Real Baking with Rose Discussion Forums

Graham Cracker Crust Woes

2011-01-17T17:12:25-05:00

This weekend I made a coconut cream pie from The America’s Test Kitchen Baking Book. It was absolutely delicious. I used Rose’s Recipe for the graham cracker crust recipe from the the PPB but had some problems with it. I used a 9” pie plate and made the amount for a 9” pie plate. It was barely enough to cover the bottom and sides, and when I baked it, there seemed to be so much butter in the crust that it was oozing out all over. So I tried again using the amount for a 10” pie plate and it seemed to cover the pie plate much nicer. I had to add more graham cracker crumbs so that I wouldn’t end up with an oozy butter mess again. It seemed to bake up really nice, until I tried to cut into the pie later. The crust was hard as a rock. I almost needed a hammer and chisel to get through it. Mind you it tasted great, just really hard.

Has anyone made the graham cracker crumb pie crust before? If so, did you encounter any problems with it.

Wedding Cake Newbie - Neoclassic vs. Mousseline Buttercream?

2012-05-16T13:39:45-05:00

Firstly, thanks in advance for everyone’s help!

I’m about to embark on my first wedding cake and I’m trying to decide which buttercream to use to frost the entire cake?

I’ve made both the Neoclassic and Mousseline buttercreams from TCB and have a slight preference for the neoclassic. However this cake will be served outdoors in New York on Memorial Day weekend (so could be hot and somewhat humid…or could be perfect spring weather).
Does the outdoor context mean I should lean in favor of one buttercream vs the other? The cake will be able to stay in an air conditioned space prior to serving (so it will not be outdoors the entire wedding).

Thanks!

could anyone suggest a basic buttercream recipe which is not very sweet ??

2012-05-16T14:48:08-05:00

heyy….could neone give me a good recipe for a buttercream which i can use as a basic one for my cake business

Eggless sponge cake

2012-05-14T07:51:20-05:00

Baked a sponge cake according to following recipe;

Eggless Sponge Cake Recipe
Sponge Cake Recipes and Angel Food Cake Recipes
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/angel-food-cake-recipes/eggless-sponge-cake.htm

Ingredients:-
200 g sweetened condensed milk
130 g self-raising flour
60 ml melted butter (63.4 g used)
1 level tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheated Kenwood KM450 bread machine to 320 deg F.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Mix the ingredients together, add 75ml water and beat well.

Poured the mixture into the baking pan of the bread machine and baked for 20 min. After finish baking the top of the cake was in light yellow colour. Baked it for another 10 min at same temperature to make the top in dark brown colour.

Photo-01 - eggless sponge cake
http://ubuntuone.com/3Mr8kRYk733tnkj297nMp8
Photo-02 - eggless sponge cake slices
http://ubuntuone.com/36bpM4MFDGEL4IXQYEKrKM
Photo-03 - eggless sponge cake with blueberry yogurt topping
http://ubuntuone.com/6Yom0eeKOagsDTmPXMLLRW

The cake is tender and tasty with good smell because of butter. This is an easy cake with about 15 min for preparation, without heavy beating.

I have following questions:
- can I add more baking powder (or baking soda) to make it more sponge?
- if I need to double the size of the cake whether just doubling the quantity of all ingredients?

Comment and suggestion would be appreciated. TIA

B.R.
satimis

Recent Projects- Cherry, Pear and Rhubarb Pies, plus RHC Coffee Chiffon with Dulce de Leche Cream

2012-05-15T14:35:52-05:00

Catching up on recent projects- three pies while my father was visiting: the pear galette, a cherry pie (with leaves a bit too large… ooops) and I finally got around to trying the rhubarb custard cream pie.

The pear galette was wonderful and like the apple galette, pretty fast and easy for a scratch pie. The only note I have is to be more careful next time with my selection of fruit and the thickness of my slices, as my fruit was only barely soft enough to eat with 10” of additional baking time. It probably could have used even a little bit more time, but the edges were getting dark even with a foil ring to protect them. I served it with Amaretto whipped cream, a divine combination.

The cherry pie used the last of my frozen sour cherries from last year- it was so good! Made the leaves a bit too large and the glaze was thick from being frozen, so that the brush marks from my pastry brush held their shape! That was a first. This pie was blind baked and the fruit gently cooked stovetop in a large saucepan that would fit all the cherries in one layer.

The rhubarb custard- I used leftover dough for the crust and didn’t quite have enough, so my sides were a tad short. And because the dough had been re-rolled from scraps, it was worked a little more than is ideal and there was a little more shrinking to make the pie even smaller. Not a big deal, except that not all of my fruit would fit, and I only had room for about half or maybe 2/3 of the custard. Probably would have looked very different with more custard. The custard was not perfectly smooth, but in such a thin amount it wasn’t particularly noticeable and didn’t bother me in such a rustic pie. I liked the custard cream, but I think the strawberry-rhubarb was still my favorite, while my husband liked the rhubarb-cherry (he said it was even better than the all-cherry pie!) and my daughter preferred the all-cherry to any of the other pies.

Pizza stone

2010-06-05T20:25:43-05:00

Hi—

I made the focaccia from my last question and it worked out well with parchment! Now that I’ve done it with a pan, I want to try baking more bread with a pizza stone. I see a lot of bad reviews (smell, cracking, etc.). I don’t see a pizza stone that lots of people love, not even the one from Williams Sonoma. What do you think is the best pizza stone?

Tim

Frozen pie on heated baking stone?

2011-01-28T17:58:54-05:00

I’m hoping someone can help me. I have a frozen cherry pie (Rose’s recipe) in pyrex pie dish. I’m planning to bake it off tomorrow for my brother’s birthday “cake.” Question: Can if put a pie, frozen in a pyrex pie pan, directly on to a heated baking stone. Tomorrow is almost here, and I’m afraid to move. Thank you from a worried baker.

Microwave/convection vs. traditional oven

2012-04-24T10:03:15-05:00

Hi,

I’ve recently moved to a new apartment where, instead of a regular oven, there is a microwave/convection combination oven.

I’ve been trying to use this oven on its convection setting to bake things like muffins, quiches, etc. I’ve noticed that the oven generally requires more time to bake things properly.

Yesterday I baked muffins. The recipe stated that they should bake for 20 minutes, but a toothpick still came out sticky after that time, and the muffins were pale-looking. I gave them an additional 10 minutes, and then took them out, but they were still not baked all the way.

Same thing with quiches. I have bake them for at least one and a half time that the recipe calls for.

Is this normal? Has anyone had a similar experience? Is this the way these combo microwave/convection ovens work?

Many thanks!

Kasia.

Raspberry Chiffon Pie

2012-05-13T18:51:27-05:00

This is my favourite recipe from PPB made with my favourite fruit. I�ve had difficulties with it each time I�ve made it but I still love it�it�s all about the flavour.

The first time I made it, I used the flaky yogurt pie crust and I used agar agar instead of gelatin in the filling so my vegetarian daughter could have some. Unfortunately, the product I had was mixed with sugar and I didn�t use enough so it didn�t set properly.

This time, I had pure agar agar (thanks again Anne) so it set beautifully and I made the recommended sweet nut cookie crust with almonds. Loved the combination of the sweet crust and filling with the fresh berries but will make it in a tart pan next time as the cookie crust was so tender, the angled back of each slice couldn�t support the weight of the filling without the pie plate for support so every piece broke during plating! I rearranged the fresh berries on each serving and no one noticed

Baking With Oil Instead Of Butter

2012-01-18T10:58:01-05:00

I am baking for someone who has elevated cholesterol. I know Rose has some cakes using oil instead of butter but can I replace the butter for oil in any of the recipes? Also, generally speaking, can I use egg whites in place of whole eggs?