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?

The Little Black Book of Pies

Monday, July 28, 2008

A few months ago I self-published a cookbook titled Little Black Book of Pies. I am someone who is passionate about food and people learning to cook good food. I am a dying breed, a good old fashioned cook who wants folks to know that anyone can be a good cook and baker.

Years ago, when I was a child I took piano lessons from a woman who I later learned was not a great piano teacher, but a good piano teacher. There are folks who are great at what they do and folks who are good at what they do. What really sets them apart is their passion for what they do. My piano teacher was not about fluff, pomp or pageantry; she was about teaching, she was a piano teacher. She wanted me to learn and learn well and greatness would come. I suppose a bit of that rubbed off on me. I am not about being a Paula Deen, or Rachael Ray. I want the students in my cooking class to walk away with the meat and potatoes and not just the marshmallow fluff.

I had a woman edit my book and the most she could come up with is the fact I put old fashion instead of old fashioned and that the book could stand to have color photographs and an index; besides that she thought is was pretty good and would sell well to anyone who enjoyed baking pies. I have really tough skin and to a certain degree I agreed with her. The book did need an index and it would have been great to have color photographs of the pies. Unfortunately that was not in my budget and if that will prevent the book from selling, well all my work was done in vain.

It is my desire to write a number of other books for novice and not so novice cooks and bakers before I leave this earth and some may have photographs and some will not. I am of the school of thought that when a book does not have fancy photos it leaves more to the imagination of the cook. You can decide how you want the dish to look, and you can learn to trust your own ability and creativity. This is something we just don’t allow folks to do anymore. People are eager to say, show me this, or show me that, as opposed to try it and let’s see what you come up with. Trust and believe you will know it when it is right and if you cook and bake long enough you will know how to enhance your masterpiece.

There are not a lot of pie cookbooks out there today and mine is not for the gourmet baker. The Little Black Book of Pies is for the simple cook, the novice who just wants to have a few deliciously divine pie recipes under his or her belt to woo friends and family. My little book is the kind you will pull out to impress and tuck away for your grand daughter. No, people don’t write these kinds of books anymore, it’s just a little black book of pies, filled with deliciously simple recipes for the pie lover in your life.