Need Professional Baker Advice Please!!
Baking By myheartsdesire Updated 8 Aug 2011 , 2:05pm by scp1127
Hope nobody hates me??
I don't and I understand where you were coming from. If someone does not have something helpful they shoud just resist replying.
I'm sorry that I do not know anything that would help or guide you in the right direction.
You can't just double/triple/ quadruple batters. There is a rule, but I can't remember what it is called. Leah_s mentioned it in another post but I can't find it. You could PM her and ask her?
It's something to do with the ratios.
The "rule" you are referring comes from the Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum and concerns the amount of leavening. However it not simply about scaling recipes. Rather it concerns the formulas in relation to the size of the pan.
Basically RLB claims that the larger the pan, the less leavening agent you should use if scaling a formula that is based on 6 or 9 in rounds. As you would need to scale the recipe to produce 12 in rounds, you, according to her, need to scale back the amount leavening agent.
That said I have doubled/tripled recipes and used larger pans and simply doubled or tripled the leavening agent without any problems. It may be the case for the formulas she uses however as others have noted it is far from a rule. If however after scaling you find your larger rounds collapsing, a good place to begin in diagnosing the problem would be the amount of leavening.
That's what it was called! I couldn't remember.
myheartsdesire,
I don't hate you; I fully understand. I just experienced this on another forum: A colleague has something weird happening in her Outlook Mail and it is causing real problems. Our IT support is not very good and they kind of gave up. I have a fair amount of computer geekiness, so I went to an Outlook forum and asked a question about it, hoping I could fix the problem. The second response I got was from a "Computer Expert" who said that my colleague should read "Outlook for Dummies." He used a winkie face emoticon, but there is nothing on my end of this situation that is the slightest bit funny. I went away mad. I was livid that someone would make fun of someone with a problem.
It is nearly impossible to make short computer posts carry the actual emotion behind it--is it funny? isn't it? How frustrated is the poster? How do you know if someone else is a troll or just joking? Or both?
I don't think there's an answer, but I believe on this forum most people will try to help. Not all, all of the time, but most.
Sorry this is so long and off topic, but I tried to send it by private message and it wouldn't go through.
OP, I am an experienced scratch baker. I have read every comment and the very best advice you received was to look in a book.
Please don't take this wrong, but those of us who develop our own recipes have learned by studying the science of baking. There is no shortcut. I must own 200 cookbooks, and every one of the good ones that have come out in the past few years. When I want to figure something out, I am going to the chefs that are top in their field... revered by other pastry chefs and owning successful businesses.
You can get a general idea of how to increase recipes, but you need to learn the "why".
As for asking the professor, I agree with that too. When I was in prep school, I used to have meetings with my teachers, reminding them that my parents paid their salaries. If they weren't teaching correctly or wasted time off-topic, I would let them know. I now do it at my daughter's school. If I was paying for culinary school, I would demand that my professor answer my question. He can go home and figure it out.
Some of us are to-the-point, but it doesn't mean it isn't good advice.
OP, if you are planning a career in baking, get your professor to do his job, and you need to read read read. Best of luck to you in your career.
If you would like some great books written by some very innovative chefs, pm me for a list. I will be happy to help. I think I need a 12 step program for cookbooks.
You know nothing at all about me and say that to me? I need a 12 step? Just because I asked A simple question. Seriously. I know how to read a cookbook. Thank you so much for your invaluable advice. I wouldn't have known otherwise. I am truly sorry I asked the original question. As for why I keep coming back, I really have no idea. Just trying to stick up for myself. I want to know how yall choose the people you treat like idiots. Im not trying to steal your precious recipes, I promise. Just wanted some ideas. I thought that was what this site was for. I guess that only applies to some people. Really sorry I offended so many by sticking up for myself.
I think I need a 12 step program for cookbooks.
She said she needs a 12 step program (possibly because she has so many cookbooks), not you. You really need to relax.
scp was saying that she needed a 12 step program (since she buys so many cookbooks), not you.
Not sure why you keep attacking people who are trying to offer helpful advice, it might be beneficial to give yourself a few minutes before hitting the submit button to reread your post and make sure it's what you really want to say.
scp was saying that she needed a 12 step program (since she buys so many cookbooks), not you.
Not sure why you keep attacking people who are trying to offer helpful advice, it might be beneficial to give yourself a few minutes before hitting the submit button to reread your post and make sure it's what you really want to say.
Wheres the "like" button when you need one.
I think the OP is just really stressed right now. Being in similar "everything in my life is in chaos" stress myself, I can relate to her sensitivity. I am sure she is thankful for all of the great advice she's gotten. I know personally I take too many things to heart when I shouldn't. We're all human after all, none perfect, but each special in their own way. Just needed to share that.
OP, my advice is about the best you could get. I have had other CC members ask me for the list.
I am a serious baker who loves helping people with scratch baking. This is the advice I give every time and it has been appreciated. This is first time I have been attacked for giving this advice. In fact, many members start a thread just to ask for books. I am sorry, but again, there are no shortcuts. Even the great bakers don't agree on a formula. That is because other ingredients play a role also. A knowledge of ingredient interaction is a must. And method is just as important. I have learned all method from books. All cakes are flour, sugar, eggs, and a fat. In what proportion and how we get there makes the differences.
For anyone else who would like the list, I'm compiling it for a few members so I can just copy it. I am amazed at the innovative chefs who are publishing books. Yes, I am an addict. And even though I pay full price because I must order them before the release date, if you go on amazon, you can probably get them used in great shape. I order all of the published ones used and have never had a bad book from amazon. And I do have them ALL!
Just pm me.
I have sent apologies to the ones I have offended, I think. I really never intended for this to happen. I loved this site and was happily addicted to it. I read a few things wrong. I apologize for that. I think my question was misunderstood as well.
You that keep commenting just to keep it going, who are you helping? Certainly not me...I am sitting here in tears and shaking because i can't believe I have done all this. And everythime someone says some hurtful comment it just hurts me, a real person. I said I was sorry and I meant it. I wasn't trying to attack, I was trying to defend myself. I was wrong......
We have pm'd and everything is fine.
I've gotten lots of pm's about the cookbooks, so later tonight I will make a list and give a brief description about the author's style and the recipe content. I will do cakes, cookies, general, and other.
So let me know in a pm and I will send it to you.
Susan
The comments that you considered "not helping" are probably nothing compared to the real critical customers you will encounter in the future. I just wonder how you would handle them. What some posters here have said are really not "nasty" or "rude". They are just trying to help you go to the right direction. There was no bad language used in their comments. Focus on getting the solutions to your dilema and not as a drama queen. No one is putting you down or bashing you in a way. They are helping you in a way they think they can. I'm sure your instructors have been critical in some way when you were in school. Take it easy.
We have pm'd and everything is fine.
I've gotten lots of pm's about the cookbooks, so later tonight I will make a list and give a brief description about the author's style and the recipe content. I will do cakes, cookies, general, and other.
So let me know in a pm and I will send it to you.
Susan
You are a generous, forgiving person. CC is lucky to have you.
[quote="debbief"][quote="scp1127"]We have pm'd and everything is fine.
I've gotten lots of pm's about the cookbooks, so later tonight I will make a list and give a brief description about the author's style and the recipe content. I will do cakes, cookies, general, and other.
So let me know in a pm and I will send it to you.
Susan[/quote]
You are a generous, forgiving person. CC is lucky to have you. [/quote]
I happen to agree. I'm not a crazy drama queen, I've just had a bad week. I gotta start staying away from the computer when I'm stressed... 
Thanks for all the advice, my instructor recommended The cake Bible as well. I've been wanting to buy that one but just needed an excuse 
. Hope everyone has a great rest of the day.
It was a fabulously informative list. I can't wait to start finding them! Thanks!!
To everyone who got my list:
PLEASE note that, in my opinion, a knowledge of baking cakes only will be a tough road to success. I feel strongly that knowledge of other baked goods, cookies, pie crust, biscuits, bread, pastry... are critical in understanding the science and relationship to ingredient interaction. It is there that you will find how method and ratios manipulate the exact same ingredients.
That is why I suggested the books on the list. The extensive knowledge shared by Dorie Greenspan and David lebovitz, for example, will give you more education than a mediocre pastry instructor in culinary school. Take the generous information that those and others have shared, and you can give yourself quite an education for about $300, paid in installments, one book at a time.
Happy baking, and please don't move to my area! Susan
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%