Reader Anna wrote in late last week to ask why big heat (i.e. around 500 degrees Fahrenheit) helps shortbread-type cakes like scones and American biscuits rise higher. Anna, you’ve made me a very happy blogger this Monday morning. Leavening is a fascinating, fascinating subject.
READ ON
Pão de queijo (pãos de queijo?) are a lot like gougères, but with a little less fat and zero gluten. Why’s that? Because they’re made from tapioca starch, a derivative of the cassava root, not wheat flour. This gives them a somewhat different texture, like a soft wheat bun when cool, like a hot air ballon made of molten cheese when warm. They’re really quite a delicious experience either way, no wonder they’re one of the national foods of Brazil.
READ ONThree more failed attempts at this ultra-simple bread and I’m starting to wonder if pão de queijo is possible without specially-ordered ingredients from Brazil. So far neither American-made tapioca starch nor Mexican-made manioc flour have performed as predicted/expected. Between the two the tapioca starch seems the more promising, but so far it’s not working in […]
READ ONFor a cheese puff recipe it seems to be missing a couple of things. A leavener for starters. There’s no yeast and no baking powder. And then there’s the flour thing…there isn’t any. No wheat flour at any rate. Instead we have manioc flour, also known as the dried and ground starch of the cassava (also known as yuca) root. It’s the same starch that tapioca is made from, in case that helps.
READ ON
Paper thin Moroccan warqa, used for bastilla and other pastries, is easy once you get the feel of it. The sheets are thinner than phyllo dough, but make a good substitute for those instances when you’re in the mood to impress party guests with an impromptu “You know I make my own pastry, of course!”
Plus it’s fun to do. Provided you have a large, flat pan to paint the batter on, the only thing you need is a broad brush. A new nylon or polyester paint brush from the hardware store will work just fine. Start by assembling your ingredients. Whisking the dry ingredients together…
READ ONMy little girls love the sound of that word so much I don’t think they’ll ever pronounce “cheesecake” the same way again. But the time has come to ask: what is the technical difference between an American cheesecake and a Japanese one? I’m inclined to state the answer this way: American cheesecakes are custards, albeit very thick ones, and Japanese cheesecakes are soufflés. Again, very thick ones.
Look at the process for mixing a soufflé, then the process for mixing a Japanese cheesecake and you’ll find the two are very similar. Both involve combining a cheese and egg yolk-rich base mixture with an egg white foam, then baking the batter. The difference lies in the fact that a Japanese cheesecake batter has quite a bit more structural material in it, so it’s not inclined to fall like a soufflé.
READ ONOr not about leavening chemicals, anyway. Reader Rachel writes:
READ ONI have been trying to eat healthier, so I have been adding ground flax seeds to my morning oatmeal etc. I did a little research and learned that flax seeds can be substituted for eggs in some recipes. I have noticed that the flax seeds cause the liquid in the oatmeal to gelatinize a little. Do you have any idea how flax seeds work as an egg substitute and can they be used in anything or maybe only just recipes that need to be thickened by eggs?
…and when was it invented? asks reader Pat. The answer is that choux almost certainly wasn’t “invented” in the classic sense of the word. It evolved, probably through decades, maybe even centuries, of trial and error. The secret of choux is that it’s “double cooked”, a process that imbues it with some very special properties.
READ ONCrack, speed ball…oh no wait, that’s what Lindsey Lohan had for breakfast this morning. What I meant to say was thread, soft ball, firm ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack. These are the terms for the sugar syrups used in the confectionery arts. What’s the difference between them? Simply, the degree to which they’ve […]
READ ONReader Barry wants to know why, since pastry cream (another custard) is thickened with starch, Bavarian cream is thickened with gelatin. That’s a great question, and one I’m not sure I can fully answer. My feeling as that in centuries past, pastry chefs used whatever thickeners were available to them, so there were no hard […]
READ ON