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Wendy
 
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Roy - good luck and enjoy the course. There is lots to learn and it is
important to practice, practice, practice. Which is what makes the
buttercream with shortening feasible. It can be reused and its cheap. Real
buttercream icing can be make with only butter and the one I've used also
included corn syrup as I recall. It is trickier to work with though. Lots
of time for that later. In the mean time, enjoy the course. Wendy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alex Rast" >
Newsgroups: rec.food.baking
To: >
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 5:35 AM
Subject: What's your favorite cake & icing?


> at Thu, 29 Sep 2005 09:03:17 GMT in
> .com>,
> (Roy) wrote :
>
> >>I'm taking my first Wilton cake decorating course and I'm having fun
> >>learning new things. For the course we have to make this buttercream
> >>which is mostly made up of vegetable shortening & icing sugar it's
> >>great for piping flowers & doing th boarders & of course frosting the
> >>cake. But I don't like the idea of all that shortening..

> >
> >I think what you sorely need as a beginner is some words of advice not
> >new materials to play upon your fledgling capability..
> >
> >There are some modification of the formulations where you can use
> >butter and shortening blend or even other form of buttercream. where
> >pure butter is used; but that knowldedge should be better be learned
> >when you are already competent with your decorating ability.
> >I would say that you better improve your skills first before you jump
> >on more challenging materials for your icings and cakes.

>
> I will voice a philosophical disagreement here. In my view limiting your
> initial learning to a narrow range (of materials, techniques, etc...)

risks
> setting notions in your head that become more difficult to escape from in
> the long run and develops skills along a particular direction that can be
> very hard to undo. If we start out learning as a "blank slate" a lot of

the
> basic structure of that slate gets set in the early phase of learning and,
> once it's set, is difficult to change. If that structure is set up in ways
> that aren't compatible with new skills or materials, then one can end up
> spending more time "un-learning" ideas that only work for what you learned
> on in order then to re-learn with whatever new concept you've introduced.
> So, for instance, if you were working with shortenings you might get used
> to certain aspects of handling properties (a good example is that they

have
> a much wider range of working temperatures, so the priority to work fast

is
> relaxed), then essentially expect, if not mentally then from a standpoint
> of instinctive physical/mechanical movements, other ingredients to behave
> in like manner. It could then easily become very difficult to learn how to
> do it right with the new one (e.g. if you then switched to butter with
> narrow working temperature, you might not have developed the kind of
> coordination or mind-set to work as fast as you need, and so all your old
> experience would have to be jettisoned while you figured out how to move
> *quickly*).
>
> I think it's better to experiment early and often so that you get a good
> broad base from the outset on the range of techniques and properties that
> you'd need to learn about. This also helps your creativity because you

will
> have a much better idea of the sort of tradeoffs you're accepting in
> choosing one style or ingredient over another. It also often gives you a
> much more detailed insight into recipe choices and especially on recipe
> instructions, so that you can decipher what something will actually do,
> what results you can expect, and what is the reason for some seemingly
> strange or time-consuming step (or indeed, if there is no reason as often
> happens if someone adapts another recipe without that knowledge and

blindly
> copies over one of the steps that only applied to a part of the recipe
> that's no longer being used)
>
> Of course the downside is that you can spend more time gaining basic
> competence, but in the end, it's worth it because you now have much more
> solid skills.
>
> As for "favourite" cake and icing, that would be easy. Check under my

previous
> posts for Chocolate Death and you'll find the one that is *my* personal
> favourite.
>
> However, for decorating, here's a recipe I posted some time back that's

also
> delightful (for a cake flavoured with rosewater - great for weddings) and

which
> also includes an icing recipe and a recipe for marzipan. The icing is a

good
> one to play around with for decorating. It isn't as fluffy as a true
> buttercream, which IMHO is a plus - makes for a cake that isn't overloaded

with
> heaps of fluffy frosting. Meanwhile marzipan is another decorating tool -
> usable for moulding shapes, or for making pre-covers (many cakes are

covered
> initially with marzipan to give a smooth, sealed surface, then frosted),

or as
> a covering/icing substitute in its own right (which makes an appearance
> somewhat similar to rolled fondant). If you don't feel up to the task of

making
> marzipan yourself, you can, of course, always buy it.
>
> Almond-Rose cake
>
>
> 2 cups white pastry flour
> 1 2/3 cups sugar
> 1/2 lb butter
> 5 eggs
> 2 oz almonds
> 2 tbsp rosewater
> 1/2 tsp salt
>
>
> Preheat the oven to 350F. Thoroughly grease a tall 8" springform pan.
> Blanch the almonds in boiling water quickly to slip off the skins, then
> chop very finely. Put 2/3 cup of the sugar and the butter in a

medium-sized
> bowl and cream well. (I use a wooden spoon and cream manually.) In a

second,
> larger bowl, whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar until it is at least
> double in volume, pale lemon in color, and very foamy. Add the salt, then
> fold in the flour slowly. Fold in the creamed butter. Divide the batter
> evenly between the 2 bowls and add the chopped almonds to one and the
> rosewater to the other. Spoon the batters alternately into the pan. Bake

for
> 1 1/2 hour or until the top of the cake is quite dark and a thin skewer
> inserted in the center comes out more or less clean. Cool the cake

completely
> on a cooling rack.
>
>
> Marzipan
>
>
> 1/2 lb almonds
> 3/4 cup caster sugar
> 4 tbsp butter
>
>
> Blanch the almonds, removing skins, and grind (using a manual grinder -

not to
> butter - to fine grounds) into a bowl. Melt the butter and cool until

solid
> again. Mix the butter into the ground almonds with a spoon. Add the sugar,
> then mix with the same spoon, pressing down with each stroke into the

mixture,
> until it becomes crumbly and just barely cohesive, like pasta dough. Press
> with the spoon very firmly into an 8" springform pan line with parchment

using
> the spoon, and smooth the surface. As you press it in the marzipan should
> adhere together and assume its familiar texture. It should become very
> malleable and plastic enough for you to smooth the top as flat as a table.
> Chill in the refrigerator.
>
> Butter Ganache Icing
>
>
> 12 tbsp butter
> 2 cups milk (I used nonfat in the event)
> 8 tbsp sugar
> 4 tbsp water (approx.)
>
>
> Put the milk in a heavy saucepan, not nonstick. Heat to a simmer over

medium
> heat, and, stirring constantly, reduce to 1/4 cup. At this point it should

be
> very think indeed, and a tan color. This will take a long time and is very
> tedious - and you must keep stirring constantly, you can't leave it alone

no
> matter how much you will want to do so 1 hour into the process or more.

Set
> the pan, covered, in the refrigerator to cool. You can prepare this the

night
> before, or even days before if you store the product in a sealed jar. Put

the
> sugar in a heavy saucepan and add the water - the amount is approximate -

use
> enough to make it just fluid without being watery, like a grainy syrup.

Bring
> to a full boil, minimizing stirring, and cook until a candy thermometer
> reaches the firm-ball stage - 247 F. While the sugar cooks, scrape the
> now-chilled condensed milk (it will be very solid) into a medium-size

bowl,
> leaving it refrigerated until the sugar is ready. As soon as the sugar

comes
> to temperature, pour it over the condensed milk and begin beating with an
> electric mixer. Add the butter, 1/2 tbsp at a time, beating constantly

with a
> uniform circular motion using the mixer. Once all the butter has been

beaten
> in it should have a very definitive smooth texture just like ganache

before
> it's firmed up. This textural transformation will happen suddenly and
> dramatically near the end of the process. Spread over the cake of your

choice
> and refrigerate. Makes enough to ice a 2 layer 8" cake.
>
> --
> Alex Rast
>

> (remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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