pastrymama

Hi, I am a pastry chef that does a lot of cakes, I don't have a digital camera and my scanner is in hiding so I can't post pictures here but if any one is interested you can look at my website. It has about 60 cakes on it. I haven't add any new ones for a while, but they still may be interesting to someone. Here is the link http://groups.msn.com/MarilynsCakes

I have a recipe that is made with high ratio shortening that I have used for years. The cake is very white and pretty moist. If you don't require a cake made with butter this would be a good recipe for you. I used to work in Prescott, Az the altitude there is 5500 ft If you would like this recipe just let me know and I will post it.

I work at a private golf club, our members are all multi-millionaires and when they are at the club they like it to be like their home, so we don't do anything out of the ordinary unless they request something for a private party. I have one part time assistant, she is a culinary student in her last quarter of school. She is a great help. We will be serving 300 to 350 people maybe 50 will be children. We have tried to make the dessert buffet include things from warm to cold and from regulaar sized tortes to mini pastries. Here is our menu for this Easter. In chaffing dishes: warm strawberry-rhubarb cobbler warm lemon-blueberry pudding full size tortes: strawberry shortcake Maryann 10" chocolate-orange bombe 10" white chocolate bundt cake 10" mini pastries: tarts=lemon, fruit and fresh berry, chocolate cream, coconut cream cream puffs=light and chocolate puffs filled with pastry cream and whipped cream wiith pastel fondant topping cheesecake mousse in chocolate mini cups with berries Victorian orange cakes chocolate-hazelnut cakes cookies: coconut macaroons lemon pecan French butter raspberry and chocolate financiers fudge brownies white chocolate brownies almond toffee bars candy: bittersweet and white chocolate coated rochers chocolate fudge white fudge mints sesame brittle Childrens table will have mini Easter egg cakes, decorated cookies and jello For the breakfast selections we will make cinnamon rolls, danish, scones, mini muffins and yeast coffee cake.

Does your oven have the option of turning off the fan but still able to bake? If not you could try placing the cheesecake inside of another taller pan and covering with foil to keep the fan from blowing on it and lower the temperature another 25 degrees. Also is your oven calibrated? Most convection ovens bake from 25 to 50 degrees hotter than a conventional oven,so you need to know if it is baking anywhere near what it is set at. If covering the cake does't work and you decide to use a baine marie make sure you use a lot of water almost to the top of the pan to keep the temperature even throughout the cheesecake. Good luck.

you can grind them very fine in a coffee/spice grinder. I use one at home that holds about 1/2 cup and it grinds the almonds as fine as the almond flour I use at work. The grinders are usually less than $20.00 at any place like Wal Mart.

The Secrets of Baking is the only book Sherry has written, the Spago Chocolate and Spago Desserts were written by Mary Bergin. Also a lot of the desserts served at Spago and other Puck restaurants are Mary Bergin recipes also.

Whew, what a relief! Thank you Michael for setting things straight. I didn't have the copy that Sinclair was speaking of, so when I read her post I just freaked out, and I guess a lot of others did too. I am so pleased to hear that the magazine will still be published, I can't tell you enough how much I love it.

Dear Michael, What sad news this is. I have never subscribed to Pastry Arts but I bought every issue. I looked forward to the trip to the bookstore to look for it and was always excited to see a new issue. It has served me well all these years and I am so sorry to hear it is finished. I wish you well in your new endevors and hope that we will hear from you. Sincerely, Marilyn Robson Pastry chef, Shady Canyon Golf Club

sorry wrong recipe

I have used a recipe that is the same as yours except that it has one half the sugar amount in granulated and one half in powdered . I always use room temperature butter and normally don't chill the dough for shortbread formed in a pan, I use 8"tart pans, but if I make small cookies I form them place on a lined cookie sheet and chill for a while, then bake at 325, the one in tart pans I bake at 300 for almost an hour the tart pans take a recipe 2 1/2 times yours each. Then I let them cool to room temperature and slice into wedges with a very sharp knife. I hope this helps.

There are several sites that have recipes for Baumkuchen this one has a slide show that shows it being made in a springform pan, the recipe is well detailed and looks like it would be good. http://www.geocities.com/ritashanty/recipe...-baumtorte.html.

I've made them that way a few times, but it was because my meringue was sitting around a little too long and had begun to get soft. It was just French meringue. I thought it was a mistake when it happened, maybe I was wrong and it was actually a culinary secret I stumbled across.

The recipe for Biscoti di Prato on the ciaoitalia site that wendy posted is the type of biscotti recipe you are looking for. It does not have any fat in it which makes them more dense. I used to make this type in my shop and customers liked them because they don't dissolve in coffee or wine.

you can make your own self rising flour by mixing 1 cup flour, 1 1/4 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.

You could thin the candy melts with either cocoa butter or shortening. The karo would probably cause it to thicken unless you use a lot then your chocolate won't set up. Don't use butter or margarine, they contain water and will cause your chocolate to thicken also. Good luck

Hi, I make mine with a good white chocolate such as Valrhona or Callebaut and use one half the cream that I would use in a dark ganache. One pound of white chocolate and one half pound cream, then I whisk it until it begins to whiten a bit. If you don't whisk it, stays sort of yellowish. Hope this will help you.

Hi, sugarcraft.com is a site that has tools,equipment, etc that have to do with cakes for sale. It belongs to Dolores McCann who owns a store in Ohio. On the site are links to her personal web site that contains recipes, instructions, answers to questions, photos etc. There is also a link to message boards and many other things. I think it is the best site I have seen for cake decorating because it covers everything. You could probably learn a lot there.

I make a chocolate truffle cake that I bake a bunch off and keep some frozen and some in the reach in. I bake them in ceramic dishes, when we get an order we just microwave them for 45 seconds unmold and garnish. ready in 1 minute. They don't need to come to room temperature, just the frozen ones need to be thawed then refrigerated until needed. I suppose if you make them in metal you could bake them and unmold when cool then store in reach in or freezer.

you can find recipes for using plugra at www.butter1.com that is the site for Kellers Creamery, I think they produce Plugra. there is a whole list of dessert recipes. I did make chocolate chip cookies from a recipe I received from Plugra years ago, I didn't like the results, they were too hard for my taste. I haven't tried the recipes on the butter1.com site so I can't say if they are good or not, but thought I would pass it on to you to check out. I also only use the Plugra for laminating and in butter cakes and cookies where the difference shows up.

I have used the loose bottom pans and they work fine, but if I am baking cheesecakes in a water bath I like to use a regular heavy duty cake pan 3" tall. You don't have to worry about water leaking in and after the cakes are cold, they will drop out nicely if you invert them and warm pan with torch or hot towels. I also bake chocolate truffle/souffle cakes in the regular pans.

I am constantly trying to make products with Splenda and other sweeteners. I work in a private club and the members are always worried about their weight and the GM has been on a diet as long as I have worked there. I find the taste a little hollow and it doesn't work well with things that need sugar for texture. I have tried stevia, but I thought it was awful. The best thing I have made with Splenda was an apple pie, I am sure the spices covered up any unusual taste. I also make brownies but the texture is sort of springy not fudgy. I really don't like making pastry without sugar, I don't think baking should be sugar and calorie free, it wasn't meant to be. I think people should just eat small portions and enjoy it. Have you seen the new study results that state dark chocolate is good for your heart? My mother always believed you should eat anything you want, just in moderation. I second that.

I think the best buy in non slip lace up kitchen shoes are from Shoes for Crews. I don't care for their least expensive ones so I usually buy the ones in the $40.00 range. 'They last me about 6 months of everyday wear and have good support. They have a website www.shoesforcrews.com you can order online or by phone.