It seems that many of you are not understanding the way I write some of my recipes, I know this is true with many of the older recipes we did when Crumb Boss TV was just being born! So the earlier blogs may be a bit more confusing, as I am trying real hard to convert my recipes from my chicken scratch shorthand written on index cards in my recipe file into a more legible friendly recipe for you all to read.

I have stopped writing 10X sugar when talking about Confectioners sugar even though this is how I write it for myself in every recipe I own! I have been trying to rememeber to write out Vanilla EXTRACT instead of just vanilla X (although I thought that was pretty self explanatory, who knew?) At any rate, let me clear up the most asked questions I get daily:

LARGE T = Tablespoon
small t= teaspoon
Vanilla X, or any X for that matter = Extract (orange X, Almond X and so on)
c = cup
oz = ounce
lb = pound
AP= All Purpose Flour

Also: sometimes I write .5 (point five) this means HALF –
So if I write 1.5c – That means one and a half cups
I don’t know, I thought some of this stuff was pretty universal, but I guess I have a language all my own!

BUTTER: In America it comes in STICKS, 4 sticks to equal 1lb, so that means each stick is 4oz or 8 Tablespoons

Chocolate Chips= Chocolate Chips, like Hershey’s or whatever brand you like to put in your chocolate chip cookies.
When I say REAL Chocolate or Baking Chocolate I mean Couverture, please check out my next Blog titled CHOCOLATE 101 it willhelp clear up some of that confusion, I HOPE.
**NOTE**chocolate chips are not always recommended as a substitute for melted baking chocolate. Because most chocolate chips are designed to retain their shape when baking, they contain less cocoa butter than baking chocolate. This can make them more difficult to work with in melted form

I get many requests to convert the recipes from the most popular volume measure. I do not prefer this standard of measurement either, I would much prefer to keep all my recipes in weights to begin with, but majority rules so we do volume measure, cups and spoons. I cannot convert the recipes back for you all, I am sorry but I can barely keep up with blogging the recipe one way. For help with this, simply GOOGLE recipe conversions and you will have you answer in seconds.
Here’s the deal about American Measuring Cups:
A liquid cup and a solid cup are exactly the same size. This can be easily verified by measuring a cup of water in a liquid measuring cup and pouring it into a one-cup dry measuring cup: they take up the same amount of space. AND thats dry measure is the same amount of ounces but ONLY depending on what you are weighing. In the case of water, or most liquids, you will be lucky to know that a cup of water is 8ounces, so you would naturally think that ANYTHING you measure in a cup will then be 8 ounces, WRONG! If you are to weight let’s say a cup of flour from that same measuring cup, it is NOT 8 ounces, it is not even close to 8 ounces. They do not weigh the same amounts. So please please please to have success with my recipes I encourage you (if you are not at all familiar with the crappy american way of measuring) to be sure you have converted your measures to whatever system you may be using.

I hope this helps! Thanks so much for watching CrumbBoss TV! Keep up the great work and dont forget to post your creations on facebook Crumb Boss page!

I tend to get alot of the same questions over and again on many of the recipes here on Crumb Boss.
I know that some recipes on here have over a hundred comments/questions but I do always try to answer each and everyone of them.
So I find myself saying the same thing ALOT.
I would recommend each time, that if you have a question on a certain recipe chances are that someone else before you had the same question and theres an a better chance that I answered it somewhere along the line.
So please quickly go throught the comments section on the videos to see if you can troubleshoot your problem and find my answer before asking it again.

HOWEVER, I find that many people ask about butter alot. Butter is so different all over the world and even from one state (here in the US) to the next. So, with a little help from my new favorite book The Modern Cafe – Franciso Migoya- Pastry Chef/Instructor at my alma matter The Culinary Institute of America I have explained butter in a way that I hope makes it a bit easier to understand. I went a little off the subject when I got to the Laminated Dough section, But I tend to do that from time to time, so I didnt edit it out!

Oh yeah, one more thing, while I have your attention, you may want to check out Measurements 101 Blog on here too from a couple months ago. I get so many measuring questions from all over the world, so this too will clear up some confusion- I HOPE!

BUTTER:
Not all butters are the same.
Milk is poured into a machine called a separator. The cream rises to the top and is skimmed off and pasteurized. Some manufacturers will let it sit overnight to stabilize which controls the crystallization of the fat, which in turn determines the consistency of the butter.
The liquid that remains in the separator is skim milk. Once the heavy cream has been pasteurized and the fat has crystallized, it is transferred to a churn anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how quickly or slowly the liquid separated from the milk solids. In the churn the solids are separated from the liquid that remains which is now called buttermilk. The resulting fat solids are now mixed to form the finished product- BUTTER.
Premium butters will contain at least 82% fat
Some butters are more elastic than others, which means they can be stretched to a certain extend before they crack. This quality is called plasticity. This does not mean spread ability like for example how easily it goes on a piece of bread I am speaking in advanced pastry terminology here, and the best way to understand what I mean by plasticity is for those of you whom have made a LAMINATED DOUGH such as Croissant Dough. Puff Pastry Dough or Danish Pastry Dough. These doughs all require that the butter be rolled and folded in between layers of dough. The dough goes through an intense process of rolling and folding several times. In this process of rolling and stretching both the dough and the butter together, the more PLASTICITY the butter has in your roll-in, the easier time you will have achieving the delicate balance of butter consistency to dough consistency which is the main key in creating a perfect laminated dough. If the butter is too hard and tends to crack easily, so will your dough as you roll it in.
BUT, let’s stick to the most basic question I get here on the Swiss Buttercream recipe as most Crumb Boss fans are not making laminated doughs but instead they seem to be making fabulous cakes with my Swiss buttercream recipe!
“Why did my buttercream “break” or have a lot of moisture in the bowl that doesn’t seem to incorporate in?”
The lower the fat content in the butter, the higher the water content will be, thus making some problems for some people here with too much “liquid” or moisture in their buttercream. I have read some comments where people complain that their buttercream has separated, and became liquidy at the bottom. This is what I mean when I say it has “broke”.
I would turn my suspicions to the quality, or should I say the fat content of the butter as the culprit for this. So, if this helps the higher the fat content the “better the quality”. And the better your buttercream will be. And remember ALWAYS USE UNSALTED BUTTER IN PASTRY UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED. Salted butter by nature has a higher moisture content.

Hey Everybody! Crumb Boss! More ways to EAT BROWNIES!! What could be better!??
We are BUILDING ON RECIPES!!! So what you will need here is the brownie recipe that we did last year and the chocolate chip cookie dough recipe we did for chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, HOWEVER– You will NOT be adding the buttercream to the cookie dough the way we did for the cupcakes.

SO pretty easy guys, make your brownie,a nd make your cookie dough, dip in some chocolate and there you have it! BING BAM BOOM!

Fudge Brownies:
Yield 1/2 Sheet Pan (standard Cookie Sheet size)

Ap Flour 1c
Baking Powder 1.5tsp.
Salt 3/4 tsp

Unsweetened Chocolate 6oz
Semi Sweet Chocolate 6oz
Butter unsalted 2 sticks

Sugar 3c
Eggs 6
Vanilla X 2Tbs.

Half Sheet Pan – Greased and lined with parchment paper
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Combine the sugar and the eggs and vanilla in your kitchen aid mixer with the PADDLE attaachment and mix on medium speed until well combiined.
Meanwhile in a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and the chocolates together, slowly to not scorch. In the microwave on med power 15 Seconds at a time and stirring between each 15 second interval.
Sift all the dry ingredients together, set aside.
Once egg mixture is mixed (DO NOT WHIP OR OVERBEAT- DO NOT AERATE)
You may then add the melted chocolate butter mixtuer to the mixer bowl. return to low speed just to combine well.
Add all of the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until everything is JUST incorporated. You do not want to overmix here especially as this will create a tough end result, and you want a more cake-like consistency.
Pour entire batter in prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until toothpick insertedinto center yields a moist crumb. Approximately 25 minutes.

Cookie Dough
Yield 2 cups dough
REMEMBER- You will NOT be adding the buttercream to the cookie dough the way we did for the cupcakes in the video, just mix the dough the same way and then spread it on top of your baked, cooled brownie

Butter 4oz (1 stick)
Sugar 1/2c
Brown SUgar 1/2 c
Milk 1/4 c
Vanilla X 1 tsp
AP Flour 1cup
Mini Chocolate Chips 1/2c

O R E O! Can’t go wrong with OREOS!! Put ‘em in everything and you’ll be a rock star!
BUILDING ON RECIPES- how easy is this?? See?? If you stuck with Crumb Boss from the beginning, we covered alot of material last year with all of our base recipes, now that we have that under our belts its smooth sailing from here!! Start throwing stuff together asn see what you copme up with!!

For this recipe, you will need:

Brownie Recipe
Buttercream Recipe
Ganache
Oreos

Fudge Brownies:
Yield 1/2 Sheet Pan (standard Cookie Sheet size)

Ap Flour 1c
Baking Powder 1.5tsp.
Salt 3/4 tsp

Unsweetened Chocolate 6oz
Semi Sweet Chocolate 6oz
Butter unsalted 2 sticks

Sugar 3c
Eggs 6
Vanilla X 2Tbs.

Half Sheet Pan – Greased and lined with parchment paper
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Combine the sugar and the eggs and vanilla in your kitchen aid mixer with the PADDLE attaachment and mix on medium speed until well combiined.
Meanwhile in a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and the chocolates together, slowly to not scorch. In the microwave on med power 15 Seconds at a time and stirring between each 15 second interval.
Sift all the dry ingredients together, set aside.
Once egg mixture is mixed (DO NOT WHIP OR OVERBEAT- DO NOT AERATE)
You may then add the melted chocolate butter mixtuer to the mixer bowl. return to low speed just to combine well.
Add all of the dry ingredients at once and mix on low until everything is JUST incorporated. You do not want to overmix here especially as this will create a tough end result, and you want a more cake-like consistency.
Pour entire batter in prepared pan and bake in preheated oven until toothpick insertedinto center yields a moist crumb. Approximately 25 minutes.

SWISS BUTTERCREAM RECIPE:
Fresh Large Egg Whites 6each
White Sugar 12oz

Confectioners Sugar 8oz

Shortening 6oz
Butter 1lb

Vanilla Extract 1T

***THIS RECIPE CAN BE STORED 4 days room temp, 2 weeks fridge, 2 months freezer

GANACHE RECIPE:
Yield 3 cups

Semi Sweet Chocolate 8oz
Apricot Jelly 4T
Milk 1/2 c
Heavy Cream 1/4 c
Corn Syrup 2T

Hey Everybody! Crumb Boss is BACK! FinallY! Its as if we have not filmed in a million years! But today we got alot in, and our theme was BBQ style, out-doorsy type parties, BUFFET STYLE dessert tables. So this recipe, as well as a couple others (like Cheesecake Balls and Strawberry Shortcake Kebobs) are all meant to work together to help you pull off serving alot of people in a little bit of time, with showstopping table persentations!
Be sure to check out the other videos related to this theme and I gaurantee you will have an easy time preparing your summer parties!

Remember we are BUILDING on RECIPES that we have already covered, so I have attached the base recipes that you will need to execute this, simply combine then the way I showed you and you are on your way.

For this platter, you will need:

1 recipe Chocolate COokie Dough from the Cookie Dough Cupcake video below- YOU WILL NOT BE MIXING IN THE BUTTERCREAM though (unless of course you want to, no harm if you do, but I DID NOT FOR THE DIP)

1 recipe NEW Improved Cookie Dough to make cookies to resemble Crackers for dipping. Be creative, roll them into cracker like shapes or round “chip” shapes. Have fun with it!

1 recipe Italian Butter Spritz for dipping, you will not be sandwiching these cookies as shown in the Italian Butter Spritz video, it is not necessary to do it here, you just want to resemble CRACKERS for dipping!

Yield 2 cups dough

Butter 4oz (1 stick)
Sugar 1/2c
Brown SUgar 1/2 c
Milk 1/4 c
Vanilla X 1 tsp
AP Flour 1cup
Mini Chocolate Chips 1/2c

Italian Butter Cookies:
Yield 2Lbs of dough

Butter 7oz
Shortning 7oz

Confectioners Sugar 1c + 2T
Egg Whites 4

Almond Paste 3oz
Salt pinch
Almond X 1t
Vanilla X 1 t
AP Flour 3 1/4 c

Cookie Dough – Yield approx 2lbs

Butter 8oz
Confectioners Sugar 1cup
Egg Yolks 6
Whole Eggs 2
AP Flour 3 cups

Hey Everybody! Crumb Boss here, with some basic chocolate info I promised a while back and realized I never posted it! Wooops! Sorry! I considered writing my own explanation about it, but I happened upon a really great company called Chocoley you should check out their website at http://www.chocoley.com/index.htm
They have a the best explanation I have seen regarding demsytifying chocolate for baking and covering. AND they sell some really great products as well!

Chocolate 101

Chocolate is divided into two distinct categories:
real chocolate and compound chocolate.

Both real chocolate and compound chocolate are chocolate – the difference is the type of lipid (fat) or oil used in the production of the product.

Real chocolate contains cocoa butter, which is extracted from the cocoa or cacao bean. Cocoa butter is an expensive ingredient which has some unusual characteristics or quirks. Because of the nature of cocoa butter, real chocolate requires going through a special procedure during the melting process called tempering, which re-establishes the cocoa butter crystals, giving the cooled and finished chocolate the proper sheen, snap and taste. Additionally, and of vital importance, tempering prevents bloom, where the cocoa butter separates from the cocoa solids and comes to the surface, turning the chocolate whitish or grayish in color. If you are making candy or dipping items that won’t be consumed within a day or so, tempering is absolutely mandatory for all real chocolate.

Real chocolate is subdivided into three categories based on the quality of the product (quality of the cocoa beans) and most importantly, the cocoa butter content: regular chocolate, couverture chocolate, and ultra couverture chocolate.

Regular Chocolate – typically in chocolate chip form, regular chocolate is sweetened with sugar, is generally made from moderate quality cocoa beans, and has a very low cocoa butter content and a high viscosity (thickness when in a melted state). Generally used in baking (i.e. chocolate chip cookies), regular chocolate holds its shape and is not the best choice when molding, dipping or enrobing.

Another form of regular chocolate is unsweetened blocks or bars of baking chocolate (also called plain chocolate), which generally has a relatively low cocoa butter content and doesn’t require tempering when used in normal baking applications.

Couverture Chocolate – the term couverture translates to “covering” and refers to the finest professional quality chocolate. It is produced with a high percentage of cocoa butter and uses premium cacao beans. It melts smoothly, making it ideal for specialty candy making and molding. When tempered and cooled, it forms an elegant glossy finish.

Ultra Couverture Chocolate – is equal in quality to couverture chocolate, but with an even higher cocoa butter content. Due to the higher cocoa butter content and very low viscosity, it is the perfect chocolate for dipping and enrobing. Few manufacturers are able to successfully produce this type of chocolate because of the difficulty in balancing the higher cocoa butter content while retaining superb taste and texture. When tempered and cooled, it forms a thin and elegant glossy shell.

Compound Chocolate – contains vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter and tempering is not required. Home hobbyists and professionals alike have utilized compound chocolate due to its ease of use and lower price.

Hey Everybody! Youthought buttercream in your life was the most important thing? Well, here is MY most important thing, BROWNIE CUPCAKES. OMG! This is amazing!
Lets get right to it!

Yield 4 Jumbo or 8 standard size

AP Flour 1/2 c
Cocoa Powder 1 1/2T
salt 1/4t

Butter 4oz
Semi Sweet BAKING chocolate 2oz

Sugar 3/4c
Eggs 2
Vanilla X 1/2t

Bake 350 until they are DONE!! Toothpick inserted into the center with MOIST crumbs not liquidy batter.

Hey Everybody! CARAMEL sauce! Not carmel sauce like Steph calls it! IS HERE! I cannot stress enough how dangerous this can be! Cooking sugar to over 300degrees is not beginner stuff! Please please be careful!

I included both videos here but part one s just alot of us talking, as the cooking of the sugar took almost the whole 10 minutes, and we had to cut to part 2. So part 2 is the actual informational video and how to instruction, however there are alkot of good points I make in part one if you care to watch it and listen to me and Steph banter back and forthe for 10 minutes, some people HATE that, but some of you are amused by our idiosy, so watch if you want to, but part 2 is where you will get the most info.

Yield 2cups

Sugar 3/4c
Water 3oz
Lemon 1/2 as needed
Heavy Cream at room temperature 1c
Vanilla X 1tsp
Butter 2oz

**Remember to cool this for at least half a day in order for it to become THICK like a real caramel, of course you can use it straight away with no trouble. Store in the refridgerator for up to 10 days

Hey Everybody! Hola! Bienvenido a Crumb Boss TV! Hoy, Yo quiero ayudate come hacer la receta Tres Leches! Jajajajaja!
In the video I mentioned the recipe, not sure if anyone caught that, but for the first time I actually told you the recipe! Its so simple really! For the small sized bundt cake I used OR the regular sized loaf pan that I showed, the recipe is just 1/2 cup EACH od Evaporated Milk, Sweetened Condensed Milk and any milk of your choice. I used HEavy Cream, but you could use Half and Hlaf, 2% SKIM if you so choose.
I used my recipe of vanilla cake as it acts as a perfect sponge to soak up all of that wonderful liquid!
Bon Appetit! Oh wait, thats French.

Hey Everybody!  There is a story to go with this video!  This was a 2 Part video series, the first one being a demonstration on how to make these beautiful sugar eggs pictured in this Part 2 video, but we LOST the video, it got deleted by accident, never to return to this world again!  How sad, it was terrible.  I was so upset because the sugar Faberge Egg took me DAYS to prep!  AND they came out so beautiful!  So not only was it devestating to have lost the video,but since it was a 2 part series, we could not even load up Part 2 because how can you have a Part 2 without a Part 1????

So coincidentally we are having our Crumb Boss Video Contest right now.  I asked Cissy Hopping (Our facebook President of Crumb Boss page) to come to the rescue and film the making of the Faberge Easter Sugar Eggs as her video project!  YAY for Cissy Hopping!  She did a fabulous job making her sugar eggs and demonstrating the video!  AND we were able to save part 2 the making of the Chocolate Nests for your Easter Centerpiece!  SO  with all that said, Please enjoy the videos, and I hope you attempt to make your OWN Faberge Eggs for Easter this year!

The recipe for the eggs is as follows:

1lb Superfine (or regular) Sugar

1 1/2 T Water

Food Color of your choice**you will also need to make royal icing to decorate these eggs, please search Royal Icing on here to get to that video.