Reader Chana, a reader and prolific baker, has finally worn out her KitchenAid and is in the market for a new machine. I receive requests for mixer recommendations regularly, but haven’t written on the subject for quite some time. It’s time to update!
READ ONSo many readers have asked for Joe-tweaked high ratio cake recipes that, well…what can I say? I need to give the people what they want. I’ll do a yellow and a chocolate since there have been tons of requests for both. That kringle really is vanishing in the rear view mirror. Oh well, I tried. […]
READ ONWho knew there was so much interest in high ratio cakes and box cake mixes? Reader Pete wants to know if store bought cake mixes contain high ratio flour, and while I’m on the subject, would I mind telling him how box cake mixes work? Pete, I’ll do my best.
As far as I know most box cakes contain high ratio flour, for reasons that I outlined below. It delivers cake layers with an even crumb that rise high, yet are still moist and flavorful. As for how a cake mix works, that’s an interesting subject.
READ ONSuch was the anguished cry of the owners of the bakery where I first trained. They made and still make some of the highest quality cakes in the Chicago area, but they drew the line at sheet cakes, which is to say the broad, flat, rectangular cakes that grocery stores sell for kids’ birthdays. I […]
READ ONSo asks reader Linda. Sometimes, yes, Linda. However the true cake carvers in the style of, say, Ace of Cakes use so-called “durable cake” which kicks up the firmness another notch (or two). These recipes start with a high ratio formula then add egg whites for structure, even gelatin for extra strength. You can see equivalent recipes by searching “durable cake recipe” on Google. Most of these are souped up box cakes, but they do the job. Would I want to eat any of them? Eh, probably not since layer cake for me is a nice, moist butter cake. However for those who eat with their eyes and can’t resist one of those crazy-creative sculpted cakes, this is your ticket!
READ ONReader and ultra-fast test baker Jack writes:
I literally could not wait to try your ratios. I used the quantities you mentioned to keep it simple. That may have been a mistake as sometimes the sum of the parts is the whole; I will try a larger batch size tomorrow. Given the small amount of batter, I made cupcakes. One other comment, I blasted the granulated sugar in the mixer to create superfine sugar, and found it a bit hard to incorporate with the shortening. Second guessing that step! Oh, and I upped the salt.
Results: The taste was fantastic. So good, that I ate the entire batch as fast as I could shove them down. I have not tasted a better yellow cake cupcake. The batter tasted marvelous as well, so for taste, I am good to go. The texture was incredibly soft in non-baker layman’s terms, and very pleasing. The texture/crumb was
READ ON
Reader Jack writes:
READ ONJoe (actual name?),
I live in Chicago and want to reproduce the Jewel grocery store plain old yellow cake. They sell it by the piece and I want to reproduce the texture and taste. It has a very fine crumb, it is very firm, almost sponge like. It has tiny uniform holes, and would be perfect for a few baking “projects” I have in mind. I have tried a dozen yellow cake recipes from the net and they taste fine, but the crumb is soft, and does not have the sponge-like pores of the Jewel cake. I read your article regarding creaming, but that alone does not convert the existing recipes I have into what I am looking for. I tried separating the eggs, beating the whites, folding in…nope. I deconstructed the Jewel recipe using their ingredients list, but that list flies in the face of all cake science (no yolks, no butter). I am getting fat with all the experimentation!!! Do you have a recipe/technique that will help me achieve the desired results?
Here’s a great way start to the week and the year, some love from the good folks over at Relish. What can I say but that I’m honored, having been a Relish fan for a very long time. Some other terrific blogs are listed there right along with me, so do check them out!
READ ON
Sandwiches are a humble medium that can be put to artistic use. I need reminding of that since I’m forever falling into a sandwich rut. Turkey and swiss, tuna salad on rye, those are a couple of my go-to’s. But I’m shaken out of that stupor most Decembers when my Texas aunt and uncle send me one of these bad boys. They are goooood, and the leftovers make fabulous sandwiches. In fact they inspired my one and only contribution to the high sandwich arts, the creation pictured above: smoked turkey with goat cheese, spinach leaves and apricot ketchup on semolina bread.
READ ONThree things happened to yours truly over the last ten days. First, I, along with the rest of humanity, survived past the end of the Mayan calendar. Second, I had the flu. Third, as a result of happenstance 2, I was finally able to finish reading a delightful book: Charles Darwin, Portaint of a Genius by Paul Johnson. It’s a book I’ve been anticipating for a while now: a succinct, learned and extremely polite critical biography of Darwin, written by a heavyweight historian. I’d been expecting such a book because, well, it’s about due.
Not that I have anything against Darwin, mind you. But like a lot of people I’ve become, shall we say, a little tired of the man. Or perhaps to put the point a bit more finely, I’ve gotten tired of the mindless obeisance that’s paid to Darwin in everything from natural history specials to psychology books to business and political essays. The way we throw around terms like “evolution”, “adaptation” and “survival of the fittest” as if a.) we really knew what they meant, b.) they were thoroughly proven, unassailable scientific concepts and C.) Darwin actually invented all of them to begin with.
READ ON