What About the Valencia?
That’s actually not from Spain, reader Derrick, it’s from California. It was named the “Valencia” orange because a Spanish orchard worker thought it resembled a variety from back home. However it remains the world’s most important sweet orange varietal.
Joe, I can’t quit get the hang of your Email, so I’m hoping you won’t mind my asking this here, I am trying to alter a much loved almond poppyseed recipe to make a similar almond cherry loaf, subbing finely chopped dried cherries for the poppy seeds and cherry extract for the vanilla, as well as a bit of Amaretto in the glaze. It >tastes< good, but all the cherries fall to the bottom of the mini-pans I cook my Christmas breads in. Do I need to add more flour? I did toss them with the flour before I added the wet ingredients, no help. If I add say a half cup more flour, and try to mince the dried cherries more finely, would that be enough? I don't want to ruin the beautiful crumb of the original loaf by adding too much floor. Maybe I should let the cherries dehydrate further? They're kinda of nice chewy tart. Anyway, Help Mr Wizard!!!
Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle drome…hehe…haven’t thought about that show for a while.
Acid is the answer to this problem, Sandi. It’s an old baker’s trick. Adding more acid causes the eggs to coagulate a bit, giving the batter more viscosity. A couple teaspoons of fresh lemon juice per loaf will probably do it! Let me know how it goes!
– Joe
Thank you! I will.