Crazy Baking Tips

[jumanggy]

I haven't been seriously baking for very long (just a few months), so I've no idea if something that sounds crazy may actually be common knowledge to professionals. I was looking for local recipes as I was getting guilty over making "international" fare all the time, when I came across this in a promotional cookbook (42 pages) for White King flour and wheat products, circa... 1980, I think. Near the end was a page titled "Professional Secrets."

To make layer cakes without layer pans, pour some batter into a deep pan, place over it a piece of waxed paper cut to fit the pan exactly, pour more batter, place another piece of waxed paper, etc. until all the batter is used up.

Does that sound like it could work or could be a spectacular disaster? (Apparently they did not trust homemakers of yesteryear in the Philippines to successfully tort a whole cake.)

To freshen stale cakes, dip in cold milk for a second, then rebake on greased pan in moderate oven (without icing).

It kind of makes me feel sad to think a cake might not be finished in a matter of hours and that it would not even be stored properly, ha ha. I've heard of this tip a lot. Do people do this?

Sour milk that has soured quickly will give a better flavor to a cake than if it has soured slowly.

I don't know what this means. I hope they're not suggesting that the downside to adding milk that has been sitting out for too long is an inferior "flavor."

From the "Substitutes for Common Ingredients" page:

1 c. sugar, granulated = 1 1/3 c. brown sugar, lightly packed

                                                     1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

                                                     1 1/2 c. corn syrup minus 1/2 c. liquid

                                                     1 c. honey minus 1/2 - 1/3 c. liquid

Okay, that is clearly wrong for most baking applications. However, they didn't add any disclaimer saying that anything that results from this substitution will have no crumb (or at least a weird crumb). I'm hoping nobody followed this...

Oh, there's also an introduction (unrelated):

Bring your family added pleasure and good health... Happy cooking to you-- the Queen Homemaker!

Gee, THANKS! Yes, I know it was the late 70's. Wasn't born then.

So, have you ever heard of a baking tip that sounded weird but ended up surprising you? Or was it widely debunked?

Edited July 28, 2007 by jumanggy (log)

[chefpeon]

Speaking as a professional I will respond to the "tips" to which you refer:

To make layer cakes without layer pans, pour some batter into a deep pan, place over it a piece of waxed paper cut to fit the pan exactly, pour more batter, place another piece of waxed paper, etc. until all the batter is used up.

Professionals just bake the cake as a whole and split it with a serrated knife into as many layers as desired. The wax paper trick is something an inexperienced home baker might try.

To freshen stale cakes, dip in cold milk for a second, then rebake on greased pan in moderate oven (without icing).

Professionals don't have stale cakes, because they wrap them well and freeze them from the get-go.

Sour milk that has soured quickly will give a better flavor to a cake than if it has soured slowly.

Huh? Professionals use buttermilk when they need "sour milk". Whether it's soured slowly or quickly, I'm fairly sure would be an extremely slight discernible difference in a baked good.

1 c. sugar, granulated = 1 1/3 c. brown sugar, lightly packed

                                                     1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

                                                     1 1/2 c. corn syrup minus 1/2 c. liquid

                                                     1 c. honey minus 1/2 - 1/3 c. liquid

Bad and misleading information! Although the above may be "substitutions", the baker should be aware that the said substitutions affect the final texture and overall outcome of the baked good. Mostly for the worse, because the use of the original ingredient is essential to the palatability of the final product.

It's no wonder home bakers can be easily discouraged with all that misinformation out there.

There are some good baking tips, yes, but when one is offering up a baking tip, they need to be careful it is presented in the right context.

[jumanggy]

Yeah, that substitution was weird. Which household sooner has corn syrup than granulated sugar? "Gee, I know what this cake needs to be... Flatter, denser, and chewier!"

Something's also surfacing in my consciousness... Oh yeah, Angel Food Cake Mix made with room-temperature 7-up instead of water, or maybe Chocolate Cake Mix made with Diet Coke. (I hope my link lasts forever.) Apparently it turned out okay for some people. I'm not going to knock it before I've tried it, but I will probably never try it.

[Hahabogus]

my tip...

Any quick bread recipe that makes 1 loaf will make 12 muffins. So if you eat a muffin and can't find a recipe for it...try looking for quick bread recipes.

[jumanggy]

From a Reader's Digest Holiday insert (December 1980), an advertisement for Cut-rite wax paper (I wish I could scan it but I'm not sure if it's still covered by copyright):

You can make two kinds of pie while baking only once. That's right! Put a piece of cardboard covered with wax paper through the pie center and fill with different fillings on both sides.

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart!

[pennylane]

From a Reader's Digest Holiday insert (December 1980), an advertisement for Cut-rite wax paper (I wish I could scan it but I'm not sure if it's still covered by copyright):

You can make two kinds of pie while baking only once. That's right! Put a piece of cardboard covered with wax paper through the pie center and fill with different fillings on both sides.

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart!

←

I've done this, hehe, just a couple of days ago. I actually trolled through the Internet looking for some reference to someone having done it before just to see if it could be done and found nothing... but went ahead anyway. Turned out pretty well, too!

[paulraphael]

From a Reader's Digest Holiday insert (December 1980), an advertisement for Cut-rite wax paper (I wish I could scan it but I'm not sure if it's still covered by copyright):

You can make two kinds of pie while baking only once. That's right! Put a piece of cardboard covered with wax paper through the pie center and fill with different fillings on both sides.

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart!

←

with a little ingenuity, you could make 4 different kinds. why not 8? i'd like to see someone make a pie where every slice was a different kind (i'm not volunteering ... postmodern baking isn't really my forte).

[jumanggy]

Oh, I just realized something weird. The people in those calorie-counting forums were suggesting adding diet sprite to angel food cake mix (actually it's a very old suggestion), but isn't angel food cake mix made of powdered sugar, albumin, and cake flour? (give or take chemical leavening agents..) It would originally only need water to reconstitute. So... for the added extra sweetness, they're dumping diet soda into something with all its potential calories already built in. I'm not sure if the carbonated water is going to give it any additional oomph, would it?

How much flavor do apples contribute in apple pie anyway? Could you just get away with using round buttery crackers?

Pennylane, did you take a picture? I'd love to see it!

Paulraphael, I'm guessing very few want the stress of making 8 different fillings, ha ha! I suppose wanting them all to finish baking at the same time shouldn't be too hard if the fillings are similar...

Edited July 28, 2007 by jumanggy (log)

[pennylane]

Pennylane, did you take a picture? I'd love to see it!

I really wanted to, because it actually looked really pretty, and also because as far as I knew I was the first person to ever attempt such a thing, so I wanted to document it, but I had to rush back to work (long story - the double pie started off as a single pie which didn't turn out right, I couldn't stop thinking about it the next morning and rushed home on my lunch break to "fix" it).

I think I might try the 8-pies-in-1 thing some day - maybe on Thanksgiving! Or at least 4-in-1. I'll definitely take a picture of that!!

[chiantiglace]

theres no point in analyzing this data, just throw it out.

I must say it is useful to humor oneself or others, its damm funny.