[Sca-cooks] Favorite dessert?

[chawkswrth at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius <adamantius1 at verizon.net>



On Apr 4, 2008, at 12:49 AM, chawkswrth at aol.com wrote:
> There are times, Adamantius, when I think you are a man after my own  
> heart.

Only sometimes???


;-) Since you are married, with Evyl Spawn, let's just keep it at that, OK? ;-)
Besides, that New Yorker/Southern Girl thing just would never work. 



Unfortunately, if you want to do that for a living, you have to find a  
clientele willing to pay a somewhat larger percentage of their income  
for food (which much of the US is not; why pay even $20 for a cake  
when Duncan-Hines is -- what -- I have no idea what Duncan-Hines  
costs, but how much could it possibly be, rising grain costs  
notwithstanding) but who _also_ (and here's the catch) actually  
appreciate the value of good food, and not simply its cost/price. Not  
many people are/do. You could probably set up shop in someplace like  
Brooklyn, maybe Long Island City, Queens, and do fairly well. But yes,  
you probably have to sell something like this as "comfort food":  
plain, high-quality food at slightly premium prices.


**That is why I am no longer in business. I did a fairly good Wedding business in our former city, but when we moved to Birmingham, it was quickly evident that this place was not that interested in good receptions, just fast "crumb and sip" service and get them gone, receptions. I am seeing evidence that it is changing, but, I just don't haave the stamina I had 20 years ago. Too many years, too many injuries.



<snipage of description of cake horror>

 Now, if they had wanted to use some other grandma  
aesthetic than my own -- say, a genoise sponge moistened with brandy  
and a little apricot glaze or some other jam, then a thin layer of  
buttercream, I would not toss that out of the sack, as the saying  
goes. I suppose this is a good illustration of the difference between  
"fancy" and "tarted up".

The eight-inch version of the white-chocolate whatever was $20 more.

**We have a place that does serve huge good cakes with good icing, now. The prices run about $30 for a 10" round of 3 huge layers, with real buttercream icing. The Strawberry is beautiful and tastes heavenly. It is made with REAL strawberries, not pink fluff with fake flavoring. But, she is rare. VERY rare.



"They're only putting in a nickel,
And they want a dollar song...
Da da da, da da da, da da da da..."

Yeah. I'm feeling kinda old these days.

**JOin the Crowd. Line forms behind me.


I'm sorry, I don't really speak American fluently, I'm from New  
York ;-). It's why I never really knew what "frosting" was until I was  
an adult... Is Egg Custard pie filled with something like vanilla  
pastry cream? I'm guessing it is, since you mention cream pies and  
banana pudding. So do you bake a pie shell blind and fill it with a  
cooked, stirred egg custard that has been somewhat stabilized with  
something like flour, when both are somewhat cooled, the way you might  
make, say, a chocolate cream pie?

**I do not stabilize with flour. I use corn startch in my puddings. There is a difference between pudding and custards, though. Puddings are stirred while cooking, custards bake in the oven. My cream pies are made with pudding, if that makes sense. I stir together corn starch and sugar, beat egg yolks and milk together. Pour the milk into the sugar, in a heavy pot. Cook, and stir, stir and cook, till bubbles appear. Boil a bare minute, turning off the eye and stirring. Take it off the eye, put in butter and vanilla. Let cool a bit, then either put it in the pie shell or start forming up the banana pudding. the egg whites are beaten into merigue, with sugar and a touch of vanilla. put it all together, and toast meringue in oven. I make chocolate cream pie by putting cocoa in the sugar mixture, and I can make a coconut by using a can of Cream of Coconut in the milk mixture. Since the Grandfather can not chew Coconut meat, it works. 
It is a versatile recipe.


Perhaps you have a recipe you could post, with comments on where,  
along the way, you think things are going wrong? Usually when I hear  
"bland and lumpy" in connection with stirred custards or pastry cream,  
it comes down to overcooking, seasoning to taste while hot something  
intended to be eaten cold, and improper cooling and storage. Or maybe  
simply something silly like not sifting flour, or using a spoon  
instead of a whip at the wrong time.  Those would be my first guesses.
**Hmmm, I think I may have something at home.It is very possible that I am over-cooking. It wouldn't be the first time. :-P


Thank you!

Helen






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
            -- Rabbi Israel Salanter

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