I luv thw reply. Julia Childs said the same thing about becoming a great cook.

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Hi Rose

I love your book.

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Hi Rose

I just got your new book yesterday and so far I love it. I need to ask you question about splitting cake layers. In your new book on page 424 you recommend using a set of metal bars (retainer bars) that are 3/4 inch high to split cake layers, can you give the name of a online store that carry them. Thank You.

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Rose: How do I become a confident baker? Although I'm 47, and love to bake, every time I make something, its a big deal. Thank you.

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So I would still use 2t cream of tartar to 2C egg whites, even if I ended up with 15 egg whites, not 16 for my 2C? Thank you.

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Angel food cake recipe - If you end up using fewer egg whites,(but have the correct weight), do you decrease the cream of tartar? Thank you!

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When I open this particular thread, my browser freezes and crashes. Is this happening to anyone else?

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Aha! Wikipedia to the rescue. What a great entry someone has written. I highly recommend it to everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour

It looks like the recipe calls for equal amounts of all purpose white and whole wheat flour. The german standard for the whole wheat is quite high in protein so you would want a hard winter wheat flour.

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You are welcome. Let us know how the Wasserweck turn out! I notice the recipe calls for two different kinds of German flour. I remember reading about the German/Euro flour standards somewhere. Let me thnk...

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Hi Gene,
I see at the bottom of the blog that you gave me the suggestion for googling "wasserweck". Thank you for your help.

Hermine

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Hi Rose,
Thank you for your suggestion and research. I had tried to google before but apparently typed in the wrong words or whatever and go no results. Your suggestions worked and I found some very good recipes for german water rolls that I'm anxious to try. Thanks again.

Hermine

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Hi Hermine,
I googled the phrase 'german water rolls'
The first link identifies these rolls with the German name
Wasserweck
google 'Wasserweck'
Just below the pictures of rolls is a link to a German recipe
Click on 'Translate this page"
I hope this narrows your search.

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I'm hoping this is the appropriate site to ask my question - blogs still confuse me somewhat. Rose, I love your book; it truly is my "Bread Bible". I have not had a failed loaf of bread since I started using your recipes and techniques. Before it was hit or miss (mostly miss) with my bread baking. My question is: My German-born mother always bought hard rolls (she called them "Water Rolls") from a German deli in town. Now my Mom and the deli are no longer here and I cannot find a recipe for those wonderful rolls that we always used for sandwiches, etc. Would you have a comparable recipe for me?

Hermine2

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Sorry for posting here in the free-for-all section - I couldn't find a relevant post to comment on.

I'm wondering whether I'll get good results mixing up a cake batter the day before I bake it *IF* I leave out the leavening and mix it in (dissolved in the smallest amount of water) just before baking.

It seems like the only reason a mixed batter wouldn't hold for a day or so (assuming it's refrigerated, of course) would be because the leavening activated too early (i.e. when it first got wet).

The Cake Bible recommends the dissolve-in-water method when mixing batter for several different-sized cake tiers at once.

In this case, the amount of leavening required for the largest layers (i.e. the smallest amount) is mixed as normal. Then, before pouring out the batter for the next-smaller layers, the additional leavening is dissolved in water and stirred in. And so on, for the next-smaller layers, etc.

So I'm wondering if the same dissolve-in-water method would allow me to omit ALL the leavening from a cake recipe so that it can be mixed one day, then baked the next.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I await "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" with baited breath.

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Though I've never used it, a friend told me that using rice flour allows the moisture to be soaked up really well, resulting in a drier, still tasty crust.

I don't think i'd use it for a 'day of' oie, but for one overnight, i'd say it was worth a shot.

even though this post was a month and three years back! hahaha

(anyway rose, can you (PRETTY PLEASE) check out my post on your DVD excerpts?)

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Judie,
Thanks for asking this. I've had some issues with that recently and I thought I might try that next time. I know Rose states to drop the temp by 25F if blind baking in a glass pan, but I couldn't find it for a double crust! I am sure it's in there, I just haven't read it cover to cover in a while! Anyway, now that we've heard it from Rose, I definitely know I'll do that next time!

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Rose, thank you--you answered my question about using jewel glaze and buttercream frosting. Your answer prompts another question: if I want to have glaze "drips" inside of the cake how could I achieve this? Would I have to poke holes in the cake before pouring the glaze? Thank you once again.

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I have a question about the jewel glaze recipe found in TCB. I am intrigued by pouring the jewel glaze over a butter cream frosted cake, and yet I have a question about this. Will this cause the jewel glaze to seep into the cake? This is actually the effect I am hoping for, but have never seen this before. Thank you in advance!

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I have been baking on the 3rd shelf from the bottom. My oven has 7 shelfs. I have ordered Pastry flour. In your book you have indicated that Pastry flour takes longer to brown....hopefully it will work. I made a Lemon pie this weekend and the crust was perfect. I seem to only have problems with the apple....I am using a glass pie plate...do you think that could be the problem?

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Wow ! Not too late at all.
Thank you Hector, Julie and Patrincia. I have made some samples and now look forward to making the cake this weekend with confidence! The strawberry mousseline is wonderful in colour and flavour, The white butter cake is fine and delicious.
I am making the cake ahead (mother of the bride after all) so will have to freeze. I love the idea of the layer of strawberries, but am concerned that they will bleed or at least not look as pretty when they thaw? (no time to test that one). I actually did not know the liqueur "Navan" and am happy to have been acquainted! Thank you all!

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Vi, I have been reading your strawberry wedding with much attention, here is my suggestion, hope not too late.

Mousseline is my choice when flavoring with strawberry puree or conserve. The lack of yolks keeps the fruit flavor clean and uninterrumpted. Grand marnier and Navan would be the check mate liqueurs to add if so. A drop of la cuisine wild strawberry essence per pint of puree or conserve would be extasy. sliced (not diced)fresh strawberries and placed as single layer on the filling will be stunning to look at when serving the cake (appetizing and looks very pretty in the filling as you cut the cake, be sure to slice the strawberries wide and about 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick, then lay them flat on the filling and push them in a bit).

For a choice of cake, I like to see a white butter cake rather than yellow, again it is the lack of all yolks which synnergizes with strawberries! Of course a genoise soaked in liqueur or a biscuit in strawberry syrup would work, too, but only if a sponge lighter cake is desired on the menu.

Good luck, and work it mousseline!

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Since you mentioned bubbling pies, I've always been curious if you think the pie has to bubble all over, including the center, or is it just when it starts bubbling in general. I usually wait until the center bubbles, but by then, the sides of the pie have bubbled up and are messy.

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Hi Vi. I think you suggested the perfect compromise... do a strawberry puree drizzle (maybe on the plate, under the slice of cake).

You can vary the level of sweetness in the strawberry puree.

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Vi, in my experience, marzipan is very sweet- can you eliminate it? Or at least use a very very thin layer? Or consider experimenting with a lower sugar version, like almond paste (it is possible to buy almmond paste that is only one-third sugar).

You did use unsweetened puree for the strawberry mousseline, right?

Good luck on your cake!

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Thank you so much for your response Patricia. For our sample I made the Mousseline - wow! it turned out perfectly. I added the strawberry puree to the Mousseline for the filling only, as they didn't want the cake to be pink. I also put a thin layer of marzipan with the filling. It looked very pretty and was tasty for one bite but too sweet after eating a small slice(we flavoured the mousseline with G. Marnier). Maybe we should drizzle on some unsweetened stawberry puree when we serve? Any other suggestions for taking the sweetness/richness down a bit would be most appreciated. Thank you!

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I not only use a foil over the edge but have to put a full tent over the top. Is is necessary to bring the apple filling to 212 for the cornstarch to thicken?

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PS - I can't wait to get the DVD. Thanks so much Hector!

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Hi Vi - one of my favorite buttercream combinations is Rose's Mousseline with Strawberry Puree added - the flavor is fantastic, and the color is perfectly pink. Stay away from egg yolk based buttercreams which would end up peach or orange in color.

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I am making my daughter's wedding cake in August and am so appreciative to have recently purchased the Cake Bible. Thank you for this amazing resource. My question is about flavours. (my daughter would like strawberry filling, white buttercream, no chocolate) for the samples I have made the unsweetened stawberry puree p 338, one white and one yellow butter cake. I was thinking of using some marzipan or lemon or.... in the layers. I would be most appreciative to have your advise on combinations that would be a hit in a strawberry wedding cake (flavouring for syrup, which buttercream and filling). Thank you so very much.

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Do you use a foil shield for your crust? Even in a regular oven, you have to protect the edges from over browning with a circle of foil, and sometimes the entire crust with a small vent left in the center.

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When I follow the directions in the Pie Bible. I bake at 400 degrees. It still takes about 1 1/2 hrs for the interior to reach 212. By that time the crust is too brown. This is why I tried convection at the lower temp. I have tried 3 times this weekend but continue to have the same problem. The oven is only 2 years old and is a Wolf. I have checked the oven temps and they are right on.

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My mother is an artist and I would like her to paint a flower mural around the sides of a round tier on my daughters birthday cake. I have heard that gel colors like those made by Wilton can be used if thinned down with vodka or some other alcohol. Is this correct? If not want do you use? Does it only work well on fondant covered cakes or can she paint over buttercream as well?

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And what happens when you don't use convection?

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Having a problem with my apple pie. I cannot get an internal temp of 212 B-4 the crust is too brown. I am using a convection oven and setting the temp at 385. The crust is perfectly browned in 55min but the internal temp is about 180.
If I cook to 212...the crust is too brown...

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I agree completely with everything you and Hector said. It just seems that there is such a demand for these low sugar/sugar free alternatives. I am constantly being asked if I offer them. You are 100% correct in that carbohydrates found in flour are not ideal either. I think I will just offer mini cupcakes instead of trying to tackle a low sugar version. I have another question.....as you know, cupcakes can dry out more quickly than cakes because they don't have the layers of icing and fondant to help keep them moist. From reading your book, I have decided to try a syrup to help keep them more moist for times when I have to make them a day before an event. Should I follow your suggestions on the amount of syrup to apply as it relates to the amount of sugar in the cupcakes? Should I apply it while the cupcakes are warm or when they have cooled? Will I need to adjust the amount of sugar in my cupcakes if I plan to syrup them? Can I omit the alcohol if I want don't want to change the flavor of say a plain butter cake cupcake? Thanks!!

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I have played with a recipe that is a cross between a cake and a quick bread that does not contain any sugar or fat it is sweetened with prune puree and banana puree and although it does contain flour, I substituted some whole wheat pastry flour for some of the all purpose - it could be a starting point - I got the recipe from Sunset Magazine - if you do a search for chocolate banana bread you should be able to find it

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Bill & Jeannie, I use the Caputo 00 Blue flour all the time for both pizza and pasta. I too have a WFO. I find the dough made from the Caputo is harder to handle when shaping the pizza - it's more delicate even with same hydration as bread flour - but the flavour of the pizza is superior. You get those marvellous crusts though. I have never tried the red caputo but you can find comparisons on other web sites.

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Shani, I don't have a degree in nutrition but I am very advocate at your issue.

I don't think there is such thing as a sugar free / low sugar cake or frosting that would taste as well. I consult for a sugar free bakery, they use a combination of five FDA approved artificial sweeteners, none come close in taste nor texture. Moreover a variety of other chemicals are used to compensate for the lost texture that sugar is so vital for. There are many food service cake mixes, cookie dough, frostings, etc out there thapuedet are sugar free.

I strongly believe these artificial sweeteners plus all the other chemicals are non-assimilable and creates digestive unbalance that could cause other ailments. You also don't get the nutrition.

In my opinion, I tell people to eat a small bite of a regular pastry, I know it is cruel, but I believe this is much healthier than eating a bigger portion of its comparable artificially sweetened pastry.

Many people think sugar free pastries are healthy because it is low calorie. I disagree because I believe in digestive balance and keeping a healthy natural metabolism. It isn't just calorie count what matters.

I see a lot of customers walking into this sugar free bakery, most are overweight or diabetic. Thru the years, I have not seen any of these people loose weight nor reach a better stage of diabetes.

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What kind of results should we expect from using tipo 00, flour? We have both the 25kg blue and red bags of Antimo Caputo Flour from Naples Italy. Usually, we make pizza in a wood fired oven where the temperatures are very high. Supposedly this flour is designed for those temperatures. We would like to experiment with the flour for both pizza and other craft breads. Has anyone had experience with it to share? It takes all day to fire it up and we don't like to make less than 20 pizza's so we don't want to spoil our party.

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Hi, I have a large history of diabetes in my family and have recently been diagnosed myself at 30. I have a cupcake business and am trying to experiment with sugar free/low sugar recipes. Help! What would you recommend? I am finding most to be dry and flavorless. Any suggestions on frostings as well? I would really appreciate your help.

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Hi, I need a fondant recipe that is very sturdy and can be in the heat for a bit. thank you.

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Hi Stephanie,

I have had success with covering the cheesecake with fondant (on top of the white chocolate cream cheese frosting), so if you want those colors, that is a possibility. The only extra tip I'd suggest is to make sure your cheesecake is well covered with the white-choc frosting to the very bottom of the cheesecake b/c otherwise it (the cheesecake) might dissolve the underside of the fondant and give you a pool at the bottom edge. Other than that, though, it should work well.

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I would like to do a cheescake wedding cake and have the design pick out but i would like to have my colors in dark purple and white. I don't know to much about cheesecakes. Is the coloring even possibe.

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Hi Rose, Thanks for the prompt reply! Since the wedding is in Oregon I will have privy to marionberries also. Maybe a combination of both would be good. Some experimenting will be in order. I was thinking about a thin layer of conserve on either side of the cake layers with some folded into buttercream for the filling. How does this sound to you? any other suggestions?? Thanks for your time. I will report back :) Rhonda

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Hi Rocky,

My first thought is that you over-diluted the yeast, since you say you had a lot of leftover yeast water. You do reference weight in your comment--did you weigh the water? If so, then the volume measures you used later to measure the yeast water may be inaccurate.

That said, the recipe still might have worked, but would have taken much longer for the poolish to develop (if your room was cool, it would have taken even longer). You should always go by volume of rise rather than time risen. In other words, you shouldn't have proceeded with the recipe if the poolish wasn't fully risen.

As far as consistency, this is a fairly sticky dough, so avoid the temptation to add lots of flour while it is mixing. When you try again, make sure to weigh/measure everything carefully and I think you will have better results.

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Hi Rose. I'm having a lot of trouble with your bread bible baguette recipe. First of all the scrap dough didn't really rise. It only produced a bubble or two. Second the poolish never tripled in size. It only grew to about 1 1/2 times its original size. Also, I had a lot of yeast water left even after using all of the measurements specified. Next, after mixing all of the doughs together in the stand mixer I had to keep adding a lot of flour in order to get the correct consistency. After a while I stopped because the dough was already weighing 600 grams (when it was supposed to weigh only 500). Even at this stage it had the consistency of wet bubble gum. Finally after refrigerating the shaped loaves for about 8 hours they were flat when I took them out of the fridge. I tried to bake them but there was practically no oven spring. I was thinking maybe it was the yeast but I had made a loaf of your basic hearth bread 2 days earlier with the same yeast and it came out OK. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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Hi Rose, I am making a wedding cake for my niece in Oregon and she has requested a blackberry filling. I looked in the cake bible and found a recipe for rasberry conserve and was wondering if I could substitute blackberries without changing ingredients/procedure at all? And if so, how ?? Thanks!

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oh dear Maureen, i am so glad you love Rose's Hevenly Cake strips. the binder clip is a great idea!

i am baking 12-inch layers today, and will fit 3 strips per pan (folded, and taped with scotch tape which withstands temperatures of near 400oF).

keep on the perfect and flat job!

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I bought the Heavenly Cake strips for a wedding cake I made in August. I LOVE them. I use them on my 9 inch pans. For my 6" pans, I simply clip the Cake strip with a binder clip. That's sufficient to hold it in place. Maybe it will help you too?

Now that I've baked with Rose's strips, I wouldn't want to go back to baking without them. The tops of my cakes are now perfectly flat.

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Rose,

I'm trying to add sourcream to a buttercake but I'm not sure how much baking soda to add. Is there a sourcream to baking soda ratio? By the way, thanks for all your research in your baking books. Your Cake Bible was the only place that told me the percentage of water and fat in sourcream. Thank you for any input you can give me on the above question.

Kate

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I don't have any comments about all the various postings appearing here.

I love your Bread Bible! However, I am looking for a recipe for squaw bread, and was dashed when there was none in your book! Do you have a recipe for squaw bread?

Thanks!

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Hi Jim, the easiest way to get a lot of lime flavor is to use lime oil, but if that is unavailable, I would try zest. For the chili, I would make sure to use 100% ground chili--a lot of the chili powders available have cumin, salt, and other spices. Ground Ancho or Chipotle, if you want some smokiness, would be good I think. Penzey's sells 100% ground chilies.

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Rose,

I've made a lot of chocolate dipped coconut macaroons for friends. A couple of years ago, I tasted a chocolate dipped chili lime macaroon. I was wondering how to get the lime in the coconut and what kind of chili in the chocolate?? Maybe a recipe??

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Cherry Pie - First of all, everyone who loves to bake (or is learning to bake) should tune into Rose's YouTube Videos, they are so helpful! My cherry pie has crossed over into a new realm. My boys love the pies I've been making & I do too. I just wish I could fit into my clothes!

I wondered, however, why the tapioca works better with fruit pies than corn starch & why you use corn starch in the apple pie.

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Dear Lindsay: Thank you so much for your reply! Because you took the time to straighten me out on what it is called, I was able to find two exemplary recipes on the web. The one that I think most fits your description of a "slightly sweet" Sicilian Easter Bread can be seen at http://angelnina.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/italian-easter-bread-ring-and-more-easter-recipes/. If you Google Sicilian Easter Bread, this recipe comes up, among several others.
It turns out that the trick to the embedded eggs is to use uncooked eggs that have been colored and sprayed with oil prior to being seated in the loaf and baked.
How wonderful that you knew the symbolism of this, which makes it all the more to treasure as a tradition. I can't wait to try it. One caveat is that it appears to not age well, and should be served the day it is made. This could mean getting up quite early on Easter morning!
Blessed holiday to you and yours.
Antonio Dittmann

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Hi Antonio - I used to have these breads as well, however mine were definitely not challah. It's an Italian/Sicilian bread that's supposed to be a bit sweet. I've heard them called Pina, Sicilian Easter Ring, Italian Easter Bread. The formation of braided loaf with the egg at the top is supposed to symbolize Mary holding the infant Jesus. I'm trying to find a recipe from Rose's book that would create the bread I need, but I'm not sure where to begin.

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Dear Rose,
I'm doing a project about the chemistry in baking for a challenge class I'm taking. I was wondering if there is any good pages in your book the cake bible that would help me. Also I have to interview someone that knows about my topic. I was wondering if I could interview you. If you could, would you please e-mail me your answer to cooljo282000@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Jordan

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Hi Rose--My Cake Bible is falling apart from use, but I do have one question: In baking a large wedding cake and using your baking powder formula, I can't figure out the quantity for a 15" HALF pan. That's half of a 15" circle, 2" deep. What would you suggest? Fond regards.

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Dear Rose,
I have been baking the most wonderful bread from your Bread Bible.
I had the pleasure of "talking" to you about 5 years ago.
I'm now retired and have moved to an area where bagels are almost unheard about.
I have started the "starter" and will proceed with your recipe for the bagels. However, my favorite bagel is the pumpernickel bagel. How do I adapt your recipe to accommodate for the pumpernickel flour?
Thanking you in advance,
Clem Kost

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Dear Rose: I find myself intrigued by the science behind the autolyse. Here's my question. I was surprised to find that in your recipes for soft breads, you add the butter before performing the 20-minute autolyse rest. My expectation, perhaps wrongly so, was that the greasy butter molecules would act as a barrier lining on the protein strands, inhibiting absorption of water and thereby preventing the autolyse from being effective. Nonetheless, I've tried several recipes as written and by adding the butter after the autolyse, and I find no perceptible difference in the results, at least with respect to rise, texture, and crumb. Am I missing something, or is my understanding of the science in error?
P.S. Hope you're travels are going well. I adored the pictures from Ischia! You wouldn't by any chance need a traveling personal assistant, would you? I could be there in a trice! -acd

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Rose,

I was wondering if you are considering another bread cookbook. Maybe one with more whole grains or more artisan or hearth breads? I really like the Bread Bible. I tried the wheat bread and liked it and we're going to try some of the recipes with rye, but I know there are so many more fun things with grains and I was hoping for another book of pointers from you. :)!

I love your work so far!

catharine

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Thanks for the suggestions. I will try playing with them this weekend and let you know if it works.

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Hi Rory,

Many cook book authors in the US use unsweetened chocolate in their recipes. Just having a quick scan though my books I've come up with Maida Heatter, Nick Malgieri, Fran Bigelow and Alice Medrich (in her brownies) and I know there are many others. In fact it's a bit ironic that you got the chocolate from Europe as it's hard to find here whereas Scharffen Berger make it in the States and it's readily available from The Baker's Catalogue. You could do what Julie suggests or try another recipe. In any case a little goes a long way. I'm sure you will make some wonderful things with it.

Annie

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Rory, the thing to do is add sugar to the cream while bringing to a boil, and to either increase the cream or decrease the chocolate to account for the high level of cocoa solids.

To figure this out quantitatively, first reduce the chocolate amount. For instance, if your ganache recipe calls for 16 oz of 60% chocolate, use .60x16 or 9.6 oz of your chocolate.

Next, check the nutrition label on the 60% chocolate for sugar content (or refer to the Cake Bible, which lists sugar content for different kinds of chocolate). In my example, a 15 gram serving of 60% chocolate has 6 grams of sugar. the 16 oz of chocolate called for is equivalent to 28.3x16 or 453 grams. Since the 60% chocolate is 6/15 or 40% sugar, you can just multiply .40x453 to get 181 grams of sugar.

So, in this example, you would reduce the chocolate from 16 to 9.6 oz and add 181 grams of sugar to the cream.

Good Luck!

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dear R, it would be a matter of personal taste, but Rose recommends not higher than 60 to 65% as it would be to bitter in taste, and when Rose says bitter it means bitter because her recipes are not on the overly sweet side!

i have seen Rose voice this recommendation on her pbs videos, upcoming to youtube soon!

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A friend of mine came back from Europe recently with some Lindt Excellence 99% pure cacao bars as a gift for me. I would like to make a ganache with them, but I've never done that with a completely unsweetened chocolate before. Does anyone have any recipes/ideas on what to do with this rich gift?

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I read your books like treasured texts from a dear mentor. Your balance of art and science, as well as the sheer joy that comes through in every recipe intro., makes me sometimes just curl up and read them like you would a thriller. I have a question relative to the Easter holiday coming up: I remember from my childhood braided loaves of egg bread, (challah really, I'm sure), that would have whole, unshelled eggs, presumably hard-boiled, braided into the top. Sometimes these eggs were colored, sometimes not. It's a wonderful effect, especially at Easter. However, I've tried it, and very often, you get dark brown "charring" on the surface of the egg. Colored eggs also can show this problem, and in addition, develop brown, pinpoint spots and blotches of lost color. How is this decorating technique done properly? Are their particular dyes that resist change at high temperature? Thank you, Rose.

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I received the Bread Bible for Christmas! I sat down the next day and read it cover to cover. I have 2 questions that I desperately need answered!. :)
1. Do you have any issues with the corner of the Chicago Metallic pans? I have read somewhere that you have to be careful to wash/dry them well or stuff gets caught in them.
2. I have always used shortening on the counter surface as I form my bread loaves. I know this is odd as a professional baker once told me that he would "never" do that. Is there a reason not to? I always thought it kept my bread moister because I avoided incorporating too much flour into the dough at the last minute.

90% of the bread I make is completely whole grain, from wheat, oat bran and flax seed that I grind myself.
Thanks!

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I love your Butter-Dipped Dinner Roll recipe from the Bread Bible - I do the Parker House style rolls and it reminds me of my grandmother's recipe (just a bit better!).

I'm wondering if there is any way to make the dough the day before and refrigerate it. My grandmother used to do this for holidays with her recipe. Would you suggest forming and buttering the rolls before refrigerating and just bringing them out for the final rise?

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TBB pizza recipe is no knead, and I tell you it is fabulous since my team just made 30 of them for hungry 80 people.

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I think you kneaded it too much, but also, what kind of flour did you use?

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I made a homemade pizza crust and it turned out chewy and very difficult to cut through. Though it was good (and not difficult to eat), I am wondering what may've gone wrong in the process? I did knead the dough for a while (7+ min)...the oil called for the 1 crust is 1/2 Tbsp. Any ideas for next time? Thanks,
SML

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Hi M2T - Yes, you have the correct weight for the flour and sugar. Are you using cake flour? What kind of a scale are you using? If you're following the recipe correctly, I suspect your oven temp runs a bit high - do you have an oven thermometer? If not, try lowering it by 25F.

As for your weight question - One cup of liquid equals 8 fluid ounces, but actual weight of 1 cup of any given ingredient will vary.

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Hello, I need help with the Sour Cream Butter Cake ( page 35). I have made this cake so many times, it is moist when I take it out of the oven, but when I put icing and decorate it, it is so so dry. I have even brushed the cake with simple syrup and this still does not help. Is it me or the recipe?
Does 1 cup of sugar weigh 7 ounces,
and 2 cups of sifted cake flour weigh 7 ounces also? I do not think my book is correct on the weight. I always thought a cup was 8 ounces.
If anyone can help me please please let me know. I love the taste of the cake, everything is perfect except the dryness.

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Hi Rose,
I have been a long-time devotee of The Cake Bible, and rarely bake any cake without at least consulting your book. I especially love your recipes for buttercreams and mousselines. Thanks for all of your terrific work!
I will soon be baking a wedding cake covered with rolled fondant. I have used your rolled fondant recipe with considerable success (again, thank you), but I wonder whether it can be flavoured with liqueur. I am thinking specifically of the clear creme de cacao to add just a whiff of chocolate flavour that I hope would complement the white mousseline buttercream I will be using beneath the fondant. Is there any reason why a liqueur should not be used in rolled fondant, even in small quantities?
Thanks.

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No, this was my first-ever comment/question to your blog, but it does not surprise me at all that others seek your thoughts on the milk/calcium issue.

Your thoughts greatly helped me, as I knew they would.

I appreciate your reply so very much, Rose. I am thrilled for you that you found the perfect milk to enjoy your capuccino with. Little things like that are major to me, and make life so much more enjoyable.

Thank you again, beautiful smart lady, you are the BEST. And now I am off to find your post on "Milk Madness". ;-)

With greatest respects,

Donna

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Hi Rose,

Oh, no worries for the late reply. I know you must be extremely busy and wasn't expecting anything, but glad you replied =).

Anyways, I got your cake bible from the library and will be trying your recipe for a lemon loaf.

In the meantime, I found a recipe for a lemon loaf that uses 1/2 cup of oil (let me know if you want it, I can send it to you). Made it and it was not bad.
It had 2 tbs butter and 1/2 oil as the 'fat'. It came out ok, but I am thinking of how to make it a tiny bit moister. Not sure where to start 'tweaking'. Any suggestions?

I might take your recipe and make it as is then try converting the butter to oil now that you told me that oil is 100% fat and butter is 82% usually.

Thanks for everything Rose =)

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Rose, you may want to answer me privately if and when you have a moment, but this is a personal and heartfelt question near and dear to my heart that I'd like an answer to if you're so inclined.

I greatly respect you, you're intelligent and lovely, therefore I'm going to ask your thoughts: I remember reading that your dear Mother (who was a dentist) told you 4 cups of milk daily as a child, and 2 daily as an adult.

Since your weight is great and you look so beautiful and healthy, do you still ascribe to those 2 cups of milk daily? And if so, is it skim or whole? I am so confused about whether to keep milk in my daily diet or not these days. Some say it's beneficial, some say it isn't. I believe if I could get thoughts from someone in life for whom I have great respect (such as yourself), it would go a long way in helping me make that decision for myself.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and you may e-mail me your reply if you'd like.

Donna

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he..hee.no he did not put titanium dioxide on the truffle but in the macaron shell. For that he used white truffle paste and it is hard to find a good one over here. He said all white food coloring has titanium dioxide. The food coloring he used for black truffle macaron is the black powder from Chef Master, although in the recipe it said Master Chef. Don't smile too much when you eat this because it makes your teeth black :D.

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I think Veronica is saying that he puts titanium dioxide in the macaron mixture to make it white white (like a bit of food coloring). Titanium dioxide on a truffle does not sound good =).

Veronica, do you know what Pierre Herme used for the black macaron coloring.
Was it just a black food coloring powder or something special like titanium dioxide?

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I would be heartbroken if you put titanium dioxide near my white truffle, and indeed if you don't just enjoyed it raw or freshly shaved on a great clean dish like polenta, bread, salad, or pasta!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/savory/WhiteTrouffle.htm

San Miniato 2007 International White Truffle Festival. It isn't exaggeration that the roads of this little town in Pisa (Italy) are blocked away from cars so the scent of the white truffle can fill the town without despair.

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It's definitely a sweet dessert. He used canned black truffles in class and the label on the can should say cooked once (or maybe slightly cooked?)- whatever that means. It only had a slight hint of truffle not too strong. I hear his white truffle one is really outstanding. For that he uses titanium dioxide - white food coloring -to make the shell white.

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here's the website

http://kitchenmusings.typepad.com/

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Hi Louise,

Have a look at Veronica's website to learn about the black truffle macaron.

My question was how to get the true black, not grey color, for a macaron, and Veronica just happened to have attended a class taught by Pierre Herme where he made a black truffle macaron.

Interesting, I am wondering myself if it is more on the savoury or sweet side. Usually macarons are sweet.

Let's see if Veronica can comment.

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OK - you have really peeked my interest - what is a black truffle macaron? Is it for dinner or dessert? Is it a good and, if so, is it a recipe you can share? thanks, Louise

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OK - you have really peeked my interest - what is a black truffle macaron? Is it for dinner or dessert? Is it a good and, if so, is it a recipe you can share? thanks, Louise

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althought not true red, try adding chocolate.... it gets rid off the pink turning it into salmon red.

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Thanks Rose and Veronica for the quick reply. I will definitely give it powder food coloring a try.

Veronica, went to your sight and loved it. Will be back. thanks for sharing your class with PH.

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Sharon re: black macaron - use a lot of black food coloring. I just attended a class taught by Pierre Herme where he made the black truffle macaron and the recipe used black food coloring (Master Chef) . I think that meant Chef Master and you probably want to use the powder kind.

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How to make a truely red frosting without using the whole tub of red dye?
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does anyone out there know how to make a really really bright red, not pink, icing/frosting.

Need to decorate some sugar cookies. Dumping a whole tub of red and no taste red food coloring into my royal icing is pretty scary and yet, I still cannot produce anything besides a shade of pink.

any clues?

Also, I have seen some BLACK macarons - how does one create a true deep BLACK, not shade of grey color as well?

Looking forward to your replies.

Thanks

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Lemon Loaf - instead of butter, could I use canola oil instead?
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Hi Rose,

I am new to the site. Love it so far.
Just looking at your Lemon Loaf recipe and wondering if you have ever made it with oil instead of butter?

If yes, how would I go abouts converting your recipe to use oil?

I make a bananna bread using oil,no butter, so was just curious.

thanks in advance.

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I was planning to make lemon buttercream but wanted to use the neoclassic version...how should I go about this?

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Yvonne, this is one of the Moist Chocolate Genoise most common characteristics.

Rozanne's tips are excellent and complete. Regarding the super large JB Prince Matfer balloon whisk it helps tremendously and often with perfection.

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Yvonne, here are a few suggestions:

Sift the flour on to the egg mixture.

Fold the flour in gently but thoroughly. Using a large balloon whisk will prevent the batter from deflating too much when you fold thoroughly. Rose recommends the Matfer whisk. Do a search on the blog.

You can pick the bits of flour from the cake once it's done. I use a toothpick to do this. Even Rose has had this happen to her. Read pg 496 of the Cake Bible (last paragraph). It's very interesting.

Someone on the blog suggested transferring the egg mixture to a glass bowl and then folding the flour in. That way you can see if there are any flour particles left in the batter.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you fair.

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I bought "The Cake Bible" in the States recently and tried out the "Moist Choc Genoise" when I came back home in Singapore. Followed recipe as directed. When cakes were baked and cut, noticed that there were tiny white lumps on bottom of cakes. After examination, realized they were flour bits. I have folded the flour into the egg mixture carefully and thoroughly as directed (half portion each time) but this problem has surfaced even after 3 tries. Would appreciate your advice as to when I have gone wrong. Thanks.

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I'm going to use your cheesecake recipe for a wedding I am doing in 2 weeks...it is a last minute request. I have been doing wedding cakes for several years now but never a last minute request - neverless a whole new area - cheesecake wedding cake - 3 tier - stacked on top of each other and square no less. Any tips or suggestions - I've got your recipe and from all my trustworthy cake-baking friends out there on the web, they say it's the best and can be trusted, just wondered if any extra tips/advise. I will be practicing this coming weekend.

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I'm going to use your cheesecake recipe for a wedding I am doing in 2 weeks...it is a last minute request. I have been doing wedding cakes for several years now but never a last minute request - neverless a whole new area - cheesecake wedding cake - 3 tier - stacked on top of each other and square no less. Any tips or suggestions - I've got your recipe and from all my trustworthy cake-baking friends out there on the web, they say it's the best and can be trusted, just wondered if any extra tips/advise. I will be practicing this coming weekend.

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I'm going to use your cheesecake recipe for a wedding I am doing in 2 weeks...it is a last minute request. I have been doing wedding cakes for several years now but never a last minute request - neverless a whole new area - cheesecake wedding cake - 3 tier - stacked on top of each other and square no less. Any tips or suggestions - I've got your recipe and from all my trustworthy cake-baking friends out there on the web, they say it's the best and can be trusted, just wondered if any extra tips/advise. I will be practicing this coming weekend.

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Hi Rose,

I saw you on Create tonight (5/2208 at 11pm central time) and you made a 10 grain battard. Is this recipe available? I'd love to try it.

Thanks!

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Hello again, Rose.

I'm also curious if you've played with the higher % cacao chocolates available now in your choc oblivion truffle torte and the hot fudge used in the aptly named "torture" variation? Any recommendations? Thanks again.
Evelyn

P.S. Every foodie I know now makes your focaccia! It's life-altering.

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Hi Rose.

Your recipes have been making me look good for years. Thank you for that and for raising the bar on home baking. One of my all-time favorites of yours is the Choc Oblivion Truffle Torte and I'm about to introduce a new group of friends to it. I live in Maine and finally have a reliable source for European butter. Do you think using it in the torte would have any effect? Thanks again.
Ev

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I read Makiko Fujino's book. She commented about you.I impressed what you love cooking. She was one of your cooking school student.I am Japaneseand also live in New Jersey.I love cooking ,so I want to take your class. But I could not find out your school.Please let me know ,if you have a class. I want to join it!!

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I've seen that almost every country have a version of steamed bread, even steamed cakes! The version I know (Chinese traditional) are risen on parchment paper on your countertop, covered with a lightweight cloth. Then transfered onto the steamer (with the parchment). If you are making a handful it would be practical to rise on the steamer, but usually you end up with not-supposed-to steamer marks on the bottom of the buns!

I am getting hungry for the 2 fillings my Mom made: the sweet version made of home made lima bean sugar paste plus an optional salted duck egg yolk; the savory version made of chicken-mushroom-herbs. I know Rose loves the ones filled with pork char siu, and perhaps you all need to know that the best pork char siu is the one roasted at home specially sans the red food coloring!

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We were in Germany in December. At a Kristkindlmarkt I spotted a booth selling large steamed dumpfl. I had to try! It was served in a bowl and smothered with vanilla sauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Wow, when you are standing around in freezing temps and you have consumed a couple mugs of gluwein that giant dumpling was a true marvel. I have thought about trying some at home but I have never tried steamed bread. Do you let them rise in the steamer sections? Is the dough stiff? How long does it take to cook?

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I've really enjoyed all of your books. However, I have a question on one of your recipes. In the Bread Bible (Jewish Rye Bread) recipe, the quantity of Rye flour under "Flour Mixture" is missing eventhough it states to add it. Could you forward the quantity of Rye Flour for this recipe.

Regards,
Rodney

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Yes, the dough has sugar. Bamboo steamer, "normal" not-dimsum size. About 12" wide, stacked 2 high. Hmm, about 5 at a time. It cooks so fast, that in a matter of hours she would pull hundreds off the kitchen to our living room dining which was about 20 feet long. I don't recall Mom using rice flour, and the white color was desirable and one thing she always compared her buns with others!

She made 2 types of filling: sweet lima bean paste, and savory steamed chicken with Chinese "shitake" plus some other things.

The most painful thing was kneading by hand, but once we got our KA, it become a less demanding job. My uncle ran a small breakfast shop in Chinatown, making his own buns on the K5.

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Did your mom use any sugar in the dough? I've heard that some people use part rice flour--it supposedly makes them even whiter and softer--but I haven't tried it yet. She must have had a huge steamer, or did many batches. I can only make about 8 at a time.

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My Mom must have reincarnated on my body. This photo is so similar to what I do now: baking in large numbers at home without commercial equipment!!!!!!

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What a great photo!!!

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My mother used bleached AP flour, and also an ammonia powder with boiling water! She made the most wonderful baos ever, I don't have her exact recipe written down, but the procedure is saved in my brain as I helped always with the filling and shaping. Picture here circa 1986 with my baby brother William.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/ChineseBao.html

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Funny you should mention those Christine. I just made a batch last night. They're unlike any bread in the bread bible, for one thing they're made with bleached flour and the hydration is lower than any bread in the book I believe.

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Rose, your book on breads is a great aid for me in my baking, and I especially love your systematic approach to writing your book because everything works!

I am wondering, given your extensive knowledge in bread baking, whether you have tried making Chinese style steamed bread (the steamed buns) at all?

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aj, great to have the Bread Bible. Look under the ingredients section under dry milk.

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Hi.I just purchased your Bread Bible and it looks fantastic. I already tried the bagel recipe and they turned out really nice. I have noticed that many of your bread recipes use dry milk powder. What exactly does that do to the bread and since I am lactose intolerant, if I leave it out, will the recipes still work?

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Dear Rose,

I am a novice bread baker and LOVE your Bread Bible book! I made the Sicilian Vegetable Pizza Roll for a brunch recently and it was gone in two minutes!

In reading through I noticed you mentioned a great way to make pumpernickel using Altus Brat. I have a friend that makes a delicious pumpernickel in a bread machine and she gave me some to make an altus brat, but how do I do this?

Thank you for such a wonderful book!

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Amen to that!

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I am in favor of using unsalted butter for ALL baking and in fact also savory cooking.

The taste is better, and due to what Patrincia says!

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Margaret - I agree with Hector, cake mixes always taste "off" to me. I've also noticed improperly stored dairy will readily pick-up flavors from the fridge/freezer.

On a side note, salted butter has a longer shelf life than unsalted butter. So unsalted butter is actually fresher than salted, which should be evident in it's flavor (that is, if it's been properly stored). Another thing to consider, there are no standards on how much salt a company should add to salted butter, so the salt content can vary greatly from one brand to another.

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A husband or wife that bakes as you do, is an endangered species if not already extinct!

There is a lot of passion and psychology, and there is room for only one chef in a kitchen.

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I just wanted to say how great it is to discover there are so many male breadbakers out there. I notice this on Rose's blog and also on thefreshloaf. Somehow my husband doesn't seem ready to take the plunge! I suppose there's little need for him to do so while I indulge my passion and offer him fresh-baked bread.

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Margaret, try find out if those cakes are done with cake mix? If so, then what you taste are the preservatives and chemical emulsifiers! no doubt.

Rose's cakes keep well, you need not to bake at the moment. Follow the storing tips on each recipe and in general in the book, some can be even frozen in length, and I have not heard a complaint!

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Hi, Rose --

I've been baking from your books for years -- my copy of the Cake Bible is well worn. I very much appreciate the precision with which you approach your recipes.

I've been looking for an answer to this question for a long time: When people bring things to an event, I often notice off flavors, particularly in baked things. I find the taste really awful, and I'm wondering if you know what the main cause is likely to be. Because I loathe this taste, I try, whenever I bake for others, to make the item as close to serving time as possible. This can be a little inconvenient sometimes!

I figure the problem could come from these sources: unsalted butter (which I don't use in baking, of course, but probably many people do); old flour; old cocoa; aluminum bakeware; food that has been in a refrigerator, perhaps even overnight -- probably several other things as well.

I'm wondering two things in particular, then: first, do you know the flavor I mean, and second, what do you think the most likely culprit is?

I can taste this effect the second I bite into something and am anxious to avoid it in whatever I serve!

Thanks and regards.

Margaret

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Hi Rose,
Your Bread Bible and Pastry Bible are huge hits with me. I have been baking bread for 25+ years and have learned more from your books in 25 days than I have learned in the past 25 years.

My family and I love bagels and I have grown to love your recipe (without the pepper tho). My wife would prefer a little less "chew" and I am wondering how to temper things a little. Is it by way of less time in the water, a shorter rise, a shorter time in the oven? I am using King Arthur's Bread flour.

One other question: I am wondering how to discern whether my barley malt syrup is diastatic vs nondiastatic. I use Eden Organic Barley Malt. I have written the company but no reply to date.

Thanks for your help and for your truly wonderful and informative books.

Keith

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I purchased a heart shaped silicone layer pan. After reading this blog, I now know how to prepare my pan prior to baking but I need to know how high to fill the pan with batter and how long to bake it in a high altitude city-Denver. Thank you. Bonnie

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Hi Rose, This is really me and I tried to click the address in the "proof of intent" email you sent me to no avail.I really do wish to receive your newsletters but cannot respond to your message so you will now think that I do not want it. I do! Thanks. Bonnie

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Beth, regarding crumbling cake crusts that become messy when frosting. Try using Bakers Joy or Baklene sprays, both contain flour and not-butter, and gives you nice crusts that don't crumble. Some people have experienced good results with Pam with flour or with store brand release with flour.

I've read that it isn't advisable to use butter to grease your pans prior to dusting with flour, shortening would be better (I can't remember).

And absolutely, if you use cake flour to dust your pans you will get a moist and crumbly crust because cake flour hydrates a lot more than regular flour.

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what is Cake Bible's definition of 9-inch? The internal measure or the external measure? If the aluminum is thick, a 9-inch internal measure can be 9.25 or more external!

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I cannot measure my cake strips right now because I'm at work but I DO know that my pans are definitely 9 inch pans and they do not have sloped sides at all. Yes, I will have to clamp the excess silicone with a binder clip before I place them in the oven. That's a good idea. I just wish the strips would have fit in the first place though. I was disappointed. I was very excited to get these Heavenly Cake strips because they looked so easy to use. No big deal though. I'll make them work. Thank you all for your ideas.

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Also, the 9" pans might have sloped sides instead of straight sides... that would make the strips fall off.

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This is regarding the Heavenly Cake strips. I just purchased 2 of them and used them for the first time last week. I used standard 9 inch pans from Williams Sonoma. The cake strips would not stay on the pans. Both of the strips are the same size and they both hardly even touch the sides of the cake pan because the circumference of the strips is so large. So I don't think the strips achieved what they were supposed to achieve because my cakes still domed. I read about the cake strips and saw that they were designed for 9 inch pans and can possibly be stretched for 10 inch pans. Why are mine so large? Has anyone else experienced this problem? Mine are the original Rosie Heavenly Cake stips.

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Beth Penn- hope this video clip helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ4Dj0qnlYk

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Beth - if I may offer a couple of suggestions... first, brush away any loose crumbs before you begin. Second, use a small amound of your frosting to act as a "crumb coating", then chill until firm, followed by your finished coat of frosting.

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Hi Rose!

I'm an avid baker and huge fan of The Cake Bible. I've made your All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake for several events and it is always a huge hit. It has a wonderful flavor and texture. However the last two times I have made it the cake has release out of the pans fine, but the sides crumble after releasing. This makes it really difficult to frost the cake (I like to use your sour cream ganache recipe). The frosting wants to stick to the crumbs and not adhere to the cake properly, making a mess. The last time this happened I was using a vanilla buttercream frosting and ended up covering the cake with fondant to cover the mess. It still tasted delicious and looked great with the fondant, but I'm not a big fan of using fondant. I'm hoping you can give me some guidance as to why this is happening to my cakes. The only thing I can think of is I used cake flour to flour the pan (butter to grease it). Could this be the cause? Also, any recommendations on a frosting to use on the cakes I just made with the crumbly sides?

Thanks for your advice!

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Beth, my no-boil lasagna with the no-cook bechamella is:

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2008/01/you_are_invited_1.html#comment-80918

it is an unpublished version, work in progress.

Venetians using cartons of preserved bechamella? I bet those cartons are wonderful! Maybe you are referring to panna di cucina or similar, some sort of heavy cream/creme fraiche in UHT conservation that I always bring some back to the USA! I've learned there to make bechamella with partially skimmed whole milk though, and THAT I also bring back in those wonderful UHT boxes...

UHT not UHP!

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Sorry, I can't find the right thread where Hector posted his lasagna recipe. Hector, when you wrote no-cook bechamel I mistakenly thought you were talking about all those cartons of preserved bechamel that the Venetians I know tend to use! Yours sounds much more creative! At any rate, it cracked me up when I saw how you make it.

Beth

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Hi Rose. I tried to make your neoclassic buttercream because my nemesis are sugar syrups and I thought not having to use a thermometer is great. However, I was not sure if I boiled the syrup properly. It was still white when it got to hard boil - is it supposed to be clear. Does that mean I did not dissolve my sugar properly? The syrup was very thick and and in this attempt -despite your warning of not pouring it into the whisk , I spun a web inside my stand mixer bowl. My syrup was really thick...did I boil it too much?

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Thank you all so much for the clarification!! I really appreciate it. I'm not very good at math --couldn't of guessed that could you of? LOL :-) Rose, i LOVE the Cake Bible = White chocolate cream cheese frosting is amazing!!
Wendi

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Wendi, also this is for two 9'' x 2'' layers--is that the size you wanted to make? If it makes you feel better, it is less than 1 tablespoon per cake. You would use slightly more than that making biscuits to fill the same size cake pan.

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I made two 9" layers- 5 1/3tsp of baking powder sure does seem like a lot for a two layer cake. So, 4x the base .

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The baking soda level (level 2) for a 9" cake is 1 1/3 tsp. per base.... if you multiplied by 2 to make one 9" layer, you should have used 2 2/3 tsp. of baking powder.

If you made 2 9" layers, you should have multiplied the base by 4 (5 1/3 tsp. b. powerder).

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Wendi,
Yes, you made a mistake. For 2x base, the amount should be 2 2/3 tsp.

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Wendy - did you make one layer or two?

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I just made the 9" yellow butter cake in the cake bible and my calculations call for 4tsp of baking powder! The cake is okay but not great(little dry. This just seems to be an extremely large amount of baking powder. Are my calculations wrong? 2x the base iswhat I did.

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The "substitute" you mention sounds like it only adds leavening. Eggs have a lot of functions in a recipe -- beaten, they can act as a leavening, but the fat in the egg yolks has a tenderizing effect, and both the yolks and whites help to "hold everything together." (Not sure what the technical term would be for this.) Also they aid browning.

Well, brownies don't really need a lot of leavening, they're brown enough already, and the chocolate and butter both have plenty of fat. So I suspect that in brownies, eggs mostly function to hold things together.

As to what to substitute -- I'm not sure! But maybe these thoughts will help you evaluate different suggestions.

I found a recipe for Allergen-Free Brownies on Martha Stewart, but it is not only egg-free, it's also milk, butter and wheat-free. Here's the link, anyway:

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/allergen-free-brownies

I have a feeling that the arrowroot and xanthan gum in that recipe are the ingredients that most help to "stick things together."

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Katie - I don't know if this link will help, but they have a few suggestions:

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/eggsub.html

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I have a vegan collegue who does a lot of cooking...not sure if she bakes. I will ask her when I see her on tuesday and report back. I hope I have an answer for you.

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I want to adjust my brownie recipe to be eggless (it's a fudgy-type brownie, with a ganache-like frosting). Someone had posted an egg substitution for cakes and pancakes (1 egg= substitute 1 tsp baking powder,1 tsp vinegar and 1 tsp of water mixed together.) Would this work, or is there something else that would work better in the brownies? Thank you- this is a great website!

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Hi Rose My family loved the Hearth loaf last night. It did over-rise a little as you mentioned but still baked soft and airy. I'm going to try it again this weekend. Thanks so much. Aaron

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Oops, I mean flour! ~Karen

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I am new to making hand-made bread and just made two wonderful artisan loaves with 1-1/2 T yeast, 1-1/2 T kosher salt, 3 c warm water, 6-1/2 c Harvest King unbleached bread flower and 1/4 c sugar. Now I'd like to try including 1/2 c 7-grain cereal. How should I adapt the recipe?

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hi Rose I just found your Hearth Bread recipe on the Pillsbury Harvest King flour wrapper and am in process.I"ve checked the blog and cant find a comment on refriderating the second risen dough before baking. I want to bake it later today so its still warm at dinner. Do you have a comment on delaying baking

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I am wondering how I would adjust a recipe using the new Crisco formula since it has changed.
My mother's Cream Cheese Cookie Press Cookies (which she made many years ago and I have continued making since her passing) were a little dry this year and didn't press as good. It calls for 1 cup of shortening, 1 3oz. package cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Like I said a little hard to press through cookie press this year.

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I am looking for a "Steam Baking Master" as noted on page 589 of The Bread Bible(2003). I can not find it anywhere. King Arthur Flour said they did not know what I was talking about. Can you help me, please? I want to get this for my bread making daughter.
Thanks so much!
Jo Ann Fischer

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Hey,

I will try the golden luxury next - just tried the country buttermilk cake, and I loved the slight tang! Anyway, thank you for the suggestions. I read in the Cake Bible under the explanation of perfect pound cake that powdered sugar can be substituted for regular sugar to make a denser cake. Can this substitution be made for layer cakes too? It also says the baking powder can be cut back to 1/2 teaspoon from the 3/4 teaspoon; so, how much can the baking powder be reduced in layer cakes if I sometimes want to make them denser? Thank you again for your help! I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas baking :)
~Hilary

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Hello:

I actually have a question about a recipe in your Christmas Cookie Book. I would like to make "Mrs. King's Irrestibles", however I have been unable to find a decent unsweetened granola (the health food store version was stale, and whole foods has been out).

Approximately how much should I reduce the sugar in the recipe to accomodate a lightly sweetened granola? I was thinking of eliminating the granulated sugar (3/4 cup) and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar (leaving me with 3/4 cup). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Winnie

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Hey Rose,
I received your Cake Bible for my birthday(Nov.30), and I haven't been able to keep my nose out of since. And I was thrilled when a friend emailed me the link to your blog! Thank you so much for being so "accessible" and answering people's questions! I love how precise your book is and how you give so much reasoning behind your statements.
I just graduated from college this week, and I think I have been "experimenting" with cakes and trying to find the perfect recipe since my senior year in high school!! I really thought I would have hit on it by the time I graduated college. Anyway, while I love the cakes that I have tried out of your book, my mother and I also like dense cakes. I have been searching for a recipe for both a yellow and chocolate layer cakes that are dense yet moist and tender at the same time. It seems like with all the cakes in general that I have made, if the cake is dense, it also very dry. And, while I like some butter for flavor, I do not like it when it feels like butter is sitting in my mouth. I know you are extremely busy and I do not want to ask for a recipe, but I was wondering if you could point me to both a yellow cake and an intensely chocolatey and fudgey chocolate cake in your book? Is there any way I could alter the recipe to make them denser? I guess if I am going to spare the calories and eat cake, I want to know I am eating something and it not be so light it dissapears. Sorry for such "picky" descriptions, but I have become so frustrated with my experimenting that I decided I needed to just ask an expert! Again, thank you so much for your book and your website!!
~Hilary

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Hi Rose,
Thank you so much for your advice..as always..it worked!! As I was already using unbleached flour and was using just one tsp of baking soda, I tried raising the temperature slightly. It worked perfectly, and I had a nice even cake.
Thank yo again....and greetings for the festive season for you and yours.
Yasmin.

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Hi Rose
I have been baking my christmas cakes (boiled fruitcakes) and I find a slight dip in the centre and a cake that is dry. I know you have mentioned type of flour and leavening agents as the two possible causes for a dip in the middle, but I was wondering if this reason would be applicable to a heavy fruit cake too? I bake them at about 160 in a fan forced oven.
your advice would be really appreciated
thank you
Yasmin.

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Bill, I am not certain if that is what Rose meant.

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Hector:
Thanks...lol...I'm an idiot. I never thought to use an instant read thermometer on the tart. The tart tasted fine...just looked alittle funny!

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Bill, please see pictures of my pecan pie/tart, the surface looked dry and crackling, but it was moist and sticky when touched with your fingers. I think Rose means 160oF internal temperature.

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/11/great_tip_for_your_thanksgivin.html#comment-75145

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Thanks Rose! but 160 degrees F? is that what you meant? doesn't seem that hot to me.

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As long as we are discussing the pecan pie/tart...I've got a question. I made this recipe twice...both time it was delicious...but the surface looked dry and cracked...did I over bake? oven too hot?

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hi, i was just wondering if you have any suggestions about making a lemon meringue torte... thanks...

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Mine's was runny, too, but it plated beautifully and my guests loved the "sauce." The pies I made for my trip were not runny, I thought it was due the the cold weather.

I was wondering when it says "don't overbake and don't let the top dry out" what does it really mean? I cook the filling to get a "clear shiny filling," but the top after it just puffs up turns into a milky golden skin not translucent, and it is sticky to the tact.

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One more response to Bruce re: the pumpkin bread -- your mom might be following the same recipe to the letter, but has she changed brands or types on any ingredients? If she's using a different brand of flour, or if she's gone from bleached to unbleached -- or different-sized eggs might be another issue -- these factors could change the texture of her pumpkin bread.

I also agree with Matthew about letting quick breads and loaf cakes cool completely and set for a day before slicing. In addition to making them much easier to slice, this day of rest also improves the flavor, both of spicy cakes like pumpkin bread, and chocolate cakes/breads as well. Something about the extra day gives the flavors a chance to "bloom," in my experience.

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Purchased your book on pies, and enjoying reading it. But on your pecan pie, I doubled the recipe to fill a 10" pie pan. It came out perfect at least by my first inspection, but when cut into, it was runny. The flavor was great and all were pleased. But in order to eliminate the runny texture, and get it to firm up. Do I need to increase the time on baking? Or should I do something else. All ingredients were weighed and assembled to the instructions, but just doubled. Any thoughts!

Thanks

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Hi Rose,
I recently bought your cake and your pie and pastry bible books and I must say they are quickly becoming my bible when it comes to baking. I've got a question when it comes to grinding nuts. I'm finding it hard to do it in the food processor I have because it doesn't get ground fine enough. A coffee grinder does a fabulous job for small amounts but if I'm going to go into business - that could become tedious especially if I need to grind 5 lbs of almond quickly. Can you recommend a commercial brand that might do the trick. I'm looking at the robocoups and was wondering if they might work - but I thought I'd ask before I make that investment. Thanks!

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One more thing--quick breads often slice better if you let them cool completely, wrap them, and then slice them the next day. It allows the moisture to distribute evenly throughout the crumb. Actually, that in itself might solve your problem.

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Bruce,
I assume this pumpkin bread is a quick bread, which is closer to a cake than a bread. There are a lot of things which could cause it to be too tender--falling apart. Even if the recipe and ingredients are the same, other things change, such as the oven might have gone out of calibration or the flour or other ingredients might be too old. I believe tenderness in cakes arises from ingredients: protein content of flour, amount of sugar, leavening, and fat--then how and how long they are mixed--longer mixing develops more structure--and finally correct oven temperature.

If I were you, I try a run with all fresh ingredients and check your oven temperature. Finally, you could start experimenting with the recipe--mixing it longer, changing the flour type, reducing the amount of sugar or leavening, etc.

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Hello,
My mother has been baking pumpkin bread for holidays as long as I can remember - but recently they have begun to fall apart. This never happened in the past so we are trying to figure out what could be causing it - she has not altered the recipe or ingredients in any way. Does anyone have any idea why the bread is falling apart.
Thank you,
Bruce

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Kenny:

Check out Rose's recipes in her book:The Pie and Pastry Bible. I've never tried the peach pie recipe (not a big lover of the Peach)...but every recipe of Rose's that I've tried has turned out beautifully...she doesn't use tons of sugar...nothing is horribly sweet...and the flavor of the fruit really comes through...if you don't have the book...get one...it is soooooooooooooo worth the money!

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Hi Rose and Baking Friends,

I have had the most difficult time finding a good peach pie recipe. Most of the recipes that I have tried, seem to come out either too dry, too moist etc.. Just wondering if you have a tried and true recipe that I can try. Thank you so much....Kenny

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Hi again Jan - Yes, you can make cupcakes with Rose's cake recipes. Type "cupcakes" into the search box at the top of this thread and you'll bring up a lot of previous postings on the subject.

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Jan - one additional comment... the Mousseline Buttercream will hold it's piped shape well at room temperature (which is the temp you should eat the buttercream).

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hey thanks... oh another question, i was just wondering if you could convert rose's cake recipes into cupcakes... will it affect the outcome of my cake? what about using smaller pans? will it still make my cakes unsuccessful?

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Hi Jan - Yes you can! I recently piped swirls on a dozen cupcakes using Rose's Mousseline Buttercream recipe (and an extra large star tip). I then sprinkled edible glitter on them and they looked fantastic - the birthday girl was very pleased.

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Could you actually pipe a swirl on your cupcakes with the buttercream icing recipe you have in the cake bible?

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After using the Bread Bible for a year we finally decided to get serious. Jeannie and I signed up for the Artisan Bread course at the C.I.A. in NY State. It put the cap on the things we learned from Rose's book. Those fine points of how to handle the sour dough, biga and poolish starters were well worth our time. We not only came home with the new knowledge but bags of artisan breads that we made in their kitchen. I think we will sign up for more of their offerings.

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Hi everybody, does anyone Know whether it is possible to find cake flour in Athens, Greece? Please let me know. Thank you

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Rita - Rose will on a trip until the end of the month and will only be checking in once a week. Just thought you should know so you don't think your question is being ignored. Someone else may be able to answer though.

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Hi Rose

Been using your "CAKE BIBLE" since the first edition and is my very best reference source. Now I have a question re yeast dough. I make a refrigerator sourcream yeast dough rugalach that are considered special. Can the rugalach be formed and frozen before baking? Will it affect the finished product?

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Sharlotte, welcome to the community, we love everyone's input, big or small.

Butter based cakes need to come to room temperature before serving it, so the butter in it is not refrigerator solid! A butter based carrot cake is no exception.

However, I know of a lot of people who love the taste and texture of refrigerated butter based cakes.

As said, the taste of butter is at its peak at room temperature which is closer to the butter melting point and to the human body temperature.

Indeed, carrot cake is a passionate subject!

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Sharlotte - welcome! Hope to see you post more often :)

I don't thin Rose was saying one was right and the other wrong. Just that an added bonus to carrot cake made with oil is that it can be eaten cold out of the fridge. If you were to refrigerate a butter cake with cream cheese frosting, the cake would be very firm because the butter hardens when chilled.

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This is the first comment I've dared to post here, but I must stand up in defense of butter in carrot cakes. Why ever not if it tastes good and I have to say that the recipe posted above really does taste good. I made Kate's recipe yesterday and its great. Rose - other cakes need or have frosting that's kept refrigerated, so why not carrot cake???

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Rose,

I have never ever baked a carrot cake with butter - i have a baking business and the carrot cake is absolutely to die from, one of the biggest sellers. i use walnuts, craisans, coconut, pineapple and i always get "this is the best carrot cake I have ever had", also, i do not use a ton of spices because I find them overpowering. The frosting is butter, cream cheese, vanilla and 6x sugar, sometimes i use lindt white chocolate with coconut melted in for a little extra. I am however going to check my cake bible to look at your frosting which I see everyone raving about. also, for those people observing a kosher household, the "oil" works much better than the butter. On a final note, i have also made tofutti frosting to accomodate a kosher household. I must say, it was edible, but it does not replace cream cheese. Rose I love your passion.......

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Rose:
Thanks. I was surprised that the butter didn't really come through in the taste of the carrot cake...no need to clairfy all that butter. Looking forward to your new book and your carrot cake

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Rose, with all good intentions: you are a collectible!

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To Rose and all my baking buddies:

OK...here's the carrot cake report. I replaced the oil in my sister's carrot cake recipe with clarified butter. The recipe originally called for 1 1/2 cups oil (for a 9" three layer cake). I order to get that much clarified butter I had to start with a whole pound of butter, and then had to wait for it to cool down (both adding to the expense and time involved in preparation). We ate the cake last night. The texture was slightly firmer and denser than the cake made with oil. The flavor was delicious...although it didn't really taste buttery. I think I would need to do a side by side comparison with the cake made with oil to see if it is worth the extra work and expense. I used the cream cheese frosting found in the cake bible, which incidentally, is a dream to work with. The cake was a big hit. Rose...thank's for all your help and support!...oh, and Rose, do you have a carrot layer cake recipe? Will it be in the new book? Can't wait for it to come out.

Bill

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Matthew - I can't believe you found that... what a scream!

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Rose,
I stumbled across this photo of a print from an art exhibition. I thought you might enjoy seeing it if you haven't already.

This was the caption that accompanied the photo of the print:

Lauren M. Wong
Cake Pony Pin Up Series: Merry’s Escape from the Amusement Park of Malcontent with a Cordon Rose Cream Cheesecake with Cherry Topping
18.25”x22.25”
Limited edition digital print
$120

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Continuing with the discussion on Carrot cake. Last night (at 11:00 PM) I made my sister's carrot cake recipe, exchanging the oil for clarified butter that was melted and cooled. The original recipe made with oil usually shrinks away from the sides of the pan. This cake did not shrink. I ran a thin spatula between the pan and cake, and the cakes came right out of the pans...no problem. I frosted them with Rose's cream cheese/white chocolate frosting. This frosting is absolutely beautiful to work with. I finished the sides with an icing comb and piped a shell border around the top and bottom. The cake looks great! We will be eating it tomorrow...I will post it's yummy level then.

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Are sunflower and safflower oil the healthiest? I heard canola and olive oils were the best. I'm interested in anyone's opinion.

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Linda, just a quick tip you may already know. The spices in carrot cake taste best when served at room temperature. Most spices peak taste is when warm or room temperature. And re butter it is at room temperature when the melting point is the closest to the human body temp, thus moist, tasty, and not greasy (this from Cake Bible).

I think Rose has a carrot cake recipe on her upcoming book.

And most definitely, I run away from recipes with tons of vegetable oil! But if needed, try safflower or sunflower oil, which are the healthiest

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To everyone who responded to my carrot cake recipe. I tried Cook's illustrated with the black pepper and cardoman and it was good but still not the same cake I had in Alaska. Also tried Rose's, excellent but did not get the spices exactly right. The cake in Alaska was very light and contained more butter and cream cheese to sugar. I will keep experimenting. Thanks you all so much. Linda

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Kate, you are too modest! I've jsut made your carrot cake recipe and it really is superb! Sorry Hector, I know you can't bear the thought of anything that isn't Rose, you should make an exception for this carrot cake. (I bet Rose secretly tries other cake recipes now and then!)

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I've just had a bite of Golden Wheat Carrot Ring topped with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream . . . Heaven on Earth

2 months frozen, vacuum packed. Perhaps flavors enhanced and ripened, like fruit cake!

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/CarrotRing.htm

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On a related note, I've recently been experimenting with recipes for carrot cake that use butter rather than oil. My recipe also includes cardamom, if you wanted to give it a try, Linda (or anyone else - I'd be very interested to know what anyone thinks ... good or bad!).
http://amerrierworld.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/carrot-cake/

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Linda, Cook's "Baking Illustrated" has some variations on carrot cake. They substitute an equal amount of black pepper is used for nutmeg and increasing cloves by a quarter teaspoon and then adding a tbls. of ground cardamon along with the rest of the spices.

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Linda, I LOVE Rose's Golden Wheat Carrot Ring. It may be a very close taste to the cardamom spiced carrot cake you tried. It uses whole wheat flavors which adds a bite to it. You 'can' add some cardamom, too, but be cautions on the amount! I would just replace up to 1/4 of the cinnamon on the recipe with cardamom, they are 'related' spices. You can try cloves, too; in fact if you add a dash of ground cloves to ANY recipe calling for cinnamon, cloves just enhances the cinnamon flavor! ("my" secret of a well made pasta meat sauce has cinnamon and cloves!)

Re: the extra butter cream cheese frosting. YOU MUST try Rose's Real White Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting. Real white chocolate has an exquisite amount of cocoa butter, which is even tastier than regular butter.

Recipes from The Cake Bible.

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Dear Rose:

When I was in Alaska in July, I had occasion to sample a carrot cake made by one of their chefs. It was the best carrot cake I have ever tasted. When I asked the chef if he would part with the recipe, he said no but he would tell me two of his secrets. One he used cardamon as one of the spices and two he used more butter to the cream cheese frosting and less sugar. I can't find a recipe like this in any of the books I have nor have I found one on the internet. I was just wondering, since you are an expert on cakes, if you have ever made a carrot cake that contained cardamon and a frosting like that; and if so, could you tell me if you are willing to part with the recipe. Thank you so much for your courtesy and cooperation. Linda Dietrich

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btw, only now, after making the MPT, I realized that I've been slicing the mangoes differently than instructed in PBB. My slices are vertical cuts and rather uniformly thin; almost impossible to form the rose from the outside to the center. I start from the center, and when reaching the outside petals, I trim the slices thinner making the rose border lower profile.

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Hector, I think this is one of your best mango roses! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the tart.

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Here you go, the Mango Passion Tart from PPB.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/MangoPassionTart.html

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Cindy, in fact at one of my very few pastry classes I've attended, stretching is a cause of shrinkage. Well said. Roll and tuck instead of stretch.

Rest your dough for 30 minutes prior to rolling,in the refrigerator (even better overnight), as this "kills" the gluten. And even so, it is good practice to rest/refrigerate after you rolled, so the gluten further dies!

I made the wonderful MANGO PASSION TART from PPB, as Matthew said it is one of the best recipes in the book. Pics coming.

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Hi Koren, about your pastry shrinkage, are you stretching the dough across the tart pan? Because if you carefully lay the dough loosely across the pan (from the rolling pin) and then gently tuck the edge in without any stretching, and blind bake it (with the beans), it normally will not shrink from the edge. Once the dough is tucked in, roll the pin over the top edge of the pan to trim the pastry (surplus will fall off), as cutting may stretch the dough as well. Also, bake at higher temp. Good luck. It's great tart season! -Cindy

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Koren--If you want to decrease the amount of gluten formed, use a lower protein flour, such as pastry or wondra. Gluten forms with water, so more liquid creates more gluten. That is why most crust recipes warn you to be sparing with water. If some of the fat is absorbed into the flour, it also prevents the flour from absorbing so much water and makes the crust more tender. You don't want it to absorb too much, however, or it won't be flaky. I would try baking at 425.

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Hi,
Thanks very much for the comments Matthew. I am using regular all-purpose flour. I should have said that when I pre-bake I use dried beans as a weight (on top of parchment paper). Would it be too little or too much liquid that causes the dough to shrink? I will take your advice about baking at higher oven temps (I've been baking at 375 or so).
Thanks!

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Koren--Here are a few ideas. Often when there is shrinking, that means too much gluten developed in the dough. What type of flour are you using? Also the amount of liquid and the way the fat is incorporated affect the amount of gluten developed. There may be a problem with your recipe.

Are you weighting down the dough for part of the baking? You might also try baking at a higher temp. That will help set the crust before the fat melts. I think you could also let the dough chill for longer than an hour--that will help relax the gluten.

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Hi there,
I have just started making tart shells, using a pate brisee recipe and a tart pan with a removable bottom. Each time that I've pre-baked the tart shell, the pastry shrinks as it bakes, pulling away from the sides. I always chill the pastry until firm before baking (last time I chilled it in the freezer for 1 hour). I end up with a shrunken tart crust with a small rim instead of a beautiful fluted edge. What could be the problem and what can I do differently to get beautiful tart shells?
Thank you!
Koren

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I've re-sent the email to your address ... fingers crossed it works this time.
Thanks :-)

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Well, it was more of a personal communication than anything else. I just thought you might be interested to know about a short article I'd written about you, "Gradus ad Parnassum with Rose Levy Beranbaum".

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Rose - I tried to send you an email but received a 404 error when I submitted the form.

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Hi Rose,
First, I'm in awe of your patience and talent. I've relied on the Cake Bible for years.
I have a serious fondant question:
I always use your Classic French Buttercream under my fondant. Whenever I make raspberry buttercream, it causes these weird air bubbles in the fondant. It just happened with a passion fruit buttercream too. Is it because of the fruit? Should I be crumb coating with plain buttercream and not allowing the fruit to come in contact with the fondant? What is the fondant reacting to?
Thank you so, so much.

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Roseanna, may I answer this. The Mousseline Buttercream freezes and thaws well and can be kept refrigerated well after. If you freeze it again, you can, but I would do it only if necessary, actually I haven't found much loss of quality when freezing more than once.

If you mean to travel by plane with your mousseline already applied on a cake, be sure to insulate your container so the thawing is gradual. Fast thawing will make unwanted water condensation. If you mean to freeze the mousseline before using it (in a bowl or container), you don't have to worry about fast thawing as the water condensation will mostly accumulate outside your container; be sure to allow the mousseline to reach room temperature before whipping it again lightly to make it smooth again.

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Rose, I would like to take your Mousseline Buttercream on a plane frozen. Could it stay out and then be refrigerated again? Thanks

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Okay, Michelle, you have inspired me. I made Rose's white whisper cake and the Vanilla Bavarian Chiffon as a filling with fresh berries. It is unbelievable! Wow!

My question, Rose, is how long should I be able to keep it out of the frig when the Bavarian Chiffon is used as a filling? Will it get watery if out too long? and is the chiffon better for staying out longer than the cream? It seems more stable as a chiffon.

I will be experimenting with this, but I wanted to hear from you if you have time.

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PUMPKIN BREAD
I was in San Francisco last fall and got coffee from a roadside vendor with a fabulous piece of what he called pumpkin bread, and which sliced like pumpkin bread, but actually was extremely moist like a custard. It was firm enough to slice from an oblong loaf, wrap in cellophane, and I ate it in the car with one hand without crumbling. IT WAS HEAVEN!! When I returned to buy it again the vendor had taken the day off and I couldn't get the recipe. Any ideas? I am nearing my annual craving for baked pumpkin goods... Perhaps the loaf was baked in a water bath?

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Hi Cathy, I bet you'll get a lot of replies on your inquiry about moist zucchini bread and carrot cake. Both of mine get raves for their flavor and moistness, which comes from the ingredients and not the baking method. In the zucchini bread I use buttermilk, and in the carrot cake I use fresh squeezed o.j. that I also plump my raisins in (also high quality vanilla and nutmeg). Happy baking!

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The bakery I sometimes buy tea biscuits/scones, zucchini/carrot loaves, and assorted muffins at make them so very moist and yummy (with the tops of the loaves and muffins being almost tacky to the touch). I am wondering if I could get the same results by baking with a water bath or would that be a no-no? Am going to be baking zucchini and carrot loaves this evening. Thanks in advance to any/all replies! :)

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Michelle, Your cake looks delicious and I know it was. Thank you for the info on refrigeration. It sounds like you did it perfectly!

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Michelle, I can see myself baking what you did. Your creamsicle cake is a 'real' cake, meaning delicious at first sight. No frills needed.

Very brave to serve bavarian cream in the summer and for competition, but seems like you refrigerated and timed everything just right. I am sure the judges felt great to have your refreshing cake amidst many other more traditional heavier cakes.

Happy baking.

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Cathy-
WRT refigeration, I counted on a couple of things:
1) the gelatin in the Bavarian Cream seems to really stabilize it nicely, and
2) the fact I had 1st refrigerated the BC after creating it, then stirred it a bit so I could use it as frosting (the next day), and then refrigerated the whole cake overnight, taking it out at 7:00am to finish frosting it with the Mousseline to get it to the judges by 10am.

I wasn't worried about the Mousseline because I had seen all the posts about it and it did hold up wonderfully.

I ended up making the components for the cake over three days or so because the two days before was the Rose Show that I also had entries in. Usually I'm not the best time-management person but this time it seemed to work!

I put a pix up on my website (which also needs to be re-done) so you can see the cake: Creamsicle Cake.

Thanks for all your feedback!

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congrats Michelle, well done! i cant believe u r yet to show the pic of yr cake. 99% is the score from the judges, and the REAL-BAKING people is sure to make it 100% for the ELEGANT SIMPLICITY.

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Congratulations Michelle! A score of 99 is very impressive. Can't wait to see the pics. You must be in cake heaven!!!
Rozanne

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Michelle--Fantastic news! How exciting. I'm sure it was absolutely fabulous.

Your combination of White Velvet Cake and Vanilla Bavarian Cream filling sounds incredible. Did you have to worry about refrigeration with the cream filling? If so, how did you work it with the butter cake & cream filling combo?

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Michelle - congratulations! Your cake sounds delicious. Looking forward to seeing the picture.

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Congratulations Michelle... a score of 99 is something to be very proud of! I Can't wait to see a photo of your fabulous cake!

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Rose -

I wanted to let you know how successful your recipes were at the Great NY State Fair. For "Cake Day" in the layer cake (3 layers) class, I created a "Creamsicle Cake" using the White Velvet Butter Cake (three layers), Vanilla Bavarian Cream as filling and crumb coat (with an extra tsp of vanilla), and Orange Mousseline Buttercream as the frosting/coating (increased zest in Orange Curd to 3 tbsp and added 1 tbsp Orange Extract to same).

I dropped it off this morning at 9:00 am with a great deal of nervousness because this was my very first attempt at a competition cake. I bake quite a bit and everyone loves my stuff - although it is free food and they are my friends.

I drove back out to Syracuse this afternoon around 4:00 pm to get the results - it's an hour drive one way - with my husband, who in the matter of all supportive husbands, reassured me I would do just fine.

At the entry table, I look for my name on the winners list (yes, I'm that confident). Not there. WHAT? I see my cake through the window. It's half gone!!

I give the clerk my claim check; she rifles through the folders and says, "Oh, you're the one." I panic. What did I do???

Turns out the judges couldn't quite decide between my cake and a chocolate/coffee creation... which is why half of it was gone. She hands me the scorecard, stapled to which is a red second-place ribbon. You think, hey, not bad for the first time out of the gate... but then I look at the total scoring, which breaks down as this:

Appearance: 30% / my score: 29

Crust:      20% / my score: 20

Crumb:      20% / my score: 20

Flavor:     30% / my score: 30

Final Score : 99

Yes, I scored a 99 and it still wasn't enough! Apparently if I had added a little orange twist and a mint sprig it might have tipped the score my way ... but I opted for elegant simplicity. (I have the photo if you'd like it.) Your Cake Bible is amazing and thank you so much for giving so much of yourself to enrich all of our lives!

Yours in baking,
Michelle

P.S. Next year I'm working chocolate into this recipe - that'll do it. :-)
P.P.S. Eventually the Culinary results will be posted here: NYS Fair Competition Results.

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Thanks, Hector -- This is great information about how to use dry ice, not just for my wedding, but in the future!!

Glad to hear your cupcakes survived the mishandling!
ST

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ST, yes, please be aware frozen vs refrigerated vs cold room temperature.

I believe your chiffon tarts need to be served/eaten at refrigerated temperature. If your chiffon tarts are inside a closed box or cooler, with dry ice, they will FREEZE, which is something you don't want. For your 30 minute ride, placing ice cubes or ice gel packs will be just fine, instead.

For your open table presentation, dry ice smoking out on the open will provide you with the refrigerated air you will need. Dry ice, when not inside a closed container, gives refrigerated temperatures, not frozen, as long as it isn't touching directly your food. Regular ice or ice gel packs won't give you cool air in the open.

I've just had the most wonderful temperature management experience with my recent Golden Genoise cupcakes, frosted with Mousseline Buttercream. These should be transported refrigerated, but these should be displayed at room temperature for a couple of hours so they warm up. These should be consumed at room temperature degrees. I packed my well refrigerated cupcakes inside a cooler thermal bag, placing a few ice cubes under a tray. The cupcakes arrived refrigerated, and I took them out for display about 2 hours prior to serving. I am so glad these were refrigerated while inside the cooler bag, because someone sabotaged them by carrying the bag sideways when still stored!

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Thanks, Cindy -- that makes sense. I don't think I'll need the dry ice for transport. I was actually looking for a way to keep some chiffon tarts cool while on display outdoors at my wedding. I'm glad to hear that it keeps things frozen, though -- this is what I'd want.

However, the other thing I have to figure out is transport and storage (not temperature, but containment). I will be doubling the chiffon tart recipes & preparing them in 9x13 pans. I'll be making 6 of them, and I want to find containers to store the 9x13 sheets, airtight. Any ideas?

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Dear ST,
With Rose's recipes, chilled cakes iced in Moussaline or the traditional buttercreams remain chilled for hours, and must be removed from the fridge 3-4 hours before serving. So a 30 minute drive may not require the dry ice at all, as the dry ice actually deep freezes the product to well below zero and it then takes time to thaw.

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Many many thanks, Hector, Patrincia & Cindy, for all the info! The dry ice option sounds really great, I'm so pleased it's not that expensive & I can get enough to last 12 hours! Fortunately, there are no flights involved, just a 30-minute drive. I've found some local distributors and will call them to get more info. Thanks again for all the responses!!

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Hi Diane - assuming you are using a good recipe, I'd say it sounds like your apple bread is under baked. Has that particular recipe ever turned out well for you?

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Help! I have a recipe for Apple Bread (no yeast) and it is delicious except . . . lots of the loaves sort of cave in while they're baking, and get gooey inside and have lots of big air holes. What am I doing wrong? I used golden delicious apples.

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They told me 10 lbs of dry ice is the size of a phone book (10"x10"x2"). From research I found out if I deep freeze the torted cakes and ship overnight with the ice, I could thaw the cakes and finish them (fill, ice, decorate) on site. I could pack my frozen mousses, chilled moussaline, and royal icing in my carry on. I am hopeful!

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Oh great!

Gee, I wonder if you could tell me how large that 10 pound hunk of ice ends up being? Thanks a bunch!

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Thanks Patrincia, I Googled it and found a local seller! 10 lbs @ $7.95 and lasts 12 hrs.

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The dry ice I purchased from an ice cream stand (in St. Louis) came in odd sized chucks and was placed inside an empty insulated ice cream container. Have you looked in your area phone book? I just did a google search for "dry ice, my town, my state" and got a couple of hits.

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Hello All,
WHERE DO YOU BUY DRY ICE, and what form does it come in? I contacted a baker of beautiful cakes in NYC (with no string or delicate work) and they ship overnight by freezing the cake, putting in a cake box when frozen, shrink wrapping the box, placing the box in a shipping box lined with styrofoam panels on all sides, then placing dry ice on top. The box has arrows saying keep box upright. They say they've never had a complaint of a broken cake.
-Cindy

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Don't know if you are still thinking about dry ice for transport. My
husband just came back from NC with soft-shell crabs in a cooler with
dry ice. Definitely NOT in the passenger cabin, and only one small
such shipment allowed in baggage. Best to check with your airline...

Marshall

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ST - I've purchased dry ice at an ice cream stand in the past - that might be a good place to start.

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ST, if the event is outdoors just let the water drip on the table and floor if on grass. You could also put large baking sheets to hold the ice, rocks, something that will hold the water and not sink your cake platter on it.

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Hector, Thank you SOOOO much for the suggestions! I'll look into the dry ice option. If it's too expensive or unavailable, I'll have to try to frozen blocks... how do you deal with the water run-off?

Gratefully,
ST

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I will have fun with that! Thanks.

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Hi Rose,

I made an apple pie last night from the Pie and pastry bible and loved it. The only thing I didn't like was that I found it too sweet. Instead of using 1/4 cup brown and a 1/4 white sugar can I just use 1/4 white without affecting the recipe? Looking forward to hearing from you. I also own the Cake Bible and love it!

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Dear Rose,

I'm hoping this isn't a silly question, but I am having brioche problems. I have tried this twice already, and each time I put the brioche into the oven, within 10 minutes, it has totally spilled over the sides of the loaf pan. The bread it literally hanging down on all sides of the pan (it actually touches the baking stone)! Am I letting it rise too much above the rim during the last proof stage? Why doesn't this happen with other breads that I bake? Please help. Thank you for your time!

GG

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Rose,

I would like to make a filling with fresh blueberries & raspberries and love your Star Spangled Rhapsody cake. My question is, would your Crisp French Meringue combined with Mousseline & berry topping be good with your White Velvet butter cake? or would you only recommend your genoise with it?

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I have used my largest cake pans, filled them with water and freeze them solid (takes several days). These solid pieces of ice takes about 6 hours to melt. Place your tarts on the ice blocks, but be sure to use a non-slippery rubber netting under you serving plate, so they won't ice skate!

You may also try dry ice and create a dramatic cloud effect sans the water mess of regular ice. Break the dry ice into smaller pieces and sprinkle evenly on your serving table. Place your tarts on elevated baking racks so there is dry ice under them. The dry ice 'smoke' creates a refrigeration cloud and it lasts a long as how much dry ice you have. Be sure that your tart is not touching the dry ice pieces otherwise you will have frozen chiffon tarts.

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Dear Rose,
First, I must tell you that I'm an avid follower of your recipes. I have a vast collection of pastry books, but your books are truly my "Bibles".

It seemed unthinkable that I would not choose to make the dessert for my own wedding. Wanting to do something unique, but something that could be made ahead, I decided upon a trio of chiffon tarts. I'd scale them up, make multiples, and store them in the freezer until serving. The problem is the display version... is there any way to display chiffon tarts outdoors for many hours? I would imagine they might melt or run, if not kept chilled. Perhaps I could use some kind of platform with ice under it? Has anything been invented to solve this problem? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
ST

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Thanks Hector and Patrincia - great tips! Where does one buy dry ice? I know several bakeries ship their cakes frozen and packed with dry ice. I might try it, and finish the cake on site. Loved your staking details.

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Cindy - oh my, what an undertaking! What a long way to travel with a cake!
(I think I would arrive in Texas 2 days early, stay in a suite that has a kitchen, and make the cake there).

I'm not too sure how the airlines will handle traveling with a cake as a carry-on item. You'd better check with them before you finalize any plans. Also, I'm pretty sure dry ice is a no-no on a plane, but again, better check with the airline.

If I were you, and had to travel with the cake, I'd probably just wrap each of the layers individually in plastic and pack them well in one box, then double or triple wrap the buttercream or fondant (bring extra) and place in another box, and then pack all my decorating supplies in yet another box (several boxes smaller boxes can be placed into one larger box).

Can't wait to hear what you decide to do. And I sure hope your niece will appreciate the time/effort you will be putting into her cake!

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Cindy, not sure about how to handle fondant, but if you are frosting with buttercream, I would recommend the following:

Transporting frosted cakes refrigerated, butter cakes frosted with buttercream are very tough at room temperature, solid. You could use ice packs in well insulated boxes to maintain refrigerated temperature, of you could use 'frozen cake' instead of ice packs.

Fill and frost your cakes, refrigerate them until the buttercream has harden. Cover tightly with foil or wrap and freeze solid for at least 48 hours. On your travel day, pack them, stacked if you wish, in WELL insulated boxes w/o any ice. Like this, cakes frozen solid, it will take about 12 to 18 hours for the cake to reach refrigerated temperature (35 to 40 oF) inside a WELL insulated box. As long as the cake is below this temperature, the wrapping will not stick to the frosting and you could stack the individual wrapped layers on top of each other (do place the dowel rods or straws and separator plates before you refrigerate/freeze the cakes).

You should remove your wrappings before the cakes reach any warmer than refrigerated temperature, otherwise the frosting will stick to the wrappings.

Once your cakes are at refrigerated temperature, you could put them back on the insulated boxes if you are not ready to assemble them at your final destination. But at this temperature you should not store the layers stacked (cakes becomes more delicate). It will take about 5 to 10 hours to reach room temperature, still packed in the boxes.

Depending on how ornate are your pipings, if you can, only frost the cakes ahead of time, and pipe on site. There is a higher risk of the piped decorations to get damaged with the wrapping and transportation. If you do roses (my forte), make them ahead of time and tranport them frozen in a box. Place the roses on site.

If you add dry ice inside the insulated boxes, the cakes (and roses) will remain at frozen temperature. If this is how you prefer to travel, once you reach your destination you need to allow about 24 hours after you discard the dry ice for the frozen cakes to thaw. Always do the thawing inside the WELL insulated boxes, so the thawing is gradual to prevent condensation.

One last thing if you are using Genoise or Biscuit which requires moistening with syrup. If you use cardboard as cake boards or separator plates, the cardboard will get wet and soft during the freezing and thawing process, dowel rods can perforate it thru, so please use a plastic separator plate instead of cardboard cake circles.

In summary, again when frosting with buttercream (n/a fondant), you can use a stick of butter as your temperature reference. A stick of butter frozen is hard like a brick almost nothing can break or damage it or stick to it. A stick of butter at refrigerated temperature is also hard, not sticky, not smearable, but you could crack it. A stick of butter at room temperature is the temperature to eat, it is soft, sticky, smearable, but easilly fixed if you could with your frosting spatula.

Good luck, and I am eager to hear about how to do this with fondant, I believe it is explained on The Cake Bible.

Re: about transporting a cake at refrigerated/room temperature, to prevent shifting inside the box, use a non-slippery rubber lining on the bottom of the cake box. Also stake your cakes, and keep the stakes tall enough that you could run them thru the top of the box. Cut some ‘grooves’ on the box lid, to fit the stakes thru. Picture:

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/PaddlersWYC/Staking.html

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Dear Rose, my cake baking savior! My niece is marrying in Texas in Dec 2007. I am in Michigan and plan to make the four-tier wedding cake. I am experienced with genoise, your butter cakes, and meringues/buttercreams. Please advise: 1) Should I bake, fill, ice, and cover the cake in fondant (yuk) and ship it, and if so, how?
2) Should I take thew baked cakes with me on the flight, and finish them there in my hotel room?
OR
3) Should I finish the cake except for fine details and take it on the plane with me? And if so, how? Do I have to make special arrangements?

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Hi again Charlene - I forgot to mention a couple of things:

1 - be sure your bundt pan isn't placed too close to the top of the oven (position the baking rack so that the pan is in the middle, or lower middle of the oven).

2 - I like to coat my Bundt pans with butter or non-stick cooking spray, and then sprinkle with sugar instead of flour (it helps the cake to release nicely and adds a subtle sweet and crunchy crust (be sure to get all the nooks and crannies).

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Hi Charlene - cakes baked in 9" pans usually bake in approx 25-30 minutes, while cakes baked in Bundt pans tend to take a bit longer, like around 60 minutes (start checking it after 45 or 50 minutes - let you nose be your guide).

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I'm visiting in rural NH without access to a Cake Bible or a bookstore. I'm planning on making a the "perfectly chocolate cake" from the Hershey's cocoa powder, but wonder if there is an adjustment in baking time or ingredients for a bundt cake pan from the recipe given for 2 9 inch cake pans.

Thanks

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Rose and others,

For the professionals out there who have started their own business, I would love to hear how each of you got started. Did you begin at home? How did your business expand? What tips might you have for one who is beginning a business?

Thanks!

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Yeah, I was thinking along that line too - not too sure about the flavor.

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Yes, fondant and pie crust are the two recipe things I had in mind - don't have the Christmas Cookie book, but some cookie recipes call for shortening also. How do you think lard would work in the fondant recipe?

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Patrincia, unfortunatelly no and my experience with fondant is limited. I just long for what I was used to see and eat! I think Brazilian Nuts was used instead of almonds. Maybe worth experimenting with one of Rose's marzipan recipes. Indeed, I remember that a dry crust develops but it was still delicious!

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I think there is a recipe variation for Crisco crust in the PPB, but I can't think of anything else either.

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I'm not a huge fondant fan, but I much prefer Rose's recipe - that is, when it was made with the old shortening. I haven't made it with the new Crisco yet.

Rose - I wonder how many of your recipes will be effected by this new Crisco? Are you planning on doing any experimentation, with possible revisions to some of your recipes?

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Hector, do you have a recipe for it? I'd like to try it. I am not a big fan of fondant either. I just like using it for decorative purposes only. I will be using it for my brother's wedding cake in Sept. Although I have to say Rose's fondant recipe tastes far SUPERIOR to the the store bought ones.
Rozanne

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you all fondant lovers, does anyone favor using almond paste? I grew up with 'fondant' as heavenly as marzipan! Honestly, the first time I bit into regular fondant, I was disappointed and told myself what was this sugar look alike?

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I've read that Massa Grischuna is another excellent pre-made fondant, although I haven't tried it.

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Yes, in the fondant. However, it's possible I don't know what I'm missing, since I never used Crisco. The fondant with Spectrum shortening or cocoa butter works like a charm for me. Even better if you mix in some white chocolate clay (per the other blogger here, sorry can't remember her name.)

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Hi all, I've had good luck using Spectrum (organic, and also trans-fat free) shortening in Rose's recipe. Also, substituting cocoa butter for the shortening, as another blogger here did, has also worked very well! I'm guessing Crisco is not going to bring the trans fats back....

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I second the motion! And what is the harm to have a small slice of cake with a thin strip of transfat filled fondant every once in the moon?

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Thanks for this post patty. It has been a few months since I purchased shortening. I knew Crisco had a trans-fat-free version available (the green can), but I avoided it because I had seen some negative reports on other blogs. I didn't realize until I checked their site after your post that their entire product line has been reformulated. The choice between the two is apparently no longer available--they are all trans-fat free.

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Hello Rose,

I am thinking that if anyone knows about this - you would and if it is a problem with the New Crisco, probably many other people are having this problem.

I have made the rolled fondant from the Cake Bible many times to cover wedding cakes. I've never had a bit of problem. But this last time the fondant had no elasticity. It was acting like tough pie dough - tearing easily and would not absorb folds into itself - really impossible to work with.

Thinking something had been measured wrong. We made it again being extremely careful. But we got the same result.

Since that horrible experience covering a 5 tier wedding cake, I did research on the web and saw alot of comments about the New Crisco with no transfats. I didn't even notice Crisco had recently changed their recipe - evidently it used to have 1 1/2 grams of transfat. I did notice that when I put the gelatin/corn syrup, crisco mixture in the microwave to melt the crisco, it took alot longer to melt it.

Have you heard of anyone else having problems with the new Crisco in fondant? Or was it something else I did. We also colored the fondant with violet AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste food color. The first time we did so using our 30 quart mixer with dough hook. And the secdond time we did it in a food processor as you recommend. But had the same awful result. Please help!

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I agree - I use them with the silpats too (I have 4 of each). They work very well.

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Tara, in my opinion, Chicago Metallic has one of the best cookie sheets. Get the Commercial Cookie/Jelly Roll Pan SKU#77823.

I am not a cookie expert, but from I've observed, Rose loves to line the cookie sheet with Silpat. It aids on even browning!

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I should clarify - it might appear that I was saying my cookies don't brown evenly unless I bake them with convection, but that's not the case - they do brown nice and evenly when I bake on a lipped cookie sheet with no convection.

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Hi Tara - I can't speak on Rose's behalf, but I'd say you definitely will get better results using a good quality, heavy weight cookie sheet compared the results you might get if you used a dime store variety one (pans will warp, cookie bottoms will burn, etc).

I can also tell you from experience that I've had more even browning results when baking cookies with convection using sheets that do not have the lip, but I prefer to reserve convection for roasting mostly, so I tend to choose my lipped sheets 98% of the time.

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I was at Brdge Kitchenware today - they have cookie sheets that are a heavier gauge then my "professional" aluminum cookie sheets I have already. Mine have a lip all the way around, the ones in question did not. I was checking them out because the cookie sheets were listed in Rose Christmas Cookies.

My question - what is the weight effect of a cookie sheet and how the cookies cook? Is heavier better? I cook mostly butter cookies, chocolate chip, thumbprints and oatmeal chip.
Thank you.

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Cathy,
I don't know if the manufacturing cream is the 'same' content as heavy cream but I used it for whipped cream, mousses, ganache, et al. in my bakery for 7 years...

Kimberly Tyler

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Marshall--there is a list of errata on this site:

In the RYE BREAD recipe on page 326, on the flour mixture chart, the 2 1/4 cups bread flour weigh 12.3 ounces / 351 grams, and step #2: eliminate the words 'rye flour.' (Rye flour is used only in the sponge on page 325.)

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I LOVE your bread book - I want to make the Jewish Rye page 324, but the flour mixture ingredients p. 326 list only bread flour, while the instructions refer to rye flour as well. How much rye flour should be in the flour mixture? Thanks! Marshall

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Kimberly Tyler or Rose,

I found your answer about where to find heavy cream non-pasturized through a search. I did find Alta Dena's "Manufacturing Cream" at Smart & Final today, but am wondering if it is the same as heavy cream in content. Do you know for sure?

Thank you!

Cathy

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Rose would it be possible to make your Perfect Peach pie and use 3 cups of peaches and 3 cups of blueberries? Would I make any changes as far as the sugar and other ingredients if I do this? Thank you.

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Thank you, Rose.

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Thank you Patricia and Hector for answering my questions above. You are very helpful.

About the odd-shaped pans and Rose Factor. My problem is not calculating volume. I just want to figure out the base recipes for the odd-shaped pans. It says on p. 489 (1st ed) on heading "How to Make Any Size Round Butter Cake from 6-inches to 18-inches." So I assume the following chart on page 490, "Master Chart for Butter Cakes" is using only ROUND pans. Maybe I am wrong about this. But it does seem that since the volume would be different for, let's say, a square 9 inch (11 1/2 c)as opposed to a round 9 inch (8 2/3 c), the recipe (amounts) would be different.

Maybe I am missing something obvious here....I appreciate any help.

Kind regards,

Cathy

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Hi Rose, do you know of any company that makes graham cracker crust pie shells with the lids in the size between the 6 oz and the tart size? Or personal size. My customers are requesting the size in the middle(bean pie)size 3 inch. The mini (tart)size are too small for them.

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Hi Rose,
We make a mango blackberry muffin that is delicious but after we bake them and they rise beautifully, once the muffins cool off they sink I assume because of the large frozen blackberries. Do you have any suggestions to stop this?
Thanks

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Cathy, just do a little math. The area of a non circular pan is it's width multiplied by it's length. So, an 8" pan would be 8*8= 64 square inches. A circle is a bit more complicated, but not much. You take the radius (1/2 the diameter), multiply it by itself and then multiply that by pi (3.14 will work) so an 8" round would be 4*4*3.14 or 49.24 square inches.

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Cathy - according to The Cake Bible (pg 456), a round cake pan is 3/4 the volume of a square cake pan of the same size. So to determine the volume of a square cake pan, multiply the volume of a round cake pan of the same diameter by 1.33. The volume chart for standard size round cake pans is found on pg 455.

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Cathy, the most important thing to bake on any size and shape pan is to measure the volume. You can measure the volume of any pan by filling it with water and note how many cups it took. If you are good with math, save water and use this link to calculate volume: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2005/11/cake_questions.html#comment-46174

Also, measure the volume of the pans used in the original CB recipe. Divide the volume of your pan by the volume of the CB recipe, and this is the factor you need to multiply each ingredient by, EXCEPT for BAKING POWDER.

Baking powder is is the only ingredient that varies not in proportion to volume; it depends on the width of the pan (wider pans require more baking powder because the cake has less walls to cling to rise). Measure the width of your pan and find the closest match you can find on page 492 or 493 of CB.

I am making a large Biscuit de Savoie (no baking powder), and my volume measurements and factors worked perfectly. Here is my chart (all round pans):

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/YatchClub.html

Good luck.

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Rose,

Now I have a more in-depth question....

I was thrilled to finally understand the Rose Factor and am now working up the base cake recipes with the correct pan size. This is such an immense help!

My question is this: how do I convert square-shaped pans and other odd-sized pans with the Rose Factor? I am doing a lot of sculpting of larger creations, and I am needing to make several cakes of different sizes. I read on your blog someone referring to volume of the cake pan and possibly a chart...? I don't follow how this would help me in converting the base recipes into a 9 in ch square pan.

I just did a sculpted flag cake for our 4th of July neighborhood block party and now have an order for a baby shower. Planning to sculpt a bassinet...so any thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Cathy

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Cathy, may I answer questions:

#1. Whole milk.

#2. There is a good posting regarding scales, these run a bit under $100, sometimes as low as $50. I wouldn't recommend any others. The Escali from King Arthur (under $50) could be exception for under $50. I have been using the Soehle Futura for near a decade, but I will soon replace it with onethe My Weigh scales. http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/02/weigh_to_bake_revisitedthe_per.html

#3. I remember a mention on this blog regarding the thin layer cakes. YES, the 1/2 inch layer is TOO thin for buttercreams! 1 inch to 1.5 inch are ideal for layer cakes.

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Rose, Thank you for your great work in the Cake Bible--I am learning so much and appreciate all the work you have done.

I have a couple of quick questions....

1) when your recipes call for milk, what type of milk does this refer to? whole? 2%? Skim okay?

2) What would you suggest I purchase for a kitchen scale that would be of very good quality, but not as expensive as the one you refer to in the CB?

3) I have read some other books that suggest having layers as thin as 1/2 inch with filling in between. When I have done this, it seems like the buttercream overpowers the cake and it leaves me wanting more cake. What height do you most like your layers to be when the cake has been sliced and filled?

Thank you for your time,

Cathy

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Hi Rose,
I used the Lekue silicone popover pan for the first time today, using the recipe I had from the box on my old black iron pan. I gave up on the iron one as the nonstick surface peeled off and got on the bottom of the popovers. Not too good! So I bought the silicone. However, using the same recipe, the popovers were very dense and chewy and did not rise much (no air inside). Should I be doing something different because the pan is different?
Thanks so much,
Debbie

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hay how you going??
i was just wondering what changes does strach go through when making lemon meringue pie??
much love

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SR flour - Self Raising flour? Flour with raising agent, good for scones, pie crusts, victoria sponge cakes. The alternative is Plain Flour, which has no raising agent.

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penuche - my grandmother (now deceased) used to make it for us. Like fudge with chocolate - but also like tablet, which is crystalline - very popular in Scotland/England. There is a recipe in the older versions of Joy of Cooking and Fannie Farmer. I love it, but I also love Indian sweeties (barfi, gulab jamon, etc., etc), so I accept that it may not be everyone's cuppa. My grandmother made amazing fudge, the old fashioned way, no cheating with corn syrup or marshmallow ship, and it was so good, but I have never managed it. Sorry, now I'm reminiscing...

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It looks to me like the KA version has slightly different contents than what the recipe calls for. I found the one I use at the grocery store--it is Bob's Red Mill brand. I think, however, that the KA one would work (the only ingredient that sounds strange is soy flour--do they mean soy nuggets?). Keep in mind that "cereal" in this context means something that still has to be cooked like oatmeal--not something you would eat directly from the box. You will be soaking it for 8 hours to make the recipe.

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Rose for the Tyrolean Ten grain torpedo Bread does one have to use a ten grain cereal mix or would a ten-grain grain mix like King Arthur's do the trick (I presume cereal mixes and grain mixes are different).

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Rose,
I have finally mastered the rose factor..and feel comfortable about baking the cakes in different pans. I have one question though....using the master chart given in the Cake Bible..could I use a 8" ring pan instead of the 8" round pan? All these pan variations are needed as I bake a lot for birthday parties and the different shapes are needed!!
Yasmin.

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Is penuche good to eat? I've heard it's delicious. But I've never had it. I don't think I described it properly. It's a caramel icing that sets up like a soft caramel chew. There is a baker who sells caramel cakes on ebay and seems to have a lot of delighted customers.

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Rose,
Your Cake Bible has created a revolution in my life! I started making your buttercream icings 10 years ago and never looked back. Now my sister and I are planning to open our own bakery because we are tired of eating the horrible cakes and cupcakes (which come from local bakeries) at the many children's birthday parties we attend with our kids. The details and related info in the book have also helped me to understand the recipes in other books. I hope to start a culinary baking class later this summer. I just want to say, "Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!"
Jennifer
PS. Someone posted (months ago) about a yellow icing that dried hard. Sounds like Penuche or caramel icing. Which is a golden color when finished and cures to a hard shell. A cake frosted with Penuche can even be shipped thru the mail.

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If Rose is going to post a picture of her first cake, we all should, too.

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Patrincia
Thank you for all the helpful comments. As Rose has given the go ahead too, will try it over the weekend in a Bundt pan and try the Milk chocolate Ganache as it is for children. Trust the ganache will be easy to work with on a volcano cake!!
Yasmin.

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Rose - That IS a great idea! I can't wait to see your first masterpiece :)

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Patricia, I know exactly what you mean about pre-Cake Bible baking. I can relate to that. I am so glad I have the Cake Bible. The beauty of the book is that you will never need to buy another book on cakes in your life (except of course Rose's new one due next Fall).

Yasmin, Patricia is right about using a ganache if you want an eggless frosting. If you make a cake that can be refrigerated you might want to try Rose's Stabilized Whipped Cream. If opt to use a ganache the raspberry ganache is to die for. You could also try using fondant.
Rozanne

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Yasmin - about the bundt cake, the only way to know for sure it to give it a try. It sounds like it should be okay as long as you don't over fill the bundt pan. I'd try to not fill it more than 2/3 or so, and maybe even place it on a sheet pan before you put it in the oven. I don't know how long it will take to bake, but start checking it early.

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Yasmin - have no fear with the eggs in Rose's buttercreams - they definately cook enough! Alternately, you could use powdered egg whites in place of traditional egg whites if needed. But if you want to make a frosting that is egg free, I would highly suggest ganache - Rose has several in the cake bible, and they are all delicious!

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Rozanne - after I posted the comment about my colors bleeding all those years ago, I realized that cake would have preceded my purchase of the cake bible, so it wasn't one of Rose's recipes.

That was the second cake I had ever decorated, but thinking about it reminded me of the first one... it's kind of funny when I think back on it now, but at the time I was so crushed. We were expecting friends to come over one afternoon after church. My sister worked in a bakery at the time, so I asked her to help me decorate a cake for the occasion. It turned out to be a fairly decent looking cake that I was pretty happy with. I placed it on a footed cake pedestal, covered it with the glass cover, and then turned off all the lights except the one shining on the cake (so it would be the center of attention when we all walked in the door). When we arrived home several hours later, all the frosting had melted and started falling down the sides of the cake - like the sun and a magnifying glass (okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but how embarrassing).

It's a wonder I ever attempted another one. Actually - if it hadn't been for the cake bible I might never have tried again, but every recipe I'd try would turn out just like I had always dreamed they would. I'm so glad Rose wrote that book - not only are the recipes superb, but really like knowing the science behind them too. I recommend it to everyone!

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Could someone help me please? I want to make the Perfect All American Chocolate Butter cake in a 9" Bundt pan....will I need to alter any measurements? I can't seem to find anything regarding this.

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Rozanne
Thank you so much for letting me know. I live in Australia, but as we are in our winter here, the warm weather will not pose a problem. I have always hesitated to use a frosting with eggs as I always wonder if they cook enough!! Would you know any good frosting without eggs, as I have a lot of guests who are complete vegetarians? (though they will have a bit of the cake with egg!!)
Yasmin.

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Patricia,
I have never had that problem. It always works well. Wonder why it happened to you. You are such a great baker and decorator! Maybe it wasn't Rose's recipe after all. Try it again with a small batch on cupcakes.
Rozanne

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Rozanne - have you had any issues with the colored mousseline "bleeding" with other colors, or uncolored mousseline? I had that happen years ago with a buttercream (can't remember who's buttercream recipe it was though). I've been apprehensive to try again ever since.

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Yasmin,
I always use the Mousseline Buttercream (pg 244) for my kids b'day cakes. Because it is made with egg whites it takes on the colour of the food colouring very well. I use the pastuerized egg whites because it is safer for the kids even though the sugar syrup is heated to 248F - 250F.
I don't know where you live but if you do happen to have the party outdoors the Mousseline buttercream holds up very well in warm weather which is an added bonus.
Rozanne

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Hi Rose
My husband just got me the Cake Bible because of my increasing passion for producing wonderful cakes. It is a fascinating book and I am impressed with the detail in it. I have tried the Golden Grand Marnier cake and the All American chocolate butter cake and they were amazing. I want to now bake the All Occasion Downy Yellow Butter cake, and white velvet butter cake for my children's birthday later this month.However,as they are children's cakes I will bake them in a9x13pan to make the appropriate shapes.I would like to advise me as to what frosting will be the best to use as I will have to use food colours .

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Eli - here's an answer to the same question found on another site.

7 Minute Frosting -
The frosting will begin to turn grainy after about 2-3 days so no worries there. For best results and long storage cover it in a airtight container (I use an upside down large Tupperware bowl), but for only a few hours plastic wrap will be fine. Do not put in the frig. Oh and just so you know...the 7 minute frosting is effected by high humidity or rain--doesn't get fluffy--so have an alternate idea just in case.

Another tip--make sure the water in the bottom of the double boiler does not touch the bottom or sides of the top pan when it boils and make sure not to over cook it or it will get hard and grainy instantly.

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I've always wondered - if you frost a cake with 7-minute iccing, do you have to refrigerate the cake? I don't really want to because then the cake is a bit hard when you take it out to cut a piece or you have to wait for it to come to room temperature. But of course, I want to dothe "safe" thing. I do always store the cake in a container with an airtight cover. The 7-minute icing gets a bit hard or crackly usually, but I frankly kinda like it even better that way, so that's not a problem. But again, is it safe to NOT store it in the fridge?

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Scooter - depending on how large the cake layer is, I would think gelatin added to a custard filling might help out very well as long as it stays cold until service. Have you thought of a filling like Panna Cotta? It's rich, but refreshingly light tasting. You'd have to mold it before placing it in-between the layers, or you could try wrapping your bottom cake layer with an adjustable cake ring (or use a springform pan), add your filling, chill, and remove the ring. Then you could add the top layer and proceed from there.

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i am looking for a good custard recipe to use as a filling in a layer cake. i am finding basic pastry cream to stiff/rich and when i thin it out i find it can't withold the weight of the cake and pushes out the sides. any recommendations - perhaps the addition of some gelatin????

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bb - click on May 2007 on the top left hand side of this page (under the heading "archives"). There you will find a thread entitled "Note re Burger Buns in the Washington Post Today". I'm sure you'll find the info you need there.

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help,on may 24, or 25th, i viewed a sight that showed how to make hamber bunss , ref the breadd bible, i serched and finally found a ref under white bread, in the print article you gave detailed info on how to store and make buns i need to know how to decide how many ounces of of batter to use to make the buns and do you let it rise again, i someone elese saw this article please give me the link, thanks

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I frequently see references (usually from UK) for SR whole wheat flour. How does this differ from regular white SR flour? Is it only a question of uesing less wholewheat flour than the usual amounts provided for home made SR flour?

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Rose, I made your puff pastry from the Pie and Pastry Bible, and I have a few questions: 1. I found it difficult to incorporate the flour smoothly into the butter block. The flour seemed to discolor the butter, making brown spots. Is this normal? 2. What is your position on substituting cake flour for part of the AP--many recipes do. On the other hand, some recipes call for bread flour. If gluten development is bad for puff pastry, why do some recipes use bread flour? 3. What about rolling over the edges of the dough--does that have an adverse effect on the final product?

I'm afraid I can't say anything about how the puff turned out, as I haven't baked with it yet. Thank you so much for your help and for your wonderful books.

Marilyn

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Help! I posted a question about the best cake to use for a vanilla rolled ice cream filled log and I can't find the thread. Hector responded with a recommendation to use the roulade. Do you agree? Thanks.

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Where in NYC can I get canning jars and cinnamon sticks ? Thanks.

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Rose,
My New Zealand sourdough starter (from sourdo.com) was a casualty of a kitchen remodel, and I decided it was time for me to try to make my own. I followed your directions, and, although it took about ten days of daily feeding, it's finally ready. Thanks! I'll be making my first loaf of sourdough bread with my very own starter this weekend.
Marie

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I've made your wonderful lemon curd - it's delicious! Assuming the rest of the cake ingredients can be at room temperature for a while, what's the longest time period the lemon curd can be unrefrigerated when used as a filling? Thank you for your time and talent - love The Cake Bible and A Passion for Chocolate!

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Rose, I would like to make a challah that has the soft crust and feathery crumb consistency of Wonder Bread. The challah I make typically has a hard crust and a dense crumb. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can get the challah "squishy" like many commercial bakers make?

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Rose,
Thank you for the advice about the smaller Tyrolean Ten Grain Torpedos. I made 2 smaller loaves and they turned out just like the larger loaf. After just over 20 minutes they were done.
Thank you again for your help.

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Rose,
I love your Bread Bible and in particluar the recipe for the Tyrolean Ten Grain Torpedo. I am interested in making the one large loaf into 2 or 3 smaller loaves. Do you have any advice on the bake time and also the best shape to use for the smaller loaves?
Thank you

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Oh my - that sounds divine! So sorry the shop has closed down. Have you tried to contact the former owner? Please share recipe if you ever figure it out.

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Rose, Since I've been little my family has always purchased a "mocha meringue cake" from one specific bakery. I have grown up loving it and now find the bakery has closed. I look forward to it every birthday and can't imagine not having it again. I'm hoping you might be able to help me. The cake is made up of several layers of crisp meringue and mocha buttercream. My question is "could that be all"? I've always noticed a bit of a liquid/syrup in the meringue and until I purchased and read your Cake Bible(which I love), I never new about adding "syrups" to cakes. I know the cake is to be kept in the freezer until 1/2hr before serving. Would you suggest I use your Crisp French Meringue recipe coupled with your Mocha Buttercream? And what sort of liquid would I add, if any?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's a "melt in your mouth" cake that I can't live without.
Thank you for your time!
Nicole

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Hello Rose, I recently found a pan de mie pan of the correct size to make the recipe in the bread bible (from pastrychef.com by the way). It turned out well and I'm writing to ask about adapting other of your recipes to that pan. You seem to have some special instructions about keeping the stucture weak, so I'm hesitant to just throw any dough in the box. Any advice or rules of thumb I can start with? Thanks much! Heather

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I just love your bread book. all of the breads work lovely. I wonder about blowing the flour off my loaves before I shape them. I tried to use my dyson to suck the excess flour from them but I sucked a loaf right into the flexible tube! Do you know of an alternate method to blow the flour off?

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Hi Rose,

One of my favorite bakeries in Los Angeles has these pastries I believe it calls "cream cheese puffs." They're delectable little things, but even as someone trained in pastry I can't figure out what they are (and I've had only minimal luck trying to extract any information out of the bakery!). Here's what I know: They're a sour cream pastry with a cream cheese center. They appear to be baked in a muffin pan. The tops are sort of crinkled or folded, and they're dusted with powdered sugar. The texture is what's truly amazing; they're light, airy, and moist ... delicate, but with no crunch. I'm baffled! Any ideas?

Can't wait for your new cake book!
Jodie

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When doubling a yeast bread recipe what ingredients do you double and not double.

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Hi Rose.
I think I posted my question in the wrong place. Will try again.
I have made a passover sponge cake for more years thanI care to remember. It is a never fail, resulting in a 31/2 to 4 inches high cake that is moist and has a fine crumb. The recipe was given to me by a commercial baker. I do not know why but the cake rises after ten minutes, then falls flat. I cannot figure out what is causing this.
8 large eggs, room temp. (440-450 gms)
1-1/2 c (300gms)fine sugar, juice and rind of 1 lemon, 1/4 t salt, 1/2 c(74gms) matzo cake flour, 1/2c(92gms) potato starch. 325 degree oven with rack in lowest position. Baking time-1 hour 10 minutes.
Whole eggs are beaten with wire whisk until volume almost fills bowl. Sugar slowly beaten in and continue to beat until eggs are light in color and form a ribbon when beater is raised. Juice and rind are added followed by folding in cake flour and potato starch which have been sifted together. Batter is poured into an ungreased tube pan and baked in preheated 325 degree oven with rack in lowest position. Cake is baked for 1 hour and 10 minutes. When i lived in Pittsburgh, it was a favorite request from friends. Now I am in sunny Florida and cannot seem to reproduce the same results..What am I doing wrong? Is the oven temp too low?
Should the cake be baked in the middle of the oven? I have already gone through 3 dozen eggs without good results. Any suggestions from you would be grealy appreciated.

I have owned the CAKE BIBLE since 1988 and it is my favorite shower gift to all young brides

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Sharyn - Sweet Celebrations has a 3-D ball pan too (Item #92053). It's 6" in diameter, but it's half the price of the 8" Dome pan (ball pan 11.00, dome pan 22.00).

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Not sure if this is what you need, but you might want to check out Item #550000 from Sweet Celebrations (www.sweetc.com) It's an 8" Dome cake pan or zuccotto pan.

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Sharyn,
I use a large Wilton Ball Pan when I need to make a sphere. It's not the best pan, but it does the job.
Lori V.
Pastries By Vreeke

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Rose,

What a treat to find you on the internet. Your cake bible was an absolute inspiration to me almost 20 years ago. I have been cooking and baking (now professionally) ever since. I just have one question and I am desperate - where can I find a hemi-sphere baking pan for a wedding cake (for two ) (that needs a dome) FOR NEXT WEEK. (around 8 inches ish) I live outside NYC and called the big suppliers to no avail. What do you think about a pyrex bowl?

Happy Pesach (THE ROLL was always hit at our passovers with Rich's of course).

Sharyn

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Rose,
I am going to have sets of 1/16" thick clear acrylic rounds made in 8", 12", 16" & 18". Also square sets of 8", 12" & 16"
Each set will include 3 of a given size.

I use these exclusively to tort my cakes and store my fresh cake in the refrigerator on. They are thick enough not to warp or break and last forever. Much better than the cardboard rounds I used to use. I couldn't live without them!

Just wondering if this was an item I could offer to your readers?

Lori V.
Pastries By Vreeke

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Hey Rose,
Good Passover to you and yours. What's the real deal on wheat gluten. We add it to our bread and pizza recipes to give it more flex. Are we to suspect it to be bad or tainted the way the Canadians found out through the pet food recall? It is Interesting that one of the largest wheat producing countries imports wheat gluten from China. I wonder where ours comes from? Do you have any idea? We use Arrowhead Mills vital wheat gluten. I tried contacting the company but got no answer.

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On july 7, my twin sister is getting married. Instead of a cake, she would like to have a display of cupcakes. I am thrilled to make these for her (all 175!). I am thinking of 7 different types, but I will need to make them ahead of time. As I am also involved in the photography, as well as keeping my kids in line on the big day, I am wondering if there are combinations of cupcakes and frosting that are safe to prepare ahead of time (frosting 2 days before). I have a cellar that I can store the frosted cupcakes in, not a freezer or fridge. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated ( my cake bible is almost worn out - hence the request to bake from my twin!)

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Lori,
Rose has a recipe for preserved pineapple in the Cake Bible, including instructions for adding it to buttercream.

I think you would have to adjust the amount of liquid and sugar in the cake recipe to compensate for the addition of the juice (otherwise the extra liquid would make it thin and heavy?). I checked and 100 grams of unsweetened pineapple juice has 10 grams of sugar--the rest is mostly water.

Another good idea might be to make a cake that requires a syrup and brush the cake with pineapple syrup instead of plain sugar syrup.

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Rose,
I would like to try adding Pineapple Juice to your Yellow Butter Cake Recipe and Crushed Pineapple and Coconut to your Italian Buttercream. Any comments and/or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks again,
Lori V.
Pastries By Vreeke

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Dear Rose-
I can't thank you enough for your wonderful books! I got your cake bible for my birthday last december and i am almost through half the recipes!! I am wondering what your opinion is on tiramisu wedding cakes... my best friend is getting married in june and her favorite thing in the world is tiramisu, so she begged for a tiramisu wedding cake. So far i am thinking of using your mascarpone frosting recipe, but i am not positive which cake/genoise to use as the layers... any advice would be much appreciated!!!
Thank you so much!!

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Rose,
I am in need of a recommendation for a great coconut cake suitable for a large wedding cake. I know you mentioned your new book will have a coconut cake recipe, but I can't wait that long. Any way I can get a preview of the recipe? I found a coconut cake in Nigella Lawson's book and also a recipe from Ina Garten any thoughts on these recipes?
Any recommendations would be truly appreciated.
Thanks again,
Lori V.
Pastries By Vreeke

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i've been trying to bake challah for the past year and haven't been able to get that bakery quality loaf of soft, chewy, "doughy" bread. Usually it comes out a bit firm - almost like an italian bread. i also can't get it to rise correctly. i used your recipie that is posted here with the same results. what am i doing wrong?

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Hi Rose. I have a syrup recipe that calls for one tablespoon corn syrup, to prevent crystallization. I would like to make this recipe with all natural ingredients, is there something natural that could be substituted for the corn syrup? I would like to mass produce this syrup, so I need something just as stable. Thank you for all of your contributions to baking and this great website.

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Chère Rose!
Thank you for your generosity and sharing!
I live in France and do cakes for family and friends covered with rolled fondant or royal icing. People here don't appreciate buttercream (not even french butercream) but I find it so efficient to hide cake imperfections before decorating! What alternative can I use? They hate the butter feeling on the tongue. MERCI in advance!

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Dear Rose,

I wrote a few weeks ago asking if anyone had baked the "foolproof bread" in a fish poacher. I was thinking about trying it but was curious to hear if anyone else had already done so.

I had also wondered about using a pullman loaf pan as another option, trying to get that covered pan environment for a long loaf instead of a round. Since I had the sandwich pans, I figured I could rig those up before investing in a fish poacher.

Well, first off, I made do with a couple of old long sandwich bread tins. I merely put them side by side in the oven with a baking sheet turned over on top of them, edge-side down. I preheated them at 450 F and then slid the risen dough into the hot pans. I popped the cookie sheet back on top and baked them for about 25 minutes because they were smaller loaves than the boules that I had been baking in my le Creuest. I let them bake without the lid four about another 10 minutes.

The results tasted okay, but they were not pretty loaves. They were really a bit too large for the pans- they ended up squared off ate the ends- they just rose too much. (I can see why someone had used just another pan on top- it would give you a domed effect, which the pullman lid or baking sheet did not.)

At any rate, having tried those sandwich-loaf pans, I decided I would go after that fish poacher I spied on e-bay after all. I had been keeping my eye on a couple of different ones (no All-Clads like your beautiful one, Rose! ) but- I did score pretty well, IMHO, by winning a Calphalon fish poacher for $44 (including shipping). So tonight I poached a big beautiful salmon filet, then washed out the poacher and preheated it for the bread that was rising.

(I just had a basic yeasted, kneaded dough with some potato water, bread flour, salt, yeast and a little olive in the plastic tub it proofed in.) I shaped a long loaf ( about 15") and let it rise one more time in a rigged up basket with a linen towel, heavily floured. I even slashed the loaf, but by the time I got it into the pan, it had rolled a bit, so the slashes were on the side and underside.

Regardless. I baked it at 450 F for 30 minutes, lid on. Then lid off for 10 minutes more. The bread was gorgeous! It really did resemble the Italian loaves of my youth than anything I'd ever been able to bake at home before. The crust was golden and crispy, but a thin crust, not overly dark. It did crackle delightfully as it cooled.

The bottom of the bread was a bit darker than I like; don't know if I should decrease the time or the temp a tad to correct that.

At any rate, I am ready to take my time with a proper starter or biga, or try the no-knead recipe, and keep making them in the fish poacher. It really did do what I had hoped- create a beautifully shaped, not lumpy, long bread, with a fine. crispy crust that still had some tooth to it.

There was a bit of a chemical smell briefly while the Calphalon was pre-heating. The bread did not stick at all; the poacher is as clean as a whistle, and there appears to be no discoloration.

All in all, a great success. So, if anyone else was wondering, a fish poacher bakes a beautiful long loaf. My bet is that even the less expensive stainless steel poachers that you can find online should yield similar results.

Thanks for your encouragement, Rose. (Gotta try the lasagna noodles in the poacher next, LOL!)

Mary Beth

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Thanks ! Will do. Have a great weekend. - Ila

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I am looking for a drop scone recipe but...I want the scone to be plain (no fruit), baked in the oven (not a griddle or a fry pan), and to have a free formed shape (not a biscuit-cutter round shape) without the hard crusty top typical of many scones. I want to, say, take a 1/3 cup or so of batter and like making cookies, "drop" the batter onto the sheet to make a scone. Have you ever made scones this way? I see in your baking books recipes for scones...but none for drop scones. How would I have to alter your scone batter to get a consistency that would be suitable to drop the batter and bake? Thanks! - Ila

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Your starter recipe makes 1 cup.

When I have successfully completed your 1 cup starter recipe, I would like to increase its volume from 1 cup to 1 gallon.

How much water & flour will I need to add?

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Rose,

We purchased our aspiring young chef (15 yr old son) both the Bread & Pie and Pastry Bibles. He has made a number of breads and we have thoroughly enjoyed them all! He even did the sourdough starter & breads from it and they have all worked fine!

I would like to ask you a couple of questions about a volume sourdough adaptation.

I began the starter found toward the end of the book. The average volume seems to be about a cup which gives approx 3 x 1# loaves per week if consistently fed.

I would like to make the starter recipe found in the book. The average volume seems to be a cup. When it proves successful, how much flour & water should I add, how much time would you advise to wait and in what temperatures in order to increase the cup of starter to a gallon of "dry" starter to be kept in the fridge?

Any advice would be most helpful towards my experiment.

Thanx

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Exploding Bread

When I make your hearth bread I follow your directions as closely as possible, but when the bread goes in the oven, it explodes, a big tumor looking growth comes out of the side and ruins the looks of the loaf. What am I doing wrong?

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Hi Rose,
I just bought The Bread Bible and look forward to using it. However I read about some errors in this version which were to be corrected in a later edition.
B&N said the 2003 (1st ed) is the only Bread Bible available. Is there - or will there be - an updated edition of this book?
Thank you,
Jeannie

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Golden Almond Cake???
Recently a friend brought me an Almond Cake (loaf) It was divine. Delicate texture and almond flavor. I asked for the recipe..and she send me a box of
"Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix" I was shocked. I have made Golden Almond Cake and it does not have the same effect/ results. Any idea what makes this magic mix so fabulous/OR your suggestion of another Almond Recipe.
Many thanks- perplexed
Ann Cerrone

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Dear Rose,

Like your many fans, I own and use your books and now your blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I too have had a great time baking the NYT's "Foolproof Bread", and have had a lot of success with both the recipe and the baking method. I was thrilled to see your thoughtful experiments with the recipe, and your generosity with sharing what you discovered. My eyes were opened with all of your suggestions and readers' comments and ideas.

That being said, I have become enamored with the baking-in-a-lidded-pot part of this technique for almost all my breads now. For years I have used a baking stone and tossed ice cubes to steam the oven, but I hate being tied to the oven for those first ten minutes and I have also warped the bottom of my gas oven.

Taking your tips to heart (i.e., breads with sugar in them will burn at the higher temps) I have successfully baked all kinds of breads, including whole grains, molasses-enriched, olive-oil enriched, buttermilk, etc., in my lidded 4.5 qt Le Creuset. I have simply baked some of the breads at lower temps and for a bit longer depending on the ingredients. I even made a big, moist pumpernickel round at 425F baked for 50 minutes (the last 20 uncovered.) I have started to use a thermometer per your guidelines, which gives me confidence that the breads are baked thoroughly.

My current problem? I am dieing to try out a (lidded) fish poacher in which to bake a baguette-style bread. Since most of the fish poachers out there are stainless steel or enamelware, I am reluctant to invest in anything without knowing what will likely take preheating at 450F. My hunch is on enamelware (more like graniteware, I think). I also saw an All-Clad and a Caphalon fish poacher recently.

Any stories/tips out there of bread baked in a lidded fish poacher? Please share!

It just occurred to me that a lidded pullman loaf tin might also work nicely. Anyone out there tried to pre-heat one as per the "foolproof" method?

Thank you again for this forum. What a joy to read about all the bread baker enthusiasts as well. I don't think there is any more holy thing to do than bake bread....

Warmly,

Mary Beth Paul

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It appears that Whole Foods carries pasteurized. Also, if you are near a Smart & Final they carry Manufacturing Cream although it is in a half gallon.

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please tell me where I can purchase heavy cream that has not been ultra-pasturized. It is better for whipping. I cannot find it in any shop?

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Hello Rose,
Do you know what I can subsitute krisch salt with? I am suppose to use it in a strawberry cake filling, but can't find it. Not even at the local cake shops. One woman said I could use sea salt, it this an acceptable subsitution or should I just leave the salt out?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Rachael

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Hi Rose,

I'm such a big fan. I have all of your baking books. I am graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and I bake I little when I have time off from being a line cook.

Anyway, My room mate and I tried making a tart a few days ago and we were not as pleased as we would haved liked.

We made a cookie crumb crust using pretzels. We used your ratios from the Pie and Pastry Bible for cookie crumb crusts, but the crumbs would not hold together. We were thinking this happened because pretzels do not have any sugar in them. What do you think?

Eventually this crust will be used for a "chocolate covered pretzel" tart - pretzel crust with chocolate mousse and toffee bits.

Thanks for everything,
Megan

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Margaret--There is an excellent pita recipe in The Bread Bible. I tried this myself and the results have been my best to date. Those beauties just ballooned up great, just as advertised.

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Hello
I`m from Mèxico and I love your books but there are some ingredients that are hard to find with the same name or brand, like chocolate wafers, so I would like to know more about this cookies so I would be able to find something similar. thank you

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I made the All occasion downy Yellow Butter Cake twice in the last two weeks for birthday's...great recipe. Used 7 minute icing both times. One made with maple syrup. Thank you. Would like a pita recipe for today.?..if anyone has a good one please let me know. I am used to George's from Worcester MA but I am 3.5 hours from there now.

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I have been a professional chef for the past 20 years. I am now in a position in NC which requires a ton of scratch cooking and baking. We make fresh rolls daily for 120 people and I would like to add "Sourdough" to the mix.

My basic recipe for bread is:
1/2 cup dry yeast
2 cups sugar
2 quarts warm water
2 cups oil
3 tb salt
1.5 gallons bread flour

After kneading for 3-5 minutes, it rises for about 40 and is then portioned into 1.5 oz rolls, proofed & baked.

Any advice on how to modify this recipe to include sourdough would be greatly appreciated. Feedback from a pro-baker would be great! scottsimka@yahoo.com

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I am an experienced bread baker who has ALL your books (every one terrific) and think this is probably the very best baking blog out there. At one time or another, I have probably experienced all problems and struggled through them alone. Now I will never have to again - what a thought. I also really appreciate the time you take to answer specific questions. Thanks for being there for all of us.

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Rose, thank you for your response. I did try to look at another bread,
Swedish Limpa, which offers the option of baking a large or two smaller
loaves. It seems from your notes there that the smaller loaf would take a
little less than half the time of the single, larger loaf. My concern was,
in using the same reasoning, the Jewish Rye Bread, if divided in half..for
more gift giving capability, would take only 15 to 20 minutes. Somehow that
seemed like a very short time. I was also not sure how long to bake at the
first and higher temperature (which is 15 min. for the larger loaf) I could
experiment but I hate to lose the time and effort on something that might
not work well

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Thank you rose and I love both of your books THE CAKE BIBLE and THE PIE AND PASTERY BIBLE

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Hi rose, I tried to make your all-occasion downy yellow butter cake with oil instead of butter because I need it to stay soft even if its cold Don't get me wrong I prefer it with butter and the formula works great but it needs to be eaten cold. how do I replace the butter with oil with out ruining the fine texture and can it be done? P.S I think I posted this somewhere else on your web sight by mistake I'm still learning how to use it. I also think I posted it 3 or more times in pieces accidentally. sorry.

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Hi Rose,
I was wondering if I could get your advice on how to make italian buttercream at home. I just made a batch and it came out soupy. Is it still useable?? How do I correct that?
Thanks so much for your time!

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I have just purchased your book and have made the Rye bread twice and the cinnamon raisin swirl bread. Each attempt was very successful. My question is I would like to make two smaller loaves of the rye, perhaps not round, but I do not know the proper baking time. I cannot find any general guidelines in your book which can answer this question. Please advise. thanks,so much.

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How so? I've never had this problem before and this is the same shape I make on an at least weekly basis. I tried to be more gentle with this one per your suggestion not to lose all the air....was this my mistake?

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Hi Rose,

I just made the Pugliesi recipe from your Bread Bible. It came out of the oven to perfect dimensions. However, when I cut it open after it cooled, I noticed a very large air pocket just beneath the crust at the top of the loaf. What types of actions contribute to this? I did use the steaming device for about 20 seconds, and left the lid on for about 10-15 minutes (I took it off sooner than I might have, however, I smelled burning and wanted to ensure the bottom was not scorching.) By the way...in tasted incredible! Thanks for the input!

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Hi: In making the sandwich loaf I am confused on Step 2. If you refrigerate overnight do you do that before or after making and adding the flour mixture? Thanks and BTW what is your new book about/ Allen

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Dear Rose,
If I wanted to add peanut butter to a chocolate chip recipe would I decrease the butter treating the peanut butter as the fat?
Thank you so much, Gina

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