This is a hard time for many of us. A naturally gregarious people have been sequestered and cut off from each other. It’s hard. But it needn’t be depressing.
Almost everyone I know seems to be cleaning in these early days. I’m not sure what that says about my friends but be that as it may, it’s not a bad idea. I’m doing some of that too. I have two pieces of furniture I have been trying to treat with Liquid Gold forever and this just might be my chance. Continue reading
Becoming a better baker depends upon understanding the ingredients that go into baking. On my blog, I have a Baking Information tab on the navigation bar that has loads of information to help you become that better baker.
Each of these posts goes into in-depth discussions of its particular topic to help you understand their importance.
There are many more topics in the Baking Information section and I will be featuring some of them in later blogs. In the meantime, I hope some of these will interest you and help you become that better baker. Continue reading
With Mother’s Day upon us, this Vanilla Mousse Torte with Strawberries is a perfect do-ahead dessert to honor her. It is light, full of flavor, not too sweet, beautiful, easy to make and almost no bake. I’m not sure what more could be asked of a dessert.
Chocolate mousse is a given, but a good Vanilla Mousse is hard to find. Most are based on white chocolate which is not my favorite chocolate. I find it lacking in any distinctive flavor, although I know many will disagree, including my husband.
To up the flavor, I used my pastry cream, added a bit more vanilla and lightened it with whipped cream before pouring it over fresh strawberries on a vanilla wafer base. Continue reading
Additional Baking Tips are a few more things I have found to enhance your baking. If you spend enough time doing anything, I think it is inevitable that newer, better or faster ways will be found without sacrificing quality.
Much of the success of my bakery was due to the fact that I was always on the lookout for anything that would make the product faster, easier or better without compromising the integrity. If one of my employees found a better way to do something, I couldn’t be happier.
While these items are in my cupboard, there are others just as good. I am not particularly endorsing any of them.
Here are additional baking tips I have discovered that I think might help you. Continue reading
Originally used as a medicine, perfume and in sacred rituals of a long ago tribe of Totonac Indians in Mexico, vanilla only came into its own as a flavoring in 1602. After the Aztec’s conquered the Totonac Indians, they controlled the wild orchid that had been so jealously guarded by the conquered Indians where it grew on the edge of the forest. Legend tells us that when Hernando Cortez came to Central America in the 16th century, he was given the drink chocolatl by Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, which consisted of ground cocoa beans and vanilla. Cortez took both the cocoa beans and the vanilla beans back to Spain where they were to be enjoyed only by the rich and famous for many years to come. The Spaniards set up factories to manufacture vanilla flavored chocolate. Not chocolate as we know it, but a start. Continue reading
