You can call it a Swiss roll, if you like. Or a jam roll (which is more precise, since you don’t see to many recipes for these that call for fruit jelly anymore). This one has some real fruit added in, which makes it a little more distinctive. Jelly rolls are, and always have been, […]
READ ONClassic génoise is, well, a classic. However it can be a bit tricky, even for very experienced pastry makers. But when you want to make a classic Euro-style gâteau, nothing beats it for its lightness and its ability to keeps its integrity even after a liberal dose of cake syrup. Here’ll I’ll add that if […]
READ ONInteresting addendum to the excerpt I put up last week on French peasant bread, over at my friend Rachel Lauden’s blog. Mr. Rubel certainly seems to know his stuff (even if he doesn’t seem to care for my conclusions very much). Have a look-see!
READ ONCheck out the pizza machine in action! Hat tip: Libby from At the Very Yeast. Thanks Libby!
READ ONIt an easy thing, but sometimes it helps to see it, yes? If a recipe calls for, say, four tablespoons of clarified butter, I’ll start out with a little extra since I expect to lose some in the process. Here I have about 4 1/2 tablespoons of fresh, unsalted butter: I heat it up until […]
READ ONSeems there’s a new vending machine being tested in Europe that makes pizza by hand…er, sprocket. It kneads and rolls the dough, adds toppings and bakes it — all while you watch. Sounds really fun, actually. I’d love to see one. Of course the real pizza makers in Italy aren’t terribly impressed. I like this […]
READ ONClarified butter is (unsalted) butter that’s been melted, then simmered slightly to evaporate off some of the water in it, and cause the non-fat components of the butter (proteins and other miscellaneous stuff) to separate out of it. You know that white foam that collects on a pool of melted butter? Bingo, that’s them. What’s […]
READ ONClarified butter is optional but recommended in a génoise. It gives what is ordinarily a rather plain, somewhat dry sponge an enhanced butter flavor. Of course if you don’t have — or don’t like making — clarified butter, regular melted butter will still produce a excellent result. This recipe makes enough for one 18″ x […]
READ ONIn the end I decided I was over-thinking things a bit. I mean, for whatever you’re doing, you can always find a specialized formula…Swiss rolls, jelly rolls, génoise cakes…but in the end they’re all fundamentally the same cake, am I right? One recipe should suffice for all of them. So here’s what I decided to […]
READ ONWhy is it that every time I mention egg yolks I hear from VERY regular commentator Mexico Bob? He writes in to (re)remind me: Don’t forget that egg yokes contain lecithin which is a natural amphiphile which is one of the building blocks of life. In fact the word “lecithin” is Greek for “egg yolk”. […]
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