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Cake tasting is hard to do.

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That ginger cake sounds delicious! I''m glad you enjoyed your second tasting more than the first!
 
Yay!!! SWEET success!!
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Date: 2/29/2008 2:29:31 PM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 2/29/2008 1:29:30 PM
Author: BriBee
Gypsy, I don''t know if this would be too far for you to go, and they''d probably charge for delivery to SJ area, but the Buttery in Santa Cruz is awesome! I am getting my cake through them, but I haven''t gone and done official tasting/pricing yet. I was at a few bridal shows and saw Just Cake which is in Capitola, and they are the type described above where the cake and decorating is beautiful, but the the flavor just isn''t there. They are really famous actually, and have been featured on the Food Network etc... but the cakes from the lesser known Buttery were 10x better in flavor. Just a suggestion if you haven''t found a cake after your weekend tastings.
I don''t know if they''d deliver to Livermore, but I''ll ask. That''s a key thing for me. I''m NOT taking on liability for cake transport. No pick up the cake-y. You dropy the cake off. Leave. With cake in one piece. I''ll pay for the delivery.
I know what you mean about the transport liability. I am getting married in Hollister and they are in Santa Cruz, so that''s about an hour''s drive I''d say (maybe a little more) and they will deliver it, but it costs more.
 
YAY!!!!I''m so happy!!! And I''m glad that you liked the Italian/Swiss buttercream (they really are interchangeable in lots of ways)Wohoo!!!!

But damn, I don''t get to go to Cali now...
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Yay! Sounds like you''ve found your cakemaker?

Did I ever tell you...our cake was $100 for 100 people? One of DH''s co-workers made it for us (she did cakes as a side job but was VERY good at it). Three tier, white with white buttercream frosting, basketweave trim or whatever you call it...and I FORGOT the cake topper. Luckily, she was able to use some extra flowers from the florist to top the cake with. No one noticed, the cake was stunning, and it tasted great as well. We got sooo many compliments on the cake, and since we had a daytime reception when nobody was really too wasted to taste the cake those compliments meant a lot! Even my parents were satisfied with the cake experience, which was impressive in itself. LOL!
 
Date: 3/2/2008 2:48:13 AM
Author: monarch64
Yay! Sounds like you''ve found your cakemaker?

Did I ever tell you...our cake was $100 for 100 people? One of DH''s co-workers made it for us (she did cakes as a side job but was VERY good at it). Three tier, white with white buttercream frosting, basketweave trim or whatever you call it...and I FORGOT the cake topper. Luckily, she was able to use some extra flowers from the florist to top the cake with. No one noticed, the cake was stunning, and it tasted great as well. We got sooo many compliments on the cake, and since we had a daytime reception when nobody was really too wasted to taste the cake those compliments meant a lot! Even my parents were satisfied with the cake experience, which was impressive in itself. LOL!

Oh man, your cake sounds FABULOUS Monnie. It does mean more that everyone is sober, doesn''t it. LOL. I hope folks like ours.


Yes, we found our cake baker!

Today, we went to Sue''s house and tasted her cakes too. The cake itself was very nice. The buttercream was just
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... Freke, I asked her what kind it was and she said "Just plain Buttercream" so I asked her if it was made on the stovetop and so forth and she looked puzzled... so i knew before tasting it that I wasn''t gonna dig it. And I was right. It was candy sweet and not at all what I like. But her CAKE was good. Just the frosting was off.

So I emailed Shannon to inform her of our choice and John is THRILLED the cake tasting portion of it all is over. And I must say that I am too.

Unfortunately, Freke we won''t be importing you for the cake baking. But I owe you a HUGE thank you for the help in decifering the mysteries of cake.

We decided on the design you liked as well, BTW. Without the antenae like flowers on the top. LOL. The flowers will match the rest of the florals, and Shannon will put them on the cake herself.

BiBree... yeah, it does cost me. But if something happens to that puppy and it''s in THIER car, they are responsible to replace it. Not you. So for me, it''s totally worth it.
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Awww, you''re welcome Gypsy! You''ll have to make sure and post pics of it of course! I hope I''ve managed to help another bride with the mysteries of sickly sweet frosting versus the good stuff.

Now I need to convince BF that the buttercream that I make is not sickly sweet. He''s only had the sweet stuff.
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I''m sad that she didn''t know the difference between American buttercream and Italian buttercream aka the GOOD stuff.

Seriously I''m really bummed out that she doesn''t know...
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Date: 3/3/2008 1:11:12 AM
Author: FrekeChild
Awww, you''re welcome Gypsy! You''ll have to make sure and post pics of it of course! I hope I''ve managed to help another bride with the mysteries of sickly sweet frosting versus the good stuff.

Now I need to convince BF that the buttercream that I make is not sickly sweet. He''s only had the sweet stuff.
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I''m sad that she didn''t know the difference between American buttercream and Italian buttercream aka the GOOD stuff.

Seriously I''m really bummed out that she doesn''t know...
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Admit it. You want to call her. Don''t you?

LOL.

I actually will tell her that we didn''t care for it and that it was too sweet for our tastes. She''s not a pastry chef or anything. I originally wanted a cake that tasting like my all time favorite souffle: Grand Marnier souffle. And she said she''d never eaten a souffle let alone made one. And she thought all souffle meant was a custard with chocolate. So, it''s not surprising that she doesn''t know what the types of buttercream are. And she''s VERY highly recommended (three local caterers said that hers are the best cakes they''ve had) and charges well for her cakes so I know she''s not hurting for business, so she probably doesn''t have the need to expand her pastry education. There''s a market for it all. And her CAKE was really good, so it''s not like she''s peddling crap. Some people love REALLY SUPER sweet frosting. Corner slicers like Basil, so there''s definitely a market for it. To each their own. John and I just happen to not like that type of frosting.
 
Blah. You should totally tell her thats why you''re not going with her. I''m really depressed about her not knowing what a SOUFFLE is. WTF?!?!?!?! That''s worse than the buttercream thing. Seriously. Was she like 90 years old and lives in a cave or something? Ok, that wasn''t very nice, but still!!!She should at least know what it is in THEORY!! Every decent dessert book that I''ve ever looked at has at least one recipe for a souffle in there! Blah!!!

Confession: I used to love American buttercream. When I was 10, and enjoyed the sugar high.
 
Date: 3/3/2008 2:46:21 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Blah. You should totally tell her thats why you''re not going with her. I''m really depressed about her not knowing what a SOUFFLE is. WTF?!?!?!?! That''s worse than the buttercream thing. Seriously. Was she like 90 years old and lives in a cave or something? Ok, that wasn''t very nice, but still!!!She should at least know what it is in THEORY!! Every decent dessert book that I''ve ever looked at has at least one recipe for a souffle in there! Blah!!!

Confession: I used to love American buttercream. When I was 10, and enjoyed the sugar high.

I''ve never liked american buttercream. LOL. I think John may have at some point, but he''s not fessing up.

I was surprised by the souffle thing, because I''m not a pastry chef or ''in the business'' in anyway, and I''VE made some souffle''s (both sweet and savory). But like I said, her businesss appears to be thriving, and I wish her all the best.

Here''s the note I sent her today.

Hi Sue!

It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday, thank you so much for your understanding about the scheduling mistakes. I think your cakes are lovely, but unfortunately as a whole they aren''t to our taste. The buttercream in particular was not the type we like as it was very sweet. I may have mentioned before that we were looking for a european style cake in terms of sweetness. Which is why I asked what type of buttercream you use. The Swiss/Italian style is the one we both prefer-- made over the stovetop, etc. We did enjoy the cakes however, and the grand Marnier custard and mouse were by far our favorites with your white cake. We''ve already placed our order with another vendor, so we wish you the very best!!!

Thank you so much!
Layla
 
Thats a nice note. I wouldn''t mind getting something like that from someone who decided to go with someone else.

I really hope that that helps to spurn her into researching the other kinds of buttercreams. Perhaps its just me, but I''m of the belief that when you''re in a profession, you should at least familiarize yourself with as much as possible. I can''t tell you how many recipes I''ve made just to experiment with the #s of it and how it reacts and what the final product is. Like, over winter break I made about 8 batches of chocolate chip cookies with different proportions of the ingredients-just to see what it did. BF was totally enthusiastic about it because I was going for a specific result (soft, not crispy, not chewy, not crunchy, etc.) at his request. I can''t tell you how many recipes are not anything like what he wanted. In the end I just modified a Joy of Cooking recipe to the point where even if you had them both in front of you, you wouldn''t recognize them as being related. But I did get the desired result in the end. Lucky for BF.

Maybe she''s just stuck in her thing and sees no reason to try new things, but I personally think thats kind of sad.
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It never hurts to learn something new.
 
Can I have your chocolate chip cookie recipe?
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Date: 3/3/2008 10:11:36 PM
Author: basil
Can I have your chocolate chip cookie recipe?
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I was thinking about asking for one of her other ones. I like them thinner, crispier on the ourside and GOOSHY on the inside. Any of those recipes come out like that? Oh... and REALLY chocolatey.
 
It''s been a while since I made them Gypsy, but maybe I''ll poke around and make a batch or two to see if they work out to what you''re looking for...after all it''s been a while since I made any.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Keep in mind that I''m at a high altitude, so I''m not positive they''ll turn out the same!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together until light and fluffy:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons butter (room temp)

In another bowl, mix together until slightly lighter in color:
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Add egg mixture to butter/sugar mixture and mix until well incorporated.

Sift together:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips (or more if you like!)

Add flour mix into egg/butter mix, and fold in. Just before the flour is completely mixed in, add chocolate chips and fold a couple more times to mix them in.

Tada! Cookie dough! Ok, then I''ll use a teaspoon to scoop out the dough, and roll them into balls and press them lightly to make a thick disk shape. This makes tiny cookies so I don''t feel too bad about eating 3. And at that size, it usually takes about 10-12 minutes to bake. They are done when the aroma of chocolate fills the air, and when they are lightly golden brown around the bottom edges.

I think I ended up putting a light layer of oil on the pan to try to prevent sticking, so if you have Pam lying around, that''d probably be a good bet.

If you make them, you''ll have to check back and tell me how they turned out!
 
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