Making the world a little sweeter one pastry tip at at time.
From ‘Baking Buyer’ – notes/highlights from the 2009 American Retail Bakery Exposition in Charlotte, NC and “Cake Trends” workshop during the ARBE show. From there I read about Jennifer Atwood Ruiz using a Cricut machine to cut gum paste shapes and lettering. It also apparently works with …read more
Haven’t been to Portland in a long, long, long time, but a long, long, long time ago I used to love the Coffee People coffee. I know Diedrichs has it now and Coffee People coffee can still be purchasedhttp://www.coffeepeople.com/t-about.aspx but was it the name or …read more
Mark Your Calendars. Where will you be in November?
Nov 6-15: Kona Coffee Cultural Festival
Kona, Hawaii – Free tastings, Coffee picking contest, historical farm tours, ‘Little Miss Kona Coffee Berry Pageant’.
http://www.konacoffeefest.com/schedule.asp
Nov 6-7: 3rd Annual Chocolate Festival of Texas & Texas Wines
Murder mystery, wine/chocolate pairings, silent auction, competition.
http://www.chocolatefestivaloftexas.com/
Nov 9-11: The Chocolatier’s Workshop
3 day seminar by Cargill. PA.
http://www.cargill.com/food/na/en/products/cocoachocolate/the-chocolatiers-workshop/index.jsp
Nov 10-11: Vanilla 2009
Focus on vanilla disease. Jamesburg, NJ.
http://www.vanilla2009.com/Vanilla2009.com/Home.html
Nov 10-12: The Specialty Coffee & Tea Convention 2009
First National UAE Barista Championship, coffee and tea trade, workshops. Dubai, UAE.
http://coffeeandteaconvention.com/
Nov 14: Gingerbread House Competition
2009 Gingerbread House Competition of New York State – Open to all amateurs. Proceeds go to Chemung County Habitat for Humanity.
http://www.gingerbreadny.com/
Nov 14-15: Gluten Free Food Show
Chefs demonstrating gluten free foods – tastings. Syndey, Australia.
http://www.glutenfreefoodshow.com.au/
Nov 16-Jan 3: National Gingerbread House Competition & Display
Competition is on Nov 16 and houses will be on display until Jan 3. Held at The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in NC.
http://www.groveparkinn.com/Leisure/Happenings/Fall_2/National_Gingerbread_House_Competition__Display_11/
Nov 20-22: 5th Edition of Salon Passion Chocolat & Cie
Chocolate tastings and demos. Montreal, Quebec
http://www.salonpassionchocolat.com/
Nov 20-23: Taipei Tea & Coffee Expo 2009
Roasters, equipment, pastries, appliances. Taipei, Taiwan.
http://www.chanchao.com.tw/coffee/english/index.html
Upon doing research for coffee, I found out what civet coffee was: coffee made from the droppings of an animal know as the ‘civet’, a cat with a fox-like face. The beans are whole when the exit the body, are cleaned and then processed for …read more
In case you were not able to attend the live webcasts, here are the cliff notes from two of my favorite presentations: cake decorating trends and the gelati 101 presentation. The pictures were from the downloadable slides from the show. Here is the link to …read more
Back in May I wrote about Red Band Flour and that it was being discontinued.
The original blog is here. In response to the dismay in everyone’s voice from comments and emails, I contacted a person who I knew could give me more information and hopefully good substitutions, Kathleen Purvis, Food Editor of The Charlotte Observer in Charlotte, NC.
Kathleen indicated it still is a hot-button issue for local bakers, and that many people are now switching to Southern Biscuit brand, from Midstate Mills, Inc – which can be found in ’12 Southern states’ according to their website:
http://www.midstatemills.com/
When I lived in Charlotte, this brand was the only self-rising flour I used, and it was consistent and baked well.
Another one she suggested with limited distribution is Sanford Milling’s ‘Short Patent Snow Flake’. Incidently, Sanford Milling Company is newly a kosher-certified facility, for flour and grain products:
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-new-stark-spring08.htm
Hope this helps. The holiday baking season is coming up quick! I gave and continue to give thanks to Kathleen Purvis with these great suggestions for replacements on what was a beloved brand for many bakers. Hopefully these (and others – such as using 1/3 cake flour and 2/3 all-purpose flour of national brands) will help and provide consistency in baking.
I guess that is what everyone is looking for in a flour, anyway. Happy Baking!
Read the original post here, and everyone’s comments regarding their dismay at this Southern product being discontinued.
Renee.
Auction of Equipment from A Major Wholesale Bun & Roll Bakery Facility (out of business). Auction begins – Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 Scheduled start time: 11:00 AM US Central Pre-views and inspections are on Oct. 5 & 6. Below link shows equipment and items up …read more
Clabber Girl (brand of baking powder) is joining with Innophos Inc to make InnoveFree Baking Powder. This baking powder is aluminum free AND sodium free. Here is a pdf file about the new product from the manufacturer directly.http://www.innophos.com/__documents/I-6%20InnovaFree%20LR.pdf
Article regarding event showcasing themes, cakes, etc for weddings in the Phillipines. Sept. 5-6. If you are only interested in the cake part, apparently Pastry Chefs will be on hand also.
Link to PhilStar.com, The Philippine Star for the Filipino Global Community:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=501460&publicationSubCategoryId=83
The Great American Cookie Company will debut its Apple Harvest Cookie on 31 August. Perfect for fall and all those school lunch boxes?? Here is their facebook page on the cookie, along with close-up pics on the cookie itself.:http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=124715252491&ref=mf