http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1TAsVVPIB4

From Hector:

This is my take on the Pumpkin Cake with Burnt Orange Silk Meringue Buttercream: If the legend says that you can turn into a pumpkin, why can't a pumpkin turn into a turkey? This fabulous oil-based pumpkin cake recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cakes turned into a turkey when baked in the Nordic Ware 3D 2-piece turkey pan. Let me share with you a glimpse description of this cake, a full write out will be posted later when Hector's Take project launches... stay tuned...

- what can be done better: touch up with ganache some irregularities/bubbles on the feathers, head, neck, etc, so the Laquer Glaze will have better definition.

- what is a miracle: the turkey didn't collapse when standing, in spite of the cake been an oil-based cake and knowing oil never gets hard with refrigeration, as a butter cake would. In fact, I ran out to dinner and left the glazed cake at 74˚F room temperature for about 3 hours, the two halves were glued with just buttercream.

- what is amazing: the rose turkey tail defeats gravity. This is done with the silk meringue buttercream! Roses were individually piped on parchment, frozen, then attached on the turkey tail with the same buttercream. It remained at 74˚F room temperature for at least 2 hours without anything falling!!!! You pipe extra petals between the gaps of the frozen roses for the full quilt look.

I used mac nuts and mac oil, instead of walnuts and safflower and walnut oils, was GREAT.

Happy Thanksgiving month everyone!

For more information about how this cake was constructed, visit http://myyellowkitchen.com

Tuesday, November 3, 11:15 AM East Coast: The Frank DeCaro Show, Sirius XM Radio

Tuesday, November 3, 1:00 PM East Coast: Faith Middleton Show, CT Public Radio, WNPR (taped--will let you know when it airs)

Thursday, November 5, 12:00 PM East Coast" Joan Hamburg WOR Radio 710 HD

Friday, November 6, about 4:30 to 4:45 Enid Goldstein, Enid Live: Michigan's Harbor Country area--106.7 FM, streams on www.radioharborcountry.org, rebroadcast from noon to 1pm eastern on Monday November 9

Saturday, November 7, 2:30 PM East Coast: Cleverley Stone, Houston, CNN Radio

Wednesday, November 11, 2:00 : Dolores Kostelni The Happy Cook Show: WREL

Tuesday, December 1, 12:00 East Coast: Lynne Rossetto Kasper, The Splendid Table

Lemons on sale at Morton WIlliams this morning 3 for $1. I needed only 2 and after some deliberation decided not to go for the special deal and watch the unneeded lemon rot in the frig.

When I went through checkout I paid attention to the price of the two lemons because i was curious and also because that was all I was purchasing. 60 cents! Are people being penalized for purchasing three at a time? You do the math!

Cut Cake Showing the Texture

Plum and Blueberry Up-Side-Down Cake before Baking

Karmel Cake Whole (to show the exceptionally beautiful color of the top crust)

The Lemon Poppy Seed-Sour Cream Cake Whole

Apple-Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake (If you push the crumbs in a little you will get this effect that Woody achieved)

The Cradle Cake Whole (Doesn't it look like Close Encounters of a Third Kind?!)

This Photo is of Me Presenting the Chocolate Tomato Cake for the Campbell's 50th anniversary celebrated at the NY Stock Exchange where they were given the honor of ringing the bell!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry (when I made it for the first time and was trying out different decorating techniques this one reminded me of a starry night.)

The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake Whole

Woody's Magnificent Lacquer Glaze Perfected for the First Time on the Bernachon Palets d'Or Gâteau

Chocolate Velvet Fudge Cake Whole

Classic Carrot Cake Cut (to show texture)

Banana Ripe Enough for a Banana Cake

Table Conversations: Rose Levy Beranbaum

Appétite for Books, located in the beautiful Westmount area about 20 minutes from the center of downtown Montréal, is a very special bookstore offering cookbooks from all around the world. It is most unique in that it has a professional quality kitchen setup as a demo area towards the back of the store. The place provides a most welcoming home to regional and international authors and food lovers from the community and other regions of the province.

It was quite prophetic that the message in a chocolate fortune cookie from dinner at the Chinatown Brasserie in New York City three nights earlier was: “The weekend ahead predicts enjoyment.”

This is the cake I did where the customer was "not too much not too sweet; not too this not too that." I didn't end up doing the meringue sticks as planned because she said they were too sweet so this is what ended up being done. It wasn't stacked in the normal way but it worked.

Well done Luis!

These postings will be every other week and will be arranged according to where the specific cakes appear in the book. I am posting the pumpkin cake first, however, because it is so perfect for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I thought you'd enjoy the beauty of the cake itself still in the pan. I love the way the three curved splits form--almost a pity to hide them with frosting!

Also there wasn't room in the book for the wonderful photo Ben Fink took below of shaping the marzipan leaves. Special thanks to Jason Menegus who provided the original pumpkin leaf from his pumpkin patch. It was difficult finding one that was still in good enough shape as there had already been a first frost. But this one held up long enough to photo copy. I then reduced it to a much smaller size more proportionate to the cake.

And here's the actual photo of the pumpkin leaf to print out and use as a template.

The blog describes itself as "...fuses fashion culture, art and commerce from a New York City perspective for the progressively minded fashion and design community."

Jenifer has just posted this review which is so brilliantly written and such a perfect commentary on today's cookbook scene (or should I say situation?!) that I am sharing it here with this link:

http://www.212dressingroom.com/blog_more.php?id=5174

But let me share a few photos and highlights of this year's event. Woody came from MN to help and enjoy the accolades of the newly published book. The highlight of the 10 days (everything seems to be coming up 10) was the Sweet Event and the Satellite Media Tour (more about that in a few weeks on YouTube).

We arrived early at the Sweet Event to set up our table. I was astonished that the contributed chef's jackets from ChefWear fit perfectly. It's so great that Rochelle is designing chef's jackets for women that fit our curves and don't make us look 20 pounds heavier!

When I was invited to participate in this event and I learned I would need to produce about 1000 tastings. I declined until the next day when I remembered that dear Jean François Bonnet of Tumbador chocolate had a wonderful recipe--the chocolate ingots--in the new book and a company that could produce the samples that I in my city apartment could not. He graciously agreed to provide what turned out to be 850 little chocolate ingots. How innocent they looked. Tiny firm brown rectangles that exploded with intense flavor and surprisingly moist texture. I loved watching people'e eyes widen as they experienced them.

Our table cloth was brown, the tasting plates clear plastic, and the brown ingots (financiers) blended right in. Ron Ben Israel saved the day by bringing over these beautiful roses from his display. (Ron is the most brilliant cake decorator and is a long time dear and generous friend.)

Of course we had to go over to his booth and thank him--also to see the spectacular wedding cake on display and taste his two delicious samples--a pumpkin cake and a coconut cake.

TV shows always ask for a tape of performances to access how well an author is able to perform. Having a compilation of vignettes over the years was very helpful when touring the country with a new book. Now-a-days satellite media tours called SMTs are favored over traveling to different cities as they save everyone time, money, and energy. They're actually pretty grueling as various stations sign up and make appointments with the producer and every 10 minutes or so the author goes live via satellite, doing the same demo but answering varying questions from the host of the specific station. Buy it only lasts for about four hours as opposed to two weeks so well worth doing.

I hope you enjoy viewing this tape just to get an idea of what the shows were like when I did go on location.

I hope by now you've all bought or checked out from the library Maggie's wonderful book Artisan Baking. It's worth it for this recipe alone--The Royal Crown's Tortano, which is one of my very favorite breads. I was enticed to make it by the description that it had holes the size of radishes!

A small amount of potato and honey give the crust a magnificent rustic color and wonderful depth of flavor.

There is the most minute amount of yeast (0.3%) which means that the dough rises long and slow developing still more flavor. If these pictures don't tempt you I don't know what will!

I never expected to have a true and totally reliable assistant to work with me on developing and perfecting recipes, least of all one who lives several states away. But the universe can offer surprising gifts and thanks to the modern technology of the internet and digital cameras, my newest book has had the great benefit of the presence of Woody Wolston. For those of you who are curious about how such an amazing arrangement came to be, I have asked Woody to come forward and write about it from his perspective.