What kind of a music lover would I be if I didn’t acknowledge the birthday of Aretha Franklin? Talk about a voice that carries you away, her box set got me through many a lonely all-night bread shift. Here she is in all her gospel-soaked glory belting out Do Right Woman, Do Right Man with […]
READ ONDoes glycerin pose any of the risks of its cousin nitroglycerin do you mean? Not unless your buttercream contains sulfuric acid and you’re planning on a nitric acid filling, since that’s what it takes to “nitrate” glycerine into a high explosive. That’s exactly what a young Italian chemist by the name of Ascanio Sobrero did […]
READ ONThe gelatin, the glucose, the glycerine, and the fat you mean? What purpose does it serve in a batch of rolled fondant? Obviously it keeps it flexible, but then water will keep a mass of powdered sugar flexible too…at least for a while. Why all the fancy stuff? The first part of the answer you […]
READ ONThis is ever-so-much quicker and easier than poured fondant. My only suggestion before you start is that you not wear any kind of dark-colored shirt or sweater, since lint has a way of finding its way into a pristine batch of fondant (there’s a reason pastry makers wear white, you know). Starting with this recipe: […]
READ ONThat I’m delighted that Lent is over for another year? This year I got very ambitious and gave up wine (a glass or two of which I have most nights at dinner). With the exception of a couple of slip-ups, I did pretty well and was for the most part quite even-tempered. A priest at […]
READ ONIs it more important for a cake to look marvelous or to taste marvelous? I mean, if even the best rolled fondant tastes, well, not completely terrific, is there any value in putting it on a cake? The answer is of course, yes, since there are circumstances (like weddings) where the look of a cake […]
READ ONFor the same reason that powdered-sugar-and-water “five finger” icings taste floury and chalky: uncooked cornstarch. Powdered sugar is about 3% cornstarch, which keeps it from clumping up into a solid mass in the bag. Normally, because powdered sugar is used as a garnish, dusted onto cookies, waffles and the like, we don’t notice it. However […]
READ ONMen eat more meat, frozen pizzas, frozen burgers and frozen burritos while women eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, a new study says. However men are also more likely to eat asparagus, brussels sprouts, peas and peanuts. Who knew? www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Diet-Eating-by-Sex.html?scp=1&sq=who+likes+asparagus&st=nyt
READ ONNext stop on the fondant tour (which I guess has only two stops) is rolled fondant. Rolled fondant has become incredibly popular over the last twenty years or so. It first rose to prominence in the wedding cake industry, draped over large cakes to give them a perfectly smooth appearance. Now of course you see […]
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