Today on Paula Dean's show she had the author of the book "Hello Cupcake". It was mentioned and Paula agreed that she substituted buttermilk for the water in a cake mix. Any thoughts about this?? Any one do this and if so, what are the results. This may be a sophmoric question, but it's been pounded into my head that baking is a science and the recipe should be followed exactly as written
TIA
Have you ever heard of the book Cake Doctor? Recipes have been changed many times. There is a recipe in the book for chocolate cake that uses buttermilk that I just love. It is one of the best chocolate cakes I've had. HTH
Kat
Southern cooks are famous for using buttermilk in many baked goods - biscuits, cakes, breads, etc. I too am not brave enough to just make the substitution but I have several good cake recipes - some scratch, some doctored mixes - that use buttermilk. I use the powdered buttermilk and mix it with water - that way I have just what I need and no extra liquid to store.
If you want a start - there is a GREAT Banana-Buttermilk cake recipe on this site in the recipes section. I also have a Lemon-Buttermilk cake mix recipe and these 2 were the definite favorites of my office staff.
I haven't looked at all my recipes, but off the top of my head none contain water. At least the ones I use the most don't.
Anyways what will happen your gluten strands will not develope as much as with water. The fat in the buttermilk will bind to the flour, and shorten the strands. It will also add a higher fat content. This will give you a tenderer crumb. Be aware of the acid in the BM if you play around.
The science of baking LOLOL. There is a certain truth to it, but it's not like it has to fly a six yr old. Look at your recipes, and look at the liquid to dry ratios. Keep in mind flour is a toughener, fat is a tenderizer, and sugar is a liquid.
Mike
I have a beautiful choc mud cake recipe which has buttermilk in it. And every time I make a vanilla cake for my kids' birthdays it's Nigella Lawson's buttermilk recipe (holds up great in any shaped tin or any amount of carving). I personally love what buttermilk does to a cake's texture - dense and moist.
I can say that as a "southern Baker"...lol...I usr buttermilk in all my baking...being breads, cakes, muffins, ect and it works wonderfully for me. Everybody raves my cakes are the best they have ever had. Don't know if the buttermilk is to thank for it or if people around here haven't had anything that didn't come from Wally world...anyways...HTH
Kat -
Yes it is the recipe posted by JanH - we loved it!!
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/2381/buttermilk-banana-cake
I often use buttermilk in cake/cupcake recipes. It makes a very moist cake and I really love the final product. I also have not seen a scratch cake that uses water. Could it possibly have been a cake mix that Paul Deen was referring to?
Thanks Tigerhawk, wanted to make sure before I tried it. What frosting do you use with yours, your BC or something else?
Quote:
Today on Paula Dean's show she had the author of the book "Hello Cupcake". It was mentioned and Paula agreed that she substituted buttermilk for the water in a cake mix. Any thoughts about this?? Any one do this and if so, what are the results. This may be a sophmoric question, but it's been pounded into my head that baking is a science and the recipe should be followed exactly as written
TIA
Tested this idea this week with devils food box mix. It was incredibly rich and creamy cake.
thanks for the heads up, mb --
mom stuffed corn bread pieces into a glass of yellow flecked buttermilk and ate it with a spoon -- at that time i was allergic to non sweets ;)
my thing with buttermilk is that yes it's great no question there -- however real buttermilk has something in it that our 'cultured milk buttermilk' does not have -- and in fact if we were to name our cultured milk 'buttermilk' today it would not stand the test to be called "buttermilk" -- the name's just been grandfathered in -- and it's a good product better results than water but for real buttermilk is even better --
now i looked at whole foods and fresh market and neither of them has real buttermilk -- so waiting for the holidays and it won't be long either-- the year is barrelling along
I'm not going to be able to buy a cow and make my own, it's against the neighborhood covenants. And I'm not going shopping in Memphis, So I'll buy what the store sells locally. I don't use box mixes often, but it sure was a nice quick easy way to make the box mix better. I'm going to try it on a box of yellow cake mix next. It seems rather incongruent, but what the heck.
lifeway.net - Lifeway Kefir Products
Has anybody tried this brand?
I really like Plain Kefir. No color and flavoring.
K8Memhpis, I know what you mean about real buttermilk.
When I was a kid I used to eat buttermilk same way as you described.
Natka81 -- no i haven't tried that --
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I'm not going to be able to buy a cow and make my own, it's against the neighborhood covenants. And I'm not going shopping in Memphis, So I'll buy what the store sells locally. I don't use box mixes often, but it sure was a nice quick easy way to make the box mix better. I'm going to try it on a box of yellow cake mix next. It seems rather incongruent, but what the heck.
no cow? party pooper --
yeah don't come here for buttermilk -- elvis maybe buttermilk no -- memphis doesn't have any... right now -- but there's the saco buttermilk powder, mb -- saco says it's great :)
http://www.sacofoods.com/products/view/cultured-buttermilk
and the phospholipid story:
http://www.sacofoods.com/facts-and-info/view/notes-on-cultured-butter-and-buttermilk
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