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Powder or a concentrate? Just juice, maybe reduced? I'm curious about this product and want to try it. I'll be going to my fave asian market later to check it out. Thanks for any info provided~

Has anyone had any really outstanding desserts downtown recently? I'm taking my boyfriend to Casa Mono for his birthday next weekend, but their desserts are rather limited and aren't supposed to be great, so I'd like to go somewhere else afterwards. I know Gramercy Tavern is a perennial dessert favorite, and it IS close by, so we may well end up going there, but I've never really loved their stuff; they always seem just a little too "homey" for me, like something I would make myself. And I've not been back since Claudia Fleming left. Plus, you can't order the dining room desserts in the tavern. On the other hand, it'll be easy to get a seat and the tables are spaced far enough apart that we'll have some semblance of privacy. I've been thinking of going to Babbo, I LOVE their desserts, but Saturday night will be a zoo, and I really don't want to have to wait a long time for seats. AND we'll probably end up having to sit at the bar, which would not be romantic at all. There's always Otto for gelato. Chikalicious is another option, but again we'll likely have to wait a long time on a Saturday night in the teeny-tiny room. Also, the desserts seem a little precious, which is fine for me, but it's not really the kind of food my bf likes. Veritas is also on my list, the bar is always quiet, but, while I love their savory food I've never been blown away by any dessert I've had there. So, basically I'm looking for someplace within a 20 minute or so walk from Casa Mono (Irving Place and 17th) that has fantastic desserts, and a quiet atmosphere in which we'll be able to carry on a conversation. I won't mind having to wait for a table for 10-15 minutes, but nothing longer than that. Any suggestions for me!?

Hello all... I'm doing a story for a travel mag on Southern Cakes (and/or cakes popular in this part of the country). Specifically, I was wondering if the great folks that frequent this site would mind offering up their favorite Southern restaurants serving these beauts: 1. red velvet cake 2. coconut cake 3. mississippi mud cake However, I'm also interested in any Southern cakes you may be fond of, and the restaurants that do the best job of serving them. Alternately, for those board-shy, you may contact me at timothy.davis@cln.com. thanks! Tim

I have heard in the past from Japanese friends that New York Cheesecake had an excellent texture but was overly sweet. From my own experience, after tasting the Japanese chiffon-style or "Light" cheesecake at both the KO and Odakyu stores in Shinjuku - West Tokyo last December, that Japanese cheesecake texture differs from New York cheesecake in that it has a lighter and fluffier texture, and Japanese cheesecake is also not as sweet. It is interesting that the NY Times article (Wednesday, March 17 Dining In, Section F1, Page 1) In Cheesecake City, a Quest for the Best , Ed Levine stated, in a somewhat ambiguous way*, " You can buy chocolate cheesecake in your local supermarket, and in Whole Foods at the Time Warner Center. There is (Swedish) cheesecake at Aquavit, and (Mexican) cheesecake at the Bright Food Shop in Chelsea, and *an attempt (Japanese) at Sui in SoHo" . Although I have not tasted the cheesecake at Sui, I would venture to say that it may be case of apples and oranges here. Japanese "Light" Cheesecake is sold at Zaiya Cafe at 41st Street, between 5th and Madison Avenues for $2.25 a slice. It is fluffy and instead of having a crust underneath, the fluffy cheese is on top of a thin layer of white sponge cake. On the top of the cheesecake is a glaze and a miniture drop of whip cream topped by a rasberry. There are also many other pastries (yes, and Papa Beards Cream Puffs) and baked goods as well as bento boxes, sushi, and a selction of fish, meat, and vegetable entres served cafeteria style. The price is quite reasonable and the place is packed with Japanese and American office workers during lunch hour.

I'm getting married and we've set up our wedding cake tastings at Sweet Lady Jane, Susina (formerly Sugarplum, and one of our favorite lunch spots already), and Hansen's Bakery. Anywhere we're missing? We're looking for more of a really, really great chocolate cake for 110 people than a traditional wedding cake.

Hi folks, I'm looking for a recipe for what my Danish grandfather used to make; a Danish wedding cake. Basically, it's an almond macaron type dough, golden smooth and crispy on the outside, very chewy on the inside. It was baked in a set of rings that were incrementally smaller, so that when assembled they formed a tall pyramid of rings. The dough is what I'm really after. It can also be made into individual cookies, etc. As I remember, the dough went something like this; a few pounds of almond paste half a dozen egg whites, or so a couple cups of confectioners sugar a little flour some baking powder (or ammonium sulfate?) maybe some almond extract, brandy, or kirsch? Does that look like the right general direction? Please help with any recipe suggestions. Thanks, Tom

At the Hor Expo 2004 in Lisboa last week Inter Magazine sponsored a Wedding Cake Competition. Steve and I were invited to serve on the International judging panel. There were just a few short of 50 cakes on display and here are some of the better ones The winning cake - Very thin cake with a poured sugar support, blown sugar balls, pulled sugar flowers and ribbons and some molded work on the top. Very nice work. The pink and slight olive green colors are a bit off due to the strong yellow hue of the lighting. some details The second place cake work is uneven And third place Here are some of my favorites Very sleek and modern - interesting styling Maybe not the best wedding cake in the world but I thought the chocolate swirlys were fun This was very eye catching and sort of lunar - I think of it as a moonstone cake This cake was very nicely done and the figures on top were very compelling This cake was actually very nice work - covered in marzipane it included a spotlight embedded in the lower tier that was plugged in at first but as it heated up it melted the frosting around it and shorted out and here are the judges Overall it was a very interesting experience especially since we also judged taste I will post more later

I have recently been entertaining the idea of fermented black beans in desserts, and along the way have considered olives as a possible (sweet) pastry ingredient. I was wondering if any one has had any success incorporating them into their desserts... Also has any one ever ground dry shitakes... they smell just like 70% dark chocolate, very interesting.

Each year by daughter prepares a birthday cake for our little family celebration. Of course, she wants to make a cake I will particularly appreciate. In the old days that meant a rich chocolate cake with a ton of icing. In fact, I really like to mix cake crumbs in a bowl of icing for a really special treat. Now that I have diabetes I have to restrict my carbs. Last year she made a cake substituting Splenda for the sugar. We didn't find it particularly satisfactory (in fact, after eating a small piece she had to resort to using her tongue scraper in an attempt to get rid of the aftertaste ... I didn't think it was that bad, but I didn't think it was that great, either). This year my intention is to ask for a small but rich chocolate cake. She recommends icing it with Cool Whip. I would just need to eat a small piece. Perhaps people here have a better idea. I'm no fan of fancy flavor combinations. I don't want nuts, fruit or anything else to compete with the chocolate flavor. I've read elsewhere that using almond flour reduces the carbs without affecting taste, but I haven't found any almond flour locally. Recommendations ... anyone?

I am getting married in October and I thought it would be fun to have a "different" type of wedding cake. Wedding cakes are not very popular in Israel, but my boyfriend loves Provence and I thought it would a nice thing to have. I saw a picture on the Martha Stewart website (please no Martha Stewart comments!) of a wedding cake (actually individual cakes) that look like crottin (goat cheese). I can't figure out how they created the "crottin" effect on the cakes. Any ideas? What type of little pans would I use? Small flan pans? BTW - I have searched the internet and the MSO website did not explain how they were made and did not provide a recipe. What type of cake recipe would I use? A picture of the cake is at : http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?ty...33&page=1&site=

I looked for a thread on this March 17, 2004 NY Times article on cheesecake in New York, but didn't find one. The other day, Mascarpone, my mother, my brother and I stopped by the branch of Two Little Red Hens between 85 and 86 Sts. on 2nd Av. in Manhattan. Ed Levine essentially rated their cheesecake the best traditional New York cheesecake in town. It was my first time at their Manhattan branch, but their Park Slope branch on 8th Av. is my ex-girlfriend's favorite local bakery. I don't remember ever having tried the cheesecake at the Brooklyn branch, but I've enjoyed their criossants, pains au chocolat, pains au raisin, and tarts (and some things with chocolate in them, I think). In any case, the cheesecake at the Manhattan branch was truly delicious. They use ungummy cream cheese and the crust at the base is like a good butter cookie. Slices are $4.50, and we got the last two slices of the day around 2:30 P.M. or so, I guess.

I'm planning to go beyond Vancouver to try out as many worthwhile bakeries as I can. Albeit, there are a lot of good bread and pastry eats here, the gossip of good bakeries in Abbostford, Whiterock, Chilliwack is beckoning me! I hope to convince my friends to join me. But in case I can't, are there groups here or other clubs that does this sort of thing? I LOVE to talk, eat, sleep, read...about food, especially pastries and bread. I don't drink so a dining club is quite intimidating to me. I understand there are high end restaurants that will serve desserts on a slow night. I've been to Cin Cin, Trafalgar, etc. Where else can you suggest? I've tried almost all the desserts at Sen5es, Patisserie LeBeau, the breads at Terra and Cobbs (which BTW, the latter tastes like cardboard.) I have a very flexible schedule and plan to go to the further locatons during off peak traffic hours. Thanks for your help.

Several times now I've worked with others off site thru pm's exchanging recipes, in search of "the best of". I'd like to bring this topic up to everyone........would you participate and share you best recipes, test others recipes, compare and see if we can all benefit from this? I'd like to see other pro's get involved, will you too be interested and participate? The main recipes I'm interested in networking on are basics: the best chocolate cake, the best white sratch cake, best yellow, best sponge, etc....These seem like simple cakes, well they are, but to a certain respect their very difficult because most don't compare in texture to a mix. Unforunately I live in a world that judges cakes to mixes and usually the mix wins in taste tests, especially white cake. Yellow cake which I get requests for, recipes doesn't really seem to exist (theres only a handful out there labeled yellow). You have butter cakes, sponge cakes, etc....but nothing really seems to come close to what consumers see in the box yellow mises. I feel like I'm already using the best carrot and banana cake recipes. Cakes that get flavor from ingredients other then butter, flour and sugar are much easier to achieve good taste from. But the simple chocolate, white and yellow cakes are very ilusive. I also don't see the challenge in genoise or non-american cakes.........seeing that their rarely used on their own as is or in a wedding cake. So what do you think? Unlike the other thread were they're working from one book, "Baking With Julia", you can bring the best recipe you've ever found from any source.......as long as we link to the recipe and excerpt or we put the recipe and directions in our own words we won't plagiarize and we'll respect fair use. So who's in?

I was talking to a restaurant owner last night about Indian desserts and he was complaining about how most Indian desserts are milk based and for his patrons who have milk aversions/allergies etc its hard to prepare something that they would like... what are some of the non milk based desserts that you have tried and know of? I make a date halwa or pudding but even that uses heavy cream Gur Roti - Indian bread with jaggery.. Puran Poli - Indian bread with lentils and jaggery.... Chikki - peanut brittle... What else??

I tried making a pistachio cake that got great reviews on egullet.This is the recipe. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105003 I have made it twice and followed the recipe to the letter.Each time it rises well in the oven.After removing it,it shrinks a little and collapses.The final texture is dense and a little gooey. It still tastes good though.....so if made properly should be wonderful.

In traveling around Texas and the South, I've noticed a disturbing trend in restaurants lately: pecan pie is being displaced by cheese cake - and New York cheese cake at that! I don't mind the addition (much), but I am dismayed that my favorite pie is becoming seasonal at best. While we're at it, got any tips on where to buy what is apparently becoming a semi-precious staple? I'll vote for Ellis Pecans in Ft. Worth.

I love pancakes! Which is a good pancake mix to use for making pancakes? Thanks!

So my copy of Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, written by Dorie Greenspan, finally arrived. I'd like to work through the book (and maybe throw in some stuff from his other book with Dorie Greenspan). And it would be great to have some eGullet bakers along for the ride. Anybody want to make something this weekend? I'm thinking a cake or tart to start with? Maybe the Apricot & Ginger Chocolate Loaf Cake (p. 3) or the Chocolate & Raspberry Tart (p. 97) (if raspberries don't cost $5.00 a half-pint)? I'm totally open to other ideas. I'm also thinking about making something in the middle of next week to bring to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving, maybe the Moist and Nutty Brownies (p. 61), or the Hazelnut Chocolate Sables (p. 69)?

Does any one have any ideas or suggestions? A Client wants a simple chocolate birthday cake(chocolate sponge layered with ganache) in the shape of a wine bottle for 90 people. She is okay with us doing a 'back up slab cake' to feed the throngs but wants a good sized cake for presentation. She also wants a label on the bottle with "vintage and year" and "happy birthday so and so". We have a week to come up with a plan and make the cake as the order is for next weekend. We've discussed a few ideas(myself and my partner in crime) ie., fondant or ganache, how to put it together in pieces.....etc., but as of yet no AHA! THAT'S IT! moments. So, if anyone's juices are running, or if you've made a similar cake in the past and have a few-if not many-words of wisdom to pass on I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! D. BTW we don't have to worry about delivery of the cake...just packaging.

Observer Guardian UK article What a superb engaging article this is! If you are a woman of any nationality, this article will appeal to you ... is the root of everything, in fact, vanity, as the article implies? Do you tend to "linger over your food"? Find it sensuously pleasurable? Treasuring each bite, savouring each flavor? The individual French women interviewed at the end of the article have some profound, and occasionally, not terribly deep, observations ... from their unique perspective ... enjoy the article ... but slowly... chewing each "bite" with pleasure!

<Sigh> A client wants a cake similar to the one shown in The Godfather, part 3, which I haven't seen. All I know is that it's a sheet cake. Can anyone out there describe it to me? I really don't feel like going out and renting it. Thanks.

I am trying to make (for my own knowledge) a dessert consisting of a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of chocolate mousse, and a layer of white chocolate mousse. I want to put it together in a mold so it's really nice and neat. My question is: I've only been able to find molds that are about 3 or so inches high. How do I layer the cake and mousses? I bought acetate paper but I don't think this is what acetate is for. Should I cut a piece of parchement that's double or so the size of the mold and pipe the mousses onto one another that way? But then how do I get the paper off the mousse without messing it all up? By the way, what can I use acetate paper for? thanks!

Anyone care to share theirs, please? What are your best sellers? Anyone know of any good links to banquet dessert menus? In particular, I'd really love to see what the upscale hotels and restaurants are offering............ The reason for my interest, this coming year will be the first time that I've been in charge of coming up with our dessert banquet menu. I'm very interested in seeing how other companies write up their menus: descriptions, prices, what items they are doing. My Chef wrote up last years menu I'd be happy to share it if anyone is interested?

I had a client approach me with a request for a completely edible gold american express card decorated cake. What is the best way to tackle this???

I find rolling out all-butter pie crusts between two sheets of plastic wrap to be really bothersome. The wrap always wrinkles, I have to straighten it every few rolls etc, and it sometimes tears the crusts upon removal. Are the expensive, silicone-coated rolling pins and silpat sheets worth the investment? Are they really nonstick, or just in theory?