The New York Times had an article on this, as I recall.
I haven't been making either pretzels or bagels lately with my wife on a low-carb diet, but this is still on my list of things to try. I've got a digital pH meter now (for our hot tub) and I think I may try several solutions made with various equal weights of both in the same volume of water to see how much difference in pH it makes.
I did talk to a chemistry professor about this when we first talked about this several years ago, to confirm that putting the baked sodium carbonate in water wouldn't turn it back into sodium bicarbonate. He wasn't sure how much difference it would make in pH, but he did think the sodium carbonate would be a stronger alkaline solution.
The coffee flavor does mellow after a day. My husband, however, does not care for it. That is unsurprising, as he does not like coffee. He does like the cake, so I may see if some other frosting will go well with it. The cake is still tender and not dried out today. (I didn't refrigerate it once we cut it.)
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This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by
BakerAunt.
I think she has her good days and her bad days. (Don't we all?) But it sounds like she's got someone lined up to help her this year.
While no one gushed about the cake, I noticed that everyone finished off his or her piece, so that would be success.
If I have occasion to bake it again, I will either use mini-chocolate chips in the cake--and not a lot of them--or leave the chips out altogether. The cake is wonderfully light (probably too light to hold up the chips), and having the chips concentrated in one location messes up the slicing. I'm not sure the cake needs chocolate chips in it; this cake can stand on its own. I'd still decorate the top with mini-chocolate chips.
I would cut back a bit on the espresso powder, if I use KAF's powder, which I think may be more concentrated than instant expresso. The frosting did work well with the cake, so it balanced out, but I still thought the coffee needed to be toned down--and I'm a coffee devotee.
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This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by BakerAunt.
I just read the food renegade article, very interesting. Regarding the type of alcohol you use, a plain, inexpensive vodka works just fine. My son recommended Skyy (40%). Zen uses Everclear (75%), if you can find it, but, surprise; it's a grain alcohol made from corn, You can definitely use bourbon if you like, but as Mike said that's actually a description of the beans.
Cindy said she's even made it with other liqueurs including Kirsh, peach brandy and apricot brandy. Just add a couple of pods to your favorite liqueur and let it sit for a while
My phone is dying - I went to post this morning and my phone froze and then refreshed the website losing the post. It was definitely not an issue with the site.
Two years ago, Mrs Cindy gave me a 3/4 full bottle of homemade vanilla with instructions for keeping it going - similar to homemade buttermilk. All I need is vodka and vanilla beans. The premise is not too let it get down to far and then add maybe ½-1" of vodka and a a scraped vanilla bean. It doesn't matter how many vanilla bean pods you have in there. I think she said she has 20 in hers. Anyway, I let it get down too far and am very slowly building it back up. The fun part is that I'm using the scraped insides when a recipe calls for vanilla.
The bottle it arrived in has a label for Mexican Vainilla (that's the spelling on the label). I'm sure she may have started with the remains of it in there, but I think it's been going so long, there is none left in the mix - I had it down to about an inch when I started rebuilding it and it's a quart bottle.
The ingredients in the Mexican Vainilla are: Vanilla Bean Extract in Purifed Water,Vanillin (Artificial Flavoring), Alcohol, Corn Syrup, Natural Dark Color. I had no idea there could be so many ingredients in "pure" vanilla. I assumed that as long as it was a good brand like Nielsen-Massey or McCormick there was nothing but vanilla and alcohol in it. That will teach me to read ALL labels.
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This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by
cwcdesign.
Chocolate chips and raisins always seem to sink to the bottom for me, too.
Coating them with flour is supposed to help, I haven't tried it enough to say whether it does or not. (Not sure how you would coat chocolate chips with flour, anyway.)
I just removed the two layers from the cake pan. From what I can tell, however, the chocolate chips appear to have sunk to the bottom. There was no evidence of them on the top side. The cake did come out of the pan without any issues, but I am cooling them on the rack with the bottom sides up, just as they came out of the pan. I used one cup of regular sized chocolate chips. In the picture with this recipe, the chips appear to be suspended in the batter.
I used the weight measurements (grams). I used AP flour and sifted it. The cakes did rise nicely in the USA pans. I noted that the one stick of my salted butter is a bit shy of the weight; I needed to add about 1/4 Tbs. more. I used whole milk.
The cake should be good even if the chips are all on the bottom!
This Bon Appetit post landed in my in-box this morning. I'm not sure that I will ever go to all this trouble to make my own Grape Nuts (and I note that it requires graham crackers, probably not homemade). Still, it's fun to contemplate.
http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/homemade-grape-nuts-recipe?mbid=nl_001_09202016_Daily&CNDID=44882808&spMailingID=13470362&spUserID=MTUxNzk4ODA4MTg3S0&spJobID=823743762&spReportId=ODIzNzQzNzYyS0
Looks like avoiding getting any corn syrup with vanilla extract is not easy to do, I wonder if the Mexican vanillas are the same?
For those with a corn allergy, that could be a serious problem. (Most of the people that I've read about with a corn allergy have so many other allergies that there probably aren't many things vanilla is used in that they can eat anyway.)
I checked the Nielsen-Massey, and it has the following ingredient list: water, alcohol (35%), sugar, vanilla bean extract.
Their vanilla paste has the following: sugar, water, vanilla extract, vanilla bean, gum tragacanth (a natural thickener)
Penzey's single strength: water, alcohol, sugar and vanilla bean extractives
The ingredient list for the double-strength is the same.
I suspect that for most of us, we won't taste a difference in the various real vanillas, but if corn syrup is added, I'd pass. While I do use corn syrup in the occasional recipe, I like to know that I have chosen to add it.
I use Nielsen-Massey vanilla, probably because KAF sold it in large bottles (quart-size) at much less than I would pay in the store. I've also found it at TJ Maxx and Ross in smaller bottles. I kept several of the 8 oz. bottles, and I move it to those smaller ones. (A tag on one says $9.99.) I've used the Penzeys, when it came to me in gift boxes, and I can't say that I tasted any difference, although the Penzeys' vanilla comes with a piece of a vanilla bean in it. Last week, when rummaging through my stock of extracts after seeing "vanilla paste" called for in a cookie recipe, I found THREE jars of vanilla paste from Nielsen-Massey that I picked up at either TJ Maxx or Ross. It is somewhat thicker than the vanilla extract, and there is a vanilla bean in it as well. The directions say to use it 1:1 for vanilla extract. Based on a single usage, I detect a slightly richer flavor.
I have such faith in S. Wirth's internet searching skills that if she cannot find those flavored powders, then they are likely not to be found. Swirth--I'm glad that you were able to find a way to make your hoard of powders last.
Hopefully, third time's the charm. I've already tried to post this twice. But, unlike Baker Aunt I didn't copy what I wrote.
A Belated Happy Anniversary, Mike! I hope you had a wonderful day - your dinner sounds delicious.
I tried a recipe I found online for a Croque Monsieur Casserole, basically a bread pudding with Croque Monsieur flavor. It was quick and easy and I will definitely make it again with a couple of minor tweaks. I also made tzatziki, just because I wanted some.
I made the crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken again, really good and I've almost got the recipe where I want it. This time I thought I could taste the ketchup too much (I used HT store brand with no HFCS), so I will use less of that. I think I can reduce the quantity of sauce some more, too. Will keep you posted.
I made an 11x17 Texas Sheet Cake Thursday night to send in to my wife's office to celebrate our anniversary (we had the leftovers today), and I made Vienna bread today.
Today is our 44th wedding anniversary, we had beef stroganoff on rice.
I've been making beef stock since yesterday morning, the main batch (10 quarts) is cooling in the downstairs refrigerator, the remouillage is still on the stove.
