iii_bake
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Posts posted by iii_bake
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Thank you
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Thank you so much Kerry.
Pardon my ignorance, but without agitation, simply dipping in the syrup will result in a dry crystalized glaze?
This is the kind of glaze I am trying to make:
I have the book and what I was looking at was page 273 on candied fruit.
Thanks again fro your help. I appreciate it.
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hi everyone,
I am here for your help
I have candied palm seeds and would like to glaze them with crystalized syrup but when I seeded the syrup and stirred....the syrup got all crystallized up so fast that it went beyond the pouring stage.
I am wondering if i just add the seed ( not the palm seed but the crystalize speeding agent) to the syrup...do I need to stir it...? CAn I just pour the glaze after being seeded onto the candied fruit ? Will the glaze crystalize later?
I tried but the glaze came out the thick. I wish to have very thin coating.
Kindly help.iii
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Thanks for your Reply mjx.
I need the help on rolling technique that will not be a push that makes the three layers of dough stretched out to a different extent.
if you look at the pic, i need the three layers to be lined up well without seeing the two below layers poked out.
It is the way i rolled, sometimes it came out nice. Sometimes it was like this
Thanks again
iii
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Hi All,
I need your help.
When i roll the folded dough, trying to do the lamination, it tended to be like this at the end.
I tried to figure this out n fix it by playing n rollingl the scrap to see how i put the weight on each rolling and what the result would be...but still i could not figure this out.
Cud any one please give me some tips on rolling and how to fix this?
Kindly helppppppp
iii
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I just moved to Fairfax Virginia and it seems all coriander here are sold without root ( like elsewhere in the US, i guess.).
When i was in NJ, i used to find them in Chinese Groceries but not here.
Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks
iii
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I bought KA's ice cream attachment. It says it works with ALL Kitchenaid Stand mixer.
It does not.
I found out that the UK KA mixer has a cap below the spring of the shaft.
Because of the cap, the driver assembly cannot be pushed up to lock into the rotary part.
I saw someone in the KA forum saying that she can fix by taking out the cap.
ANyone has experiences and can advise how to handle this.
1. either, taking this cap out...how?
2. get a new driver assembly that is designed for the UK mixer ( from where?)
I bought two of this, one for my friend and i am totally lost.
SOS
iii
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I got my copy of this book last December and i absolutely love it! I've since made several things from it.
The first thing i made from it- the devil food cake with marshmallow frosting. This was so much fun to make. I didn't get a chance to taste it but the close friend whose birthday it was for offered to invest when i start my own bakery
The chocolate chocolate cupcakes i made for my little cousin's 4th birthday. I swear she ate her weight in them.
Mini madeleines and the chocolate cupcakes once again for a small dinner party i threw. I loved the madeleines- they were really soft, moist and had a nice crust.
The cocoa buttermilk birthday cake i made for a joint birthday party my best friend was hosting. I wasn't crazy about the slight grainess of the frosting but my best friend got back to me saying everyone loved it- someone even thought she bought it from a bakery!
I've stopped baking from this book for a while but this thread has got me all revved up to start again!
I am about to make madeleines...wonder if yours domed nicely.
After the long rest, do you have to bring the batter back to room temp before baking?
Thanks
iii
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There's one more thing I haven't seen in any cookbooks. It is a type of preserved egg. We took uncooked, farm-fresh chicken eggs and added them to a brine for a couple of weeks. The eggs are not coated with anything special, and I think the brine was just salt and some spices. When done, the whites were firm, and the yolks had this incredible, almost lava-like consistency. I'd like to make this again, but I've long since forgotten the technique.
Thank you!
Sounds like Salted Duck Egg.
The salted duck egg has "firmed yolk" and the white is just the same white.
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Thanks guys!
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i need to buy bright colours cupcake / muffin case.
Does anyone have a good source?
thanks
iii
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Has anyone tried Alton Brown's recipe?:
Chocolate Chiffon Cupcake
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Honey, I Shrunk the Cake
4 ounces cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup hot water
1 1/4-ounce cocoa powder
5 large egg yolks
6 ounces sugar, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
I think he recommends 2 muffing tins or 12 coffee mugs for these muffins.
You whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Then mix the hot water and the cocoa powder into a small bowl and thoroughly combine. In a stand mixer you place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of sugar and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' form. Mix the cocoa mixture, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.
Put the egg whites and cream of tartar into a bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until foamy. Decrease the speed to low and slowly add the remaining ounce of sugar. Once the sugar been added, increase the speed back to high and continue to beat until stiff peaks.
Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk untill combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in slowly. Transfer batter into prepared tins or mugs, Put ints in middle rack or, if using mugs, place all of them on a half sheet pan and set on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F.
Remove to a cooling rack. cool completely before frosting.
I have been having problems of shrinking chiffon cake...wonder if this one shrinks at all?
( The episode title makes me wonder!)
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This is odd, i must admit.
i have been working with baking soda invarious recipes with cocoa, banana, buttermilk...all those ingredients that need soda as a booster.
As i mentioned, i baked Flo Braker's buttermilk cake. It was very good but with the disasters i faced...i can only think of the b uttermilk n the soda now.
I will adjust the baking powder and omit the soda next time and see how it works out.
It used to be so good...texture & look & height.
Thanks again for your inputs.
Pray for me.
iii
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No....
It i just a plain local Cake flour (and Softasilk US flour)
I do not use the self raising and never bought one as it is diffcult to do the adjustment for various recipes.
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Hi Guys,
I baked again this morning.
using this buttermilk and everything the same...except the baking soda.
I only used baking powder.
The crumbs came our very fine, as good as i used to have.
The top...still abit chewy but not that pourous.
The height, the cake hardly rose...it peaked in the middle.
I checked the Buttermilk. It is DiaryFarmers from Australia.
I search their recipes and got a cake recipe that calls for Self raising flour and still ad a bit of baking powder ( not soda) as here below:
250 ml Dairy Farmers Buttermilk
½ cup caster sugar
125 g butter
2 cups self raising flour
2 eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
825 g canned plums, drained
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp finely grated orange rind
1 tsp vanilla essence
What can be the interpretation of this?
I understand that the self raising flour already has the raising agent, and it should be the baklance between the base n acid one ( am i right?).
If the recipe calls for additional baking powder to work with the buttermilk.....
SOS
So, the buttermilk it is that flopped my cake...again, am i right?
( of course i need to fix the raising agent
)iii
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Thank you all for your comments & advices.
I am kind of coming to a dead end here.
Switching the jar or mis measuring i totally not the fault.
They are two different noticable jars and i carefully measured and did focus.
I will try again with the recipe and reduce the soda.
1/2 tsp of soda should not have this much impact of disaster, should it?
Thanks again,
iii
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i may be having trouble getting all the facts straight, but I think you said the times your recipe failed, you may have been using single action baking powder. If you've used double action in the past with good results, I think you've found your culprit.
"Single-acting baking powders are characterized by the type of acid they include. Tartrate baking powders contain both cream of tartar (potassium acid tartrate) and tartaric acid. These create gas quickly when combined with baking soda in the presence of liquid, so the batter must be cooked quickly or it will go flat. Phosphate baking powders contain either calcium phosphate or disodium pyrophosphate (source of sodium pyrophosphate). They work a little slower than the tartrate baking powders, but most of the gas is still created outside of the oven and therefore can be lost. S.A.S. baking powders have sodium aluminum sulfate (alum) as the acid. S.A.S. baking powders react slowly at room temperature and release more of the gas when heated. The phosphate and tartrate baking powders react rapidly at room temperature to release the leavening gas, which means that the batter has to be cooked quickly after the liquid ingredients have been added. On the other hand, the S.A.S. baking powders are better for products that will sit a while before being cooked. The problem with S.A.S. powders is that they have a bitter taste. They are used in combination with other leavening agents so not as much is needed. S.A.S. is often used in D.A. powders.
Double-acting (D.A.) baking powders are the most common type of baking powder in US supermarkets. The first "action" refers to the release of gas when the baking soda in the powder reacts with an acidic liquid. D.A. baking powders contain a dry acid which does not react with the baking soda in the powder until water is added; at that point the baking soda dissolves, the acid dissolves, and the two can now mix and the reaction shown above occurs.
The second "action" refers to the release of gas when the batter is heated in the oven or on a griddle. This relies on the presence of the slower acting acid, S.A.S. which only combines with soda when the temperature increases." from http://users.rcn.com/sue.interport/food/bakgsoda.html
Kindly elaborate more on this
:What will happen to a recipe calling for both baking powder n baking soda...and the baking powder already has 30% of the soda in it.
Will it be too much soda? with the % of the chemistry change?
Thanks
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Well, it seems like you may be down to trial-and-error testing. I would start with your theory that the new buttermilk is either more or less acidic than what you were using before, and bake two cakes, one with a little more making soda and one with a little less, and see if the results start to change back to the way you remember. Based on your description of the problem, it doesn't sound like the protein content of your flour is the issue here, though I can't rule it out completely. Has any of your other equipment changed, like your mixer? Does this recipe call for creaming the butter and sugar? If so, one possible culprit could be that your new equipment is not doing as good a job as your old at the creaming step, which is critical for proper cake structure. Are you making sure the butter does not get too warm during that step? I'm starting to grasp at straws here!
Thank you.
I will start baking again in a few days then. Need to tune myself back a bit.
Still haunting ha ha!
Will definitely report the next result !
Thanks again
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When was the last time you successfully made this recipe? Was it at your current location or have you moved since then? If you recently moved to a higher elevation then that would also cause problems with your cake.
I moved but just from Bangkok to Singapore.
I sucessfully made it here in Singapore a couple of times though but i cannot recall if i had used different baking powder. ( when i first moved here i could not find double action so i used something that is not double action one)
TO elaborate on this baking powder experience, when i first moved i made my volcano brownie with this single action baking powder and the brownies did not erupt like a volcano like when i made it in BKK so i added a bit more of baking soda ...it worked perfect.
( sorry for any confusion caused about baking powder vs baking soda, i first i thought it was the soda that caused all the troubles but i cahnged the soda later and still did not work....)
The double action baking powder i have contains 30% baking soda.
Is it possible that this plus additional 1/2t baking soda means too much baking soda for "this" buttermilk. ( again, it worked fine with buttermilk i used in BKK).
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Now I'm getting myself turned around in circles!
Are we talking about baking powder or baking soda here? If we are talking about baking powder now, and you are in the U.S., the vast majority of the stuff sold here is "double acting," that is, it reacts once when combined with water, and again when heat is applied. So to test it you add it to water and make sure it bubbles. Of course, that only tests half the reaction, it can't check to make sure it reacts again with heat. Unlike baking soda, baking powder has a finite shelf-life, so you need to periodically replace your box. The change in the buttermilk could conceivably change the level of acidity, reducing the reaction with the baking soda, however. In my experience most brands of buttermilk have reasonably similar levels of acidity, but I don't know what it's like where you are.How would you describe the looks of your recent failures? Did they just never rise, or was the crumb unacceptable, or what? It sounds like you've covered almost all of the normal things that we would check to diagnose a cake failure, so any additional detail you can give would be helpful.
Thank you for offering your help...i do need this.
First here is the recipe:
Cake Flour 250 g
Baking Powder 1 1/2t
Baking Soda 1/2t
salt 1/4 t
Egg 3
Buttermilk 1 cup
Vanilla
Butter 6 oz (170g)
granulated sugar 300 g
My first Failure: Bad crumbs & Dried...edible but you know it can be better ( I found out that the baking Powder expired 6 months ago)
Following failure: Even with replaced new Baking Powder ( double action), the cake came out worse...sticky porous top...when it is just out of the oven you can taste the chewy like a lot of sugar came afloat to the top.
I checked the oven and cahnge the thermostat. still disaaster...
I then blame the frozen buttermilk.
The last time twice i made,
I used all new ingrdients, one with my own oven and the other a friend's.
again, i have been making this for years. It is the best yellow cake...very fin tender crumbs...smooth top...rise high.
I have been using the same baking powder, baking soda. what i changed is the flour, sugar, buttermilk.
What can have gone wrong?
Thanks
iii
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Guys...Please bear with me a little bit more.
I baked at my friend's to day...
The result? The cake came out exactly like baked at mine.
So it is not the oven.
I tried to recall and sequence the latest happenings:
The cake started to turn poorer and poorer each time i baked. Not floping or bad top but not that tender and the grain was not that fine.
It did not bother me much as it was not that bad, i assumed...maybe the creaming was not that perfect.
Then one day, it came out a disaster. I checked the baking powder. It expired 6 months ago. I then assumed the poorer n poorer result was from the deteriorating quality of the baking powder.
I bought a new one.
The cake still came out ugly, another total disaster.
So i checked the oven. It seemed to me the oven was not functionoing properly.
I had the thermostat changed.
Still disaster.
I bought all new ingredients....still disaster.
I baked with a friend's oven...still disaster.
I measured everything accurately.
The recipe is Flo Braker's. The one I baked for years regularly.
What i can think of is i changed the brand of Buttermilk and the baking powder is "double action".
Is this possible?
What is the difference between normal baking pwder n the double action?
Why it worked with one brand of Buttermilk and not the other?
I am too paranoid to embark on another round of baking.
SOS.
iii
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About the baking soda...i was thinking about how i make my honey comb stiring the soda in hot syrup and it bubbles...so i just used it with boiling water...it started with little bubbles and continued to release bubbles like when you freeze the soda pop when it is too cold it foaming out of the can.
It is the soda, i can assured you that. I cut the label and put in the jar, the label is there.
About the oven and the ingredients, i made another batch yesterday..with all ingredients "just bought" and the cake came out flat with porous and chewy top.
When i noticed the flat cake ( it used to dome and burst like volcano in the middle, usual pound cake look), i was thinking about how i used the magic cake strip soaked in the wakter and wrapped around the tin to avoid the doming.
What can be wrong now that i have replaced all the ingredients with newly bought stuff? I have been making this cake since i bought Flo's book many many years ago on a regular basis.
Other cakes came out flat with pourous chewy top too.
I will go to my friend's house she has the same gaggenau oven today and bake there.
So confused and despair ha ha
Thank all of you for helping.
Wish me luck!
iii
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Guys: Thank you so much for pitching in.
About the ratio: i love your expalnation, i do need to know more n live reading about it. For this one, it is Flo Braker's Buttermilk cake...which i have successfully done it for years...so i think it is not the issue for this case.
I used the soda, i am sure
( Probably, this is the only thing i am sure of at the moment ha ha)...because my soda jar is huge...i use it to clean my fruits & veggie too. Anne...can this be anything with the oven?
I am ashamed to tell you this: i had all ingredients line up, all newly bought.
The batter came out gorgeous but i forgot to take five baking sheets i put at the bottom out...so the cake came out as a disaster...again, the top are will holes and like baked chewy cookies. These sheets were not in the oven for those cases i had problems with.
How can i test if it is the oven?
Can i bake a Chiffon cake and see the result?
SOS,
Thanks
Nantana
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The only culprit i can think of now is the baking soda that may be expired.
iii_bake, I don't think that baking soda expires. Baking powder expires because the ingredients mix with humid air and cause a chemical reaction. But soda is a single ingredient - the most it can do is get lumpy.
Is it possible that the leavenings were not well incorporated? For example if the soda were concentrated in one area that could cause exess browing.
What about overmixing? That might explain the chewiness.
One last possibility I can think of is the buttermilk. When I occassionally use a different brand of buttermilk, I notice that the consistency is not the same. Buttermilk also seems to thicken with age.
Hope this is helpful.
Hi thanks...about the baking soda...you really scared me because that is the only thing i can pot a blame on
( I tested it with hot water and it still bubbled though )Over mixing...that should not be the case...as the chewy thing is just the top...
Buttermilk...this is possible in the sense that i used frozen Buttermilk which was not smooth...( This brand of buttermilk says it is freezable).
I have never thought about te buttermilk before...
Thank you.
Willkeep u posted.
Thanks again
Glacé, Crystalized, Candied DIY
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
thank you. I will try that too.