Why use extracts, when you can use the real deal?!

People who know me well, know that I can be a bit of a snob as relates to my margaritas and wines. Oh, and chocolates. Alright, food - LOL. Who doesn't love an authentic meal, I ask you?!

So when it comes to baking and creating flavors, I'm just as persnickety. I truly do dream flavors. Sometimes I'll taste something and go oooooooo....wouldn't THIS be good in a cake?! And off to flavor wonderland I go. So, what about all those flavor extracts???? And especially the ones that are alcohol flavored. Grand Marnier for example? To pun a phrase "There's an extract for that". With the multitude of extracts that are now available, one could start a mini lab. A drop of this, a dollop of that.

Did you know that about 99% of ALL extracts are alcohol based??? Hmmmmm....sooooo if THEY are alcohol based, why not just use the real deal? It's alcohol too, right? RIGHT!!!!!!! What about the fruity citrusy flavors; Lemon, Orange and the like? Again, why go fake?

Vanilla extract, historically is used to sort of bring the cake flavor to a nice balance. But I bet you that historically, Vanilla as we know it now, was QUITE different. No alcohol to preserve or dilute it, a more pure and stronger flavor. TRULY extracted from the beans therefore much more concentrated.

We unfortunately have become a society who accepts and indulges in fraudulent flavors. Our poor, poor taste buds have been distorted!!! Can you imagine what it must taste like to use fresh fruit purees, juices or liquors?

HOW do you do this, you ask?  SIMPLE! Unless you're using Vanilla Bean Paste (and lots of it) FUGGEDABOUTIT! Replace Vanilla with....juice from maraschino cherries, pineapple juice, Grand Marnier, Kirsch, Bailey's...WHATEVA.  HOW you ask? Well, a typical cake formula calls for a measly 1 tsp of Vanilla. WHO'S gonna taste that??!!! START with about 2 or 3 TBS! Taste your batter, if ya can't taste it, it ain't enough! Trust me, you'll be ok. Just don't go beyond about 1/4 cup of liquid. Beyond that and you may need to make adjustments to your formula.

Still need more flavor? No worries. You can puree about 1/4 of fruit and add it to your batter; Make a nice fruit puree to put between the layers. Bananas are especially good as are chopped apples. Any kind of berry makes a delicious puree and the left over can be made into either a sorbet or added to a simple syrup and poured on pancakes, waffles, biscuits or people! (jus' sayin).  That simple syrup can also be added to certain kinds of  icings.

There are a myriad of things you can do to get out of the flavor extract zone. And hey, if you screw it up, so what, it's still edible, right? Hopefully....maybe - LOL.

I'm curious, I know I'm not the ONLY one who thinks of flavors that would be good in cake. What flavors would YOU add? What about your kids? I'm sure theirs would be REALLY interesting - LOL. Play with it!!

As always, I'd like to hear YOUR experiences and help you navigate the wonderful world of Cakery Bakery!!

SCRATCH: That's the word of the Day!!!!

 
Soooo, this past Saturday, PLC and I went to the National Capitol Area Cake Show. She had a great time looking at all the cakes on display and I started plotting her first cake entry in two years :-)
 
As we were departing, we happened on a Demo being conducted by a World Famous area cake decorator and his team. Their work is awe inspiring and they've won numerous TV competitions, national/international awards and have been commissioned world round.
 
What he said during his pontification on his travels and accolades took me aback; He said, quote: "There's nothing wrong with Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines" WHAT????!!!!!! DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT??????? BLASPHEME, I thought!!!! Blaspheme!!!! Here is a man who I'm sure charges an obscene amount of money for his cakes, just on his Rep alone and he says that Box Cakes are OK???? REALLY???!!!  Now ,I must admit that a couple years earlier, I attended NCACS and tasted one of his cakes, it...was....in fact box and I was SORELY disappointed! I thought maybe by chance this was cake just for the show and not his Norm, But, to hear that he actually ENDORSES this horrific practice, has enraged me quite honestly.
 
What has alarmed me so, is that I take VERY seriously how my desserts are presented and the work I put into them. I am not at this point in my career a sculptor, but a DARE you to find many others with my flavor profile. I focus not only on flavor, but texture, aroma AND aesthetics. For me, there is nothing better than a dessert made from scratch. It's awesome to have a cake that looks so good that it deserves to be on the cover of a magazine, but if it TASTES like crap, ppl will remember that long after all the pictures have been taken.  Now, granted when I have desserts made by friends or family I do NOT expect that they are as hard core as me, nor do I judge their efforts, because, they TOO have put their hearts and souls into something delicious. I DO however, have different expectations for professional bakers and this is where my frustration lies.


In speaking with two fellow bakers, they echoed my sentiment. I did pause however to consider another perspective: Time. The time it takes to do Mis En Place (Everything in it's place, prep and measure ingredients can swell into thehours depending on the job.  Time...is...money and eliminating the 'scratch ' can save valuable time that could be spent on decorating and getting desserts out the door. I get it. When you are in big production, EVERY second counts. But, my heart STILL goes back to authenticity and presentation.

Many small bakeries, like myself, crave for more opportunity. So my prayer in this realm is to find a way to make 'Scratch' baking more equitable. "BRING THE SCRATCH BACK INTO BAKING" will be a new motto I will tote!!

For now my friends, HAPPY BAKING!!!!!!! HAPPY CREATING!!!

What are YOU'RE fears on baking from scratch? Let's talk about it :-) Let me help you down from the chemical ridden Boxed Mix Ledge!!!

I dream in flavor, flour and sugar!

OK - So I am FASCINATED really by the whole science behind cakery bakery! To the occasional baker, it doesn't occur the roles that flour, sugar, butter, eggs and milk play in baking a cake.

Well - I'm here to tell ya....ALOT! And HERE, in all this science, is where I REALLLY like to play! But - don't tell my secrets, shhhhhhh! Lets' keep them between you and I, ok?

Flour isn't just 'flour'. ALL flours serve a specific purpose and most of it comes down to one tiny little difference, gluten. Yup, that thing that many people are now allergic to eating.

Gluten, as relates to baking, serves to make dough elastic and to extract moisture in batters. So, if you are baking bread, you typically would use bread flour. Cakes, All-purpose or Cake Flour. Pastry Flour has the highest content of gluten and is used to make pastry dough used for tarts, pie crusts and such. The lowest amount of gluten is found in Cake Flour.

Now, think about how dense a tart is compared to a soft piece of cake, Angel Food cake for instance. Dense and chewy vs. Soft and melty-like. THAT my friends is gluten at work!

How sweet the sugar! Not only does it add the sweetness, but the water content in those liiiiitle grains of goodness help the cake brown! As the cake bakes, moisture is released, sugars rise to the top (hence the reason why the very top part of the cake is just a bit sweeter than the rest) and the edges begin to brown. Ahhhhhh - you may say....how very interesting! YES it IS interesting. Here's some MORE fun stuff; Did you know that brown sugar is really just white sugar that has molasses added for taste and color? YUP! It has Noooooooo added health benefits! Sugar in the raw or 'natural' sugar however, is a different story.  It is not as produced as white sugar and leaves a bit of the natural molasses from the sugar cane. The granules however are larger than white sugar, so they don't break down in the same manner and that doesn't bode well for a delicious balanced cake.


One of the things that typically happens to dry cakes is....overbeating! However, the more a batter or dough is worked, the more dense and dry it becomes. You would think that a cake batter should be beat for minutes on end to make sure all ot the ingredients are properly incorporated. Alas, no!!! That is actually COMPLETLY WRONG.. So STOP DOIN IT!!! You only want to beat a batter to incorporate the ingredients. On their own, they will become cozy with each other and eventually form one beautiful, fantabulous dessert!

Ahhhh Eggs! THE most versatile ingredient! Eggs are wonderful because the have like a ga-zillion uses! Let's use the tangy delicious Lemon Meringue Pie for an example. To make the Lemon Curd, you use only the yolk portion of the egg and to make the meringue, only the white can be used. How ingenious!!

Everything is better with butter, right? RIGHT??? And, the more fat in the butter, the better. So, having said that, as in many things, store brand ain't the best brand! They contain more water and less fat than competitors. I will say, however that I have noticed Land O' Lakes is a heap bit lighter than it used to be.......hmmmmm. Butter is primarily responsible for the moist texture in cake.

Milk - Mooooooooooo!!!!!! Milk is another producer of fat. But, is it enough to make a masterful, wonderfully moist, highly praised and drempt about cake? NOPE...Not in MY book it ain't. Things just aren't produced the way they used to be...PERIOD.  Maaaaaaany years ago, dairy products were delivered FRESH from the farm and full of all that goodness the animals produced. Now, with mass production and economy, EVERYTHING is watered down and pumped full of chemicals.

This is one reason why you see recipes using things like mayonnaise, yogurt, pudding and applesauce ingredients to add moisture. MY solution however is a tad bit different.

So, what DO I do? Well - I play with my flours, milk and butter! I adjust them all to ensure a lower level of gluten development and higher level of moisture content. I also don't overbeat my batter!

Cakery Bakery at it's finest!!!! Don't you feel like a scientist now?? LOL. Or is your head just spinning around going.....uuuummmmm....what did she just say?? LOL. Either way, NOW you know....TRULY what goes into those yummy bites of deliciousness! Well - at least from a scratch baking perspective. I don't believe that box cakes are real, so don't even get me started down THAT path!

Let's make this a discussion, shall we? What are YOUR experiences or questions about Cakery Bakery? Do you have or WANT to have as much fun as do I? Are ya scared of the mixer or oven? Let's talk about it!!

Welcome to my 'sweet' brain!