Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

Online, the King Arthur Catalog sells it, I think it's KingArthurFlour.com.

Reply to this      Posted by: Julie | December 5, 2008 9:19 AM #

No baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.

Reply to this      Posted by: Anonymous | December 5, 2008 7:57 AM #

isn't this baking soda?

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | December 5, 2008 5:37 AM #

I would like to know in Connecticut, Middletown, more specifically, where I can purchase bakers ammonia or ammonium bicarbonate. I use it in my Danish cookie recipies. I was able to buy it in Walbaums before it became A&P and now can't find it anywhere. Pelase help.
Joan

Reply to this      Posted by: Joan S | December 4, 2008 9:59 PM #

I emailed King Arthur about this question and was sent this information:

"Traditional Springerle cookies are pure white and crisp. They are made
with no fat. The dough is typically rolled out as a sheet with a
specially carved rolling pin. The cookies are then cut apart.

Traditional Spekulas cookies are richly spiced and chewy/crispy. It is
related to gingerbread. Cookies are made individually by pressing the
dough into a carved wooded mold, then unmolding onto a baking sheet."

Reply to this      Posted by: Beth | November 15, 2008 4:48 PM #

It's funny you asked this question as I wondered myself if they are the same moulds for both cookies. I plan to make some speculaas soon and don't have the moulds but have seen the ones in Rose's Christmas Cookies book for the springerle cookies and wondered if they could be used for speculaas too. I will be interested to see if anyone can enlighten us.

Reply to this      Posted by: Jeannette | November 15, 2008 10:53 AM #

Try Beryl's website. Here's the link:

http://www.beryls.com/

I learned about her while taking a gumpaste class with Jaci Salisbury in D.C. years ago, and have yet to need something cake-decorating-related that Beryl cannot supply. Good luck!

Reply to this      Posted by: Beth | November 15, 2008 6:05 AM #

That is awful news... I always loved browsing through their catalogues and have had stuff shipped in from them many a time. Does anyone have recommendations on an alternative online store that has just as comprehensive a range of items? I know there are lots of online baking stores, but Sweet C was just about the most thorough, you could count on getting just about anything you need there!

Reply to this      Posted by: Daphne | November 14, 2008 10:16 PM #

Does anyone know the difference between springerle and speculaas, and between the molds designed to be used for one or the other?

Reply to this      Posted by: Beth | November 14, 2008 9:21 PM #

Hi Gina, I can't find the source now as I read this a long time ago but I recall it said that when some old recipes called for 10 cents or 5 cents worth of some ingredients it was referring to measured quantity not a value (e.g. enough of ingredient X to cover a 10 cent coin not the amount 10 cents could buy). I seem to recall the reason for this was that as the amounts were small and coin sizes common people could more easily understand the small measurement.... wonder if there's a food anthropologist out there who can shed some light on this?

Reply to this      Posted by: Cate | November 13, 2008 3:44 PM #

I have a recipe from my great, great grandfather that requires 10 cents worth of hartshorn. I don't know how much that is? Do you have any idea? I would love to buy some of your ammonia carbonate or hartshorn for this recipe, however, I need to know what 10 cents worth converts to?

Gina

Reply to this      Posted by: Gina Gangnier | November 13, 2008 7:29 AM #

I am so sad to report that Sweet Celebrations, aka, Maid of Scandinavia, has just gone out of business (10/2008)! I live in the Twin Cities' area, and received a notice from them to this effect.

Reply to this      Posted by: Beth | October 21, 2008 9:02 AM #

A lot of Middle Eastern, Greek, or Mediterannean grocery stores carry ammonium carbonate/baker's ammonia. Check in the aisles where they carry puddings, nuts, or spices. Hopefully your town/community has one these ethnic stores.

They sell them in tiny 1 oz jars for a dollar or two but that should be more than enough ammonium carbonate for most bakers to have on hand.

Reply to this      Posted by: K.W. | February 1, 2008 3:52 PM #

My mother-in-law bakes what her family has always called "Ammonia cookies" every year at Christmas. My daughters are helping her today and they asked me to find out more about baking ammonia. Their friends were
afraid they were being poisoned....

Reply to this      Posted by: suzanne roebuck | December 22, 2007 11:53 AM #

The place I got my Baking Ammonia was at Rafal Spice Company in Detroit Michigan. It is a business that been around for awhile and is a whole seller that sells to the public. Been dealing with them since the early 80's. The web site is:
http://www.rafalspicecompany.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Sorry that I did not find this site sooner for you.

Reply to this      Posted by: Barbara | December 18, 2007 2:09 AM #

I have a old family Christmas cookie recipe that calls for baking ammonia. I have not been able to find it anywhere this year. Is there anyone who can help me out?

Reply to this      Posted by: Jan McConnell | December 3, 2007 12:48 PM #

We had rusks all the time when I was a kid. My mom's family had immigrated from Sweden, where they are still common. I think you can get Swedish ones at Ikea. They are great with coffee.

Reply to this      Posted by: Mona Lyn Reese--The Bangalore Baker | November 22, 2007 8:40 PM #

the only place I have found HOLLAND rusk is at KROGER GRO.

Reply to this      Posted by: granny g. | November 21, 2007 9:33 PM #

Back to the original question -- Holland Rusk. "Hopster" indicates a Holland Rusk pie crust for a custard pie. Would be interested in his receipt.
My mother made such a pie that we called "Danish Torte pie" We have not quite been able to reproduce it (to our satisfaction - how we remember it.)
Ingredients: 1 box Holand Rusk;
1/2 stick butter; 1/2 cup sugar;1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. this is for pie crust.
Custard: 2 cups milk; 2 tbsp sugar;1 tbsp corn starch; 3 egg yolks;vanilla
Cover with Meringue sweetened with 3 tbsp sugar and top with 1 cup reserved pie crus mix. Slow oven 30 minutes.
"Helen's danish Torte Pie"cc

Reply to this      Posted by: Ralph | November 10, 2007 10:56 AM #

I am looking for help w/a 1907 recipe called "Lemon Crackers". 2 1/2 C. sugar, 1 cup lard, 1 pt. sweet milk, 2 eggs, 5 cents worth of oil of lemon and 1 ounce of baking ammonia, and flour to make a stiff batter. Any substitutes as I don't have any baking ammonia or 5 cents worth of oil of lemon. I've got a deadline for making these.

Reply to this      Posted by: Nancy Batchelder | May 15, 2007 11:06 PM #

The recipe I have makes a crunchy cracker-like cookie. When I tried replacing the ammonium bicarbonate with baking powder the result was less crunch.

It seems like it should be possible to make nice savory crackers using the ammonia, but recipes for savory crackers seem quite rare. I haven't yet tried random experimentation.

Curiously the recipes at King Arthur (Princess meltaways and Vanilla Dreams) are both described as being very light and tender.

I have a small assortment of recipes but they seem mostly like variations of the same thing. One curious observation is that the amount of ammonia called for varies from 0.86 tsp up to 6.5 tsp for one pound of flour.

Reply to this      Posted by: Adrian | December 26, 2006 9:16 AM #

I've come across a few recipes using baker's ammonia but have never actually used it. It's supposed to make the cookies & crackers really crisp and dry. Sounds interesting!

Nick Malgieri's "Cookies Unlimited" has one recipe using it -- "Crisp Coconut Cookies." Check the index for "bicarbonate of ammonia."

I think I remember seeing a few recipes in King Arthur Flour's "Baker's Companion" and "Cookie Companion," but as I don't have my own copy I'm not sure. (They're on the Want to Buy list.)

There are also a couple of recipes in the King Arthur flour recipe area of their web site. Just type "ammonia" into the search box.

Sweet Celebrations has some recipes posted on-line too. Here's a link: http://www.sweetc.com/Recipes/bakeramm.htm

Reply to this      Posted by: Barbara Armstrong | December 24, 2006 2:34 PM #

Baker's ammonia= Hartshorn. It is used in Scandinavian cookies. Gives authentic crispness/snap. It is used mostly for cookies as it gives off a ammonia odour when cooking and this suits a cookie, as the cookie is not as dense as a cake batter- so this smell escapes easily from a cookie. (There hasn't been any leftover taste noted by me in the cookie.) Hartshorn does not activate till heated and this is an advantage...the smell is not! I only know this as I have recently been making some Christmas Springerle and read all about it; as I had never heard of Hartshorn before. Because Springerle cookies are left to air dry for up to 24 hours other raising agents would probably not be active anymore. Hence, why Hartshorn is ideal.

Reply to this      Posted by: Melinda Pickworth | December 22, 2006 5:22 PM #

I have a big supply of baker's ammonia and only one recipe that calls for it (which I make about once a year). What else can I use it for?

Reply to this      Posted by: Adrian | December 22, 2006 10:25 AM #

I had rusk biskits in South Africa. It was a twice baked hard biskit. Does any one have a recipe? They made them at Sabi Sabi game resort.

Reply to this      Posted by: Rosannew Valentine | December 21, 2006 11:38 AM #

I buy Holland Rusk regularly, 4 boxes at a time. They are never in the same aisle twice. Try baby food, baking, cookies, snacks.

Reply to this      Posted by: sue | July 23, 2006 2:34 PM #

Rusk crackers were similiar to melba toast. Do they still make teething bixcuits for babies?If so they would be very close to rusk crackers.If not, I would used melba toast, maybe with a couple of plain biscotti thrown in.

Reply to this      Posted by: Karen | February 2, 2006 3:37 PM #

I buy baker's ammonia from a local compounding pharmacist for about $2 per ounce. Some recipes say baking powder can be substituted, but with baking powder, cookies don't have the same crispness.

Reply to this      Posted by: Maureen | January 18, 2006 10:58 PM #

Hubby is from Athens, Greece - I eat store-bought rusks all the time while I am there. The closest thing I can think of here would be Melba Toast. It's not sweet at all, but is the texture of biscotti. They come in different ways - plain, wheat, sesame. Anna

Reply to this      Posted by: Anna | January 15, 2006 11:16 AM #

When I read the posting asking about rusks, I remembered a recipe in "Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies". I went and checked, and sure enough they were there. A rusk is a twice-baked not to sweet cookie much like a biscotti. Rusks are German cookies according to that book.
Tobey

Reply to this      Posted by: Tobey Goan | January 14, 2006 3:20 PM #

Baker's ammonia is still available, from Sweet Celebrations (catalog page 110) or from The Baker's Catalogue.

Reply to this      Posted by: Fred | January 13, 2006 9:24 PM #