Baking

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Andy - I have to admit I had not even heard of this before reading your post! I'd recommend using a heating core or heating rod. These are helpful when baking a cake larger than 9" in diameter or 3-4" deep and are designed to ensure that the center bakes through before the exterior is overcooked. They are made of stainless steel so provide heat conduction to the center of the cake. You just stick it in the middle and bake as usual. They are pretty inexpensive and you can order through Amazon - Ateco and Fat Daddio's both make them. I think that will help. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Dominic - I think my first suggestion would be to use it in baking recipes to add some orange flavor to a recipe that doesn't already have orange flavor (i.e., make a plain vanilla cake an orange cake). Orange extracts can vary and some are pretty potent so you may have to play around with the appropriate quantity. I think you \could\ substitute orange extract for orange zest but, again, it would not be a direct 1:1 substitution and I feel like you would lose some of the fresh flavor of the zest. To substitute for orange juice it's a little more complicated since orange juice is often counted as some of the liquid in the recipe. So, for example, if a recipe calls for 1/2 cup of orange juice you would want to add a teaspoon or two of extract and then 1/2 cup of some sort of liquid (water, milk, buttermilk, etc.) to the recipe so the texture isn't compromised. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Liberty -The almond paste we use in the Milk Street kitchen is 45% almonds to sugar. I don't think we've tried the Mandelin brand (we use what's available in our local market) but I think their classic almond paste is closest to what we use at 50% almonds to sugar. Whatever almond paste you do use, make sure it's fresh and pliable or the cake will be dry. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Leanne - I've had the best luck with a lot of gluten-free baking using a blend of gluten-free grain flours, starches and gums. You can make your own, but King Arthur's Measure for Measure, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-for-1 and Cup4Cup (which was developed at The French Laundry) are all very successful in replacing wheat flour cup for cup. No single gluten-free flour behaves like wheat flour so a blend is a must. Most blends include a combination of white and brown rice flour (which have the best combo of protein, starch and flavor), some combination of starches - such as tapioca and potato starch - and xanthin gum. Almond flour is a great substitute when you're looking to add tenderness, such as in tea cakes, muffins, and pancakes due to its higher fat content but its lack of structure can be detrimental to things like cookies, layer cakes, and yeast breads where rise, chewiness, and crispness are key factors. In the case of pizelle cookies, where you are looking for some crispness and chew, a gluten free blend with starches and xanthin gum that can mimic those textures would be better. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Matthew Card

What kind of baking sheet are you using? I have the best luck baking these on parchment paper or Silpat silicone mats. A dark, unlined pan could lead to burning.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Leanne - Glad to hear this worked out so well! High altitude baking can be tricky. Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jason - I would recommend holding them separately in the refrigerator and adding the filling to the pie plate right before baking. You can roll out the top crust ahead and store it flat in the fridge. Just let it soften a bit so that it's malleable before adding it to the top of the pie. Alternatively, you can fully assemble the pie, freeze it and then bake directly from frozen. It will take a little bit longer to bake, but the frozen crust will hold up well in the oven. I fear a pre-assembled pot pie would get soggy in the refrigerator. If you decide to assemble and freeze, just make sure to cool your filling to room temperature before adding it the pastry. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Tom - We recommend leaving the torte on the pan bottom and transferring the whole thing to a serving plate or cake pan. Trying to remove the whole cake from the pan proved to be an impossible task. This is not uncommon when using springform pans for cheesecakes. The parchment paper should hopefully stick to the pan bottom and you can go under the torte itself with a pie server to remove individual slices. Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Sarah - Thanks for your question! I agree - sometimes a white cake is just what’s needed. A couple of factors could be affecting your cake, but the biggest one is probably the temperature of your butter. When we say “room temperature” we really mean somewhere around 66 degrees. That’s probably a lot cooler than most people think since our rooms are generally much warmer than that. The butter should bend easily without cracking and leave an indentation when pressed. We want the butter to be soft enough to coat the flour but not so soft as to lose its ability to aerate or create structure. It’s also important to ensure that your other ingredients - eggs and milk - are at room temperature as well. When mixing the butter into the flour make sure to stop when the mixture is still crumbly. That being said, don’t be afraid to really beat the cake in the last step. With reverse creaming we have coated the flour with fat from the butter which inhibits gluten development. So you don’t have to worry as much about overbeating . The final batter should be really light and fluffy - almost like buttercream. If you watch Erika Bruce in this episode of Milk Street, she uses the reverse creaming method for our Lemon Almond Pound Cake. This may help you get a better idea of the texture at each stage. The reverse creaming method is a little tricky to get the hang of at first but, once you do, I think you will really love the texture of the cake. Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Jennifer - This cake sounds fantastic and I agree the sesame-honey combo could be great. I always say that, when it comes to baking, it's hard to make alterations that are guaranteed to work the first time. Since baking is a science you always have to assume that you may have to work with the recipe and make tweaks to get what you want. That being said, when substituting honey for sugar you need to account for their differences: 1.) honey is sweeter than sugar, 2.) honey is a liquid sweetener, 3.) honey browns quicker than sugar, and 4.) honey is more acidic than sugar. To start, I would substitute 3/4 the amount of honey as sugar and reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 3-4 tablespoons (if there is no liquid in the recipe add an additional 3-4 tablespoons of flour). You should be OK baking at 350 degrees but if you find the cake is browning too fast I would move it to a lower rack and reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees (and bake it the next time at the lower temperature the whole time). Finally, I think you should be fine with the amount of leavener here but if you want to substitute honey in other recipes that only call for baking soda I would make sure to add an additional 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder to the dry ingredients to account for honey's acidity. However if you find the rise on this cake isn't what you expected you can try making it the next time with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder instead of 1/4 teaspoon and see if that helps. Which brings us to pan size. You can definitely make the cake in a 9-inch pan rather than the 8-inch pan called for in the recipe. Just know that it make take a bit less time to bake and will yield a slightly shorter cake. Hope this helps! Best, Lynn C.