Come Back, Krissy!

Rosemary-onion-potato bread.  What can be bad about that?  That the butcher took the last half loaf for his lunch without asking?   And so I never got to try it, but I did make it, and I think it's quite beautiful.  Krissy, bread baker to the stars, will be back Tuesday, and so I thought my early mornings with bread were done, until her back up baker gave notice yesterday.  Which is fine, since she's a very unpleasant person to work with, but it does mean I'll be the bread baker's apprentice for the next few weeks.  I hired a new person last week to replace the person I had to let go my first week, thought I was going to be caught up for a little while, and now we're back to being two people down.  Sigh...

  But things are still sweet in the bake shop.  I had a cake order yesterday for one filled with raspberry mousse, covered in raspberry frosting and to have a Pavlova in the center, which "must remain crunchy."  Now, a Pavlova is an Australian Christmas dessert, a meringue baked slowly so that it stays chewy in the center but crunchy on the outside.  The top is usually cracked open just prior to serving and the center is filled with cream and fruit, usually red fruits, with touches of green, since it is for Christmas.  Kinda hard to put that in the center of a cake.  So, I decided what she meant was simply a meringue, baked hard and crunchy, and that's what I did.
  It looks like Barbie's dream cake, all pink and girly, with the raspberry frosting.  And let me tell you, those raspberries are quite dear, coming from a hot house in California!  They were $45.65 for 12 tiny half pints, and they had a weird, pasty texture.  But their flavor was good, and I did charge them an extra $25 for insisting on fruit out of season.  The white swirlies on top are meringues, too, just in case the meringue inside had the nerve to soften in the midst of all that mousse and frosting and cake.

And I had so much meringue left, I made little meringue tart shells, filled them with leftover raspberry mousse and called it the pre dessert.  I love meringues, baked to crispy delightfulness, especially warm out of the oven, when they haven't quite hardened all the way, so a couple were sacrificed for tasting, but I still had plenty.
  The chocolate making continues to be pushed to the last of the day, so Saturday's chocolates were chocolate piped in paper cups with dried cranberries and cashews thrown in before the chocolate hardens.  It's one of those times when I have to be glad the chef is out of town!
  This morning, I'm back at it early, especially with daylight saving's time, but then it's three glorious, leisurely days off, with my son and his girlfriend, my garden--hopefully with sunshine and not rain--and no baking.  I'll stop by Tuesday Weaving to see the gang and have Wednesday all to myself and my furry entourage.  Ahhhhhh...