Thread: Cake/Deserts

Amen to simple! Love pecan pie, and even more, plain 'ole vanilla lemony, unadorned, New York style cheese cake with graham cracker crust. Oh, and with a cup of good, strong, black, Arabica bean coffee....oh gawwwd that's good!

My wife does nearly all the actual cooking in the house, but I love baking. Mostly desserts but also bread. This year I've undertaken to bake all the bread eaten by my family, which is going pretty well.

Each year I bake a handful of apple pies in the fall and usually some summer pies like blueberry, rhubarb, or peach. I actually like pie rather better than cake; I think its just as hard to bake a great pie as a great cake, and while you can find good cake at a restaurant or bakery it is nearly impossible to find good pie. A few months ago I baked a couple pies for a party using home churned cultured butter and home rendered leaf lard for the crust. I use 3 parts butter to 1 part lard or shortening for my crusts. Picture attached. If you haven't tried incorporating some leaf lard in your crust, give it a go; it really ups the flakiness!



I also like making cream puffs, eclairs, ice cream, cookies, and cakes. I've baked cakes or cupcakes the last couple years for my kid's birthday parties, and did a wedding cake for a friend of my wife a few years ago. A couple pictures attached.





Right now I'm working on cakes for a joint birthday party for my two eldest daughters. Both are smallish, two tier cakes, total of 8 layers each. One is buttermilk chocolate filled with dark chocolate ganache lightened with whipped creme fraiche, with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting. The other is a white chocolate lemon cake filled with lemon curd and frosted with lemon swiss meringue buttercream. We'll also make some little decorations to go on top with marshmallow fondant. I'll post a pic when they are done.

Glad to hear that other men enjoy baking; I can't say I've met all that many of them! Some of my other manly pursuits are doll making and sewing clothes on a treadle power machine.

Well Hollygates im very impressed!!! I really love your work. Each picture that you have provided has got the belly rumbling!

As you have said its great to see that other chaps out there like baking. I love baking but due to work demands i dont find as much time as i would like to do it.

Bravo sir. If you ever feel up to sharing a recipe please feel free to PM me as i love to try different recipes.

Originally Posted by Chefgordon

Instructors and processes can be tough but at the end of the day it's what you love doing the best that counts the most. These are fun pieces but one of my favorite, simple desserts is pecan pie!

Are you still in the business or did you come to your senses and get a 9 to 5 job?

still going at it for the earthy crunchy groceria. been with that co. for 11 years. some days it's not easy. i'm not getting any younger, just turned 62 and i've been on my feet in kitchens and bakeries since 1975.

Beautiful work! This has become a really good thread!

Kudos to you for the dedication. I worked kitchens for 35 years and now I'm teaching and this is the most difficult work I've ever done. Trying to convince young people to get off their butts and make magic. Our field is not for the faint of heart. Hard work and tenacity are definitely required for success.

Well done, my friend!

Originally Posted by Chefgordon

Beautiful work! This has become a really good thread!

Kudos to you for the dedication. I worked kitchens for 35 years and now I'm teaching and this is the most difficult work I've ever done. Trying to convince young people to get off their butts and make magic. Our field is not for the faint of heart. Hard work and tenacity are definitely required for success.

Well done, my friend!

Thanks for the compliments tbert33 and Chefgordon.

One thing that is nice about being an amateur is that I can spent FAR more time on something than if it was being done in a commercial setting. For instance, it takes me 2+ hours to make a pie from start to finish. If I had to charge for my time and cover the overhead of a licensed kitchen, this pie would cost over $100, thus insuring no one would buy it. I'm sure you guys who do food for a living are better and faster than I and have better equipment, but it still seems like it would be very tough to turn out amazing work so efficiently that it can be priced to cover costs (or even turn a small profit!!??). I really admire food professionals that can pull this off.

Another benefit of being an amateur is that I have a captive customer base. I can tell you its not hard to make a cake that little kids will be delighted to eat! Here is a picture of my son from last weekend, enjoying scraps cut off the side of a chocolate cake stack when I was prepping it for frosting.

One of my favorites:

Rocky Road ice cream.

Now your talking. Love Rocky Road

Many years ago I served an apprenticeship in one of the most acclaimed outfits in the world. It's called the U.S Navy. I used to work the night shift with our baker who was a pro baker before joining. That's where I learned the basics and I've been baking all my life-for fun of course. I don't do the fancy artistic stuff just plain old things like breads and cakes and pies.