The Novice Baker

Friday, November 28, 2008

Recently a dear friend, who is not a baker attempted to bake on of the pies in my cookbook, Little Black Book of Pies. Again, I would like to emphasize she is not a seasoned baker or cook; but what many might call a true novice in the kitchen. She read the recipe and wanted to make the buttermilk coconut pie on page 77. We discussed and reviewed the recipe and I attempted to walk her through the process step-by-step, preparing this most delicious pie. During this process I discovered that novice bakers know far less that I anticipated.

My dear friend did not know there are measuring cups for both solid and liquid ingredients. Why? Because when using a glass cup, the edges have a tendency to curve and allow you to pour more solid ingredient than you may need. It is far easier to measure solid ingredients with a metal or plastic measuring cup. Will this effect the taste of the products? Yes, if you are not measuring accurately and you pour in more sugar, for example than needed the baked good may taste too sweet. Remember, baking is a science and although you can get away with a lot, it is often not as forgiving as cooking.

My friend also did not know that when melting butter in the microwave you need to place it in a container at least twice the size of the product you’re melting, since butter like milk and other ingredients are likely to bubble and spill over the sides.

After the pie was finished I received a call from this new budding baker and she described the pie as “tasty” but a bit too sweet. Why? Well after participating in a “BSI” (bake scene investigation) I discovered that she measured both dry and liquid ingredients in a glass measuring cup.

In my new cookbook, Little Black Book for the Novice Cook, I discuss the difficulty of baking and how the whole process can be most stressful. The pie was also baked in two “deep dish” pie shells; even though the recipe called for two “regular pie shells”; A standard pie pan is 9 inches in diameter and 1-1/4 inches deep while a 9 inch deep dish pie shell is 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep; another issue involve this new baker not thinking the eggs she purchased looked “large”enough so she used six large eggs instead of the five large eggs called for in the recipe.

I point this out because just changing one or two items in a recipe can alter the texture, flavor and final product. Have you ever changed a recipe and made the product “better” or “worse” for doing it? I once decided to use margarine instead of butter in a cream sauce for a baked fish dish and it was absolutely terrible, greasy and completely uneatable. Are there times when we should just leave well enough alone and stop tinkering with a recipe? What are your thoughts?