Mea culpa

Yours truly has been coming under quite a bit of fire lately for the way I use — or don’t use — recipes. Specifically, that I talk about spreading “some brown sugar” here, “some caramel” there and don’t give exact quantities (to say nothing of recipes or visual instructions). What can I say? My background isn’t in exact proportions where things like toppings and fillings are concerned — I used to work in bakery for goodness sakes! Not only am I not used to quantifying how much cinnamon I put in a roll of sticky buns, I’m accustomed to having unlimited stores of buttercream and chocolate sauce around me pretty much all the time. That’s the way things work in a commercial operation, and the reason I’m constantly encouraging you to always make extra of whatever it is you happen to preparing — from ganache to puff pastry to cake layers. Most of it keeps, and if you like to bake or make pastry, it’ll all get used up one way or another.

But back to my point. I apologize to all those who have been confused by my fast-and-loose topping and filling application, and especially to those who’ve looked — to no avail — for recipes for some of them. This week will be dedicated to making amends. I’ll start by making and posting recipes for caramel, caramel sauce and buttercream. ONce that’s done we’ll see where we’re at…maybe do more.