pastrymama

If you add butter it will become Swiss meringue buttercream. If you try to brown it, it will melt. What they are refering to is just meringue.

Their description says it is Swiss meringue, but it is made as Italian meringue. I used to make Swiss meringue for key lime pie and browned it right away and it would stay good for several days, I am not sure if you don't brown it right away if it will hold up well since I have never done it that way. Hope this is helpful.

I used to make a pastry similar to this and the way I shaped them seems to be much easier than the directions in the recipe. I would take a sheet of phillo and roll it loosely on a dowel about 1/2" diameter, I would stop rolling when there was about 2" of phillo left unrolled. Then I would gently push the phillo to one end of the dowel, crinkling it up as much as possible, remove the dowel and form the phillo into a circle with the unrolled phillo in the center for the bottom. brush it with butter, fill and bake as the recipe instructs. It is quite easy once you have made a few. Hope this will help.

I am getting some new bowls like the ones in the link below. They are in the seventh photo down called square porcelain bowls. They will be 3" 2" and 1" across and will sit on a long narrow tray. I would like to do a chocolate trio in them and thought of something like a pot de creme in the 2" and chocolate granita in the 1" but I am having some problem coming up with something for the 3". I had thought of making a bomb with some mousse, broken pieces of dacquoise and nuts covered in a thin chocolate shell but I am not too sure it would look ok in the square bowl. The way they get smaller at the bottom makes for a challenge trying to do cake or anything that would be cut, because it wouldn't be able to sit in the bottom. Something scooped might work, but I have no idea what. I would like to have something with some texture or crunch to contrast with the other two bowls. Any ideas? http://www.amnow.com/fine-dining/bowls.html

The Cream of Rice is a dry rice cereal, it has the same type of texture as uncooked polenta or cornmeal. In the US it is sold in boxes and you cook it in hot water or milk until thick like a porridge. Maybe you could grind some uncooked rice up in the robocoupe until it is fine like cornmeal or polenta or use rice flour. Hope this is helpful.

The Cream of Rice should be avaliable in any supermarket in the cereal section, probably next to the Cream of Wheat. It comes in a box.

Pastrymama, the recipe came from here in the special recipes section, there are 32 recipes in there.:- Northwest Sourdough I made a half batch and used half milk half water instead of just all water. ← Thanks for the link, I am going to try making the English muffins first, then maybe some of the other recipes.

When I make baby blocks, I usually just cut a strip of fondant the width of the block and long enough to go all the way around, then two squares for the open sides. I suppose you could just make one square for the top and leave the bottom bare. Then I pipe on borders to make it look more square. For decoration I cut out pastel colors of fondant with mini baby shower cookie cutters and alphabet cutters and stick them in the center of the squares.

All the breads look great, but I am especially impressed with the English muffinsby Bill44. Would you tell us what recipe you used or post it? Thanks

where is the recipe for Aunt Sans' Fudge - would love to try this soon - thx ←

Have you changed you chocolate to a different brand or cocoa butter level or your cream from regular cream to a manufacturing cream. I have had problems with both of these issues in the past.

I have a large size recipe from when I worked at Spago and it is the same proportions as the recipe in the link. The water and oil amounts are correct.

I have made a straight sided cup by using pieces of dowels that are the diameter of the cup I want. I cut pieces of dowel 3 or so inches long wrap one end with plastic and tape it to the dowel above where the chocolate will stop. dip them a couple of times, set them down on parchment and chill, then I just release the plastic from the dowel and gently pull it out of the chocolate cup. You could also use pieces of pvc pipe cut about 3 inches long or even foil rolled up to the diameter you want. How about wrapped eggs, that might make a cute shape and the chocolate could form a foot the sit on.

a whipped cream stabilized with gelatin doesn't set up actually, unless there is a lot of gelatin used. It just keeps it from deflating and drooping. I am able to use it for icing, borders and roses etc. I use bronze gelatin sheets, but you could also use gelatin powder. I soften the sheets in cold water while i begin to beat the cream, when the gelatin is soft I drain it, add a small amount of cream and microwave it for 30 seconds just to melt it, if it is steaming after melting I add a little more cold cream. When the cream is beginning to peak I add the gelatin while it is mixing and whip to firm peak. If left at room temperature you can work with it for at least an hour. Or you could use a clear piping jell made with agar agar. Just whip the cream to soft peaks and add some and finish whipping.

I've never had a problem increasing recipes for cakes except for ones that call for folding in beaten egg whites. I'll only increase them to folding in about 40 whites because with more you loose the air too much. As far as other ingredients go I just increase them in the same ratio as the original recipe.

Your chocolates look fabulous. I like the different shapes and textures. And I'm sure they taste just as great. What a wonderful friend you must be to go through all that labor etc and how great for the guests to be able to receive them. I hope you put business cards in, you never know who may see them and what opportunities may come from it. Great job.

We had a 60 qt Varimixer when we first opened a restaurant, it came with a guarantee that it could do the pizza dough with no problems. The recipe used 50 pounds of flour. They had to come and remove the mixer and we got a Hobart because the Varimixer couldn't mix the dough it would scream and stop and scream again. Also the grinder attachment gears wore out from girinding meat within a month.

what exactly are you refering to?

I like the coconut sprinkled on top, but I have never eaten coconut cake with cream cheese icing, so I am not sure about that part. I usually use Italian Meringue buttercream.

I make a lot of raspberry sauce. I blend it up well while it is hot, then force it thru a chinois with a 2 oz ladle. Just pour enough sauce to fill the strainer, and pump quickly with the ladle. It works really quick. Just be careful not to splash. If you have a lot to do, dump the seeds out of the strainer between batches.

It helps if you fill and assemble your cake and let it set for several hours or overnight before icing. It gives the cake time to settle and there will be less air bubbles.

It looks to me that the flowers are made from a 4 petal cutter, that they are connected in the center and not individual petals, then the center is added. I think you could make them from gum paste or chocolate plastic then attach to the cake with a dab of chocolate. I doubt that they put toothpicks in them. I would think it would hold in the refrigerator fine, especially if after chilling you box it or somehow cover with plastic to keep moisture out.

I like the following cookie recipe, and like it say they are never fail. They hold even intricate cut out shapes and taste nice and buttery. NO FAIL SUGAR COOKIES This recipe is GREAT when using complex cookie cutters. The dough holds its' shape and won't spread during baking. Make sure you let your oven preheat for at least 1/2 hour before baking these or any other cookies. 6 cups flour 3 tsp. baking powder 2 cups butter 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself) 1 tsp. salt Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together. Chill for 1 to 2 hours (or see Hint below) Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3” cookies. HINT: Rolling Out Dough Without the Mess -- Rather than wait for your cookie dough to chill, take the freshly made dough and place a glob between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out to the desired thickness then place the dough and paper on a cookie sheet and pop it into the refrigerator. Continue rolling out your dough between sheets of paper until you have used it all. By the time you are finished, the first batch will be completely chilled and ready to cut. Reroll leftover dough and repeat the process! An added bonus is that you are not adding any additional flour to your cookies. This recipe is from Kitchengifts.com

The type of sugar that is non-melting has a lot of dextrose in it, which feels cool on the tongue. I don't know the scientific explanation why dextrose feels cool in your mouth, but it does.

Hi Lauren, I only use bought fondant, I have made it in the past, but I did not think it was as good or easy to use as what I can buy. The manufactures probably have better sugars and chemicals than what we can purchase.