Development as a Baker

[ludja]

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When I'm working on a new recipe, I start on paper.  I'll have an idea and I'll write out a test recipe -- essentially just the measurements and a very shorthand list of instructions.  Then, when I'm in the kitchen, I'll often make changes as I go along.  I'll taste a batter and think it needs something else.  I'll look at the texture and decide to add another egg or more flour.  I'll also take notes on the texture of the batter as it's being mixed, anything unusual about it, the quantity etc.  I've never thrown out a batter before putting it in the oven, but I've tossed plenty of things once they've come out. 

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Dear Dorie,

It would be interesting to hear your comments on how you personally developed over time from a baker who was able to execute recipes to one who creates them.

I guess this might include your thoughts on the relative contributions that technical training, experimentation, reading, or other means provided in your development.

Did your development proceed in a methodical manner or did it develop in a less structured fashion that you did not necessarily plan or expect?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts. It is a fascinating topic for an amateur but enthusiastic baker who primarily "clings" to the recipe for dear life when dealing with the actual cake or pastry dough besides trying simple substitutions or additions.

[Dorie Greenspan]

Ludja, I really don't know how to answer your questions. I came to baking because I started baking in my tiny first kitchen after I got married and found that I loved it. As I think I said elsewhere, I had worked in another field completely, I had gone to graduate school and did a doctorate, and I had worked again before I decided to try to make baking and writing about food my work. In other words, I don't think you could say that there was anything methodical about my development.

Over years of baking at home, I took many professional baking courses and worked with many pastry chefs, but by that time, I was a good home baker with lots of home experience. I learned something valuable from every class I took and I learned a tremendous amount from the pros I worked alongside, but my basic development came from reading cookbooks and experimenting endlessly at home.

I can't put my finger on when, as you put it, I went from being a baker who executes recipes to one who creates them. The best I can say is that I was a tinkerer -- I always had ideas about how something should taste. Those who have read my new book, know that that's the reason I was fired from my first job in a restaurant kitchen -- I substituted most of the flavoring ingredients in the restaurant's signature cake and was fired for "creative subordination". I'd guess that it was a gentle transition between "executer" and "creater" -- gentle enough that I can't really tell you when it happened.

But I'll think about it -- it's an interesting question.