Baking

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Linda - This sounds like a pudding cake, for sure. We have a recipe on the website for a Maple-Whisky Pudding Cake (baked in individual ramekins) but the cake doesn't get turned out - the glaze-y sauce starts at the top and ends up at the bottom of the ramekin.Two tips with this kind of cake - 1.) make sure to pour the sauce in and let it sit on top of the cake batter, don't stir! and 2.) don't over-bake the cake. If you do, the sauce becomes a bit thicker and isn't as distinct. Others here may have some ideas, but I think a search for a gingerbread pudding cake would probably yield a good starting point. You could then experiment with turning the cake out rather than leaving it in the pan as most recipes do. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Barbara - I'm not super familiar with Maid of Scandinavia, but in my quick research I think it was a cake supply company? Is that correct? If so, I think Wilton is probably the next best source. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mark - The ones we use in the Milk Street kitchen (and what I use at home) are 1/4" thick. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Marianne - I believe someone on the board made it by hand successfully. See this thread for details - https://www.177milkstreet.com/discussion/discussion/comment/714#Comment\_714. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi - Thanks for your question! Clotted cream is a silky, golden-yellow cream made by slowing heating unpasteurized milk (or heavy cream) until a thick layer of cream forms on its surface. It is then cooled and the cream that rises to the surface and “clots” is skimmed off and served with scones, berries, or desserts. The best clotted cream is said to have a good, firm crust atop smooth, thick cream. I hope that explains it! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Suzanne - We haven't tested this, but I think it would probably work fine. Just make sure to use full-fat yogurt. Good luck and let us know how it turns out! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Judy - When I'm out of cake flour I always substitute following this method using all-purpose flour and cornstarch since I think it's the closest recreation of cake flour in texture. Once I've sifted the flour together twice, I weigh the flour according to the amount listed in the recipe (in this case, 320 grams). If you are using volume measurements, dip and sweep the 2 2/3 cups from this pile of sifted flour. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Mildred - If you are making recipes that call for flour by weight (which we highly recommend!), you can just use the weight called for in the recipe. When we did testing to determine our standard weight for 1 cup of a variety of flours we didn't find a huge difference among bread flour brands. For Milk Street recipes, we consider 1 cup of bread flour equal to 137 grams. But, we always call for weights in our recipes anyway. For recipes that call for a volume measurement it's a little bit trickier since the weight of flour is determined by how it's measured. Some people measure using the dip-and-sweep method, others use the spooning method. These methods and how heavy-handed each person is affects the weight of the flour. To determine our standard weights we had dozens of people measure flour and took an average of those measurements. Since weighing methods and standards vary by recipe author, you can't really transfer the weights from one recipe to another. Hope that helps! Best, Lynn C. #

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi John - I'm not sure what you've tried, so it's hard to make suggestions about ingredients and technique. I think a yeast-based dough rather than a baking powder dough is going to give you better rise and texture. Also, a good naan recipe will have fat in it, usually in the form of dairy and, specifically, yogurt. The fat in the dairy serves to impede gluten development. This, in turn, yields a much softer-textured dough. Assuming you've got a tender dough already, there are a few areas where things could be going wrong. How are you measuring your flour? We recommend measuring by weight, especially in baking and bread-making. By using volume measurements, you could be adding too much flour causing the dough to be dry. Second, are you rolling out the naan (and rolling too thin)? This would yield a more crisp, bread-like dough. By rolling you deflate some of the air the yeast has produced in the dough. We prefer pressing out and forming pizza dough and flatbreads by hand to ensure they stay light and airy. Have you tried our flatbread dough? I use this all the time for flatbread-style pizza and I think it could be the right style of dough. I'd probably divide the dough into four pieces rather than two to turn it into smaller naan. Cook the dough on a pizza steel or in a cast-iron skillet and brush with melted butter after it's cooked. You may want to replace some of the water in the dough with olive oil to add a little more richness. It may take some experimenting, but I think it could be a good place to start. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.

Answered by Lynn Clark

Hi Donna - We asked Christopher Kimball this question and you can find his answer here. Good luck! Best, Lynn C.