great recipe in it for a chocolate cake roll. It's what I use. Hum, I know lots of other people use it too.......maybe someone has the recipe handy and could post it for you?

Allura, The reason there is no "stupid baking questions" thread is because there are no stupid baking questions. As a novice baker who has never made layer cakes, I was not aware of the icing dam technique and have learned something from your post. The reason I love this forum so much is that all levels of bakers -- from novices like me to advanced home bakers such as PatrickS (who is also a great photographer ) and Ling, to the professionals such as Wendy, Nightscotsman and so many others -- we are all here to share, learn, and advance our skills. Keep those "stupid" questions coming! ← Great response Beanie!!!!! I couldn't agree more.......... all questions and thoughts on any level are welcome here.

Welcome to The eGullet Society For Arts & Letters Serene!

I really got enthused over Chocolates with that showroom finish thread. Influenced by that thread I now regularly mold chocolates where as I used to just do it just occasionally.