Category Archives: butter & sugar

Jul12

The secrets to baking.

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The secrets to baking.

How often have we all made a great recipe but something has gone wrong?

The simplest of recipes are often ruined by simply not knowing little tips.

Baking tips seem to be the most requested topics on ask jo. So due to public demand here are a few more of my classic tips or further explanations.

Oven temp:

I tend to use non fan forced for baking cakes, but tis is my personal preference. If you can turn off the fan please do.  I personally I like aneven steady oven temperature. Often the dryness and harsh nests of a fan oven can cause cakes to crack. If your recipe is old fashioned and ‘like grandma would make’.  Turn of that fan (again if
you can)!

Oven shelves:

The best rule is to place the pan into the oven so the TOP of the cake pan is in the middle of the oven. I find generally I bake on the shelves in the bottom third of the oven. Except pizza or dishes I want very crispy.

Lining the pan:

Yes I am liner! Even if the pan is a super doper non stick, I love the texture of the outside of the cake when baking paper is used. I love to line the base and sides.  Often I will allow the paper to raise above the tin to produce a little collar. This always helps with a flat top result.  If there is not a collar, the cake will tend to want to peak in the middle. This however can be caused by a titch too much liquid also.

This peak can be trimmed off and the cake served upside down so no ones knows! But it is better without any peak. Peaks are also caused by the incorrect sized cake pan.

 The cold bowl!

Butter and eggs do not beat or whip if cold! The remedy is to warm the bowl.  Either by filling the bowl with warm water and setting aside for a few minutes or washing the bowl in warm water. If using a stainless steel bowl you can also gently move it over a gas flame to warm.

Creaming:

Essential the beginning to most cakes. The volume and texture of the cake depends on this. Cream until the butter and sugar and  very very light and  fluffy.  The sugar needs to be almost completely dispensed through the butter. Often many just do not cream enough.

 Eggs:

Buy a nice heathly free range and large mimimum 60g. Always best stored in the fridge for freshness, but don’t use for cakes and baking if cold and stright from the fridge.  The egg if added cold to the creamed butter and sugar will not want to incorporate into the mixture. This will effect the volumn and end texture of the cake. Sit the eggs in a bowl of  warm water until ready to use. Drain and add to the creamed mixture. Make sure you only add one egg at a time and beat well
in between each addition.

 Flour:

Buy the best you can afford. Cake flour which is lower in protein produces a softer result. Often I add a couple of teaspoons of cornflour mixed with normal plain flour. This is a sneaky substitute to cake flour. I do not sift in the old fashioned way. Goodness I hate sifting.  Simply add the flours of choice add the fla beater or whisk to the standmixer, pop on the food shield and turn to speed 1. You can also add into the flours to the food processor with the all purpose blade and pulse. The mixer or processor will sift and combine for you.

Baking powder:

I always prefer to use plain flour and add my own raising agent. There is a rule of thumb for this.

Normally speaking 1 cup flour (150g) plain flour needs 2 teaspoons of baking powder….but this depends on the recipe. Baking powder is made of cream of tartar and bicarb soda. There is often a filler such as cornflour. One is an acid the other alkaline, the two react to give the raising. Self raising flour has the raising agents added, the trouble is it is often stale and produces a denser result.

Icing sugar:

There are two common types  - mixture and pure. If you want a firmer icing use pure! “Sift’ as above to remove any lumps.

Use a timer:

I always use a cooking timer either on the bench or some microwaves have a setting to use the clock. A cake is so easily ruined with a simple extra 5 minutes of unneeded cooking!

Cooling a ‘must’ before icing.

If icing you just must completely cool. Even I am guilty of thinking it will be fine icing the cake and yes finding the icing has melted off and is now all over the bench. The  icing on a warm cake also produces a soggy top… …. all in all just wait for the
cake to be cold!

A fluffy icing can be make up to 1 day in advance, but make sure you remove from the refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature.

Any other queries, please contact me on ask jo.

 Happy Baking

Mar27

Being a cookie monster.

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Being a cookie monster.

There is a saying that a cookie is made with butter and love! That is so true as nothing gives me more pleasure than whipping up home made biscuits.

Making perfect biscuits/ cookies is really really easy, and only takes about 20 minutes to prepare, which includes preheating the oven and 20 minutes to make. But as with all good things, they only take 5 mins to eat.

The ingredients you will have on hand and the magic is that this basic recipe can bed added to, doubled, tripled, frozen and made up and refrigerated for up to 5 days before baking.

So here are my tips for perfection and below that is the recipe:

  • Preheat the oven and arrange the shilves so you can bake as many trays as possible as one. Grease and line the baking sheet. (i always use the paper from the butter to grease…. saves time and uses every last speck off the wrapping)!

  • Use salt reduced or standard butter, I do think biscuits do need that touch of salt. Unsalted butter is better for cakes and pastry and shortbread – shortbread is traditionally made with unsalted butter to which a good pinch is added.  The salt helps give a little flavour and also helps with the crispness.
  • Brown sugar adds a delicious chew and white sugar (caster) is for crunch… so a combination gives the best result.
  • Use plain flour, but add a good couple of pinches or to be correct ¾ tsp baking powder. Don’t use self raising flour, as it has a higher (too high) proportion of raising agent
  • Cream the butter and sugar VERY well, until super light and fluffy

  • Use a small ice cream scoop to measure out the mixture onto the paper lined trays

  • Allow plenty of room for spreading and let the cookies / biscuits cool completely before storing

The ultimate cookie:

This is a recipe I have made so many times; it is engraved in my mind. The original was once an old classic that originated from a Country Women’s Association Book I had many years ago. it is very like an American Toll cookie if you add lots of choclate chips.  I have made a couple of my own tweaks… I hope you love these as much as my family do.

Makes: about 28 cookies/ biscuits

180g salt reduced butter, softened to room temperature

¾ cup (about 115g) brown sugar

¾ cup (about 155g) caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 x 60 g eggs (at room temp)

2 ¼ cups (about 330g) plain flour

1 tbsp  (aboout 10g) cornflour

¾ tsp baking powder

Flavours:  see below

1 (175g) cup choc chips,

100g chopped roasted hazelnuts,

125g sultanas or currants or chopped apricots,

Rind 1 lemon & 1 orange,

1/3 cup (29g) desiccated coconut,

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C or 160 C fan forced. Grease and baking paper line 3 oven trays.

Place the flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl with the flat beater. Place on the food shield and mix on speed 2 until well combined. Set flour aside.  Wipe bowl and return bowl to the mixer. (a second stainless steel bowl is very handy for recipes like this)

Place the butter into the mixing bowl with the flat beater. Cream on speed 6 until whipped. Add the brown and white sugar and beat for 5 minutes, or until very light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well in between each egg.

Add the flour and choice of flavouring and mixing lightly on speed 2 until just combined.

Using a small ice cream scoop, place rounds of the dough onto the prepared trays. Allowing plenty of room for spreading.

Bake about 22 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Biscuits will sink a little and crack on cooling, giving them a lovely crackle top.

Store in a air tight container for up to 5 days.

Gluten free option: Substitute the wheat flour with a gluten free flour mix, adding a good pinch of a gum such as GFG or Xanthan gum. Follow the remaining recipe.

Sep29

Grandma ‘s favourite cake – the classic Victorian Sponge

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Grandma ‘s favourite cake – the classic Victorian Sponge


Who can resist a fluffy tender crumb good old fashioned sponge cake, complete with softly whipped cream, lashings of berries jam and fresh berries.  This fabulous cake is said to have been named for Queen Victoria in the mid 1860’s – when it was very so fashionable to be invited for ‘tea’ at around 4pm.

Many good old fashioned cooks today ‘cut their teeth’ learning the tricks of a great sponge. There are a couple of versions and many swear by their own technique. Some beat the egg whites with sugar and fold in the egg yolks and flour, others beat the whole egg with sugar and fold in the flour – which can be plain, self raising or cornflour.

Some fold in hot water, while others fold through melted better. There are also versions with no yolk (Angel cake) and French versions that beat the eggs and sugar over simmering water.

The Angel cake is also a fabulous cake, but with American origins. It has become very popular in recent times as it contains no fat. You need a large pan with a removable centre & base for this cake and preferably a proper ‘Angel’ cake pan. These are sold at good cookware stores.

My fail proof recipe for a classic Victorian sponge uses whole eggs and plain flour  and begins and ends completely in the marvellous KitchenAid standmixer – even when adding the flour. For my recipe above you can use plain flour or gluten free plain flour. I also always like to add my own baking powder and prefer to not use commercial self raising flour. Specialty ‘cake’ flours also provide a wonderful soft texture, as they contain less protein. They are opposite to pasta flour which contains more protein making it harder flour. Specialty flours are now available from good supermarkets and are labelled cake or bread / pasta flour.

Here are my tips for success:

  • Weigh & measure all ingredients and preheat that oven.
  • I like to bake without a fan, so if possible turn the fan off!
  • Butter and line the pans with baking paper.
  • I whisk the flour (gluten free for me), baking paper and salt in the standmixer ( but some prefer to sift by hand!)
  • Make sure the bowl and whisk attachment is sparkling clean & dry.
  • Whisk the (room temperature NOT cold) whole eggs & sugar until very thick and fluffy. Working quickly adds the flour and remaining ingredients and mix on speed 1 only – JUST until mixed. Remember the KitchenAid planetary action is amazing and mixes incredibly fast.
  • Divide the mixture between the pans (you can weigh each pan to make sure even) and quickly spread the mixture smooth.
  • Bake in the centre shelf for about 20 minutes. Do not over cook.
  • Invert onto a cake rack and cool.Spread with your favourite berry jam and whipped cream and sandwich the two together. Sift over a little extra icing sugar and maybe some fresh berries.

It just doesn’t get any better in my book oh except to serve with a fabulous cup of Earl Grey tea!

Jul13

The PERFECT lemon tea cake

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The PERFECT lemon tea cake

This week – as with all others I delight in chatting with new KitchenAid customers. Many questions are tossed around and usually they are about the actual use, brilliance and love of their beloved new KitchenAid mixer, processor or blender. But sometimes I have to admit the questions are about their recipe ‘disasters’.

Mrs Erikson, who I might add sounds like a delightful lady, contacted me as she found her beloved recipe just was not good. An established cook who had been making her two most favourite cakes for many years (and at once stage professionally) and had always had a fabulous result.  But on using her new standmixer found the results where not good!! – Well eeek, I have to say my heart sank with her – how horrible and what went wrong?

The standmixer is the most wonderful mixer ever… but it does work differently to others and initially over mixing or incorrect mixing can result in all sorts of problems –  low volume, heavy dense textures and uncooked centres.  The planetary action of the standmixer ensures it beats like no other – but if a butter & sugar mixture or egg & sugar mixture is under beaten in the initial stages & then over beaten at the final stages the recipe is a disaster.

So the lovely Ms Erikson sent me her recipe and I tested her cake.  It is the best and most delicious lemon tea cake, I have ever made! She is kindly sharing her recipe (just for all the Ask Jo readers) and below are my tips. The result is perfect! I hope to speak with Mrs. Erikson this week and hear her result is now prefect too!

The tips:

  • Pre heat the oven, (an external thermometer (available from kitchenware shops or hardware’s is excellent for confirming the oven temperature is accurate) and I prefer to bake static – that is not fan forced, turn off that fan if possible.
  • Place the oven shelves in the correct position – for a thicker batter, I like to bake in the bottom third of the oven – this helps to eliminate the cake cracking and also ensures the cake cooks in the correct time.  Many oven manufacturers promise all ovens are the same temperature throughout – but I follow the tried & true old fashioned tips.
  • Ingredients: accurately weigh & measure – have them all ready to go before you begin cooking. Scales are my preferred choice, but if you use ‘cups’ – measure accurately.
  • Room temperature - for the eggs, butter & milk too. (If the ingredients vary too much – this can cause inadequate mixing. Ensure that butter is soft, so it beats up beautifully)
  • Warm the bowl (needed in winter. The stainless steel bowl is designed to chill the mixture, perfect in summer but cold in winter. Rinse the bowl in hot water and quickly dry).
  • Cream and beat the butter & sugar with the flat beater until very light & fluffy, wiping the sides down a couple of times with a spatula (I like to add about half of the sugar, beat this a little, then add the remaining) This is not essential but a technique many professional bakers use. The speed for creaming- I start initially on speed 4, and then increase to 8.
  • Beat in the eggs one at a time –  the eggs must be at room temperature (If the eggs are cold they will separate and not beat into the creamed butter and sugar – this reduces the volume and alters the cooked texture.
  • Flour: Turn the mixer off. Add the flour and milk (scattering it around the bowl.  Turn to speed 1 ONLY. Mix for 1-2 seconds ONLY. Quickly add the remaining flour and milk and mix another 1-2 seconds DO NOT OVER MIX. If there is a little flour around the out side, scrape this into the mixture when pouring the batter into the pan. Add the flour must be done very quickly & lightly. The planetary action of the standmixer is so very quick it easily can over beat the flour.
  • Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for around 50 minutes. Let cake cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a rack.  Pour over the lemon juice, while cake is hot and sprinkle with sugar.

Mrs. Eriksons Lemon Tea Cake:

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup self raising flour & ½ cup plain flour

grated rind & juice 1 lemon

1 tbsp caster sugar, extra

Preheat oven to 180 C. (Grease a large loaf pan and line with baking paper).

Cream the butter & sugar for 8 minutes or until light & fluffy (use the flat beater & beat on a high speed)

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Add the lemon rind.

Add the combined flours alternately with the milk (working quickly on speed 1 and don’t over mix)

Pour into pan and bake (in bottom 1/3) of the oven for about 50 minutes.

Pour over lemon juice (while cake is hot) and sprinkle with the extra sugar

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Jun20

The Art of Creaming

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The Art of Creaming

Creaming butter and sugar is an art!  Really, well yes I think so. This easy first step (once mastered) can make or break your cake!  This technique is used for about 90 % of most cake and batter style desserts. The trouble is winter.

The butter is cold and that beautiful stainless steel bowl on the standmixer simply makes it colder. This is such a benefit in the middle of summer but oh not in the chilly months.  I have used stainless steel bowls for years.  All commercial based cooks / chefs & bakers love it – simply because the kitchen is hot and the stainless keeps it all cool.

However, for the new players to the world of stainless steel is it tricky – essentially.  So for the many who have written and asked how to easily cream butter and sugar …. here are the golden tips.

Use the flat beater only. This is the wooden spoon to the mixer. The wire whisk is used only for whipping cream & egg whites.

Make sure the butter is always at room soft temperature (not chilled) – this means you can lightly squash it between your fingers if you touch it. Now you can either gently warm it in the microwave – using short bursts on defrost (30 % power) or pop it into a bowl over hot water and allow to warm a little but don’t melt it. Melted butter will not beat up. This means your cake will not have a wonderful light texture.

In cold weather the stainless steel bowl can be quite cold (touch the outside of the bowl with your hands and you will feel this). Just before you begin the actually mixing, fill the bowl with hot water, or rinse in a sink of hot water then quickly and thoroughly dry. Stainless steel quickly returns to a cool temperature so work quickly.

Place the soft room temperature butter into the warmed bowl and beat (with the flat beater) begin on speed 1 then move up to speed 6and beat for about 20 seconds before you start to add the sugar. Whipping up the butter just a little first lightens it and allows the butter to easily incorporate with the sugar. Add the sugar in two additions, a little then the remainder. (Many pastry chefs believe adding the sugar in one go, causes the butter to choke and therefore you stop the mixture aerating)

Caster sugar (not A1 standard sugar). A1 sugar is very course in texture and is very difficult to ‘cream’ or dissolve in the butter (or in egg whites or cream). Treasured family / old recipes may have sugar listed as an ingredient – In years gone past only one sugar was available. In the past 20 years ‘caster’ sugar was created and A1 sugar has become much ‘courser’ in texture’ than it used to be, making it now not suitable to use.

The mixing is initially begun on speed 1, and then quickly moved through the speeds to 4, and 6 during the mixing it is best to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. The mixing time is generally around 3-5 minutes. This depends on the recipe. In some traditional recipes creaming could be up to 10! The mixture should be very pale and fluffy and the sugar well dissolved into the butter.

Quantity being mixed. Most home stlyle recipes begin with 125g butter and 1/2 – 3/4 cups caster sugar.   However, the mixer easily beats more than triple these quantities. Very small quantities can be creamed very successfully (75 g butter to 1/4 cup caster sugar) as well.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat well between each. Remember to wipe the sides of the bowl down as needed. Reduce the speed to 1 if mixing in the flour, milk etc and beat lightly and quickly once the flour has been added. Do not over mix or the air will be beaten out. Many remove the bowl and hand mix to fold in the flour. NO you can mix in the flour using the mixer but this must be mixed quickly – 2- 3 turns of the beater only.

Beater to bowl clearance: You may need to slightly correct the clearance of the beater to the bowl (see details in the instruction manual “Beater to Bowl Clearance” – use the flat beater when adjusting). This will only be needed if a little of the mixture right at the bottom of the bowl is not mixing.

Whole Poached Pear Cake

Happy Birthday Butter Cake