FWED

Have you thought about reusable parchment? I don't mean silpat. The material that I use is only slightly thicker than parchment and comes in a sheet. I bought it at one of the kitchen stores several years ago (I think it was German made) and I have seen another product like it at "The Mrs. Cooks" just recently. I cut it to fit all of my sheet pans and cookie sheets as well as 8 inch and 9 inch cake pans. I have been using it now for about four years and it cleans up easily and can be stored flat or rolled up. It works wonderfully and is not very expensive once you consider how often you use it over a period of years. There is a new product on the market cut specifically for the bottom of 8 and 9 inch cake pans but I find that this is heaver than the reusable parchment that I have been using and seems to retard the browning and baking of the bottom of the cake, consequently I have stopped using it. Edited because I checked the Mrs Cook's in U village and the product that they have is called Super Parchment and its 6.75 for a 13 X 17 sheet. It comes from a company called "Kitchen Supply".

This may seem like dumb questions but i want to avoid the wrong assumptions. The flour, AP or cake? The Cocoa, dutched or not? Hot Water or Hot Coffee? it could make a big difference in comparing it to other chocolate cakes. Which is your favorite?

Hi Wendy, I would be glad to participate in any way that I can. Just last week I did a chocolate cake tasting with Friends. I had been asked to make a single "Devil's Food cake" for a event. I decided to bake a couple of entirely different recipes and taste them using a simple rating scale similar to one that you proposed. I invited friends over and we blind tasted the two different recipes baked that same day and unfrosted. The first was from the book "The Perfect Cake" by Susan Purdy and the second was from the "Baking Illustrated" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Mag (this one was originally published in Cook's Illustrated Mar/Apr 2000). They both baked up very well and it was Very interesting to compare and contrast them. I look forward to trying it again with other recipes.

I would have to second the vote for marshmallows. I made them for Easter and I made them in three different flavors and with three different colors. I used Neil's recipe but substituted an additional 1/4 cup of water for the strawberry puree and added 1 tsp of flavoring. I used lemon extract with yellow coloring, mint extract and green coloring and the original strawberry puree recipe. Use only enough coloring to produce a pale color. I have found that is is very necessary to allow the mixture to sit in the foil-lined pan, uncovered at room temp for at least 12hrs. Then cut with an oiled knife or one that is dipped into the sugar potato starch powder. Another item you might include is fruit jellies or Pat de Fruit. These can be made of any puree. I have used lemon, apricot, raspberry, blackberry, and a combination of apricot and passion fruit (also recommended by Neil). Jacques Torres has a recipe for them in his book "Dessert Circus at Home". I have also bought tubs of puree from companies that include the recipe for fruit jellies. These confections are so fresh and delightful that people are surprised at how good they are. They are definitely not you same old fruit gum drops. They can be either sweet or tart or anywhere in between by varying the amt of tartaric acid added at the end of cooking. The cooking is easy and the only special thing needed other than the puree is a candy thermometer, candy pectin and tartaric acid crystals. All of which are available at candy making supply stores or online at places like Beryl's. Good luck with what ever you decide to do. Edited to add a note that Sherry Yard has a recipe for Blackberry Jellies in her new book "The Secrets of Baking.

I would have to vote for baking powder. In the second recipe for Upside Down Cake there is no leavening agent if the BB is not baking powder or is left out and buttermilk has little or no leavening to it. The first B could indeed stand for a brand name though. I can't imagine her making an upside down cake that is dense and flat.

I also used the nightscotsmans recipe for marshmallows for easter. I made three batches. One was made with fresh strawberry puree and colored a pale pink. The second was colored a pale green and flavored with mint. The third was a pale yellow and flavored with lemon. Instead of pouring them out into a flat pan I poured them into Chocolate molds shaped like small bunnies and chickens and easter eggs. I let them set for 24hr and them put them into the powered sugar potato starch mix. For Easter gifts I put them into 6 inch birds nests made of Chocolate and slivered almonds and cornflakes. The pale colors worked well with the dark chocolate. The kids at our family dinner devoured them as did many of the adults.

I would have to second the vote for the cake recipe out of "The Baker's Dozen Cookbook". Its Called Flo's Angel Food Cake. I have used it many times and find it easy to make and even easier to eat. I usually will frost it with stabilized whipped cream ( which could be flavored) and add sliced strawberries around the base on the top. Flo Braker (one of the Baker's dozen) has a new baking book out and the recipe may be in it also.

In the last couple of days I have seen a new mixer and I thought I would revive this thread. The name of the mixer is the "Electrolux Assistant DLX Mixer" ( also known as the Magic Mill DLX 2000 by Electrolux. I have also seen it in the Baker's Catalogue and the Williams Sanoma catalog from time to time. It has two bowls. An eight quart bowl for bread and a six quart for cakes and cookies and whipping. The motor in under the bowl so the entire top is open. The look and concept is very different from most other mixers on the market. Has anyone ever used this mixer and what has been your experience with it?

From the ingredients it sounds like Joe's Special. It was very big in the 70's especially for brunch or breakfast.

The Metropolitan Market near Childrens Orthopedic Hospital has them in several flavors and I was told that they were made by Essential Baking. I haven't tried them so don't know the quality.

Ted, tell us more about the lemon napoleon.

What about passion fruit? I hope its not on the way out I just found a source for it. It do like lychee also, especially in the jellys that nightscotsman made at christmas time.

Hi Wendy. If you don't mind ordering by mail there is a company called Chocolate Man owned by Bill Fredericks. The have a web site at www.chocolateman.net. but not all of the varieties they carry are featured there. So request a printed catalogue and order from it. They will sell as little as a pound so you can try several of their offerings. According to the catalogue they carry 4 of Guittard's new european style chocolates. They carry only couvertures and no coatings. Hope this helps.

Hi, Please include Fred and Ed in the March 25th and the Union reservations.

This weekend I had 6 for dinner and for dessert decided to do a take off on a dessert that I have done for a local egullet gathering at Christmas time. It was a Black Bottom Torte consisting of a moist, chocolate, buttermilk cake made with Mexican Chocolate and topped with a coconut and rum laced Bavarian cream. This time I decided to do individual desserts. I baked the cake layer in small 2 ½ by 2 inch cake rings and when cool wrapped the rings with 4 inch acetate. I then filled the acetate with the coconut cream layer. This was then finished with toasted flaked coconut and squiggles of Mexican chocolate ganache. The desserts were then chilled to set the cream. The 4 inch desserts were unmolded and served on small white plates in a pool of creme anglaise with three small chocolate ganache dots linked. The taste was great and the look surprised everyone including me.

Hi kim, at the chocolate tastings that I have been to (put on by Bill Fredericks "chocolate man") the only thing that was used as a palate cleanser was a course white bread (not sour dough) and bottled water. I think that would be appropiate during the tasting and save the champagne and other things for after the formal part of the tasting is over so as not to confuse the tasting.

Well here it is better late than never and it comes from some notes scribbled on a place card and the recollection of my dining companion and myself. Brasa is a wonderful setting for this event and we were seated at a comfortable and elegantly set table for ten. Each participant was given a handsome place card listing the courses and the accompanying wines. Andrew Rich our engaging and charming dinner host is a very knowledge winemaker and shared with us many stories and wine evaluations. The first course was Bouillabaisse containing mussels, white fish (cod I think), and shrimp served in a well blended rich buttery sauce. This was paired with a 2000 Chenin Blanc Vin de Tabula Rasa. The wine was a true Chenin Blanc, fruity, rich, and with just a hint of sweetness. The second course was a refreshing and tasty Salade Nicoise containing a tuna stuffed mild red pepper and hard-boiled quail eggs. This was paired with the 2002 Sauvignon Blanc Les Vigneaux. For me this wine was a favorite. A big nose of candied grapefruit followed by a big taste of lush tropical fruit balanced by a bracing acidity with spicy grapefruit overtones. The third course was a Rabbit Agrodolce. The sweet and sour sauce tastily set off the tender rabbit and soft potato gnocchi. I have not had this before and it was delightful. It was accompanied by the 2001 Pinot Noir Les Vigneaux. The Pinot is a typical pinot and very drinkable now but assertive enough to stand up to the rabbit dish. The fourth course was Squab, Blackberries, and Foie Gras. The squab was served seared on the outside and rare on the inside. At this point two wines were poured. The 1999 Mesalliance Les Vigneaux and the 2001 Syrah Les Vigneaux. The reason given for serving both wines, at this time, was that neither Brian of Brasa or Andrew Rich could decide which wine was best paired with the squab. I personally liked the Mesalliance with the squab over the syrah but I was in the minority. The Mesalliance is basically a cab but does not have a high enough percentage of the cab grape in it to be classified as such according to Andrew. Its taste is typical of a cab and drinkable now, however, it is not as masculine in style or as complex as the 2001 Cabernet. The Syrah on the other hand is big, ripe, and soft yet well balanced with wonderful acidity. The fifth course was the Cheese course. Three tasty selections were chosen from the wide range of cheeses available at Brasa. There were two soft-ripe French cheeses, one sheep and one cow, and a third, a French hard blue cow cheese. Unfortunately the names of these I have long since forgotten. These were eaten to the accompaniment of the Cab and the Syrah. By now we were all getting somewhat full but there was still the dessert course to come. The sixth course was Woodoven Roasted Peaches topped with a peach and raspberry sorbed. The dessert was wonderful but not quite up to the quality of the 2001 Gewürztraminer Les vigneaux. This is a big wonderful classic gewurztraminer ice wine, well balanced and elegant with a long finish. A truly high note to end the evening. The Andrew Rich Wine web site (Andrewrichwine.com) is well done and has more information on, Andrew Rich, his wines, and where to purchase them. I hope you have enjoyed this summary and I do admit that had I known there was going to be a quiz or a paper due I would have taken better notes and not fallen asleep in class.

I am a home cook and baker and have started back into making ice cream after not doing so for many years. I have purchased a simple Krups ice cream maker and will probably buy a self-contained freezer/mixer unit in the future but for now the Krups will have to do. I would like recommendations for books specifically about and containing recipies for ice creams. Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Hi Tony. Here is book that I have found helpful. It is, strictly speaking, a general cooking book but does explain the how and the why of pastry and baking. I am referring to "COOKWISE" by Shirley O Corriher. Take a look at it and see what you think.

Hi everyone. Well here goes my two cents worth. I am sure that all of us have eaten at a chain restaurant from time to time. They fill a niche and are, for the most part, a known quantity food, service, and decor wise. The nice thing is that we can choose to eat there or not. We have that freedom. I do agree that the public is partly to blame for the proliferation of these restaurants. However there is another culprit in the wings and that is the "greedy" landlord. It is not uncommon for the little "mom and Pop” or "Local" enterprises to be hammered by increased rents of fifty to one hundred percent, over a short period of time, imposed by landlords who are interested only in the bottom line. (This is alluded to in the article.) Unfortunately it is usually the large chain restaurants, or other enterprises, with deep pockets that can withstand this kind of financial blackmail. I have lived in Seattle since 1940 and seen this happen time and time again. Well that's my two cents worth. Thanks for listening.

Hi Jim. A friend of mine and I attended the Andrew Rich wine dinner at Brasa and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The delightful wines and beautiful tasty food were well paired. Thanks for posting it on the site.

Hi Pattimw, regardless of which book you decide to buy I would recommend that you buy it from a bookstore that has a liberal return policy. Don't make the mistake like I did and buy a book in another city or over the internet and then get it home and decide that its not for you. As you can see this site is a good source of information.