Trust your recipe.
It is of great importance that you trust your recipe, especially for mixing cake batter, after you mix the batter for the first little bit, it may not look like what you expect, for example. it may look like you added too much water. but DONT jump the gun! it could just simply be that the flour at the bottom hasnt been mixed in yet. If you did rush into it, and added the extra flour to try to balance it, when you fully mix it, it'll be too dry, at which point you'll try to add more water to balance it yet again, and that's when you screw up everything since the volume and amount of batter is no longer the same, the baking time will need to be adjusted, but you didnt notice this, and BAM, a half-baked cake.
Of course, this is not to be confused with my previous note of different flour absorption rates - that has assumed that you've already mixed properly.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Reading the Recipe Properly 1
Ok, think of someone that has tried baking, but failed.
and the reason that person fail, was probably because he/she didnt read the recipe properly. A lot of people feel really excited when they read a recipe, and they make it while they read. They may have gathered all the necessary tools and ingredients, but they have no idea what they will be doing with them. This is especially troublesome when the person is cooking, where heat and temperature versus time management is crucial - for example, you're making steak, and when you've fried your steak to just the right level - you look at the recipe and you have no idea what the next set of instructions mean, and so you read it a few more times, slowly then... BAM! overcooked.
although baking gives you a little bit more "rest stops", the same logic applies and it is important for you to know exactly what you'll be doing from start to finish before you even begin.
and the reason that person fail, was probably because he/she didnt read the recipe properly. A lot of people feel really excited when they read a recipe, and they make it while they read. They may have gathered all the necessary tools and ingredients, but they have no idea what they will be doing with them. This is especially troublesome when the person is cooking, where heat and temperature versus time management is crucial - for example, you're making steak, and when you've fried your steak to just the right level - you look at the recipe and you have no idea what the next set of instructions mean, and so you read it a few more times, slowly then... BAM! overcooked.
although baking gives you a little bit more "rest stops", the same logic applies and it is important for you to know exactly what you'll be doing from start to finish before you even begin.
Breads
Personally speaking, of all the possible products that can be made with flour, my favourite would definitely be Bread.
Looking at the other possible products, cake (for example), is one that requires you to dress it up afterwards, or you'll have to let it cool down. The difference with bread, is that the minute it is out of the oven, it is already at it's best, it's taste, it's aroma, it's colour...
Also, the hands-on interaction you have when kneading bread (the process of creating strands of gluten after mixing flour with water), it just brings you closer to your own creation.
Btw, if you're using a bread maker, please don't tell people you bake bread. At best, i'll acknowledge you as a fellow person who know how to enjoy fresh bread, but you are not baking bread... you're simply telling a machine to do it. it's like pressing print on your computer, and saying you painted a picture.
Usually, at the end of my posts, i'd like to add a recipe.
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
6 cups white bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 tsp. salt
(gives two white loaves)
1st fermentation: 1-2 hours
Punch down, rest for 5 minutes
cut in two, place in meat loaf pan
cover with oiled plastic wrap for second raising (20-30 minutes)
preheat oven and bake at 425F for 20mintes
reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 15 minutes.
as a person who bakes, i am all for getting the freshest ingredients, but as a young university student that does not have a car, and eats out (due to lack of time), fresh ingredients may not always be available. the "active dry yeast" mentioned above? it's of course better to use fresh yeast, but not everyone has fresh yeast access- so just make do with what's around you.
there are some people that say you have to "activate" the instant yeast (by adding warm water and sugar to the yeast). i find that you dont really have to, but the most important thing about that list of ingredients is the WARM water.
note that it says WARM and not HOT. while warm water will help the yeast ferment, hot water will kill the yeast - a small rule of thumb, if the temperature of the water is not one where you can chug it, then it is too hot.
another thing, i know the recipe gives an accurate proportion of water and flour, but keep a little extra of each on the side - flour absorption rates are different from brand to brand, plus, for beginner you often make mistakes in measuring. It's very difficult to explain the proper kneading process in words only, and now that you're on the internet already, you might as well go on youtube and look up "kneading bread", of course there is a much better way to do it, but it's simply impossible to describe, so for the moment, stick with the traditional method.
Looking at the other possible products, cake (for example), is one that requires you to dress it up afterwards, or you'll have to let it cool down. The difference with bread, is that the minute it is out of the oven, it is already at it's best, it's taste, it's aroma, it's colour...
Also, the hands-on interaction you have when kneading bread (the process of creating strands of gluten after mixing flour with water), it just brings you closer to your own creation.
Btw, if you're using a bread maker, please don't tell people you bake bread. At best, i'll acknowledge you as a fellow person who know how to enjoy fresh bread, but you are not baking bread... you're simply telling a machine to do it. it's like pressing print on your computer, and saying you painted a picture.
Usually, at the end of my posts, i'd like to add a recipe.
1 tbsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
6 cups white bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 tsp. salt
(gives two white loaves)
1st fermentation: 1-2 hours
Punch down, rest for 5 minutes
cut in two, place in meat loaf pan
cover with oiled plastic wrap for second raising (20-30 minutes)
preheat oven and bake at 425F for 20mintes
reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 15 minutes.
as a person who bakes, i am all for getting the freshest ingredients, but as a young university student that does not have a car, and eats out (due to lack of time), fresh ingredients may not always be available. the "active dry yeast" mentioned above? it's of course better to use fresh yeast, but not everyone has fresh yeast access- so just make do with what's around you.
there are some people that say you have to "activate" the instant yeast (by adding warm water and sugar to the yeast). i find that you dont really have to, but the most important thing about that list of ingredients is the WARM water.
note that it says WARM and not HOT. while warm water will help the yeast ferment, hot water will kill the yeast - a small rule of thumb, if the temperature of the water is not one where you can chug it, then it is too hot.
another thing, i know the recipe gives an accurate proportion of water and flour, but keep a little extra of each on the side - flour absorption rates are different from brand to brand, plus, for beginner you often make mistakes in measuring. It's very difficult to explain the proper kneading process in words only, and now that you're on the internet already, you might as well go on youtube and look up "kneading bread", of course there is a much better way to do it, but it's simply impossible to describe, so for the moment, stick with the traditional method.
Flour - the very beginning
Ok, so flour is made from cereal grains, so it's not really the very beginning... but if you do that then you'll just end up in the cycle of life, so let's just call flour the very beginning of what you should see in this post.
Believe it or not, there are people out there who are unaware of what is possible from this white powder. Simple additions were all it takes to turn flour into amazing edible products such as cakes, bread, pastries, pancakes, pizza...
Personally, i've made alot of the things that can be made with flour, but you just have to realize that the possibilities are unlimited. Sometimes the end result might not look that great, or taste that awesome, but the joy of baking, comes from the fact that you can enjoy the result, as well as the process.
Believe it or not, there are people out there who are unaware of what is possible from this white powder. Simple additions were all it takes to turn flour into amazing edible products such as cakes, bread, pastries, pancakes, pizza...
Personally, i've made alot of the things that can be made with flour, but you just have to realize that the possibilities are unlimited. Sometimes the end result might not look that great, or taste that awesome, but the joy of baking, comes from the fact that you can enjoy the result, as well as the process.
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