Pie in the face

Confession: I've always wanted to throw a pie in someone's face… preferably an ex-boss of mine. It's kind of on my bucket list.

Speaking of pie, since we're all here for baking tips and such, let's have a chat, shall we?

So, pie. It's pretty much where it's at. Pie can be awesome, pie can be pretty craptastic - the deal breaker for me? The crust. I've had too many a pie crust that taste like bitter, slightly burnt and crumbly weirdness. Let’s not ruin our filling with that god awful stuff anymore, yeah?

The recipe (makes one double crust pie) –

3 cups flour

¼ cup sugar

2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

pinch of salt

ice water

Mix together flour, sugar and salt. Rub the butter into the flour with your hands* until the butter is mostly incorporated, but you still have some small chunks in there. Pour in the ice water a few tbsp. at a time, fluffing the mixture with your fingers, and when everything is moistened, start forming into a ball. You want the minimum amount of ice water possible, but you also don’t want any crumbs left in the bottom of the bowl.  Cut the dough ball in half, form into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 45 minutes.

Let’s continue our chat… you’ll have many people telling you that you should never use butter in pie crust, that it makes it hard to work with, that only shortening will make it flaky like it’s “supposed” to be.

I call bullshit on those people.

Technically speaking, they’re right. Fine, I’ll give them that. But you know what they don’t tell you in culinary school? Shortening makes it taste like crap. Do you really want to smear a nice chunk of shortening on your toast in the morning? No, you don’t, and if you do… I think you probably need to seek some professional help.

As far as workability, butter has a lower melting point than shortening, so yes, you’re going to need to keep it cold, because that’s what you do with real food… jesus, what is this world coming to?

Maybe I’m coming off as elitist… no, I definitely am – but I think it’s my duty to all bakers to help make them better bakers. I’m serious here. I want you to walk into that potluck of yours and put the other pie, cake, trifle, whatever, to shame. Heck, I want you to blow my pie out of the water, because as much as I love having the best pie, I want yours to be better. Why? I’m selfish. I want more good pie in my life. I hope we understand each other here.

Let’s get on to the tips –

1. Most importantly, keep everything cold. Take your butter out of the fridge right before you’re ready, and make sure you have the ice water all set. Some people go as far as refrigerating the flour, but I say that’s overkill.


2. Don’t add too much water. It will make it harder to roll and it won’t be as flaky in the end. This might take a few tries before you get it right. 


3. When rolling, keep it moving. This means you always want to make sure you keep adequate flour underneath and on top of the dough. You should always be able to slide the dough on your surface (I like to keep continually turning mine as I’m rolling). If the crust gets too warm in this process, just stick it on a cookie sheet and put it in the fridge for a few minutes. Take a breath and try again. 

*I want to note that some people prefer to use a food processor at this point, but I wouldn't suggest it. It's way too easy to over process the butter in a very short amount of time, thus not creating the small pockets of butter which result in a flaky crust. I realize this might not convince you, and I might just have to look the other way on this one, but please just take my word for it. Also, a pastry cutter may be used, but I think it's important to know what your product feels like when it's ready.  

      
      If you need advice about what to fill your pie with, let me know! Also, if you still feel lost, would pictures or a video be helpful? If the answer is yes, I'll do my best to work on that. 

Chocolate troubles

All bakers have them at some point in their lives - that moment of panic when you realize you just ruined that bowl of melted chocolate.

For those not in the know, I'm talking about when liquid hits melted chocolate. Your once beautiful, shiny bowl of chocolate becomes a gluey, hard mess of seized chocolate.

Here's what the difference looks like:

But, but, it makes sense, right? Logic would tell you if your melted chocolate is too thick to just add a little milk or water. Logic also might have just took your wallet while you weren't looking. Don't trust it as much now, hmm?

I had one of these moments just last week, which is why I'm writing this post.

I was making these brownies with my sister Jesse, when something terrible happened. I was microwaving the chocolate, butter and water together, when after a few stirs, it looked lumpy, inedible and disgusting. I wish I took a picture, because it looked pretty darn impressive - all the butter had separated from the cocoa and no amount of whisking was going to save it. Jesse looked scared, and we both contemplated throwing it out. Frankly, I should have known better. Looking at that ingredient list, obviously it would seize. I had just never had cocoa powder seize before. Chock that one up to experience.

Ok, so how to save this mess: I remembered hearing somewhere that pretty much the only way to save seized chocolate is to add more liquid. It sounds counterproductive since that damn water was what made it seize in the first place, but chocolate ganache (cream and chocolate) has to work somehow. We added the eggs and sugar, and lo and behold, no more separated weirdness.

A few tips to avoid this problem:

1. When melting, make sure you bowl is completely dry; a drop of water could made it seize.

2. If you're using a double boiler instead of a microwave, wipe the bottom of the bowl once you take you chocolate off the heat. Don't want to take any chances of that water getting into the chocolate.

3. Another way chocolate can seize is if the heat is too high. So for the double boiler folks, you want the water steaming, not boiling, so keep the heat low. For the microwave folks, always do small time increments (keep it below 20 seconds), keep stirring, and stop when the chocolate is almost all melted. Keep in mind that white chocolate is extra finicky, so be a little more careful.

4. Whatever the method, if not using chips, make sure you chop your chocolate in small, uniform pieces.

5. I hate to say it, but if your chocolate does seize, and you don't intend on adding more liquid as a next step, it's best to just throw it out and start over.


The brownies turned out awesome, by the way. Make them.

praline questions

Sometimes friends ask me questions outside of this bloggity blog, so I decided to pull this one out of my email and share with all of you!

First off, meet Bronwyn. This lady bakes and cooks many delicious things. Like truffles. She is the master of the truffle. Quite the title, huh? Anyway, here was her baking dilemma:


"Ellie!
What's wrong with my praline? It was all pretty and golden and suddenly turned white! I think it crystalized. But why? Is it because I used a wooden spoon, or a non- stick pan???

Help!
Bronwyn"




Here's a picture of how praline is supposed to look, and how Bronwyn's crystalized praline looked. 

Her recipe was a basic boiled sugar syrup with added hazelnuts and salt once the syrup turned golden.

A few things could have happened to make the sugar syrup crystalize -


1. Excessive stirring, or really any at all. (which Bronwyn informed me she didn't do, but it's something to watch out for!) Sugar syrups should be left to cook on their own.

2. Sometimes crystals can form around the top edge of the boiling sugar, which eventually will lead to crystallization. To avoid this, take a pastry brush dipped in water and run it around the top of the pan to dissolve the crystals. It will steam, but don't be scared!

3. You can also add a bit of corn syrup or lemon juice - they won't affect the flavor, but they'll help your chances of avoiding crystals.




As far as wooden spoons/metal spoons/nonstick pans, those shouldn't really have an effect. Although I would suggest using a wooden spoon for sugar syrups just to avoid potentially burning your hands.




Good luck with the praline, Bronwyn! I hope this helped!

Cookie Monster

Me and cookies go way back. I'm pretty sure they do with everyone, and I think that's why our love affair with them seems to continually grow. I have a few standby cookie recipes, and surprisingly I rarely venture out of those few. I guess I feel like when I want cookies, I really just want a piece of home, and they never fail to bring me back.

This first recipe is for good ol' chocolate chip cookies. They're fool proof, turns out the same every time into perfectly chewy, melt in your mouth cookies. I never try out different recipes for this classic because I don't need to.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

-	2 C. - 2 tbsp flour
-	1/2 tsp baking soda
-	1/2 tsp salt
-	12 tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
-	1 c. brown sugar
-	1/2 c. sugar
-	1 egg - 1 egg yolk
-	2 tsp vanilla
-	1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Blend butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 11-14 minutes.


Now for one of my favorites when I'm really having a chocolate craving.

Mexican Chocolate Cookies

-	2 1/4 c. flour
-	1 tsp salt
-	1 tsp baking soda
-	1/2 tsp cinnamon
-	1/4 tsp cloves
-	1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
-	2 sticks butter, softened
-	1 c. sugar
- - -	1 c. brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tbsp vanilla 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa 1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Stir dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake on greased cookie sheets for 10 minutes.



Now go bake some cookies. Bring them to your papa, or your neighbor, or that cute boy or girl you like.  Or just keep them for yourself and nobody will be the wiser. It's ok, because I said so.

I like pie, I like cake...

I have a problem. I judge you. Bad, right?

I know I shouldn't, but I do. In reality, I only judge you for two things. Hotmail email addresses and cake mix. If you frequent both... I don't think we can be friends. Let's address -

Hotmail email addresses: I don't think I can trust you, you seem a little sketched out. Can you just get gmail already? You'd make me a lot less nervous.

Cake mix: Ok, maybe we should actually be discussing this here. So sure, cake mixes are "easy" I thought you couldn't over-mix them because of all the stabilizers... I was proven wrong on that one. But this is beside the point. Cake mixes taste like preservative laden over sweetened fluff. That, ladies and gentleman, is the point.

So do me a favor. Next time you think of picking up a cake mix, call me, drop by my house for emotional support, just put down the cake mix. Or just refer back to this post. We're all friends, right? Right.

I'm going to give you some recipes now. I think this will make everyone feel better.

Yellow Cake It's moist, it's delicious, a great standby.

Chocolate Cake The frosting is also pretty rockin'.


Still scared? Alright, here's some tips.

Tip #1
Cream that butter and sugar! You want to do this for a solid few minutes, it will lighten in color and be nice and creamy. This, in addition to the baking powder, will lighten the cake. I want to stress though, do this ONLY when the butter and sugar are in the bowl. See below.


Tip #2
This is the difference between light, fluffy cake and a chewy muffin. Do not over mix your cake batter. So important! I can't stress it enough. You know how cake mix has you beat it for a few minutes when you have everything in there? Never do that with a creaming method* cake batter. Ever. I'll find you, and we'll have a talk about how you're never going to do that again.
Why? Gluten. The protein in flour develops as you mix it, that's why bread flour has a high protein content (about 14%) and cake flour has a low protein content (about 8%). To sum up, you want lots of gluten in bread, and as little as you can in cakes. So after you add the flour mixture, only mix just until everything is incorporated (I'd say 10-15 seconds).'

*The chocolate cake I posted does not use the creaming method of creaming the butter and sugar together, so tip #2 does not apply to that specific cake. Now, I don't have a specific answer for why they have you beat the batter for 2 minutes, but my educated guess tells me it's because there is a high cocoa content (which doesn't contain gluten forming proteins), and oil/boiling water to keep things moist, so you don't have to worry as much.

Keep the questions coming!

Holiday Baking

It's getting to be that time of year where we have a handful of different family gatherings and holidays parties, the stress of the holidays are coming up, and we try desperately to not feel totally wiped trying to find everyone the perfect present.

Whew. This is a lot of work. Let's take a step back and bake some awesomeness, ok? Also, if you need something to take to that holiday party, these are some good options, and some of my personal favorites.

Sugar cookies

This is my go to recipe for sugar cookies, and they're eggless so you can eat as much raw dough as you want! Which may or may not be a good thing... but at least you don't have to worry about the little ones sneaking some dough.

2 sticks butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

Cream the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add milk, vanilla and flour. Chill dough for easier rolling (about 1/2 hour in the fridge). Roll out and cut into festive shapes. Bake at 375 for about 8 minutes, cool, frost and decorate!


Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies. I've been wanting to try these cookies for ages.


Pumpkin Cookies because pumpkin makes everything festive, right?


Feeling a little fancier than cookies?

I might suggest Pumpkin cheesecake. You know, with your new found cheesecake skills.

Or some Bourbon Bread Pudding? It might just make you look like a domestic goddess.

Bourbon Street Bread Pudding

1 ¼ lbs cubed French bread – ½” diameter (as needed to fill pan)
½ cup raisins
7 eggs
6 yolks
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
3 pints (6 cups) whole milk
1 ½ cups heavy cream


1. Fill buttered baking pan (9x13ish) almost full with bread. Sprinkle raisins evenly over bread.
2. Beat together the eggs, yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla, and spices.
3. Scald the milk and cream, pour very slowly into egg mixture while whisking.
4. Pour the custard mixture through a strainer into the pans over the bread. Let sit for 1 hour if time allows (or you can weight it down with plates with cans on top, then cut the time in half).
5. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar just before baking.
6. Bake in a water bath at 375 until set (when you press the middle and no liquid comes out).

Bourbon Sauce

3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup cream
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
dash of nutmeg
2 tbsp bourbon

1. Melt butter in saucepan, add flour add cook for 1 minute on low, stirring constantly.
2. Whisk in the cream and bring to a boil.
3. Add the sugar and simmer 3 minutes.
4. Add the vanilla, nutmeg and bourbon. Simmer 3 minutes more.

Cheesecake 101

Let's talk, shall we? Cheesecake is great, I don't think I really need to say that, but I did anyway. I think it's more important to say that cheesecake can be pretty boring if done badly. Let's make cheesecake awesome!

Tip #1
This might be the most crucial cheesecake tip, so pay attention! Always bake your cheesecake in a water bath. What's a water bath, you say? Put a kettle of water on to boil, wrap that springform pan with tin foil, and put it in a roasting pan. When the water starts to simmer, pour it in the roasting pan to come up half way on the sides of the spring form pan. I suggest doing this after you sit it in the oven to avoid spilling.

Tip#2
Don't over bake that sucker! Cheesecake is ready when the center still jiggles slightly. There shouldn't be any browning, and it shouldn't be totally set when you pull it out of the oven.

Tip #3
Like with most things, you need to make sure you have a good foundation. I personally like recipes with a good amount of sour cream in them. Without it, I think it's more like eating a straight brick of cream cheese.

Tip #4
Let's make it a little memorable, hmm? Add some lemon zest, some blueberries, or some fancy vanilla extract (or all three!). Keep it simple, keep it classy, don't overdo it.


Sour cream Cheesecake (slightly adapted from Philadelphia cream cheese recipe)

1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs

Heat oven to 325°F.

Mix graham crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended, mix in sour cream. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 55 min. in a water bath until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Welcome!

Hey everyone! Sometimes I get a lot of baking questions, sometimes I have answers. I can usually tell you things like why your angel food cake turns into something resembling a brick, why your pie crust tastes like clay, or give you a really good recipe for that thing you want.

I think it'll go like this: write a question in the comments. If it's an easy answer, you'll get a response also in the comments, if not, you'll get a blog post. In addition I might also post things that I think everyone should know.

Tell your friends, your mom, or your puppy.. because if I had a puppy, I would tell him.

Ask away!