These days the European Union is being looked at as an inept "taste police" by many chefs and food enthusiasts. While working in the cheese industry, I spoke with many French cheese makers who felt threatened by the strict laws regarding cheese aging facilities and feared anti-raw milk legislation. This week, bakers in Germany were angered by a proposed regulation on the salt content in their products.

An article from the New York Times states that Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner for health, decided on Wednesday to postpone making a decision on new regulations due to the intense reaction from the German bakers, represented by a federal association and by regional lobbies. Commission spokeswoman, Nina Papadoulaki, defends the EU by claiming, "Our aim is to provide consumers with better information so that they can make informed choices. The commission has no intentions of prohibiting any bread. We have decided to continue our talks with the stakeholders."

It seems that one of the major issues that's not being addressed by the EU, thus far, is the preservation of cultural traditions in the various EU countries. Culinary cultures that date back hundreds of years are at stake. The negligence on their part to fight to maintain cultural diversity within the EU is astonishing when related to food concerns. Perhaps, there needs to be another organization to express these issues to the EU. What do you think?

I saw a preview for the new season of WE's Bridezillas, and I thought two things. One, I'm a guy so why am I watching WE so much lately? And the other thing I thought was, I am never going to have a big wedding if this is what it does to women.

But June is the month for weddings, and congrats to anyone out there who is getting married in the next few weeks. The Boston Globe has an article about one of the most important parts of the reception, the wedding cake. These aren't basic cakes, of course. They're elaborate desserts from shoppes with names like The Chocolate Tarte and Le Beau Gateau.

These people aren't just bakers, they're artists.

The 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off has just been announced. The Bake-Off is one of the longest running and most beloved cooking contests in the US - in no small part because the grand prize is $1 million dollars. The contest started back in 1949 and ran annually until 1976, after which point it took place only every other year. This year, it seems that Pillsbury has joined up with the new Yahoo! Food to promote the contest, which should be a boon for the fledgling food site.

To enter, you must come up with an original recipe (and they have a dedicated staff and a huge reference selection of cookbooks and previous entries to check for originality) that uses two or more eligible products, from prepacked food like refrigerated biscuits and hot fudge sundae topping to basic staples, like sugar and olive oil. The minimum required amount of each ingredient is specified on the list. Once you have a dish, you must select one of five categories for entry: Breakfast & Brunches, Pizza Creations, Entertaining Appetizers, Old El Paso® Mexican Favorites and Sweet Treats.

All recipes need to be submitted by April 22nd, 2007 and finalists will be announced later in the year.

If you never saw the show Sweet Dreams on the Food Network (which is, much to my surprise, still on the air even though it seems like it has been years!), you have been missing out. Hosted by Gale Gand, the pastry chef/owner of Tru restaurant in Chicago, the show was one of the very first programs to be entirely dessert and pastry oriented. And for any fan of baking, it was a must-see. Gand is extremely talented and is the author of a number of cookbooks, but in Gale Gand's Just a Bite: 125 Luscious Little Desserts, she tackles the types of bite sized desserts that are oh-so elegant and still rich enough to satisfy.

Impressive enough for any pastry chef to present after a really elegant meal, the recipes in the book are also- thanks to Gand's clear instructions - perfectly work-able for the home chef looking for something a cut above the average dessert. It includes lots of retro-inspired recipes that will take you back to your childhood, with (Caramel-Orange Rice Crisps) or without (Peppermint Stick-White Chocolate Bark) a twist. Among the other recipes are Cannelés, Blackberry Brown-Butter Financiers and Banana Brûlée Spoonfuls.

When plain old chocolate chip cookies aren't quite special enough for the holidays, it's time to turn to a professional. By this, we don't mean that you should buy cookies instead of baking them, but to ask well-known pastry chefs to send you batches of their favorites under the guise of holding a holiday bake off. It worked for the LA Times staff.

They ranked all the cookies, but with chefs like Michelle Myers, chef and co-owner of Boule and Sona; Nancy Silverton; Maury Rubin, chef-owner of City Bakery and Brian Kim, pastry chef at La Terza participating, it is clear that each and every cookie was a good one. The overall winners were the gingerbread macarons baked by Sherry Yard and Sixto Pocasangre.

Fortunately for those of us who don't have professional pastry chefs waiting to messenger us boxes of cookies and bottles of champagne, the Times staff also picked up the recipes for each of the cookies in their bake off so you can try them at home (a subscription is req'd, but it's free). The recipes include pistachio butter cookies, orange madeleines, the above-mentioned gingerbread macarons, cranberry pistachio biscotti, chocolate espresso cookies, rosemary pine nut cookies, chocolate sablé cookies and raisin-filled sugar and spice cookies.

If you know someone who loves to bake, chances are good that you frequently enjoy the fruits - or cookies, cakes breads, etc - of their labors in the kitchen. While they do enjoy what they're doing, why not use the holidays as an excuse to pay them back with something that every baker either wants or needs? This list has eight of our top ideas for the baker in your life and, even though some of them are on the expensive side, keep in mind that you'll probably have a chance to enjoy anything that the create with these tools, too.

Topping the list of great gifts is a stand mixer. They're great for mixing up just about anything you could want to bake, from cookie dough to bread dough. The standard is the KitchenAid 4 1/2 quart mixer, which is a great choice for the casual baker, but if you're really serious, you might prefer to get a more powerful machine, like the 7-qt Viking mixer.

This particular type of chocolate cake has many, many names: wacky cake, dump-it cake, one-pan cake, one-bowl cake, eggless cakes, easy chocolate cakes, vinegar cake. Though the ingredients vary from cake to cake, the concept is the same because all the recipes are for cakes made entirely in one bowl or even mixed directly in the pan. This means that it takes next to no time to prepare them and the cleanup is even less than it is for a cake mix - not to mention that you get a homemade chocolate cake in about an hour!

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's food section rounded up a group of bakers and put six one-bowl chocolate cake recipes to the test, including cakes from Martha Stewart and Nigella Lawson. The bakers had the same complaints about Nigella's recipe that I have had in the past, namely that her instructions aren't very clear and if you don't already know what you're doing, your cake can come out terribly. Martha's cake, which did use eggs, tasted great and the panel also loved a classic "crazy cake" recipe, which calls for vinegar and no eggs. The full results and winning recipes can be found here, and are a must-read for any baker or chocolate cake lover.

[Image Post Gazette]