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!!
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