Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

Patrincia, yes, when I got my first seat of 'measuring cup-s' I called them 'measuring spoons in the size of cups!'

Haven't read the rest of this blog thread, but really, everyone needs to be aware, that NOW, electronic kitchen scales are plentiful and so inexpensive, compared to a few years ago, therefore.......... measure by weight!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | December 2, 2007 2:30 PM #

Yep, most Americans really do measure solid and dry ingredients in pre-measured graduated "dry measure" cups - sizes are usually 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup. Liquid ingredients are measured in "liquid measure" cups - sizes are usually 1-cup, 2-cups, 4-cups, 8-cups.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | December 2, 2007 12:34 PM #

Anonymous, I am from the UK, Wales in fact, and I too find measurements of ingredients confusing, but if you use Rose's books you will find she not only uses measurement but weights also which will teach you all you need to know about equivalents, etc. The only problem you'll have then is converting the various flours and ingredients to ourbrands! But we are even solving that problem, read the thread on "Kate Flour" and you will see what I mean! Another thing, you will receive lots of help on this site, from other forum members and even from the lady herself, it's wonderful.

Reply to this      Posted by: Jeannette | December 2, 2007 9:06 AM #

Dear anonymous:
Butter in the US comes in a "stick"...sort of like a rectangular cube. It is usually wrapped in wax paper and marked off in tablespoons. A stick of butter=8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup and weighs four ounces. I weigh everything...but many american bakers just cut off a piece of butter, the amount they need, based on the tablespoon markers on the wax paper wrapper.

Reply to this      Posted by: Bill | December 2, 2007 8:51 AM #

sticks are another mystery to me... do you butter in 'sticks' there are so many recipies i would love to try but the measurments seem so complicated!

Reply to this      Posted by: Anonymous | December 2, 2007 8:20 AM #

thank you so much for your comments bill and patrincia ... there seem to be so many causes i honestly dont know what the problem is, its only started recently but i dont know what im doing diferently! I'm from ireland and as you know we don't measure in 'cups' can i just ask, do you literally measure butter and other solid ingredients in a cup? if so is that not more difficult than weighing or is there a weight equivalent to 1cup??

Reply to this      Posted by: Anonymous | December 2, 2007 8:18 AM #

Great tip Hector.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | November 30, 2007 4:46 PM #

If the sugar is used in syrup, like for Mousseline, granulated vs superfine won't make a difference.

For egg white whipping it may. Although I firmly believe if you are using a KA stand mixer or such with planetary action and motion, the granulated will dissolve just fine.

I always use superfine sugar for all my cakes and buttercreams. Home made superfine that is, by running granulated sugar in the food processor until the sides of the work bowl start to look dusty white.

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | November 30, 2007 2:48 PM #

Amanda Stewart:
The separation of cupcakes from their liners has been a question of some discussion...and no one is certain why it is happening. I have noticed that it happens when some of the batter is touching both the pan and the paper liner. In this spot, the paper sticks to the pan and then when the cake cools and shrinks, it pulls the cake away from the liner, which is stuck to the pan. Also, handling the cupcakes too much when they are warm seems to make the papers separate more. I cool them in the pan for 10 minutes, turn them out onto a wire rack, and upright them gently.

Reply to this      Posted by: Bill | November 30, 2007 2:39 PM #

Silvia:
I've had a problem with granulated sugar not dissolving in eggwhite...but only once. I'm not sure why that happened...every other time I've made this kind of recipe, the sugar dissolved just fine.

Reply to this      Posted by: Bill | November 30, 2007 2:36 PM #

Silvia:
I've had a problem with granulated sugar not dissolving in eggwhite...but only once. I'm not sure why that happened...every other time I've made this kind of recipe, the sugar dissolved just fine.

Reply to this      Posted by: Bill | November 30, 2007 2:35 PM #

Ok, thanks for your help!

Reply to this      Posted by: Silvia | November 30, 2007 2:10 PM #

Granlated sugar should dissolve just fine during the whipping of the egg whites, but if you're uneasy with using granulated sugar, do like Matthew suggested and use superfine sugar, it's exactly the same, only "finer". (it's so fine it's Superfine) :)

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | November 30, 2007 2:08 PM #

Thanks for the answer, patrincia and Bill. Won´t the buttercream be too grainy, if I use granulated?

Reply to this      Posted by: Silvia | November 30, 2007 2:08 PM #

Thanks for the answer, patrincia and Bill. Won´t the buttercream be too grainy, if I use granulated?

Reply to this      Posted by: Silvia | November 30, 2007 1:59 PM #

If you are referring to the one that uses raw egg whites, super fine would probably be a good choice, otherwise it can be a bit gritty, but granulated works just fine too.

Reply to this      Posted by: Matthew | November 29, 2007 9:13 PM #

Granulated.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | November 29, 2007 8:53 PM #

for the chocolate buttercream that uses egg whites, what kind of sugar do you need, granulated, ground, caster...?

Reply to this      Posted by: Silvia | November 28, 2007 2:02 PM #

By cases do you mean the paper liners? If so, this seems to be one of the great baking mysteries.

I haven't had it happen using any of Rose's recipes (or any recipe for that matter), but there are many, many, many others who have. If you do a search on this sight, you'll bring up lots of hits on the subject.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | November 28, 2007 10:52 AM #

Hi! does anyone know why when i have been making cupcakes recently, the cases have been falling off at the sides, not so much with vanilla but when i'm adding additional ingredients...are they too dry, they dont taste dry but i cant think of any other reason!thanks!

Reply to this      Posted by: amanda stewart | November 28, 2007 10:33 AM #

Marie, glad it worked, with practice you will develop a natural instinct on how to handle the mousseline. It is temperature temperamental, but we have weapons to keep things under control!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 27, 2007 9:32 PM #

Thank Hector for the wonderful information, it worked and I saved my mousseline with heat.

Still, I never had this problem before. The temperature of my kitchen this summer was probably making a difference.

Reply to this      Posted by: Marie Phenix | September 27, 2007 7:15 PM #

I am looking for a recipe for a frosting or glaze,that, when you put it on top of my apricot walnut bread or cinnamon rolls will not crack and fall of.

Thanks

Reply to this      Posted by: Marthya Jewel | September 27, 2007 4:19 PM #

Marie, it is the temperature of your meringue or the temperature of the butter.

1- Be sure the meringue is cool, no longer hot, before adding the butter.

2- Be sure the butter is soft, but still pretty cool. The exact temperature is noted in TCB.

You can salvage a 'cottage cheese' mousseline buttercream, by applying heat or cold, whatever is your case. If it is a soupy cottage cheese, then you need to apply cold by putting it in the fridge 10 minutes at a time and re whip until the right consistency is achieved. If it is a crumbly, grainy, hardy butter pieces cottage cheese, then you need to apply heat, turn your mixer to top speed and with a blow drier heat your bowl.

It takes a few times to master the mousseline buttercream, but after that, it is just easy and there is just no better buttercream!

Reply to this      Posted by: Hector | September 24, 2007 2:07 PM #

Marie,
I doubt it is your mixer because I used a hand mixer to make this and I have good results. Problems in texture usually have something to do with temperature--perhaps your butter is too cold.

Reply to this      Posted by: Matthew | September 24, 2007 11:49 AM #

Hi Rose, your mousseline buttercream is the best. But, since I change my mixer, I burned the motor of the other one and I have now a Kitchenaid, I am not able to do this wonderfull recepe. Is it because of the mixer? The recepe can be compare to cottage cheese at the end. I successfully made that recepe dozens of time with à mixer with 2 paddle.

Please help!

Reply to this      Posted by: Marie Phenix | September 24, 2007 11:35 AM #

I have to chime in. Rose, these are the best buttercreams I've ever had and anyone who has tasted the cakes I make (yours!) have ever tasted. I can't tell you how many comments I have had from recipients of these tastes of art saying they have never liked icing before but absolutely love this one.

I too was very intimidated when I first looked at the recipes, but because I knew your other cake recipes had turned out perfectly and could count on excellence from you, I was determined to go for it! And then after making it, found it not to be too complicated at all.

Thank you, Rose, not just for being a woman of excellence in your profession, but for sharing all your hard work so freely with us.

Reply to this      Posted by: Cathy | September 10, 2007 11:22 AM #

Daphne - you're going to love each one!

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | September 10, 2007 8:07 AM #

Hi Rose and Patricia - you can't tell how pleased I am not to have to use icing sugar for the buttercream. I hate having to sift the stuff. Immediately after tasting the cake I went back to The Cake Bible to check out all the different buttercream variations, and you can be sure I will be trying a few others including the silk meringue and mousseline versions. I've had this book for more than 10 years now, that's how long it's taken me to try buttercream!

Reply to this      Posted by: Daphne | September 9, 2007 11:43 PM #

Hi Daphne - Neoclassic buttercream was the first real buttercream I ever tried and I was instantly hooked the moment I tasted it. I'd like to encourage you to continue experimenting and increasing your buttercream repertoire.... the others are even better if you can imagine!

Btw, I've successfully used the Checkerboard Fantasy recipe to make a lovely marble cake - it was very good.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | September 8, 2007 11:25 AM #

For the longest time I've been intimidated by the thought of making buttercream, but yesterday I finally plucked up the courage (motivated by the need to practise before my son's birthday in November) and was surprised and delighted by how easy it is to make the Neoclassic Buttercream. I made the chocolate version and it was delicious. I used it to frost the Fantasy Checkerboard Cake, made without the special pans but using a 6" cake ring and a 3" cookie cutter placed inside my 9" pans. It made a fabulous cake, and I am writing this to thank Rose for a stunning (and relatively quick) cake recipe that I can now add to my repertoire for those occasions that need something a little special but not too fancy.

Reply to this      Posted by: Daphne | September 8, 2007 5:50 AM #

I use this butter frosting for wedding & birthday cakes, fillings for melting moments, cup cakes etc...
250 grams soft Cultured unsalted butter
500 grams Pure icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
up to 1/4 cup warm water not boiling to soften mix.
Beat butter with k beater on medium speed, scrape down. Add half of icing sugar, beat for arrox 3 min. Turn off mixer, add the rest of icing along with the vanilla & salt. Beat on low while slowly adding warm water.
The cultured butter is beautiful in frostings. It has a nice flavour.
If using for a biscuit filling dont add any water water.
Chocolate frosting, add 60 grams - 80 grams of 22 % cocoa solids cocoa powder, sifted, at the end. Soften with warm water to make a smooth spreading icing. This is only nice for biscuit fillings. I prefer the dark chocolate ganache for frosting a chocolate cake or any cake, anyday!

Reply to this      Posted by: Louisa Morris | July 10, 2007 6:16 AM #

Hi Johanna - Rose is away at the moment, but I've made the Neoclassic Buttercream many many times... Let's try to figure out what happened. Do you mind answering some questions?

1. Did you measure/weigh the all the ingredients carefully?

2. Did your sugar/corn syrup mixture come to a full boil (large bubbles covering the entire surface) before adding it to the egg yolk/sugar mixture?

3. Did you allow the egg yolk/sugar mixture to cool completely, while whipping, before you added the butter?

4. What was the buttercream's consistency was when you first put it into the refrigerator?

Okay, that should be good for now. I have a few follow-up questions once you answer these. I look forward to hearing from you.

Reply to this      Posted by: Patrincia | June 24, 2007 2:11 PM #

For my daughter's softball barbeque I made a sour cream pound cake shaped like a baseball, covered in fondant sitting on the main cake "home plate". I chose the neoclassic buttercream for its color to frost the main cake. I made the buttercream frosting at 6 am, refrigerated it, and attempted to use it at noon. It seemed cool. It was runny. I tried to 10x sugar to stiffen it but this did not help. I ended up scraping it off and making a more stable buttercream that is not so tasty and uses crisco to save the cake.

I refrigerated the remaining neoclassic buttercream to see if it would be more stable the next day. At first it seemed firmer but after frosting the caske it sagged and ran. It yielded the same results. Please let me know what I can do to improve the consistency next time. The frosting was delicious but not usable. Any tips for stiffening runny neoclassic buttercream?

Reply to this      Posted by: Johanna | June 24, 2007 7:06 AM #

sorry, typo! www.mirabellecatering.com

Reply to this      Posted by: Melinda Pickworth | March 15, 2007 5:06 PM #

Dear Deborah, There is a gal who may be able to help. I have looked at her cakes through this site. She has written into Rose before. The cakes are gorgeous and she probably will have an answer for you or know what to do. Her name is Heidi and her site is
www.mirabelle.catering.com
Hope this helps as Rose is skiing I hope!

Reply to this      Posted by: Melinda Pickworth | March 15, 2007 5:03 PM #

PLEASE HELP!

I want to make a lamb cake *[stand up mold] in an OLD, thick, 2 piece aluminum mold..real heavy duty one at least 30 years old. I want to mail it, frosted, and decorated like in Italian pastry shoppes, without it breaking or falling apart.

How can I make a flavorful but quite firm frosting or fondant to take shape and not dry out, crack, fall off, or go bad [for safely mailing]? Also, is a pound cake box mix the firmest most reliable cake for the tensile strength needed for this edible centerpiece cake, or is there one with a smaller firmer crumb less likely to dry out and burn?

I have tried many recipes written for Lamb Mold, but none thus far have worked..the neck breaks/nose burns.
(My stove is fine, and I'm not in high altitude either, but maybe the baking temp for a thicker mold is different than the thinner molds?)

Making and mailing means time is of the essence! This is an endearing memory that will bring tears of joy to my 86 year old parents [hundreds of miles away]. I'll need a kind heart to share precise "how to" information. They will likely display it for a week or two after Easter, and then dig in.. Can we pull this off?

My grateful thanks for your assistance in helping me
to bring to life their childhood memories.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU x 1,000

* The mold is 7" tall X 9 1/2" wide, and hold 3 cups of liquid if batter half of mold is filled to the brim.
(I measured with water)...mine is the traditional old world model lamb mold w/ pointy nose (that either falls off or burns to a crisp, sticks to the mold no matter how much I grease it. I've even tried putting a toothpick in the batter to hold it together to no avail.....aaaahhh!!!). This mold does NOT look like the new ones that Wilton makes with fatter headed lambs, (and look cartoonlike).
To see the OLD WORLD version I have found a website with a photo so you can get the idea of what I wish mine could look like. Once at the website, scroll down halfway.
http://www.northendmarkettours.com/html/recipestips/recipestips_2005_easter.html

Reply to this      Posted by: Deborah (please email your answer in case I miss it online ) | March 15, 2007 1:25 PM #

Hello again, Rose. Wedding test cake #2 was a huge success, and I'm headed toward the final stretch for the March 24 event. I have one last question, and please only reply if you have time. I'm using the mousseline (which received RAVE reviews each time I've made it), and am wondering about longevity. If I make the frosting and decorate on Friday morning and refrigerate until Saturday afternoon, will everything still be ok for Saturday night? I usually make the frosting the day I serve the cake, so am just a little nervous about doing it the day before. Thanks much! You are a real inspiration.

Reply to this      Posted by: Nicole | February 26, 2007 11:37 AM #