Good News for Fellow Bloggers

Jun 16, 2006 | From the kitchen of Rose

Over the past half year's life of this blog there have been about 1000 questions and responses from me (i can hardly believe it myself) which makes is rather difficult to find the answers to frequently asked questions.

We are presently working on providing an easier way to search the blog for answers to your questions.

In the very near future there will be new categories within the FAQ's, such as cakes, cookies, pies, bread, equipment, ingredients, and during the summer, as time allows, i will organize the already posted questions and replies that are most relevant into these categories making it easier to find what you need.

Stay tuned! And thanks for your patience and for your wonderful comments and questions that have made this process all absorbing and joyful instead of feeling like work.

I love the famous Buddhist quote: "Find work you love and you'll never work a day in your life!"

Rose
07/16/2008 01:08 PM

what with all the scary things about avian flue i can't advise you that it would be safe.

Joyce
07/16/2008 12:19 PM

If you wash the cherries really well, can you use the ones that have a small bird peck on it?

Rose
01/22/2008 12:20 PM

there is no date but inside the book, on the page opposite page 5 which is the foreword, is the page with all the copyright info and photo credit. at the bottom is the # of printings. the printing number must be 34 or higher. call jessica's biscuit--it has an 800# at least from the states and tell them you want to order that printing.

Rose
12/04/2007 08:01 PM

the most updated is the one that has a little red quarter size round that says revised ingredients and equipment sections on the upper right side of the cover. but if you order on the internet you can't be sure if you are getting this latest printing.

Wendy
12/04/2007 07:39 PM

I would like to buy a Cake Bible. I know it is a great book. I want to order it from the internet. But which is the most updated version? Thanks

Kate
10/03/2007 03:37 AM

Just a warning to everyone not to click on the link in the post above - it may be harmless, but you can't see where it's going.

Rose
12/21/2006 02:59 PM

i'm afraid i haven't. try calling king arthur's help line--they'll surely know.

sally
12/21/2006 02:52 PM

Have you had wheaten bread made with coarse ground wholemeal flour? I have tried to find it in the U.S. but no one has heard of it. Can you tell me where to buy it here or, if not, what I can use as a substitute? Thanks. Sally

Rose
09/01/2006 09:11 AM

the golden genoise should be tender. the genoise riche is not as tender as the genoise classique bc it doesn't have any syrup though you could add some. the grain is fairy tight but cakes do bake differently in different size pans and neither one called for the 9 x 3 so i'm sure that made a difference--it almost always does.

Daphne
08/31/2006 07:49 PM

I made the Genoise Riche and the Golden Genoise yesterday (my first time with genoise) - and must add that buerre noisette has such a lovely aroma! I am fairly sure I achieved the correct result because both cakes were of the specified height. I baked the GR in a 9x2" pan and the finished cake was 2" high and shrank slightly upon cooling. Baked the GG in a 9x3" pan and the finished cake was slightly higher than the Riche, again it shrank slightly upon cooling. Removed the rather crusty tops from both. The crumb in both is fairly tight - not really dense but firm. Is this correct? Nor would I describe either cake as having a very sfot texture. Just want to check that what I got is what I should be expecting!

Rose
08/30/2006 01:49 PM

well i'm so glad i mentioned the draft though it might be spelled draught! i'm supposed to be on vacation now and my spelling is always on vacation even if i rarely am. thanks for appreciating and realizing the time involved in answering everyone's baking queries. i only hope i can continue as it grows larger!it is most rewarding as most things that take an effort can be! but getting feedback is both fascinating and useful. i want to thank everyone for this. it will make my next book that much better and more useful for everyone as i see the questions most frequently asked and the recipes that people are hoping for.

the genoise riche is simple the regular genoise but with more butter.

also, i must add that i don't maintain the site--there are two wonderful what i call "blog masters." travis and susan who input the photos and designed the site with my input. i joke about how i now have a "web master, blog master, and mix master" (my upcoming cake kit).

Daphne
08/30/2006 01:33 PM

Thank you so much for the feedback Rose. The discussion about setting up a forum style for your site made me realise just how much time and effort you put into answering every one of our questions and comments despite being such a busy person. If no one's said so before, please know it's deeply appreciated that novices like us are able to talk to baking celebrities like yourselves and get advice from the other side of the world... I am still quite awed by that, and amazed at what technology allows us to do.

I'm also impressed you're maintaining the site yourself, apart from answering tons of questions. You need a webmaster or PA to help you with all this stuff!

That said, I haven't made ANY sponge recipe before, and was simply tossing up between that and the Nancy(?) sponge recipe also in your book. I followed instructions exactly except for forgetting the sugar at the end. It could very well be my moving the cake to the dining room to cool where the table fan was blowing. Thanks for that tip... it's new to me and might explain why I've had a couple other chiffon cakes perform the same trick on me before, which I'd chalked up to overbeating.

Tomorrow I'll look up the genoise riche as you've suggested and try that - funny I didn't see that in the book so must have missed it. At some point I want to try the Golden genoise as well since you've said such good things about it in the book.

BTW your All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake is my family's favourite butter cake - I'm making it almost every week as a staple. I very much prefer its flavour to the White Velvet Cake which I find a little too sweet - but I have realised reducing the sugar in these recipes brings disastrous results so I'll never do that again!

And have I said again how hugely appreciated is the time and effort you spend with your fans on this site? :-)

Rose
08/30/2006 11:49 AM

thanks richard--i have indeed seen these types of things. i just never noticed they were called forums!

Rose
08/30/2006 11:48 AM

aysha, i just found your posting--somehow it didn't come through to alert me. by now you may have exerimented by combining the hard and soft flours. but the bigger issue is whether it is bleached or unbleached and what you're using it to make!

Richard Boehme
08/30/2006 11:38 AM

Re: forums, they are a type of web discussion board, where anyone can post their questions and comments.

A quick Google for "bakin forum" found this one as an example:

http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

People can contribute add topics as needed, which others can reply to.

Rose
08/30/2006 11:21 AM

daphne--thanks for the full disclosure. (poor bert is probably rolling over.....)have you made it before with success? if so it could well be the pulling it out after it started baking. usually a cake in a tube pan falls out when it is in a drafty area while cooling.
sounds like you had the right amount of volume. did you use the 1 tspn cream of tartar to stabilize the whites?

re the forum--pardon my ignorance but exactly what is that, i.e. how does it work? my plan is to organize the FAQ's into categories so that they are easier to find. when i'll find the time to do that i don't know but i'm collecting the new ones in a special folder.

re the cake to accompany the lemon cream--try the genoise riche--it requires little to no syrup and is less "riche" than the one with 12 yolks!

Daphne
08/30/2006 02:30 AM

Ugh. I have just removed Bert Greene's Special Sponge from the oven and it promptly fell out of the pan when I inverted it. What do you think could have caused it?

I did forget to sprinkle the sugar on top of it so I quickly removed it from the oven (about 15 seconds after it went in), sprinkled the sugar over and returned it. Could overbeating the egg yolks and sugar, or over-folding at the end, cause the cake to fall out of the pan? The pan was slightly more than half-full with batter so I don't think I had overmixed it or it would have deflated more.

Daphne
08/29/2006 11:11 PM

Hi Rose

Yes, organising the questions and blog separately would be fantastic, because right now it's difficult to figure out where to post a question. As a previous poster mentioned, a forum would be great to capture miscellaneous questions which are currently buried in the blog as comments.

I'm wanting to make a cake with lemon filling - yesterday for the first time I make the Lemon Cream Illusion and was delighted at how easy it was to make the Lemon Curd from your recipe! But I found filling 2 layers of White Velvet buttercake with Lemon Curd and topping it off with Lemon Cream Illusion too heavy-going. Should I try a plain sponge recipe, or the Genoise Classique or Golden Genoise instead? I'm thinking the cake should be very light and probably not too rich, I'm not sure if the Golden Genoise with 12 yolks might be too rich, but the thought of using syrup on a cake (as needed for the classic genoise) doesn't really appeal to me. I'd be grateful for your thoughts, thanks!
Daphne

Anonymous
08/28/2006 08:26 PM

Dear Rose,

I hope you can help me with my problem. I intended to buy all purpose flour but it wasnt available so I bought soft flour instead without knowing what it really is. when i got home read all about flours i found out it wasnt what i needed. I wonder if i MIX SOFT flour and HARD flour would it make ALL PURPOSE Flour?

Help!

Aysha

Rose
06/20/2006 09:51 AM

that's really using your marbles! (couldn't resist)
yes to both the cake and the buttercream. i've never seen a marbled buttercream and think it's an excellent idea.

Gail Gray
06/19/2006 02:50 PM

Hi Rose,
Here's a good example of a question that I could have searched on the site: My daughter requested a "marble cake" for her birthday. Can I use the Checkerboard Fantasy Cake formula and just marble in a swirl of the chocolate batter? Can I marble a buttercream? Thanks for answering all of our questions. Best to all, GEG

Richard Boehme
06/19/2006 08:44 AM

Searching and new postings are why this blog site needs a message board as well as a blog. It's trying to be both, and you have a mix of postings that are related to the blog, as well as new postings. A message board would allow readers such as myself to ask questions, etc. without making searching and finding questions difficult. I like the blog, it just needs to realize it's dual nature.

Rose
06/18/2006 09:37 AM

thank you cesarina. i was just longing to make a cherry pie but have too much work right now so will probably have to skip this year. glad to imagine other people enjoying this favorite!!! i did eat 7 dherries that the birds had pecked to the ground. it always makes me sad to see how they take one peck out the cherry and leave the rest to rot. i'll confess to having eaten a few with peck holes!

Cesarina
06/16/2006 11:38 PM

I've just made my first cherry pie of the year, your recipe from the pie and pastry bible. It's not often that you will find me happily scurrying up a ladder, but the first ripe cherries will find me doing so. I shared it with my neighbors and they said it was the best cherry pie they'd had in memory. Thanks for a great recipe.