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First a story, then, on to the rules of this important survey concerning one of the burning issues of our times. The other night I went with my friend Pableaux for a first dinner at Cochon, Donald Link's (owner of the superb Herbsaint Restaurant) new place dedicated to one of my favorite things-meat. It's in New Orleans in the most uptown part of the Warehouse District and it seems to be doing very well indeed. The food was really great, extremely reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. PLUS! They are putting together a moonshine program (details later when I get them). Anyway, over the course of dinner everyone that I knew in New Orleans showed up. Every foodwriter for every publication and a couple of them were towing guests, Alice Waters (who was in town to work on a School Garden Project-it's happening and I will be writing lots about it. It's pretty heartening and not a little exciting) and Davia Nelson (1/2 of NPR's The Kitchen Sisters). So, the meal ended up being like old home week, or a Southern Foodways Alliance meeting, or a lecture-any of the above would probably be accurate. By the time dessert rolled around, we were more or less piled up around one table. The desserts that evening included several cakes (pineapple upside down, German chocolate) and some pies (humorously, I can't even remember what they were-but that's kind of my point, as you will see). Everyone ordered, selections came, were enjoyed (Link's desserts are always simple, always outstanding), and conversation continued. I had enjoyed the pineapple upside down cake-alot-and it occured to me that most of my fellow diners had gone with something other than cake (in fairness, there was an excellent iced dessert selection-cream, sorbet, etc-but that is not to enter into the query at the end of this little tale). So I posed this simple question: Given the choice of great pie or great cake, all things being more or less equal in terms of quality and flavor, which would you choose? There can be no, wishy washy, namby pamby, "I like both" answers (though Alice Waters managed to explain why she liked both, so I'm giving her a pass-but no one else can have one). You have to choose. On this evening, what became apparent to me, is that I am in an extreme minority as a lover of cake. I will always choose a well made cake over a well made pie. Now, I like both, mind you. I'm not crazy (or maybe I am, but that has no bearing on this particular argument) and I will happily eat a piece of pie when offered one. The point here is that if I am offered both, I'm going for the cake every time. I love cake. I love all cakes. Most of all, I like caramel cake. I like it so much that, at a dinner the other night, several days after a round of blistering and opinionated emails popped up in mailboxes all over the country concerning this important question (this reading is not for the faint of heart or the politically sensitive-but those emails were very entertaining), I brought my favorite cake-Caramel Cake. I also brought some delicious Creole Cream Cheese Ice Cream from Creole Creamery to back it up. I made the cake from a recipe I managed to pry from a friend, Ann Cashion, (a pie person, for God's sake) who is a big deal chef and who is kind of famous for this cake. It's really good. Really, really good. It was served at the Southern Foodways Alliance Conference in Oxford, MS in 04 (scroll down a bit to see the cake and the whole, fabulous meal) at the end of the single best mass served meal that I, or most of the people sitting there, had ever eaten. That cake has become the stuff of legend among those of us who were there and I was really happy to be able to take a crack at making it. I did, it was a pain in that ass, lots of steps, lots of caramel icing making (you have to do it twice-so it's time consuming), and because it's caramel icing, you have to work fast, as it pretty quickly becomes unspreadable. But, in the end, it's pretty delicious. Three layers of light moist cake, each seperated by a layer of tooth achingly sweet caramel. The thing is the bomb. And coupled with a little not so sweet Creole Cream Cheese Ice Cream, well, you can't ask for a better dessert-or you wouldn't want or need to, anyway. The cake was a hit, of course, and those pie lovers scarfed it up, but even then, at the end of the evening, the lovers of pie stood unchanged. When asked, simply, "cake or pie?" they still went with the pie. Now, this could be because they were embarrassed to admit that they might have been wrong all of their lives, or perhaps, cake is just too complex for simple people such as my friends to enjoy, or, just maybe, they really do like pie better than cake. Whatever the reason, the question remains: Cake or pie? Both is NOT a good answer.

I've been wanting to make the Cuban Opera Cake but have been daunted by reviews that mention the cake falling after coming out of the oven. Could some of the experienced bakers here have a look at the recipe and see what might be causing this? I'd appreciate it. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/108593

I'm sure there is something written here about this subject. I tried coating the raisins/berries in flour and mixing it last into the batter and it still sinks to the bottom. How does one fix this problem so that the raisins/berries are dispersed evenly throughout the cake? Thanks.

The President of China, Hu Jintao, is visiting the Seattle area next week. A dinner is being held for him at the home of Bill Gates. The dessert is 'rhubarb brown butter almond cake'. Since the recipe title alone has three of some of my favorite foods in it, I would probably like this dessert. Any ideas on a recipe? Where to find it or how to create it? PS: I already did a Google before posting, but could find nothing on point.

My husband was in Baltimore this past week and I had lurked around the board to get him some good eat recommendations (he went to Pazo, btw). After reading about Faidley's I told him it was imperative that he bring some crabcakes home to me. Well, apparently there was some miscommunication between him and the order-taker, and my husband is now on the way home with 3 uncooked crabcakes (and no coddies ). I think they sent along cooking directions as well, but here's my real dilemma. I'm not much of a deep fryer, although I can do it if forced too. But I really don't feel like heat up a whole pot of oil just cook three crabcakes. Has anyone had them broiled or baked? Will I be doing a major injustice to them? Should I just suck it up and go buy a big container of oil (peanut? canola?) and start cutting up potatoes? TIA! morda Edited to add: I assume from their baseball-like shape that they can't be pan-fried. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I am interested to know if anyone here has experience with serving flaming desserts a la carte in a restaurant. I am thinking of brulee, baked alaska, or a flambe with a touch of alcohol lit just before leaving the kitchen. a former coworker told me of a brulee he did at a restauarant in albany where they poured pure alcohol directly on the raw sugar and it caramelized en route... I am intruiged. any insights? thanks

I've seen dessert sushi done with chocolate fondant, chocolate plastique, fruit leather, and on Just Fab's site, they use colored soy wrappers. What ARE those? I did several searches and couldn't find them. What else can be used? I wanted to try fruit leathers, but I've read they turn gooey if not eaten right away. I thought about spring roll wrappers (which is what the soy wrappers look like), but the color (or lack thereof) is pretty boring. Also, what is the normal filling? I've seen recipes that are regular rice recipes using coconut milk instead of water with some sugar added, but most often when I see in photos look more like a thick rice pudding.

I know that traditional brush embroidery is done with royal icing on rolled fondant. Royal icing gives me the icks, however, so I thought I'd try buttercream on rolled fondant. Other than being extra careful to not leave oily traces on the fondant, are there any pitfalls I should look out for? TIA!

I've never tried baking a chiffon cake in a springform (as opposed to tube) pan, but would like to try it this weekend. Does anyone have a chiffon formula that will reliably withstand such treatment? TIA!

Because of a family illness, my husband's birthday (today) has been demoted to pretty much after-thought status. Now I'm scrambling to get a halfway-decent dinner together, and it would help if I didn't have to do dessert. Any great ideas for store-bought? We live in the village, but Magnolia is definitely not on his list of favorites!

I notice that some people say that a Victoria Sandwich cake uses self-raising flour, but my recipes are identical to pound cake, except for the addition of a little milk in some cases. I've heard that the difference is in the creaming of the butter and sugar...can anybody provide more detail, please? What about appearance or presentation - is the jam sammy presentation the main characteristic of a Victoria Sandwich, or is the texture of the cake itself identifiably different?

I've just been asked to do my first paid wedding cake, for a friend, and it's for about 125 people. Don't have any other details yet other than simple and traditional, but I want to get a jump on gathering some information. Now, I did a 3-tier wedding cake in school, but it was for myself, and if it wasn't perfect, no one but me cared. However, for school, I used the schools silver cake stand which was the size of my bottom tier. Cardboard rounds between the layers, each layer stacked upon the one beneath (on wooden dowels). What I've learned since then is cardboard is flimsy and wooden dowels are not so great. Learned other things as well from all the helpful people in other threads. My first questions are: What are some alternatives for stands? I don't want to invest a ton of money in one because I don't see wedding cakes as a big future for me. I've seen cakes on what looked like what in art class I called foam core board. Stuff that is about 3/8" thick. I'm thinking this would be something better to use to have an edge around each tier. Are these boards decorated? I've seen ribbons around the edge, but what about the surface? Or are plate systems better? What are some good sites to check out for plastic dowels and boards or plates? My local craft stores which sell Wilton supplies don't ever seem to carry the plastic dowels or plate systems. I'm in a supply challenged area. Also, as this will be for the middle of May, it will be getting warmer... I usually use SMBC or IMBC as icing on my cakes. But, I'm afraid if the cake will be in an area that is not air conditioned (this is a backyard event), I'm going to have a dripping mess. I also despise shortening, this will help the icing take the heat. If I normally use 1 part egg whites, 2 parts sugar, and 3 parts butter in an IMBC, can I sub out butter and use some shortening? If so, what ratio would I have to sub out? May be a non issue if they want fondant. Can fondant take the heat? Any random advice anyone may have? Like, for heaven's sake, don't ______! Thanks to everyone in advance!

It's no mere rumour that the notoriously rich little delicacies now resident on Denman are soon to be found on Broadway near McDonald as well. Not sure of the exact locale but adds for Staff are being posted so it won't be long! Mixed feelings here-formerly I could burn off what I added by cycling over to Denman-soon this will no longer be possible.

Has anyone tried this book? Ph 10 : Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé (Ph 10 : Patisserie Pierre Herme) It's very expensive so I'm just wondering if it's worth it. Seems to be pretty much unavailable in the U.S. right now, for some reason.

I am in charge of making a coconut cream cake with a pineapple filling. I do have the coconut cake part down, but I am not sure how to incorporate the pineapple into the filling. My thought is to make a buttercream and fold in sweet pineapple chunks. But, do I use canned pineapples or should I use fresh and cook/sweeten them myself? I am also worried about the filling turning too wet. So another idea is to simply layer sliced pineapple between the cake layers and top with the buttercream filling. Anyone ever done this before? Any ideas are welcome. Thanks.

I am looking for a recipe for a really tall, dense chocolate cake with dark, fudgy icing--much like the Cheesecake Factory fudge cake/blackout cake. My soon to be 4-year-old daughter wants this as her birthday cake. Chocoholism starts young in our family! I've tried many cakes on the chocolate cake thread that I loved but they don't seem to fit the "fudge cake" bill. Do you have a recipe that might be what I'm looking for? Please don't make me sell my other child to pay for a Cheesecake Factory cake....

So this Easter we're sold out, at 640 people. With no assistance I handle all the desserts and breakfast pastry items.........not to mention my standard load of daily parties and ala carte desserts for the week. How much do you have to do and how much help do you have to get it accomplished? Anyone want to share what your making exactly? I'd post my menu but then I wouldn't have time to make it.

I'm curious how others are using this alpine specialty in traditional and/or new bar creations. The upsell opportunity to a Baileys/Amarula customer is obvious, but I wonder if comparisons to and fitting with traditional 'cream' liqueur recipes is appropriate. From a richness and texture perspective, its as if we've always worked with soft-serve ice-cream and now can sell/use the Haagen-Dazs or gelato. People pay for richness everywhere else on fine dining menus, so I'm loath to water this down to fit to Baileys recipes. If it veers closer to a dessert item, is this an opportunity to drive more $$ through the bar? What new tastes can be achieved here, and can we expand the customer base at the premium end of the bar? For ease of preparation, my current favorite is to serve the Lauria chilled (always chilled) on a small circle of heavy pound cake lightly soaked in a smokey malt whiskey, separated by a layer of heavy cream; also works very well in a soak of cherry brandy. I've no name for it yet, can assembled each in ~20 seconds, and guests thought it could sell well priced at $12 - $16. Also easy is the Bergamo cited on the importer's website (Lauria and espresso), though the guy should note for the American audience that it works best with a very short, strong espresso, as is actually served in Italy. Better, serve in layers like those coffees you get in the Greek isles.

Looking for some help on how can I put two colours down on the top of the cake in the shape of Ying and Yang. One will be raspberry and the other peach, but I don't know how to put it down without one flowing into the other. Thanks O

Hi All, I am making a baby shower cake for someone. At first we discussed different shape and decorating ideas until she decided that she would really like it covered in whipped cream. I am unsure as to what is possible with whipped cream decorations. How much piping is possible? It does not seem like it would be very stable for any elaborate decoration. I've been thinking of fondant figures placed on the cake. Maybe piping buttercream decoration on the whipped cream? Anyone have any experience with this and/or ideas to share? Thanks! Chris

Hi. didn't want to put this where the best chocolate cake thread was. Got a request from a bride wanting a Milk Chocolate Cake with white frosting. """"She seems persistant"""""" arrgggghhh I don't do Milk Chocolate Cakes..........just Devil's and a Dark Chocolate, don't do frosting either. It's buttercream........... Anyone?????? Really don't want to mess around with tweaking my own recipes, looked on the web for some, not looking good out there, slim pickin's..... Help!

Would anyone be willing to share how they ice dummy cakes for cake show competitions? I have done some before with royal icing (and I still don't have that down real well. ) I would like to do one with fondant and I'm not quite sure how to go about that. If I use the styrofoam circles with fondant do I need to round the corners so it doesn't tear? What do I put under the fondant to stick to the foam? I appreciate any help. Kelli

Has anyone tried this recipe? Any success? I tired it twice this weekend and it didn't work either time. They just never set up enough to unmold and there certainly wasn't any curd at the bottom like in the picutres in her book. Has anyone had any luck with this? Does anyone have a tried and true recipe that they like? Thanks Dan

I've been hired to provide desserts next weekend for a local music chamber group evening event. They're showcasing a pianist from Argentina, so the music and menu is honoring their featured guest. The caterer is working up a tapas menu, and I'd like to include some regional dessert choices and maybe some of the usual mini pastry suspects (I haven't decided anything yet).... it's probably going to be for about 200 people, so I'm thinking 3 pieces per person. I can't do any cooking there (so no more playing with the torch on those champagne creme brulees!!!) so one-bite things would be ideal IMHO. So, any ideas? I'd love to do a dessert tapas menu, but I need some inspiration from all of you (long week with lots of weddings this weekend, I'm pretty fried already). I tried to google "argentinian desserts" in a few different variants, but I didn't come up with much past dulce de leche! thanks, jeanne

I'm preparing a cake for a 60th Birthday party this weekend and they wanted a chocolate genoise cake filled with a "banana custard." I'm going to cover the whole thing in a bavaroise with chocolate tiles inlaid on the top (she's a tile artist). I haven't had any luck finding a banana filling recipe that had cinnamon or nutmeg or some other spice. "Exotic" is the request, so it can be unusual and challenging. I've exhausted my cookbooks and recipe gullet...any thoughts?