If you’re a music lover, you’ve probably had the experience of following an artist or a band from their early days. You go along for a few years enjoying that thing they reliably do, expecting they’ll go on doing it forever. Then one day you pick up their newest record, hit the play button and […]
READ ONReader Chana asks: What is the difference between Turbinado sugar and “regular” brown sugar (either light or dark brown). Moisture content? Texture? Can brown sugar be used instead of the Turbinado sugar in the Golden Lemon Almond Cake? Can one replace the other in general? Good question(s). Turbinado sugar differs from brown sugar in that […]
READ ONFunny you should mention that. I’ve done a lot of experimenting with sugar in cakes, superfine versus baker’s sugar versus granulated, and I always found I got a finer texture with superfine. However I had a funny experience during an experiment I did with Italian meringue. Against the conventional wisdom I discovered that I could […]
READ ONThrough my own tests I’ve found that cakes made with unbleached flour always fall a little in the center about five minutes after they’re taken out of the oven. The reason for that is because butter cakes rely on flour for their structure, as opposed to a sponge cake like génoise which relies on egg […]
READ ONAt this point in the week, it’s standard operating procedure for me to pose a set of rhetorical questions and then answer them myself. This week I was able to put the questions I had about the cake to the inventor herself, so she’ll be the answer lady.
READ ONAs I mentioned before, trying to stay on track with this interview wasn’t easy (I think I need to take a journalism class). But here’s what Rose had to say on the subject of my criticism and the subject of excess. JP: So let’s focus on what we’re supposed to be talking about today: the […]
READ ONSo how’d the interview go? many of you are no doubt wondering. Let’s just say I’d never make a living as a serious journalist. Make no mistake, I prepared my question list, had my themes all worked out…and my whole elegant plan fell apart in the first fifteen seconds. Why? I succumbed to the urge […]
READ ONSince this week will be largely based on my interview with Rose Levy Beranbaum, it seems only appropriate that I make something out of the new book, Rose’s Heavenly Cakes. I put it to Rose to give me the assignment. I was secretly hoping that she’d have me do one of the more opulent recipes, […]
READ ONI’ve received a couple of comments from readers pointing out that I’ve been quite opinionated lately. I’ve been critical of Rose Levy Beranbaum, critical of Michael Pollan, and now critical of Julie and Julia. I’m just too darn critical. It’s funny because that jibes perfectly with what the Marketing & Public Outreach Department here at […]
READ ONI have a confession to make. I really wasn’t traveling on business last week. I intended to, but life intervened. Little Joan Pastry came down with pneumonia and the missus and I had our hands full taken care of her while at the same time meeting the obligations that keep the mortgage paid. The good […]
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