A Life in Baking, Pastry, and Libations.
Spurned by my great disdain for Red Delicious apples and boredom with Granny Smith apples, I've spent the last week scouring the farmers' markets and local orchards for unique apple varietals with sweet, tart and crisp flesh. Cook's Thesaurus compiled a visual guide of common apple varieties that I used as my starting point. This... Continue Reading →
https://twitter.com/thesugarchef/status/384324381461069824 Corollary: If I’m buying more than $20 of pastries, don’t make me ask for a bag. Read on for more Pet Peeves: Bakery Edition. I don’t expect a full bakery display as soon as the doors open, but at least have breakfast pastries ready…for breakfast. And when your case empties at the end of... Continue Reading →
Culinary Applications of Baking Powder Because leavening is instantaneous, breads leavened through acid-base reactions are called quick-breads. Generally, one teaspoon of baking powder will leaven 5 ounces of flour, 8 ounces of liquid, and one egg. If the liquid is acidic (when using cultured dairy, citrus, or honey), then the acids in baking powder will... Continue Reading →
In the days before chemically manufactured baking soda was available, ash water was used both as a leavener and as a source of potash. It seems odd to us now but using ash made sense as wood-burning ovens and fireplaces were the primary sources of cooking and heating the home. Although potash worked instantly, it... Continue Reading →
It’s hard to imagine what cakes and biscuits would taste and look like if they were made without baking powder, but in fact, baking powder is a recent innovation that did not make its first cookbook appearance until the 1850s. Sourdough or yeast, along with a helping of dregs from the wine casket, was the... Continue Reading →
Ice cream stabilizers are an issue that I’ve grappled with for a long time. I want to believe that stabilizers are never necessary and that ice cream should only contain milk, cream, sugar, eggs and flavoring. There exists the perception that stabilized ice cream mixes are “pumped full of chemicals and air”, not “all-natural”, and... Continue Reading →
Buttery. Salted. Caramel. 