Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

UP-DATE TO DEAR FRIENDS

i'll be out of the country until feb. 6 so won't be able to answer questions until my return. if you post them as comments on the blog it will make it a lot easier to respond when i return rather than sending a g mail.

there'll be lots to report from my upcoming trip to barcelona where i'll be visiting the lékué silicone company and giving a lecture/demo to the bakers' guild of spain at the chocolate culinary academia in barcelona. it promises to be a great adventure.

just returned from the fancy food show in san francisco. highlights were fran's smoky fleur de sel milk chocolate covered caramels (www.franschocolates.com), a wide variety of beautiful and delicious salts from saltworks (www.seasalt.com) and a refreshing yet soothing ginger drink appropraitely called ginger soother (www.gingerpeople.com).

also exciting to me was the source atlantique booth where they were debuting the new packaging of my beloved lyle's golden syrup with my picture and favorite pecan pie on ever bottle!

of course there was lots more wonderful food products but i wanted to stay at my booth (harold's kitchen) where i was showing my pie plate, crème brûlée heart-shaped molds, and lékué's silicone bakeware. it was fun seeing a steady stream of friends, relatives, and new acquaintances pass by. (i was thrilled, by the way, that before the show started i got to spend a day with my brother and family and my soon to be 8 year old niece mariella asked me to bake cakes with her in the little silicone molds i had brought for her to play with. and she was thrilled that she could unmold them herself as the silicone edges are cool enough to handle within moments of coming out of the oven. her favorite was the teddy bear shape!)

as predicted, dinner chez daniel patterson, formerly of restaurant elizabeth daniel and frisson, and his fiancée alexandra was a delicious joy. i'm thrilled that they invited me and my ca. family to their home since his upcoming restaurant won't be opening til march. (lucky san franciscans!--and lucky us!!!) i fell in love with their new great dane lucy and was surprised that despite her size she was more timid about meeting me than i her! my 91 yearr old father sat quietly through the long dinner but as he was departing he turned to daniel and said: "if you cook this way at your new restaurant you will make millions!" (sweet moment)

another memorable meal was at delphina in the mission district. dungeness crab pasta was fantastic--all the dishes were unusual in unexpected but delicious flavor combinations.

for breakfast every morning i walked a mile to the ferry building with my dear friend elizabeth karmel (author of the newly published "taming the flame") to enjoy the amazingly good food at boulette's larder.

home for 3 days to straighten things out and get ready for the trip to europe. also squeezed in a roast chicken and a large challah for my husband--recipe to follow on my return.

until soon!
best baking wishes,
rose

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PAGE 32 IN THE NOW SECTION

This is a link to the article where I give tips (and give a recipe for) buttercream icing (PDF, 1 MB)

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LIBBY QUESTION

Dear Rose,
I am an avid fan of yours and have been dedicated to the Cake Bible for as long as I have been baking. I've always wished you had a recipe for Red Velvet Cake in your book. I have tried to use your method of incorporating ingredients, but still have not found the success I experience with your recipes in baking. Do you have a recipe and if so would you share it?
Thank you for making me a better baker. Your book is amazing (as is your pie cookbook which I also love).
Most sincerely and with much admiration

ROSE REPLY

thank you dear libby. a red velvet cake is simply a layer cake that uses one bottle of liquid red food color for some of the liquid, so all you have to do is chose any of my cakes (yellow or white) and replace an equal volume of the liquid with the red food color.

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MARC QUESTION

Feedback: What is the Australian Piping method and where can i find good information on the internet about it

ROSE REPLY

it is extremely intricate royal icing piping and often lace work on cakes that have been covered with rolled fondant. i don't know where on the internet you would find information about it but there are many wonderful books. sweet celebrations carries them.

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SHARON QUESTION
Hello,

I am thinking about purchasing The Cake Bible. When is the new book coming out and what will be different? Should I wait for the new one or should I purchase both of them?

I'm a novice to pastry making. Will there be a new pastry book also or am I safe to purchase The Pastry Bible?

Thank you for a very informative site.

ROSE REPLY

i would highly recommend getting the cake bible and here's why: last year i did a revision but the only things i felt needed changing were the chocolate recommendations and the equipment and ingredient distributors. chocolate is now expressed in % of cocoa mass rather than manufacturer and some of the chocolates i recommended no longer exist! the recipes, however, have become classics as the book has survived for close to 18 years now and still going strong. i found there was nothing i wanted to change with the exception of the burnt almond milk chocolate ganache as the chocolate bar used to make it is no longer being manufactured so i replaced it with another delicious milk chocolate ganache (lesson learned not to have a product-dependent recipe!)

the cake bible is filled with explanations about how cake baking works which is ideal for beginning and advanced bakers who want to know more and have more control over what they are doing.

the new cake book will be entirely different with emphasis on the visual (some aspect of every cake will be pictured) and contain all the new ideas that have come about over the past two decades since the cake bible.

re the pie pastry bible, if i ever do another on the subject it will be many years from now! but do check out the new pie crust that's on the blog. it's a variation of the cream cheese pie crust but uses heavy cream instead of water and is more tender and more delicious.

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PATRICIA QUESTION

Hi Rose,

I have used your 12 cup Muffin Pan with great success.

Do you know where I can get 12 mini cup pan with a removable base ideal for individual mini cheesecakes?

I had to get the above muffin pan in Boston as we do not have them here.

Thank you, in anticipation,

ROSE REPLY

they're produced by chicago metallics and i've seen them at williams sonoma! great pans!

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HEIDI COMMENT

I'd like to thank you for publishing The Cake Bible.
As someone who always loved baking but never went to culinary school, I read many highly rated cookbooks but grew increasingly frustrated when recipes were excellent (or not) but failed to explain what was going on. Your book answered so many questions! You should have seen me devour it from beginning to end so many years ago.

Here is what I've done since then:http://www.mirabellecatering.com/

That is your lemon curd in those pictures, your genoise, your mousseline, your ladyfingers, your meringue swans, your pistachio marzipan (heavenly!), your raspberry sauce (ditto), your chocolate leaves, etc etc etc.

Though I certainly reference other books now as well (I'm sure you recognize some of Alice Medrich's creations, and Martha's) and sometimes use their recipes, the vast bulk of what I do is still from your book (second volume - the spines break in no time!) And I would not approach those other sources with the same confidence, had I not absorbed such a basic understanding from you.

I'll have plenty of questions to send in the future, since discovering this blog, but for now just wanted to say thank-you with all my heart.

ROSE REPLY

this has to be among the most validating letters i've ever received. and encourages me all the more as i submerge deeper and deeper into my first new cake book since the cake bible so many years ago. your work is exquisite and i've put in a link so everyone can see it. if i can take any credit for making your imaginative artistry more delicious i'm very proud indeed. and icing on the cake is that you acknowledged the empowerment of information and how it makes it possible to absorb so much more when you have a base of understanding. it is a life-long process and an undying thrill.
thank you heidi!

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HOPSTER QUESTION

Feedback: 2 questions:{1} What could I use in place of Rusk Crackers in a piecrust? as I can't find Holland Rusk. I have a recipe for a custard Rusk pie thats really good,, do they still make them? #2 what is a replacement for baking ammonia? I have a very old recipe for Drop cookies that calls for 3lbs flour 1/2 oz. baking soda, and 1/2 oz. baking ammonia,ect, also what would 1/2 oz. equal in teaspoons? Thank You

ROSE REPLY

can't help with the rusk crackers as i don't remember what they are. maybe someone else on the blog can.
for the baker's ammonia: i used it to make melting moment cookies and got it from sweet celebrations. not sure if there is a replacement for it but i believe it predated modern day baking powder. if they still carry it, 1/2 ounce would be about 2-1/2 teaspoons.

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RUBYMARTHA QUESTION

I would like to bake a cake with fresh purees. Such as peaches, strawberries, etc. I cannot seen to find a recipe with puree, I did find a couple using cake mixes but I want a scratch cake. I absolutely am an avid reader/owner of your books. I attended SCSCA in Pasadena in patisserie but have learned more from your books that I am sorry I made the expense for the school. If you can help me I would so appreciate it.

Thank you,

ROSE REPLY

thank you--i'm very moved by your compliment. i must share another moving experience i had in pasadena when i was on tour for "the bread bible" 2-1/2 years ago. a woman named rose came to my book signing bringing her grown daughter as well. she reminded me that she had brought her daughter as a little girl to my signing for ""the cake bible. now she was returning to buy "the bread bible" for herself and another "cake bible" for her daughter to have now that she was living on her own. it was a very beautiful way for me to mark the passage of time!

now for the fruit purees. i'm sorry to disappoint you but i found even when adding fruit juices to cake it seemed to disturb the ph balance of the batter and give it an off texture. cake mixes have emulsfiers and other things that give it what is known in the industry as "tolerance." this means that all manner of additions can be made and the cake will still work. as you've probably seen in "the cake bible," i do add purees to buttercreams with great results. perhaps another person on this blog has had a more positive experience adding it to cakes?

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SUNDAY JANUARY 15 NY DAILY NEWS
www.NYDailyNews.com

watch for a great article by Isabelle (Liz) Forgang that's been scheduled for appearance in the NOW SECTION. it features simple tricks that chefs do to basic dishes that make a difference in the finished dish. home cooks can emmulate these tricks easily so that they too can cook like a four star chef.

The article features Daniel Boulud of Restaurant Daniel and his famous short ribs; Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin with a great fish dish, and Moi with a lilting buttercream. i know what my special "tricks" are but i can't wait to see theirs and plan to try them asap!

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