Yes, you in the back. Correct! Convert all volume measurements to weight. Here’s what the Orange Pound Cake recipe looks like after the, uh…switcheroo. For the batter: 7.5 ounces softened unsalted butter 1.8 ounces milk 5.2 ounces eggs 1 tsp. vanilla extract 6.75 ounces sifted cake flour 5.25 ounces sugar 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1 […]
READ ONWell, the cake was received well by all but the birthday girl. What I forgot to consider was that European-style cakes aren’t as sweet as their American counterparts (they seem to be geared toward richness instead). So, despite the points I was awarded on the cake’s technical merits, officially the effort will be put down […]
READ ONTo the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So goes the proverb I trot out every time I see an intellectually sophisticated food writer projecting a complex theory onto a self-evidently simple thing. Take cakes. Check the “cake” entry in your average food reference and you’re pretty sure to find some ink […]
READ ONWell my stack of Hungarian chocolate flapjacks is all put together except for the trademark caramel-candy top layer. As I mentioned before, I’m going for the fan blade presentation (but with a dark chocolate exterior). Doing that should be no big deal, you don’t need a thermometer to make this kind of simple caramel. All […]
READ ONIs there anything more sensuous than watching a buttercream come together in your mixing bowl? If there is I haven’t seen it. First it’s the yolks mingling and mingling…then the hot sugar syrup in a steady stream…followed by glistening chunks of room-temperature butter, one after another after another, until the mass suddenly unites in a […]
READ ONTo me assembling a Dobos Torte isn’t all that different from making a stack of pancakes, though the batter in truth is more akin to waffle batter. Like waffle batter, much of its bulk consists of egg foam…millions of tiny little bubbles which will heat up, expand, and leaven the cake. Keeping those millions of […]
READ ONOne of my many imaginary friends just asked me why buttercreams made with vegetable shortening leave that greasy sensation in your mouth when you swallow them. “Manny,” I said, “It’s all about melting points.” The reason real buttercreams are so silky smooth is because they’re made with real butter, and butter has a melting point […]
READ ONThe Romans used butter for hair cream and hand moisturizer, nothing else. And people wonder why their civilization fell.
READ ONHow come every cheap knock-off of great world cuisine gets the label “American” slapped on it? Take buttercream (a critical component of ths week’s pastry recipe). There are three basic types of buttercreams. Two are made from egg foams to which sugar syrup and fresh, lovely butter are added: French which is made from a […]
READ ONWhile I’m not nuts about this new look for the site, this skin appears to be the most stable choice, and seems to look decent on most browsers. We should be good to go for at least a while.
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