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Someone make me a convert ? - Page 2

post #16 of 23
6/2/10 at 9:28am
Larkin I was meaning usually, You are right a reputable recipe is a good choice, but not always. I creat a lot of my own recipes. It is a lot of trial and error to find the ones that you like and will work with time and again. Some of the scratch recipes on here do look wrong I agree.
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post #17 of 23
6/2/10 at 9:42am
Sidetracking just a bit, part of the problem is many people don't know how to write a recipe down.

- Many of our non-U.S. CC'ers have questioned "how much is a 'stick' of butter?"
- There have been threads that point out packaging is getting smaller so "a can" of this or "a box" of that just isn't accurate anymore. (Not that it was to start with, since the user doesn't know if it's a big can or a little can!)
- Dont' EVEN get me started on the "capful" measurement! icon_mad.gif
- Lots of threads questioning when flour should be sifted .... before or after measuring?...... or not knowing what it means between "1 cup flour-sifted" vs. "1 cup sifted flour".

I've edited a couple of cookbooks and it was the most frustrating part of the job to track down the recipe submitters and ask "what the heck does THIS mean?"

Cake Cutting Guide: http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20comb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55969028@N00/
www.cateritsimple.blogspot.com
http://thimblefulsofhistory.blogspot.com/

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Cake Cutting Guide: http://cateritsimple.blogspot.com/search/label/cake%20comb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55969028@N00/
www.cateritsimple.blogspot.com
http://thimblefulsofhistory.blogspot.com/

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post #18 of 23
6/2/10 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by indydebi

Sidetracking just a bit, part of the problem is many people don't know how to write a recipe down.

- Many of our non-U.S. CC'ers have questioned "how much is a 'stick' of butter?"
- There have been threads that point out packaging is getting smaller so "a can" of this or "a box" of that just isn't accurate anymore. (Not that it was to start with, since the user doesn't know if it's a big can or a little can!)
- Dont' EVEN get me started on the "capful" measurement! icon_mad.gif
- Lots of threads questioning when flour should be sifted .... before or after measuring?...... or not knowing what it means between "1 cup flour-sifted" vs. "1 cup sifted flour".

I've edited a couple of cookbooks and it was the most frustrating part of the job to track down the recipe submitters and ask "what the heck does THIS mean?"



Right, but again, are those reputable recipes? Measurements like that tend to come handed down in families or between friends. I've never seen those kinds of measurements (other than a stick of butter, but it almost always has the cup or tbsp measurements with it) in any of my books or good online recipe sites.

If you are just starting out in the scratch world, avoid your "average person" sites until you've mastered a few pro recipes. As mentioned earlier, Epicurious.com is a good place for recipes to start, as are a large number of baking books. I wouldn't use a place like allrecipes.com or even the section here on CC til you know enough about the baking science to be able to do a tried and true pro recipe correctly. And then you can mess with recipes that are typed up by random strangers and say things like "can of this."

Even better, start out using recipes that are in grams or ounces. They are the most accurate and will give you the most consistent results. I can't stand that most American baking books are still by volume. It's a silly way to bake.
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post #19 of 23
6/2/10 at 12:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larkin121



If you are just starting out in the scratch world, avoid your "average person" sites until you've mastered a few pro recipes. As mentioned earlier, Epicurious.com is a good place for recipes to start, as are a large number of baking books. I wouldn't use a place like allrecipes.com or even the section here on CC til you know enough about the baking science to be able to do a tried and true pro recipe correctly. And then you can mess with recipes that are typed up by random strangers and say things like "can of this."

Even better, start out using recipes that are in grams or ounces. They are the most accurate and will give you the most consistent results. I can't stand that most American baking books are still by volume. It's a silly way to bake.



Agreed!! I only bake from scratch and I always measure dry ingredients by weight. It's worth it to invest in a digital scale if you are serious about wanting to get into scratch baking (and even if you're not, you'll probably find you use it more often than you think). I think one of the main reasons scratch recipes turn out dry is due to the baker's error in measuring. For instance, if you are using a measuring cup for flour, you should spoon the flour into the cup then level it off with a knife rather than dipping and scooping with the cup. When you dip and scoop, the flour gets compacted and you end up with more flour than when you lightly spoon the flour into the cup....does that make sense? And if you're using measuring cups, be sure to use dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and liquid measuring cups for wet ingredients!
Epicurious.com is a great source for recipes. I've found that most of the recipes that have been given a lot of good ratings turn out well. Be sure to follow the recipe the first time you make it, as any little substitution can drastically alter your results. Foodnetwork can also be a good source for recipes. This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/40-a-day/chocolate-fudge-cake-with-vanilla-buttercream-frosting-and-chocolate-ganache-glaze-recipe/index.html
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post #20 of 23
6/2/10 at 12:16pm
Also, if you're measuring by weight, there is a great conversion chart in the back of The Cake Bible that gives the weight for most common cake ingredients.
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post #21 of 23
6/2/10 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by abeane

Be sure to follow the recipe the first time you make it, as any little substitution can drastically alter your results.



Oh yeah, I love it when someone reviews a recipe and says "Terrible recipe, was awful. I made it just like it said, except I used milk chocolate instead of dark, regular cocoa powder instead of dutch processed, and I was all out of buttermilk so I used sour cream, and I don't know what cake flour is so I just used regular flour. The cake was awful."

Ummmmm... you just made a totally different cake.

You can alter a recipe only if you understand exactly what that alteration does to the chemistry... something I am still trying to learn about as I go.
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post #22 of 23
6/2/10 at 1:04pm
Great advice. The main complaint about scratch cakes from non-scratch bakers are being addressed. thumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gif
1, 2, 3, 4 UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!
SEMPER FI!
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1, 2, 3, 4 UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS!
SEMPER FI!
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post #23 of 23
6/2/10 at 9:41pm
Thread Starter 
ok lol you have convinced me that I suck thank you lol to think I have been baking 40 years and to be so sucky, thats just way bad lol....oh well icon_wink.gif
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