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pastrymama

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Posts posted by pastrymama

  1. I make this type of dessert with my warm chocolate cake recipe which has chocolate, butter sugar and eggs. I always double up the phyllo or use brick pastry which is a little sturdier. If you want the chocolate cake recipe I'll be happy to send it to you.

  2. We are having a father - daughter night at the club where I work. The theme is the 60's. They would like to have a "Groovy" dessert, whatever that means.

    Does anyone have any ideas for me? I am at a loss.

    Thanks for any help. Marilyn

  3. The isomalt will probably work, since you can make a syrup with it just like with sugar. The proportions are the same. The only difference is the isomalt doesn't taste as sweet as sugar, so you may have to add some additional flavor.

    I make a sugar free icing by using the recipe that cooks flour in milk, then whips in butter and sugar. But instead of sugar I use Sweet n' Low or Equal after it is getting fluffy. I don't have the recipe in front of me, but if you want it I will post it later.

  4. I have done several cakes for people that are older. I usually do a google search for the year they were born and look for interesting things that happened or inventions that were important. I will take a few of those ideas and make items such as an airplane or car or a poster of a political person or entertainer out of gumpaste. I have been able to print faces or pictures of cars onto rice paper and attach them to a gumpaste plaque. Then I do the same items, but how they look or people in the same type of job for the current year. Usually the things I make are pretty small and you could fit several on a cake. You could also do the same type of thing with important things that have happened to him during his life. If you are not up to making things like this, you could probably buy miniatures from a hobby shop.

  5. I make Swiss meringue for key lime and lemon pies. I use double the amount of sugar as egg whites (1 cup whites to 2 cups sugar) with a pinch of salt and stir in a baine marie until it is very hot. Almost too hot to put your finger in. It will begin to thicken and look a little like mucus at the edges of the bowl. Then I put it in my Kitchen Aid and whip on high until thick and cool. Place on the pie as usual and bake until browned. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate. This always lasts a few days before weeping out.

  6. I have been a pastry chef for many years. I have made cakes for many famous people so I am not speaking from no experience or knowledge. I suggested the Wilton set to someone that wanted to begin to learn and not spend a lot of money to get started. I know they are not the BEST quality but they are affordable and if you can follow written directions and photos I believe you can get a good start and later if you want to persue it further spend the money for better cutters etc. Just so you know I am not inexperienced here are some of my past photos.

    http://groups.msn.com/MarilynsCakes/shoebox.msnw?albumlist=2

  7. I have a homemade one I got from the people I bought my temperer from. It has about 2" high plexiglass strips screwed on each side so they rise up about 1 1/2 inches above the table to keep the molds from falling off.

  8. I would also be interested in learning about consulting. I still work as a pastry chef but in the next few years I will be slowing down in the production of pastry and am looking for another way to use my knowledge. Thanks for any help. Marilyn

  9. I prefer a convection oven for cakes, but if you can afford a good one it would be great to have one with a fan that can go high, low and still bake with it off. Some items don't do well with a fan blowing. Also no matter what they say about even baking in a convection, you will most likely need to turn things while they are baking. The fan blows in one direction so you most always get uneven browning. The only oven I didn't have to turn things around in was a combi-convection. It was so deep the sheet pans could go in long ways or side ways. But I think it cost around $60,000. A little out of my price range.

  10. I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I wanted to share this with all you chocolatiers. It is a link to a site for a machine similar the the small home tempering machines but it is European I believe. There is a lot of information on tempering etc. and about 40 chocolate candy recipes. You will need to open the link then click on Tips then choose what you would like to read.

    http://www.chocolatier-electro.com/english/index.htm

  11. Instead of totally changing careers, you could choose to use your skills in a less demanding job. I am 60 years old and still a working pastry chef, but now I work in a private club that has a fairly small elite membership. We don't do the volume that you have to at hotels and restaurants. Around the holidays we have quite a few banquets but it is not unmanagable. I work around 9 to 10 hours most days, but when it gets really slow some of the summer and in January and February I only work 4 or 5. I am on salary so it doesn't affect my pay if I get to go home early. You could also think about teaching or consulting. Also I know a lot of chefs go into the purveyor field as salesmen.

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