I’ll check that one out – does it use almond paste?
Nope, just almond flour and some slivered almonds on top (which I now realize i forgot to add!)
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Gorgeous, and what a lovely combo!
Cream puffs for my Valentine, to be filled tomorrow. I fill with vanilla pudding made with half & half instead of milk, ooh smooth and sweet.
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I was reading up on the Richard Sax chocolate meringue cloud cake, and it took me down a rabbit hole that led to RLB’s Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte and I am now slightly obsessed (and thinking about how far down it would scale to allow me to make a “personal” sized version 
)
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Do it! RLB’s is a wonderful cake. I’ve made it many times and covered it with rolled fondant for wedding anniversary cakes, and for two wedding cakes. Of course, I don’t have the finesse of RLB, so my work is crude by comparison.
I’ve scaled it up, but not down.
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Bialys! My preference over bagels, in fact, not a bagel lover anymore. But bialys are hard to come by and these were quite good. I’ve probably made 4-5 different recipes and these are pretty close to ideal although I might reduce the size a bit. Nice taste due to long fermentation and long rise, from the book, “Inside the Jewish Bakery”.
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Gorgeous!
Funny story: I stopped in at the grocery store last week on my way to mailing a mini care package to a college kid, because it struck me that I could add a 6-pack of bialys (which he loves) for a buck or two more in shipping, and since it was way below freezing, they would arrive frozen 
.
Well, I couldn’t find them, and the store manager and the section manager both looked at me blankly when I asked if they had moved them: “no, we don’t sell those”. Yes you do, I buy them here all the time. “No we don’t.”
Then I realized neither of them knew what product I was talking about 
. So I said “flatter bagel” to the section manager — and boom! He came back with the last 2 6-packs.
“We call these BAILEYS the next time you’re asking” was his instruction to me as I left. Ok then.
(By then the store manager had also asked Siri what a bialy was, and was reading out the response to me and showing me the photos that came up.)
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I’m a little disappointed in Sunshine’s Valentines Day Cake. She changed her mind and wanted a vanilla cake with chocolate icing, which was easy enough. I screwed up trying to decorate it. I wanted to stripe it in pink lines of icing, but I made the icing a little too this and it ran. I was able to put a pink heart (thicker icing) in the center, but the stripes are disappointing. I know Sunshine will eat it anyway, but I really wanted a pretty Valentine’s Day Cake. 
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“A” for Effort. Keep practicing!
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She’s going to be thrilled, but if it’s really bothering you, you could make up some white or pink glace icing / powdered sugar glaze and either go over those lines, or make a cross pattern / drizzle that distracts from what’s making you unhappy. It’s just powdered sugar and water or milk, so you can play with it.
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She was and already cut it. I showed her my mistake and her response was “Looks good to me, I want a piece” I told her it wasn’t Valentine’s Day, yet. She still wanted a piece, so I cut the cake. She very much enjoyed it, albeit a day early.
Thanks for the tip and yes, that would have been the perfect fix.
Yes, I have no idea why I beating myself up about it not being perfect. At the end of the day my Sunshine is happily enjoying her Valentine’s Cake.
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That is a priceless story! I’m glad your persistence paid off!
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My vote is for this #2.
This book has been on my watch list for a number of years. This is the first sighting.
The book was put together by Stanley Ginsberg to preserve the work and knowledge of Norman Berg , a baker from the Bronx who had enormous knowledge of Jewish baking. He was unfortunately, ill at the time and this was a bit of a rush to capture the wonderful bakery products of that genre. He was also a contributor to the Fresh Loaf for a short period of time. The book itself, was deligent in its scope but occasional errors crept into weight measurements, although nothing critical that I’ve come across. I actually haven’t used the book in quite some time. Maybe your library system could get a copy for you.
ETA…I’ve got a lot of pencil comments in the book, so I must have used it more than I recall.
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This is the first time I’ve heard of bialys. What’s the texture like? I’ve never liked bagels as I find them too chewy.
Nothing so far for Valentines. I was making cinnamon rolls for this morning. Mixed the dough and thought , my its as hard as a rock. OK. I will proof it anyway. Turned around and there were the eggs I was suppose to add in. Might try again today.
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Well I have to say that bialys are chewy also but not in the same way as a bagel. Bagels have a slightly denser consistency, these are a bit lighter, the bialy crumb is springy with a thin crust; both are made with bread flour.
Bialys are pretty much only available in the Metropolitan NYC area and I’m afraid they are becoming a dinosaur in the world of over inflated bagels .
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