duckduck

Life threatening family illness that I have no control over...that calls for insanely hot thai food. And hugs and kisses from my small nephew and his new puppy. Just really crappy day stuff...Stoli and cran/raz. World is kickin' me and I don't deserve it, definately calls from rum straight up. Rum makes me happy. Thai food gets me through.

Here's a great resource for pound cake recipes. The website is a gem. Scroll way down the list until you hit the "p"s. http://www.labellecuisine.com/Archives/ind...pe_archives.htm

Definately second the Norman Love book as well.

I second the Maury book. That was my first thought. I would like to see more sugar and chocolate showpiece info as well but I would like to see maybe someone give basics on architecture and how to build a solid showpiece. In classes at the forum I've heard instructors talk some on how to make a more solid, or more flexible in some cases, piece and I would like to see a full book on it. I'd also like to see a book by Mike McCarey. It would probably be more foodie porn than anything (not to say that he wouldn't teach a few great techniques) but it would be a good thing to get creative juices stiring and get me thinking outside the box.

I looked on the list last night. Amoretti has a custard panna cotta compound and extract. You might also try their creme de vanilla.

I'm a fan of Norman Love's work as well as Andrew Shotts. http://www.garrisonconfections.com/ There is also eG'er Elizabeth Montes. Her website says that ordering online will be available soon. I enjoy her stuff. http://www.sahagunchocolates.com/ I've yet to try Eg'er John DePaula's stuff but hopefully I will soon. http://www.depaulaconfections.com/about.html

A new one that I've picked up recently and totally love is the Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook by Mary Cech. It's great basic book for learning about wine pairings and has wonderful recipes. I never go wrong with her stuff. It's a beautiful book.

I was thinking of playing with those! And I think a half batch would be more than enough for playing with a new flavor like tarragon or something.

Thanks!

So when you're doing one of these many wonderful candy recipes I've seen recently like caramel, nougat, marshmallows, etc., can you successfully cut these in half or does that mess with your sugar mixtures and would it affect it badly bringing to temp too fast or something? Can you just cut everything in half? Are smaller batches possbile?

Great thread! Thanks for sharing with us and good to see you out having some fun!

Back when I worked in a bakery, I found that I didn't eat any of it. The only thing I would take home at night would be a baguette. I didn't eat any of the sweet stuff when I worked with it all day. (Which is odd for a sugar junkie like me.)

I'm another one that has a difficult time with chocolate and fruit. The classic chocolate and strawberry or raspberry or orange never works for me either. I find it surprising that they are so common. One that I love in a salad is cashew and dried cranberries. I would think they'd go good in a dessert as well.

Thomas Haas does put sugar and fresh herbs in the food processor and buzzes them. When he did the pineapple in the class I was in, he used fresh mint and it was wonderful. He suggests playing with all kinds of herbs but says to use them within 20 minutes. He says to do them in small batches and use it fresh since the flavor disapates as it sets. Wasn't it Mario Batali that used a fresh chili buzzed with sugar on Iron Chef? I believe he did it with sugar and with salt and someone commented that it was much better with the sugar.

Thanks for the recipe, Karen! Sounds good. I'll have to add toffee to my list that I'm working my way through.

Found another cool salt website. http://www.saltworks.us/shop/category.asp?idCat=1

Was at Whole Foods last night looking for something so I compared prices too while I was there. Bob's Red Mill $2.99 for 16 oz = .19 per ounce Hain pure foods $4.29 for 8 oz = .54 per ounce Rumford $1.49 for 4 oz & $2.49 for 10 oz = .37/.25 per ounce

You're welcome Wendy and for McDuff...mmmm...sausage gravy, some with jam and my fave of the bunch was the turkey ala king.

It was very interesting. I was glad I did it. It was fun.

I did a taste test. Made four batches of buttermilk biscuits, same recipe, pan and ingredients with four different baking powders. All four were a far cry from the Calumet of my childhood and each had it’s own distinct personality. It was really pretty interesting. The contenders were Hain pure foods, Bob’s Red Mill, Bakewell, and Rumford. Each has it’s differences even in the packaging. Hain’s comes in a glass jar, Bob’s in a plastic bag and Bakewell in a tin that you have to pry open and you have to add baking soda to it. So on to the categories. Winners in order listed. Best lift Bakewell – more than doubled Bob’s Hain Rumford Fluffy inside Bakewell Hain Bob’s Rumford Even color vs. speckling Bob’s – pretty even color Bakewell – small light speckles Rumford – medium speckles Hain – darker speckles (but still not bad looking) Best flavor Hain Bakewell Rumford Bob’s An odd note that Rumford and Bob’s has a stronger taste in the crust than inside and Bakewell has little taste in the crust but a stronger taste inside. Hain’s was the most even flavor inside and out. I will be moving on to a white cake round with Hain’s and Bakewell. Ingredients for anyone curious – Bakewell Cream – acid sodium pyrophosphate, redried starch. Hain – monocalcium phosphate, potato starch, potassium bicarbonate. Rumford – calcium acid phosphate, bicarbonate of soda, cornstarch. Bob’s Red Mill – sodium phosphate, bicarbonate of soda, cornstarch, calcium phosphate.

There was another thread here on one of her techniques that I was hoping maybe she'd comment on. She does do some amazing cakes! I loved the elegance and creativity of her cake from the holiday cake challenge. I guess it will be the challenge again this sunday if anyone missed it. It has a close up of Michelle making ornaments by piping royal icing on a balloon and popping it. They were beautiful.

I bought it awhile back. My aunt is totally into it. It was a wonderful read. I haven't actually tried any of the recipes yet but I hear that my aunt's pickled stuff in the fridge is wonderful. I need to go back and read it again. Thanks for the reminder and starting the thread.

We always had a drippins cup on the stove growing up and I still do. My girlfriend from Oklahoma, who taught me to do biscuits her grandmamma's way, tosses a spoonful of drippins in her pan that she's going to make her biscuits in and tosses it in the oven while it's warming up, pulls it out when she's finished cutting her dough (with a drinking glass, never a cutter, of course) rolls it back and forth to coat the pan, lays her dough in and throws it back in the oven. My mother on rare occasion makes her grandpa's "greasy toast" or fried bread with it.

I was glad to see PA&D focus on some techniques as well. I have to say that I always appreciate Keegan as an MC because he always gives a heads up when he sees a great technique and explains to the crowd what the competitor is doing and why. I think foodnetwork is catching on more and more that we want to see technique as well as ooh and aaah over the pieces being made. And on a side note, FWED made his debute in this PA&D. (okay just the back of his head, but twice!) At the bottom of the two page Amoretti spread you can see the famous straw hat. Hey FWED, can I get an autograph? And David did come in and check what was going on here since so many people signed up all of a sudden and he said he's very happy to see that we are enjoying his magazine. Looking forward to the next one!

So far in my search I've come up with Hain's, Bob's Red Mill and Rumsford's. Still searching around for Bakewell Cream and if I can't come up with it locally, I'll try ordering by mail. Got a recipe and will be back with biscuit taste tests later.