Baking

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Kulia - 90% of the time cookies will become flat because the dough is too warm. The fat in the cookie (usually butter) is too soft and, therefore, begins to melt before the leavener has a chance to do its work. Popping the cookie dough in the fridge for a bit - you want it to be cool, but not cold - will solve this problem. If that doesn't work, another possibility is that your oven temperature is too low. This would cause the butter to melt before the structure of the cookie is set. This is easily fixed by confirming the temperature of your oven using an oven thermometer. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Teresa and Lynn - I'm so sorry for the delay in answering your questions. We published a guide on baking in different pan sizes back in 2018 that is a good guide for modifying cooking times for different baking pans. Lynn, I think the chart in the attached guide will address your question - it will take about 5 minutes less to bake in a 9x9 square pan and about 1 minute less in a 9-inch round pan. As a general rule, baking in a smaller pan than called for means the baked good has less surface area and will generally take longer to bake. Accounting for the different amounts of batter when using two smaller pans or one larger one is a little more complicated. I would refer to this guide by Stella Parks at Serious Eats. In it she says a 10" cake pan should have 35 ounces of batter, an 8-inch would have 24 ounces, and a 6-inch would have 12 ounces. So, in theory you could put the amount of batter for a 10-inch cake (35 ounces) into two 8-inch pans (17.5 ounces in each). The only question is if that difference of 6.5 ounces between what you have and what Stella says is the volume for a proper 8-inch cake will yield layers that are too thin. Unfortunately, that's the question I can't answer since I'm not sure how much volume (in cups) 6.5 ounces will amount to. It's probably worth trying it though! I hope that helps you both. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by April Dodd

Hi Lori - congrats on getting started with sourdough! It's exciting to see so many people diving into baking right now. The main reason that most sourdough care and keeping instructions recommend throwing away some of the developing starter is that otherwise you're going to have a huge amount of starter - far more than you can use as a home baker - and you'll have to use increasingly large amounts of flour to feed it. However, if your care and keeping instructions come from a source you know you can count on, then you should feel free to proceed per their instructions. We're big fans of King Arthur Flour's approach to sourdough; you can learn how they recommend developing a starter here: Sourdough Starter Happy baking! - April D.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Maggie - First, I'd make sure your yeast is still active. You can test the yeast by adding it to the liquid and sugar in the recipe and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. If it bubbles, it's good to go! Next, I would make sure it's not too hot in your oven on the proof setting. I don't have this feature on my oven, but I've heard from others that it sometimes overheats, and therefore, kills the yeast. I always leave my yeast doughs to rise on top of the fridge, which is probably the warmest spot in my house. While proofing, make sure you mark the bowl where the dough starts and where it should be when it's doubled so you know, for sure, when it's doubled in size. I use a proofing bucket with straight sides to rise dough since it's easier to see when it doubles. A very large glass measuring cup is a good option too. Finally, make sure your dough isn't too dry. A very dry dough will not rise properly. Most bread doughs should be soft and smooth (unless it's a very high hydration dough which will be almost liquid). Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Tracy - I agree with Annie. A sourdough starter would be the way to go but, as she mentions, it can take a while to get enough yeast activity to use to make bread. In addition to the soda bread she mentioned, we also have the piadina flatbread, Irish ale bread, and scallion pancakes (Korean or Taiwanese) all of which use chemical leavener (or no leavener). You could try these while waiting for a starter to develop. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Wes Martin

Hi Krista - A cast iron skillet will likely work well for this cake. We chose a non-stick cake pan for a couple of reasons. One, placing the pan in the oven with the cooked pineapple while you make the batter helped continue the caramelization of the fruit, and two, to be sure the cake releases easily when inverted. If using cast iron, (assuming it is a very well seasoned pan and is the proper size), for the best results, go ahead and cook the pineapple directly in the skillet, making sure to get deep caramelization on the fruit and allowing a lot of the excess moisture to evaporate. Since the pan is already hot, arrange the fruit in a single layer, pour the batter directly onto the hot fruit, and bake it. Pouring the batter into a hot pan starts the baking process immediately which prevents a gummy layer at the top of the cake when inverted. Remember that cast iron is a darker metal (and better conductor of heat) than most cake pans, and the cake will likely bake quicker than in a regular cake pan. Start checking for doneness 5 minutes before the suggested baking time. If a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, and the sides of the cake are beginning to pull away from the edge of the pan, it is done. The cake will also likely get darker in the cast iron skillet, so keep your eyes on it as it finishes baking. Also remember that most cast iron skillets have sloped sides so it is imperative that you let the cake cool sufficiently in the pan before inverting it or you risk the cake cracking open if it is inverted when still tool hot. Since the sloping edge structure of the cake baked in the skillet is not as sturdy as if it was baked in a straight-edged cake pan, be sure it cools properly before inverting on a serving platter. Best of luck! Let us know how it turns out. Wes Martin, Kitchen Director

Answered by Matthew Card

Bittersweet chocolate ranges from 54% up to 80% cacao. Obviously the higher the percentage, the more intense the flavor will be--at the risk of bitterness. So to a certain extent, it's a matter of personal taste--how strong you like it. I feel like everyone has a different palate for chocolate flavors. The bete noire does feature some semi-sweet chocolate to balance the intensity of the bittersweet chocolate (and flavorings like the bitters, orange and peppercorns), so feel free to go with a higher percentage bittersweet chocolate.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Joan - I'm not familiar with Flavor Mill Flavorings, but some pastry chefs I know (including my sister!) recommend Bickford Flavors. Have you tried their extracts? They've been around forever and don't use alcohol, sugar, or salt in any of their flavorings so the flavor is more natural. They also offer both water and oil-soluble flavorings. For most applications - cakes, cookies, frostings, jams - water-soluble flavorings are fine. If you're working with chocolate you would want to choose an oil-soluble extract since the introduction of water could cause the chocolate to seize. Depending on what you're using the orange flavoring in, you could also try fresh orange zest and juice. At Milk Street we like to process or mix fresh zest with sugar to releases the oils in the rind. This then coats the sugar and adds orange flavor throughout. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mitchell - I understand your point - the article \is\ a bit confusing. What we found was that there wasn't a huge difference in texture and flavor between dough that was frozen without any rise vs. dough that was frozen after the first rise. However, there was a difference in practicality and time saving. For dinner rolls or pizza dough, it's best to allow the dough to rise, shape, and then freeze because it's faster to shape the dough while it's at room temperature then wait for a large quantity of dough to thaw and come to room temperature before shaping. Formed, frozen rolls will thaw and come to room temperature pretty quickly. On the other hand, for bread dough, it's not really practical to freeze unbaked dough regardless of whether you freeze it without a rise or after it's first rise. That's because it needs to thaw overnight in the fridge and then takes about 3 hours to come to room temperature. In that amount of time you could just make it from scratch the same day. So, yes, there's not a huge difference in quality between freezing before or after the first rise but, practically, it's best to freeze dinner rolls and pizza dough after the first rise. Hope this clears it up. Thanks, Lynn C.

Answered by Julia Rackow

Hi Carrie, Great question, and you're right-- if you're not a baker you shouldn't have to commit to a giant bag of white sugar for the sake of the occasional spoonful. In savory cooking, there are two things to keep in mind when making sugar substitutions. The first is simply flavor. In the Shanghai Scallion Noodles, we call for a few spoonfuls of white sugar because we want to enhance the natural sweetness of the scallions infused into the oil, but not add an extra, competing aromatic flavor. Dark brown sugar, in contrast, would also bring out the sweetness of the scallions, but it would add a dark, molasses character that would be delicious, but might overwhelm the scallion oil. "Sugar in the raw" would be a great alternative to white sugar because it has a lighter and more delicate caramel flavor than brown sugars or demerera. But, that brings me to the second thing to remember when swapping sugars: natural sugars like demerara or "Sugar in the raw" tend to be much coarser than plain white sugar. That means that you may need a touch more than the recipe calls for (because it will pack less densely in a tablespoon measure), and that it will take longer to dissolve in the pan. For something like "Sugar in the raw," I suggest starting with the volume indicated in the recipe, and then taste and adjust the finish dish to your liking. Hope that helps! Julia Rackow