Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

in french it's called mis en place and refers also to "putting things in place" for cooking. everything works more smoothly when one is well-prepared. with cakes, if key ingredients aren't at the proper temperature, it will adversely effect the texture of the baked cake.

the five most essential things in cake baking to get ready are:

softening the butter if used
the butter needs to be between 65 to 75°F/18 to 23°C. cold from the refrigerator it will take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to reach this temperature depending on how cold the frig and how warm the room. to speed softening slice the butter in 1 inch/25 mm pieces. it is amazing how quickly butter comes to temperature when more surface area is exposed. you can also cover the pieces with plastic wrap and as they start to soften, press them flat.

combining cocoa and boiling water if used
be sure to cover the mixture so that there is no evaporation and allow it to cool until it is no longer warm to the touch.

preheating the oven
most cakes bake at 350°F/175°C. and close to the center of the oven. set the oven rack just below the center and start preheating the oven a minimum of 20 minutes before baking.

warming the eggs
eggs need to be at room temperature but this is easy to accomplish if you forget to take them out ahead of time. place them still in their unbroken shells in a bowl of hot from the tap water and allow them to sit for 10 minutes.

preparing the cake pan
except when a recipe such as angel food or chiffon cake requires that the cake pan be left uncoated it is necessary to grease and flour the pan. i prefer using a baking spray which contains flour, especially for fluted tube pans. if there is any clumping of the spray brush it away with a silicone or bristle pastry brush to avoid holes in the top crust.
if the pan has a non-stick coating it isn't necessary to line the bottom with parchment.
for the most even cake layers that are not over-baked or dry at the edges use a cake strip.

(if you use rose's heavenly cake strips there is no preparation of the strip--just slide it around the cake pan.if you are using cloth strips you need to wet them first and attach them with a pin unles they have velcro closures.)

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.29.07 at 2:01 PM in Cakes
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i'm spending christmas weekend with the final revisions of my manuscript for the upcoming book before it goes into copy editing. it's great to be up here in hope with the fire blazing and minimal interruptions. (incidentally after dinner the first night we watched a fantastic dvd which i highly recommend--Vitus.) so i made a whole bunch of our fav turkey parts to last the whole long weekend along with two huge bowls of stuffing (of course i made the bread). we have separate stuffings bc elliott doesn't like chestnuts and i adore the sweet earthy quality it contributes.

the big problem always is choosing the ideal wine to serve with turkey and the problem is not the turkey but the cranberry sauce. one of the few iron clad rules in wine pairing is that the wine needs to be at least as sweet as the food or the wine takes on an undesirably bitter taste. tim hanai, who worked for beringer's, taught me how it is possible to adjust the food to alter the wine. for example, when the wine seems excessively tannic, if you add lemon and or salt to the food the tannin recedes and the fruit comes forward.(i've used this technique in airplanes where the wine was marginal. it has the opposite effect if the wine is "flabby," i.e. lacking in acid and tannis.)

when in comes to cranberry sauce, i have always catered entirely to elliott's taste which means a lot less liquid and a lot less sugar than is called for on the package. in fact, he doesn't want it to be sauce, he wants it to be a jell. it seems bitter when eaten by itself but it works perfectly with the turkey and i decided to put it to the ultimate test and served a Gevrey Chambertin Domaine Trapet “Ostera” 2001. pinot is the most unforgiving wine. it can be at once ethereal and earthy, or closed and astringent. i took a little spoonful of cranberry 'sauce' and a swallow of the wine and held my breath (well not literally). perfection. the wine was glorious with a hint of berry--a match made in heaven.

so here is how i make the cranberry sauce:

for a little over 2 cups

1-12 ounce/340 grams package/3 -1/4 cups fresh cranberries (rinsed and picked over)
1/2 cup water
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/6.2 ounces/175 grams sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine the water with the sugar and pinch of salt and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the cranberries and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (It will look like there's not enough water but as the berries burst it becomes more liquidy.) Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice.

Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, and refrigerate until serving.

Keeps: 1 month or more refrigerated, several months frozen.

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.24.07 at 9:47 AM in Savory Cooking
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Golden Honey Oat Bread

I’ve been working for a long time on a healthful bread with delicious flavor but also my ideal of a perfect texture. The result is this nutritious bread which is also amazingly light, soft, and slightly chewy with lovely crunch from the flax seed. The wheatiness of the whole wheat, flax and oat or barley flakes together with the sweetness from the honey conspire to make this one of my top favorite breads so I am offering it to all of you as my Winter/holiday present for a happy and healthy New Year.

Be sure to use the vital wheat gluten, available in many supermarkets and health food markets. It is the secret to the marvelously light texture of the bread which usually becomes quite dense with the addition of whole wheat and other grains.

Note: Though the photo shows a sprinkling of barley flakes on the crust, I prefer not to sprinkle the top of the loaf with oat or barley flakes as they tend to get hard and fall off when cut.

Note: If anyone wants to make a version using old starter see notes at end of recipe!

TIME SCHEDULE Minimum Rising: About 3 hours Oven Temperature: 400°F/200°C, then 375°F/190°C Baking Time: 35 to 40 minutes

Makes: One Loaf about 4 1/2 inches high

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.22.07 at 3:56 PM in Bread
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Do check out the link on the forums for high altitude baking--it will be very helpful for those of you on high!

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.20.07 at 2:25 PM in Announcements
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well there it is--the babka stayed and i gained a little over 1 pound. i just returned from my early morning swim and ran into one of my favorite neighbors waiting for the elevator. she asked me in a hushed voice what i had been baking the night before last. she said the whole hall smelled like apple pie and permeated all the apartments (she had already queried another neighbor). it was the cinnamon and butter combination of course. incidentally, ann has a luscious sounding chocolate and apricot filling as another great alternative to the cinnamon and sugar.

since i can't seem to get this babka out of my mind, i started thinking that maybe i should use half light brown muscovado sugar in the filling but then decided it was risky as where the babka opens up during baking and the filling carmelizes, the molasses in the brown sugar would make it either burn or become too dark and bitter.

i'm having trouble waiting the 45 minutes for my editor to arrive so we can finish the babka together. i'll distract myself with coffee.

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.19.07 at 7:35 AM in Announcements
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Many of you know from reading my books that I test all the major pieces of equipment used in baking which often leaves me with a warehouse clutter that I tend to hang onto for years. But recently I've been inspired to reorganize, clean up the crawl space and share some of my special pieces with people who would really appreciate it.

For a short time Kenwood was carried under the Rival name and so I have what is actually a Kenwood 7 Quart mixer with Rival brand on it along with two 7 quart mixer bowls and 2 sets of whisk, paddle, and dough hook attachments. I'm willing to ship it to whoever makes the best offer, not including shipping, by the end of the year but it has to be in the U.S. I'd rather see it go to one of my fellow bloggers than to post it on e-bay. and of course you know the respect with which I treat my equipment. This one has not had very much use and is in perfect condition.

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.18.07 at 10:04 AM in Announcements
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...because i can't stop eating it! when i saw the article by my friend and esteemed colleague joan nathan in last wednesday's new york times, the texture and swirl of the crumb just drew me right in. i grew up on 95th street and central park west and my parents each went to eclair on a regular basis (eclair was mentioned in the article), my mother during the week to pick up my favorite whipped cream filled eclair and my father on sundays to pick up a babka.

in my bread book i have recipes for brioche and for kugelhopf, both of which are similar to babka but not the same thing. babka is somewhere between a rich coffee cake and a brioche. compared to my brioche it has about half the egg, two-thirds the butter, and about 1/3 cup more liquid. All this conspires to make a softer and lighter cake/bread.

i am a great fan of ann amernick whose new book "the art of the dessert"(john wiley 2007) contains this recipe. you can also get the recipe by going to www.nytimes.com and putting babka in the search box. you will find several choices of filling and topping. i used the cinnamon-raisin filling adapted from katja goldman, but soaked the raisins in rum as adapted from mrs. london's, saratoga springs, n.y. and i used ann's streusel topping with the cinnamon.

here are a few of my baking notes:

i like ann's use of part cake flour as it makes a more tender cake-like crumb but it also makes the dough fragile and prone to tearing so lift it carefully when placing it in the pan and if it tears as mine did, just pinch it together. it actually looks most attractive with some of the raisins and sugar spilling out and carmelizing on the crust. but i wouldn't try twisting it as indicated when placing it in the pan unless you use all ubleached all-purpose flour or you want it to break open.

those of you who prefer weight to volume, the all-purpose flour (be sure to use unbleached or the dough will fall apart completely) is 10 ounces/285 grams and the cake flour 3 ounces/85 grams. alternatively use a total of 13 ounces/369 grams unbleached all-purpose flour.

if you use instant yeast you can add it directly to the flour. use only 2 teaspoons and add the 1 tablespoon of water to the milk (which by the way i prefer to scald and then bring to room temperature before using).

i also increased the salt from 1/8 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon.

i used my nordicware "Classic Anniversary Bundt" which is non-stick and 15 cup capacity but the standard 12 cup bundt that's called for will work as it didn't come up to the very top of the pan. but the extra height did serve to shield the streusel topping so if using the 12 cup bundt you may want to tent it loosely with foil after the first 30 minutes of baking. by the way, i did not line the pan with parchment, but coated it with cooking spray and it released beautifully--even the escaped caramel part.

my instant read thermometer registered 188 after 50 minutes of baking. i unmolded the babka onto a rack as soon as it came out of the oven. almost all of the streusel stayed on what was now the bottom. as it was 11:00 at night, and i didn't want to ruin the crisp crust and streusel by covering it, i stayed up to watch "kinsey" on othe late show and by the time it was over the babka was completely cool! so i covered it with an inverted plastic box and dove into it this morning.

when you see the photos i took you'll understand just why it provided such a temptation. by the way, the little brass doorstop in the photo is an antique punch and judy. i usually move it away from the best light location for photos but this time it seemed appropriate as babka means little old-lady. actually just old lady or grandmother but in my era they were always little (now we take calcium pills)! bubba, alta bubba, babcha--they're all yiddish and polish variations which sound as endearing, comforting, and lovable as this recipe.

p.s. except for one piece, the missing part in the photo was all consumed by me withint 10 minutes!

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.18.07 at 9:29 AM in Bread
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I will be a guest on the Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite for the Living Today show tomorrow, December 18, at 4:00 East Coast time until about 4:30. We'll be talking about holiday cookies and cakes. Hope you can tune in!

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.17.07 at 4:37 PM in Announcements
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Kate Coldrick’s enlightening postings on the heat treatment of flour on this blog and on her own: www.amerrierworld.wordpress.com/may be responsible single-handed for a tidal wave increase in microwave sales around the world!

But it grieves me to think that people will be using their new microwaves only for flour! So I’ve decided to put together a short list to get you started on other great uses for the microwave.

First some background history.

There has been and may still exist some degree of snobbery when it comes to microwaves that sounds something like this: “Oh I would NEVER have a microwave in MY kitchen.” I suspect this attitude stems from the incorrect use of microwaves such as cooking bacon which granted rids it of fat but also toughens it.

I started experimenting with microwave cooking as a student at NYU using a microwave oven that dated back to WWII. It was my assignment to put it through its paces and in the process prepare a dinner for professor Pfaff who had one of those enviable metabolisms that required her to eat substantially well everyday or she would lose weight. No one knew much about microwave cooking at the time and there was much to learn, the main thing being that it was great for some things but to be avoided for others.

A few years later, when Elizabeth Alston was food editor at Redbook magazine, she invited me to do a freelance story on microwaves. I declined at first, stating that food magazines usually wanted articles about ingredients or piece of equipment that went from soup to nuts and I didn’t like the microwave for everything. But Elizabeth valued my approach and said: “I want you to do only what you think works well in it.” In the process of developing recipes for this story the microwave won me over to such a degree I decided to open a cooking school to share these discoveries with others. I called Mimi Sheridan who was writing up NY cooking schools for the New York Times and was reproached severely for contemplating such an endeavor especially as I was married to a radiologist (still am!). Mimi asked me how I could consider such a dangerous form of cooking and said that the New York Times would NEVER stand behind it. I explained the principles of microwave and how radiology dealt with radiation which was a different part of the spectrum from microwaves which fell under the radar or radio wave spectrum. To no avail.

In the end, I am grateful to Mimi because had I specialized in microwave cooking it would have been limiting and I might never have gone the direction of The Cake Bible! And Barbara Kafka ultimately proved Mimi partially wrong by writing a regular column on microwaving for the New York Times. The other part was when she recommended doing deep fat cooking in it, causing several explosions and lawsuits. This is all past history, however. But before I enter the present I must report that I ultimately went on to teach microwave cooking for two semesters at NYU and continued to learn more about it’s valuable potential. And when I went to London to revise The Cake Bible, I had the pleasure of meeting one of the UK’s top chefs, Michael Aldridge, who was chef at the Connaught Hotel and is now chef for the Chunnel which traverses the Atlantic between England and France. Chef Aldridge had been in pre-med before he decided to change course and become a chef. At some point in our conversation I hesitatingly brought up one of my favorite uses for microwaves and to my astonishment and delight he said “I have one in this kitchen and I use it for the same purpose!” It was to concentrate fruit juices. Using the microwave prevents the slight browning or carmelization of the sugars in the juices and keeps the purity of the fruit’s flavor. I knew I had met a kindred spirit.

Once you start using a microwave and understanding its principles you will find yourself applying them to all sorts of out-of-the box techniques that go far beyond boiling water or defrosting. And Kate’s technique of heat treating unbleached flour to help it to gelatinize and mimic the characteristics of bleached flour where it is not available is such an example.

Pointers to keep in mind:
* Food continues cooking after microwaving is finished so undercook slightly.
* For vegetables always add a little water to keep them from drying and microwave covered,
* If using plastic wrap to cover the food be sure to lay back a little of it to allow steam to escape.
* Salt the food after microwaving or the salt granules attract the microwaves and cause burn spots.
* Rule of them for vegetables: 7 minutes per pound. Example, for broccoli, I slice the stem end into 1/4 inch thick rounds and spread it on the bottom of a microwave-proof container. Then I place concentric circles of florets on top.
* Microwaves are attracted to fat so for softening butter or buttercreams, melting chocolate or softening ganache, start with 3 to 5 second bursts.
I always use the microwave to heat heavy cream for ganache, as it brings the cream to the boiling point without danger of burning it at the bottom and there’s no need to stir.
* When caramel hardens prematurely I zap it for a few seconds in the microwave and it’s restored to perfect fluid consistency without a mess.
* When reheating turkey breast, use a paper towel (I use the unbleached variety marked “for the microwave”), dampen it and wrap it around the turkey breast. This helps to keep it moist.
* I love to reheat steak or thick slices of roast beef. One minute on high in my microwave heats it without continuing to cook it so it remains as rare as when I first cooked it.
* Keep in mind that microwaves vary in power and power usage in your area so always err on the less is more side until you learn the machinenality (as opposed to personality) of your particular model!
http://amerrierworld.wordpress.com/

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.15.07 at 4:41 PM in Equipment
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click on this link and you'll see some advice from me and some of my esteemed colleagues!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121100499.html

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.12.07 at 3:34 PM in Announcements
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A few postings ago i mentioned viewing the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center and how I regretted not having brought my camera. No longer, however, because standing next to me was Kurt Liu on his first trip to New York from San Francisco and he had a very impressive looking camera mounted onto a tripod. I knew his photos would be better than anything I could have taken so I asked his permission to post it on this blog and he graciously agreed.

These two photos really capture the majesty and exquisite setting of the most spectacular Christmas Tree I've ever seen in all my years in New York. Only once did I happen to be at Rockefeller Center at the moment of the tree lighting and it was an experience I'll never forget.

Thank you Kurt for allowing us all to enjoy these two fantastic photos.

Happy Holidays,
Rose

P.S. for more photos by kurt liu here's the link to his flickr site

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.11.07 at 10:25 AM in Photos
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My first job in the food world many years ago was at the Reynolds Metals Company in New York City. The main offices were in Richmond Virginia but we had a satellite office set-up for publicity with no test kitchen. And it was this job that led me to return to college and get my degrees in food.

One of my responsibilities was to distribute aluminum foil and plastic wrap to the press and to anyone else who could promote what a wonderful quality product it was (and still is)! My grandmother said she would have enough to be buried in foil but this turned out to be incorrect as happily she lived to over 99. James Beard was another happy recipient of roll upon roll of foil and plastic wrap. I felt like a female Santa Klaus and only I had the key to the store room. I wish I had sent myself more!

I have remained loyal to Reynolds all these years and have never purchased any other brand of foil. So it is with great pride that I can tell you about an invaluable new product on which Reynolds have spent years of research. It is called Reynolds ® Handi-Vac™Vacuum Sealer.

Because I value freshness of ingredients and don’t operate a restaurant or bakery where ingredients are turned over on a regular basis, I use my countertop vacuum sealer several times every day to preserve baking powder, bread, nuts, fish, meat and everything in-between. But I realized when recommending countertop models that most people would not have the required counter space or available funds. So I’m delighted to report that this hand-held battery operated model is most user-friendly, fast, effective and, at under $10, highly affordable.

Since I started using this system of vacuum sealing I’ve found that it is the appliance I reach for the most often, especially to store bread in the freezer. With a countertop model it is far too easy to over-compress and squash the bread from which there is no recovery. But with this hand-held device it is easy to stop on a dime. And it’s also easy to reseal the bag after removing a slice of the bread or other ingredients.

The Handi-Vac™ is available in major grocery and mass retailers.
For more information see: http://www.alcoa.com/reynoldskitchens/handi_vac/en/home.asp

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.08.07 at 11:59 AM in New Products
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Just in time for the holidays, I've just received a signed copy of my dear friend Marcel's latest book I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas!

Marcel and I started writing cookbooks at about the same time. I'm on my ninth and Marcel's new book is his 10th and we find ourselves once again siblings at the same publishing house: Wiley. I pleased to say they have done him proud with a stunning, beautifully designed book. Every recipe has a photo and I know it was Marcel and photographer Ron Manville who were behind the many imaginative and often playful touches.

Of course Marcel has added his signature "The Chef's Touch" for each recipe, sharing important tips and information. And Marcel is the real and rare thing: A chef (graduate of the CIA) plus a born teacher and writer.

There are so many recipes here I'm dying to try I can't decide where to start but it will probably be with Mrs. Lenhardt's Chocolate Almond Toffee. I know I won't be disappointed--Marcel's recipes are ones I trust.

www.amazon.com

From the kitchen of Rose on 12.02.07 at 4:45 PM in Cookbooks
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There’s no time I enjoy living in New York more than December. (By the way, when a New Yorker says New York it means New York City.) Though the city is dramatic and often beautiful in all seasons, it is at its most spectacular when dressed for the holidays.

This week I walked uptown to a fascinating Austrian wine and food pairing from the Burgenland. As it was only two blocks away from Rockefeller Center I paused to enjoy the newly lit tree for 10 full minutes, with the same wide-eyed wonder as all the tourists surrounding me. I think the tree was all of 80 feet high but rose to 84 feet with the placement of the magnificent Swarovski crystal star on top.

The Austrian wine and food pairing was most successful because it demonstrated dramatically how the wine changes with the food that accompanies it. I loved the Heinrich St. Laurent 2005 by itself and with the Viennese fried chicken and especially with the accompanying sauce of lingonberries, bu