kendrickllama1

1. Use a paddle attachment and beat the crap out of the cream cheese until it reaches room temp before you use it in the recipe
2. Always use some sort of citrus zest to accent the flavor
3. Always bake cheesecake with water surrounding it
4. Use Philadelphia cream cheese...seriously!
5. Make sure you put the cheesecake in the fridge as soon as it is cooled to room temp....Don't put it in when it is still hot or even warm

I like this question. I have a weakness for funfetti cake out of the box. It's soooooooooo good.

If a molten chocolate cake is done right there is little that can top it. Is anything better than hot, goey chocolate?

Make sure she knows how little pastry cooks/sous chefs/even head chefs make. I work at least 45 hours a week (that being a good week) and I am due in very early in the morning. If you go to school you have a bit of a heads up, but it isn't necessary. I suggest she works in a kitchen for 6 months and see if it's worth spending the money. Sometimes people find they would rather bake at home in the nice apartment their finance job bought them instead of baking for work and going home to an apartment 2 hours away that you share with 2 other people when you're in your mid-late twenties. That being said, if you're truly passionate about cooking, baking, whatever, all of those things won't matter. I love going to work every day and am always learning and getting better. It's a really exciting and fulfilling job

That's a tough one- depends on the day. Some days I'm in the mood to do petit fours for parties because it's less labor intensive to do small batches of intricate things. If I'm feeling patient and calm on certain days I like making bread... It's really satisfying to see a few simple ingredients turn into hot, fresh amazing bread. Overall I would say bread

1. Not creaming butter/sugar enough - it should be light, fluffy, and room temp
2. over mixing - unless youre creaming butter and sugar first, or adding eggs to butter/sugar - you should pretty much just be mixing things until they are combined.
3. scraping down the bowl every time you add a new ingredient
4. adding one or two eggs at a time and scraping in between - makes a huge difference
5. check your oven temperature!
6. PAM PAM PAM
7. Spin whatever you are baking at least once during baking to cook evenly
8. Invest in a cake tester stick - they're like a .50
9. Weighing things makes a huge difference - Invest in a food scale - they're cheap and can make or break your recipe. A cup to one person is 1.5 cups to another if they've packed it down. Weighing things is the only true way to get the right measurement
10. weigh everything out separately before you start mixing. If you cream butter/sugar/eggs and let it sit there for 15 minutes while you weigh things out it will fall flat and fuck up your recipe. The only time there should be down time between adding ingredients is only if the recipe specifies it
11. Investing in piping bags and 1 simple piping tip can completely change the finished product from amateur looking to professional looking
12. Follow the recipe exactly - directions are not open for interpretation - this isnt cooking people