FrekeChild
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2007
- Messages
- 19,456
Mara- to answer your questions:
1. It just depends on the recipe. It could be super fluffy egg whites, it could be adding more egg whites, it could be the addition of baking soda or baking powder. For instance my favorite cake to make is pound cake. 1 lb of butter, 1 lb of sugar, 1 lb of eggs and 1 lb of flour. The only leavening in there is beating the h3ll out of the butter and sugar to the point where you can't feel any graininess of the sugar crystals anymore-but it's super dense. With a sponge cake (my nemesis) it'll be getting fluffy egg whites, sifting the flour numerous times, beating egg yolks until they are light in color and fluffier, beating the butter until it's fluffy and light, and then folding gently so as to not knock all the air out and get a dense cake.
The main stabilizers in baked goods are eggs and flour. That is what makes them solid, and something you can pick up and eat. Fats, sugars, liquids, all of those are going to add texture/flavor. It's all a matter of getting the right combination for what you want.
2. I guess I answered this in my "leavening tutorial" (Goodness, I sound like my instructors!
) but they use plenty of baking soda and baking powder.
3. I have absolutely no problems with you using yogurt or buttermilk to sub for butter. What you should try is to make two half recipes-making one half with the original recipe, and making the other half your way-and see what you like better. Some people sub in half applesauce for half of the fat to make them lower in fat and calories. Basically, all recipes need some fat in them for flavor and texture, but some recipes can be adapted to reducing the fat but using applesauce (or another milk product) as a replacement. This works because it's just adding moisture to the end result. But because butter is a natural preservative, the ones with less fat will go stale quicker.
I have to tell you Mara, for some recipes, I'll put about half of the butter and the other half it calls for with olive oil so I can feel better about it in general.
I mentioned in another thread that over winter break I made chocolate chip cookies numerous times looking for a specific result, changing it every time until I got what I wanted- a soft, fluffy almost cakey cookie. But it took a lot of trial and error because I was making them to BFs requirements and it was one huge experiment. But who doesn't love to taste test chocolate chip cookies?!
Seriously, as I read all this stuff, I'm wondering why I'm trying to get my BA in Psych, when all I really want to do is bake. What the heck?
1. It just depends on the recipe. It could be super fluffy egg whites, it could be adding more egg whites, it could be the addition of baking soda or baking powder. For instance my favorite cake to make is pound cake. 1 lb of butter, 1 lb of sugar, 1 lb of eggs and 1 lb of flour. The only leavening in there is beating the h3ll out of the butter and sugar to the point where you can't feel any graininess of the sugar crystals anymore-but it's super dense. With a sponge cake (my nemesis) it'll be getting fluffy egg whites, sifting the flour numerous times, beating egg yolks until they are light in color and fluffier, beating the butter until it's fluffy and light, and then folding gently so as to not knock all the air out and get a dense cake.
The main stabilizers in baked goods are eggs and flour. That is what makes them solid, and something you can pick up and eat. Fats, sugars, liquids, all of those are going to add texture/flavor. It's all a matter of getting the right combination for what you want.
2. I guess I answered this in my "leavening tutorial" (Goodness, I sound like my instructors!
3. I have absolutely no problems with you using yogurt or buttermilk to sub for butter. What you should try is to make two half recipes-making one half with the original recipe, and making the other half your way-and see what you like better. Some people sub in half applesauce for half of the fat to make them lower in fat and calories. Basically, all recipes need some fat in them for flavor and texture, but some recipes can be adapted to reducing the fat but using applesauce (or another milk product) as a replacement. This works because it's just adding moisture to the end result. But because butter is a natural preservative, the ones with less fat will go stale quicker.
I have to tell you Mara, for some recipes, I'll put about half of the butter and the other half it calls for with olive oil so I can feel better about it in general.
I mentioned in another thread that over winter break I made chocolate chip cookies numerous times looking for a specific result, changing it every time until I got what I wanted- a soft, fluffy almost cakey cookie. But it took a lot of trial and error because I was making them to BFs requirements and it was one huge experiment. But who doesn't love to taste test chocolate chip cookies?!
Seriously, as I read all this stuff, I'm wondering why I'm trying to get my BA in Psych, when all I really want to do is bake. What the heck?
300x240.png)