BakingSOS - Answers from the Kitchen

Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda: How Chemical Leaveners Affect Baked Goods

ChefRB — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:39:20 +0000

Shanne asks: I made this recipe (the banana blueberry version) but I substituted buttermilk for the milk. They ended up tasting like they had a horrible baking soda overload. I believe that I did not double the baking soda…of course, it is possible but I am generally careful about those things. Could the buttermilk have [...]

Baking Cakes without Eggs (or Vegan Baking)

ChefRB — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:57:59 +0000

Menakshi asks: I have a problem and am desperately looking for an answer. I am an amateur baker who is trying to bake without eggs. My problem is that my cakes come out of the oven perfect, but after cooling down, they are dense and heavy. I am also selling some cakes, but the general [...]

Chocolate Truffle Recipe for Valentine’s Day

ChefRB — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:39:47 +0000

coated in bittersweet chocolate cocoa or finely chopped, toasted almonds

Last night, I taught a Handmade Chocolates class at the Franklin Park Conservatory as part of their Food Education classes. We made traditional Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles and Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries.

The Handmade Chocolates class is always popular at Valentine’s Day, so in the spirit of [...]

Can I Bake a Cake in a Toaster Oven?

ChefRB — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 13:01:30 +0000

Alma asks: I baked a moist 7-Up pound cake, but it turned out a disaster!!! The measurements I followed are: 3 C. all purpose flour 3 C. sugar (I used half the sugar) 5 eggs 1 C. Sprite (no 7-up available) 1 T. vanilla

Bake in 325 oven for 60+10 mins (1 hr.+10 mins). That [...]

Baking Cakes Without Eggs

ChefRB — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:17:28 +0000

Ayush says: I’ve tried an egg-less chocolate cake many times but it is not doing nicely. Every time it turns hard or rubbery. Also it sinks down after rising before it can set. I make it in a convection microwave oven. Can you please help me so that i can get it right?

Baking S.O.S. [...]

Christmas Cookies: Baking with Butter vs. Vegetable Shortening

ChefRB — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:28:56 +0000

Terry asks: I would like to bake some cookies for Christmas and I’m confused. I haven’t baked for many years, and the recipes call for butter and Crisco. I have the butter, but I don’t have the Crisco. Could I substitute all butter? I want to bake: thumb prints, snow balls, twice-baked cookies, oatmeal, and [...]

Trifling Matters: Dry Sponge Cake

ChefRB — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 07:29:34 +0000

Ann Louise asks: With Christmas coming I am really desperate for helpful advice on what I’m doing wrong when baking the sponge cake for my trifle. I have always used the trifle recipe from The Joy of Cooking book, which I’ve had since 1979, although I’ve only begun using that particular recipe in the past [...]

Metallic Taste in Brownies

ChefRB — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:54:21 +0000

Kaylene asks: We made brownies tonight. The recipe calls for margarine, cocoa, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and flour. The only thing I did different was I used “I can’t believe it’s not butter”. It had a very strong metallic taste. We thought maybe the whisk we used was rusted so we dumped the whole thing and [...]

Pound Cake Problems

ChefRB — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 01:18:23 +0000

Betty asks: I have made pound cakes for years but was trying a new recipe. I used loaf pans rather than a bunt pan. The cake separated from the pan and was very crumbly. I did use dark pans. Some of the recipes I have tried call for a combination of butter and Crisco, and [...]

Cupcake Challenges

ChefRB — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:44:50 +0000

Arnulfo asks:I work as a pastry maker at Velvet Cupcakes and I am very frustrated to solve my problem on my cupcakes: sometimes not drying fast but it’s removing from the paper cups, and sometimes not separating from paper cups but it’s fast drying. This is my first time I encountered this oven. I am [...]