All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [13]
Eggs
Eggs hold fat and other ingredients together. When egg whites are whipped to firm peaks and added to batter, they act as leavening agents by trapping air. You’ll want to use large eggs for the recipes in this book. Check the carton for cracked ones (you don’t want those) and when you get home, put the eggs in the coolest part of the refrigerator, and make sure their little pointy heads are facing down. They have a pretty long shelf life this way, about 4 weeks. But if you’re suspicious about your eggs’ freshness, try this: place an egg in a bowl of water. If it’s a floater, get new eggs.
Like butter, eggs should be brought to room temperature before working with them. But they shouldn’t sit out longer than 1 hour. As a shortcut, or when an egg meets an unfortunate, messy end and I need a backup extra egg while creaming, I fill a bowl with tepid water and place my egg in there. It takes the chill off and gets the egg to room temperature in a short amount of time—about 10 minutes.
Leavenings
To “leaven” means to add an ingredient that produces gas, which lightens dough or batter. Eggs and butter can act as leavening agents, but there are two others you’ll routinely use:
Baking soda is an alkaline powder that works best in combination with acidic ingredients, such as natural cocoa powder, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, honey, sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk, and citrus juices. It’s also very absorbent, which is why people use it in stinky office refrigerators. Store it in a cool, dark pantry and it will generally stay active for about 1 year. If you think yours may be too old, test it by combining ½ teaspoon of baking soda with ½ teaspoon of vinegar. If you’ve got bubbles, you’re good to go.
Double-acting baking powder may sound like it’s the big gun, but it has about a fourth of the power of baking soda. Baking powder contains some baking soda, along with cream of tartar and some cornstarch to absorb moisture. Double-acting baking powder works in two stages: the first occurs when it comes in contact with liquid, and the second happens when it’s exposed to heat. It has at least a 6-month shelf life, but may last longer. Think it’s too old? Test it this way: add 1 teaspoon of baking powder to ½ cup of hot water. Got bubbles? Then you’re good to go.
Other Stuff
Liquids give those leavening agents a dance partner. Milk is a common addition to recipes (whole milk is preferable but 2 percent is fine). In recipes with chocolate or spices, sometimes coffee or espresso is used. Then again, sometimes all it takes is a cup of boiling water. And although sour cream and yogurt are not liquids, they are moist enough to serve the same purpose.
Cream of tartar is just fun to say. Tartar is a by-product of wine making. It forms on the inside of wine casks during fermentation. It’s used in baking to stabilize egg whites and keep sugar from crystallizing while being heated.
Salt provides flavor or enhances it. You can use regular old table salt, or you can use kosher salt.
Vanilla extract is made from vanilla beans, alcohol, and water. It smells great, but tastes bitter, bitter, bitter. It’s expensive and there is a synthetic version of it, but I prefer the real stuff. If you’re planning to do a lot of baking, buy a big bottle, as you’ll use up this flavoring faster than all the rest.
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, clove, and ginger are the most commonly used spices in baking. They will keep for as long as 1 year if stored in airtight containers, away from heat and light. Test by smelling and tasting—if they’re weak, buy new spices. For details on spices, see page 102.
Chocolate is worth its own book. For baking, you’ll use unsweetened cocoa, unsweetened baking chocolate, and bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. And as far as the cocoa goes, there’s a potential ingredient trap you should know about: only use Dutch process unsweetened cocoa when a recipe specifically calls for it—otherwise, use regular unsweetened cocoa. The differences between the two are explained on page 75.
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