Hints and Allegations


Hints and Allegations

Baking is really easy most of the time. The hard part is following the instructions. As with nearly most things, practice makes perfect.

You do NOT have to put your bowl and beaters in the freezer prior to making whip cream.

Vanilla Sauce=Creme Anglaise
Sweetened Whip Cream=Chantilly Cream

It is always advisable to coat your mixing bowl with lemon juice prior to making a meringue, just to make sure there isn't any fat left in the bowl (say from the last buttercream you made).

In my humble opinion, American Buttercream is the reason why many of us don't like buttercream. Take the time to learn how to make Italian buttercream; it's worth it.

Invest in an ice cream maker (I got mine for $35 on sale during the off season). The difference will amaze you.

Regardless of what Food Network chefs and my own instructors have taught, you can refrigerate batter overnight that contains baking soda or baking powder in them and still achieve a good rise in your baked products.

Pre-scooping cookie dough and freezing them until your ready to bake them off is a very good thing indeed.


1.09.2011

Well, that batch gets tossed

So, here I am writing how baking is easy if you just follow the instructions....

The BakeWise muffin recipe calls for fresh berries, and although I know it's a delicate batter with low gluten, guess what I did anyway? Yes, I used frozen blueberries. And the batch failed. Out it goes (literally into the trash...it was a runny & gooey mess even after 45 minutes) and onto making my ol' stand-by recipe, whipping it together in just enough time to get to school. It's a good thing I did though; seven kids devoured 20 (regular sized) muffins in two hours. That seems a lot to me, but maybe I'm still learning kids' eating habits?

I like my old recipe, but not enough to keep it. So, I plan to tweak it, and see where it goes. I hope to post a new recipe in the next month or so.

So, do as I say, and not as I do...make sure you really read, and then follow the instructions of your baking recipes. Yes, there are times where you may substitute and add ingredients, but be prepared to fail and start over (but I would suggest not to do this when you have to take muffins to school that day). And I certainly don't mind failing, because as we all know, that is sometimes the best way to learn.

Hope you all have sunshine like we do on this beautiful winter's day!
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