[~SWEETwhispers~]

The anti-christ of cooking (with her right hand man, Rachel Ray!)

What's wrong with Rachel Ray?

[AngelAngel]

D: She cooks that terrible?!
So I've decided to just use the cake mix and I'm going to bake cupcakes but I really don't want to use the store bought frosting. Is buttercream heavy?
I want a cream/frosting that isn't too sweet or heavy.

um...I supose buttercream is kinda heavy, if you think it is too heavy you can sort of fold some whipped cream into it...

What's wrong with Rachel Ray?

Oh...this is going to be slightly long...

She, represents all that is wrong with food network, they used to have real chefs that introduced the world to good food but then she came and people like her because she is mediocre, like them. Her show sends the message that, you can't cook, it's alright, you can always settle. She is just so absolutely bad at cooking. And she has no idea what she talks about.

Like she always uses extra-virgin olive oil, but you can't use that for cooking. Extra-virgin olive oil is prized for its flavor but it has a horribly slow smoke point which mean it will burn and become bitter at a low temperature. You use it for salads and toppings but you don't cook with it, EVER. You may notice that most of the things she cooks tend to burn? Yea.

Oh and her recipes, a hot dog salad? A HOT DOG SALAD?! There's also the hot dog in hamburger patty and those "dumplings" that looks like a quesadilla. Oh that's another thing, she won't stop butchering my culture. Like she thinks sesame oil and soy sauce is the epitome of Chinese cooking (it's not). And then she had the audacity to say Chinese food is FATTENING when her own food looks like the oily face of an unfortunate teenager. Oh, and someone once did a comparison with her chicken strips and McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, even the McNuggets were healthier!

Then there's the fact that she's annoying, her voice is soooooooo grating and she keeps telling me that if I don't like a certain food, I am wrong! Well excuse me?! And why must it always be smoky cumin, why not regular cumin?! And she keeps using such annoying nicknames for her food =.=.

I can go on forever but Anthony Bourdain (<3!) says it quite nicely: Complain all you want. It's like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can't cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She's selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She's a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that "Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!" Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, "Hell...I could do that. I ain't gonna...but I could--if I wanted! Now where's my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?" Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better--teach us--and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. "You're doing just fine. You don't even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing...Just sit there. Have another Triscuit..Sleep...sleep..."

[suki_*]

^^^

nicely put for ms.rachel ray.

she has her own talk show!

as for the evoo thing, so true! even her salads are so fattening with the presence of using evoo when it's suppose to be more healthy...

that's the problem with fast meals and semi-homemade foods... you take so many short cuts from foods purchased from the store...like sandra lee says "70% store bought and 30% fresh ingredients" wtf is 30% fresh ingredients? lol her spices and ice cubes that goes into her cocktails.

anyways, that 70% of store bought food makes up for all the unhealthy calories and preservatives that people will be eating every meal if they slack off like that. hardwork pays off, cooking is too much fun to take short cuts, people just won't feel the same amount of satisfaction making something from short cuts compared to making it from scratch.

it's like going on a semi-diet when eating is 70% and diet and excersize is 30% ... it's not gonna work or lose you any weight!

[l3abie-ish]

oh my god Rachel Ray! I can ignore the horrible recipes but the stupid hand gestures and the ```yummo`` and ``sammies``...it drives me crazy.

[sunnydayysx3]

I'm thinking about baking cupcakes from scratch now, so are there any easy recipes out there that don't require a lot of ingredients like vanilla? What goes good with french vanilla cupcakes whether its cake mix or home made? Recipe please I'm thinking about doing http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-ne...cipe/index.html or http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocola...cipe/index.html or a ganache but I thought you soompiers out there would have great forsting recipes that I might be able to do (: Is it alright if I do a ganache (http://www.foodnetwo...ipe/index.html) for the cupcakes even though my friend might not eat it right away until she gets home, which is about 6 hours after I give it to her? If I do Suki's strawberry buttercream recipe on page 8, would it go well with the cupcakes? Is the buttercream overly sweet? Do I have to use strawberries, and how do I sift confectioner's sugar if I don't have a sifter? Can I use a oil cover like this one: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006VA7..._V55215384_.jpg
Does the butter need to be salted, how long are 2 sticks, and if I buy butter that's unsalted, do I still need the salt?

Edit - I browsed around some more and saw this frosting http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/02...hocolate-icing/
Should I use it and does anyone know if it'll harden after a couple of hours? or http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Cocoa-Whipped-Cream-Icing or http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Strawberry-Cream-Filling
Has anybody tried the cupcake recipes on Wilton.com? It doesn't have reviews so I'm hesitant and I need your advice!
so many to choose from!

[AngelAngel]

I'm thinking about baking cupcakes from scratch now, so are there any easy recipes out there that don't require a lot of ingredients like vanilla? What goes good with french vanilla cupcakes whether its cake mix or home made? Recipe please I'm thinking about doing http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-ne...cipe/index.html or http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocola...cipe/index.html or a ganache but I thought you soompiers out there would have great forsting recipes that I might be able to do (: Is it alright if I do a ganache (http://www.foodnetwo...ipe/index.html) for the cupcakes even though my friend might not eat it right away until she gets home, which is about 6 hours after I give it to her? If I do Suki's strawberry buttercream recipe on page 8, would it go well with the cupcakes? Is the buttercream overly sweet? Do I have to use strawberries, and how do I sift confectioner's sugar if I don't have a sifter? Can I use a oil cover like this one: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006VA7..._V55215384_.jpg
Does the butter need to be salted, how long are 2 sticks, and if I buy butter that's unsalted, do I still need the salt?

2 sticks is approximately 250 grams or 8 ounces or a cup. Never buy salted butter and if the recipe says you need salt you need salt. But don't buy salted butter, you don't know the amount they put in so you can't control the salt intake, it might be too salty.

[bananaa]

I just finished eating a huge dinner and now I want cupcakes.. >-<
thanks for the post though :]

[pandriuma]

do macarons count as cake-ish?
does anybody have recipes for fillings?

[__CHINA.DOLL]

URGENT HELP T__________T

its my friend's birthday in two weeks , && her birthday is on a school day.. i have first period with her so i decided to bake her something?
i was thinking something that is just ONE portion? since its HER special day.. can someone give me any ideas?
i was thinking of making her tiramisu in a cup.. & sticking a candle & those sparklers in there? but would that be effective? since.. T_____T the cake is soft.. wouldn't the things sink in?

[suki_*]

^^^

sounds good!

since ur making it in the morning it won't sink~ good luck!! it looks yummy already!

[justwildbeat]

its my friend's birthday in two weeks , && her birthday is on a school day.. i have first period with her so i decided to bake her something?
i was thinking something that is just ONE portion? since its HER special day.. can someone give me any ideas?
i was thinking of making her tiramisu in a cup.. & sticking a candle & those sparklers in there? but would that be effective? since.. T_____T the cake is soft.. wouldn't the things sink in?

It's a cute choice If you are worried about the layers sinking you could always wake up early that morning to assemble it. Just make sure to prepare/set up most of your ingredients the night before.

[Deframer]

Hey guys quick question about apple/apple tarts/tarte tatin,

I'm having trouble with the sauce; I can usually get the tarte to come out just right, but since the first time I made it I've never been able to quite get the caramelized syrup/sauce with it. This last time the apples were perfectly cooked but for some odd reason it was extremely dry, despite having added extra sugar when making the caramel in the first step. The first time I did this, the apples came out fine *and* a great, thick clear apple caramel came out with it :S

Any hints?

[~SWEETwhispers~]

AngelAngel: Wow, I never knew! I'm not too fond of cooking which is why I had nooo idea that you aren't supposed to use extra virgin olive oil to cook with.

[mpham725]

I tried making tiramisu today i didn't have enough mascarpone cheese... I'm not sure how it tastes yet because i wanted it to sit in the fridge overnight before I try it...

[eternal_bliss]

I tried making tiramisu today i didn't have enough mascarpone cheese... I'm not sure how it tastes yet because i wanted it to sit in the fridge overnight before I try it...

You could have used a substitute. An easy one I use when I don't have enough or if it was too expensive is this:
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, softened

----

I'm just curious but what are your cupcake/frosting pairings that you like? (I love cream cheese frosting on red velvet cake!)

[mpham725]

Thanks! I'll give that a try. :-)

[mango_love]

i just posted it on the what i baked/cooked today thread, but i made this for my best friend's birthday.



i'm a noob with fondant, so be easy on me!

[PhuongNguyen]

Hi guys, my boyfriend's birthday is coming this Friday and I've been looking at a bunch of baking recipe but I still have a bit of questions I need to ask, please help me out. = (

First off, for a little side info, this is my second time baking a cake, and well... what I do is just buy those cake mix from Wal-mart. Of course, I know that making one from scratch would taste a lot better, however... I don't think I'm talented enough to pull that off so I'm planning to buy the pre-made box. I'm planning to get a strawberry and a vanilla flavored, and I plan to make a double layer cake... do you guys think that's a good idea? Will the 2 flavors make it taste funky?

Anyways, so what I'm planning is to make the bottom layer vanilla, while the top layer is going to be strawberry. In-between the layers, I plan to put frosting with fresh strawberry mixed in it, then I'll cover the whole cake with frosting also. Top the cake off with fresh strawberries, peaches, grapes, kiwi, raspberry, and marshmallow (Eh... dunno about the marshmallow yet, but it seems kind of yummy?). Do you guys think that it's too much fruits? And is the marshmallow a good idea?

And as for frosting, because I find that cake frosting are too sweet at times (plus, the cake is already sweet to begin with), I plan to buy whip cream (the ones that comes in a spray can), and mix it with those pre-made frosting... is that a good idea? I read somewhere that I can also use pudding as a substitute; which one do you think would be a better idea? Like I said... I never bake a cake before so I really don't know what's bad and what's good. Please help me out, I'm so nervous right now! I'm afraid I'll ruin the birthday cake and no one is going to want to eat it, haha!

In case people are a bit confuse, I'll post pictures of the things I'm planning to use:

The cake mix:



The frosting:




These are the exact brands and types that I plan to use for my cake. If anyone have bad experiences with them or have another brand they think would be better, please feel free to recommend it. I hope to hear from you guys soon. = (

[suki_*]

Hi guys, my boyfriend's birthday is coming this Friday and I've been looking at a bunch of baking recipe but I still have a bit of questions I need to ask, please help me out. = (

First off, for a little side info, this is my second time baking a cake, and well... what I do is just buy those cake mix from Wal-mart. Of course, I know that making one from scratch would taste a lot better, however... I don't think I'm talented enough to pull that off so I'm planning to buy the pre-made box. I'm planning to get a strawberry and a vanilla flavored, and I plan to make a double layer cake... do you guys think that's a good idea? Will the 2 flavors make it taste funky?

Anyways, so what I'm planning is to make the bottom layer vanilla, while the top layer is going to be strawberry. In-between the layers, I plan to put frosting with fresh strawberry mixed in it, then I'll cover the whole cake with frosting also. Top the cake off with fresh strawberries, peaches, grapes, kiwi, raspberry, and marshmallow (Eh... dunno about the marshmallow yet, but it seems kind of yummy?). Do you guys think that it's too much fruits? And is the marshmallow a good idea?

And as for frosting, because I find that cake frosting are too sweet at times (plus, the cake is already sweet to begin with), I plan to buy whip cream (the ones that comes in a spray can), and mix it with those pre-made frosting... is that a good idea? I read somewhere that I can also use pudding as a substitute; which one do you think would be a better idea? Like I said... I never bake a cake before so I really don't know what's bad and what's good. Please help me out, I'm so nervous right now! I'm afraid I'll ruin the birthday cake and no one is going to want to eat it, haha!

In case people are a bit confuse, I'll post pictures of the things I'm planning to use:

The cake mix:
[img]https://www.wegmans....51500700402.jpg[/im]
[img]https://www.wegmans....51500701003.jpg[/ig]

The frosting:
[img]http://www.wired.com..._coolwhip_m.jpg[/ig]
[img]http://images.plumgo...108/lg/9232.jpg[img]
[img]http://images.plumgo...ream/lg/831.jpg[/im]

These are the exact brands and types that I plan to use for my cake. If anyone have bad experiences with them or have another brand they think would be better, please feel free to recommend it. I hope to hear from you guys soon. = (

sounds good, let us know how it goes. no need for help really just read the boxes and go with the direction you have already.

amazing mario cake mango_love!!!! it's so cute!

[sunnydayysx3]

How long can whipped cream go without refrigeration? Does butter cream needed to be refrigerated? Suki, how does your strawberry butter cream taste like? I'm debating on whether to use your strawberry buttercream or baking bites strawberry whipped cream on white almond sour cream cupcakes: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2009/02/stra...eam-recipe.html

Anybody here tried baking wasc before?

Edit: Suki, does your strawberry butter cream need to use a paddle? The only thing I have is a hand held mixer and a whisk ):