In a recent post I talked about my newest reality-tv watching craze, Cupcake Wars. Watching that show, and now another new one I discovered, DC cupcakes on TLC, has really gotten me in the baking mood.
When I was in my early teens, I purchased a bread making book and began my first foray into baking. Since I had – and still have -- a penchant for changing the recipe proportions, my baking skills did not progress very well, and lacking sufficient compliments, I soon moved on to other endeavors. But all those interesting and tasty-looking cupcakes I’ve been seeing lately have re-enchanted me with the idea of baking.
During my teenage baking spree I had gained some concept of what happens when you combine certain ingredients but I had no real understanding of how or why things reacted as they did. Since I’ve always heard that baking is more of a science than anything, I decided to learn about some baking basics.
Turning to the net, I found several good articles on baking, including one charming article that neatly described the nature and effects of key ingredients used in baking, including baking soda, baking powder, flour, eggs, and salt.
For my first “educated” baking experiment, I decided to make some good old southern style scratch biscuits, figuring if I could master these, I’d have a good basis to work from. I envisioned myself baking these routinely for my children and hubby, sending them off in the mornings well-fed with hot, freshly baked biscuits slathered in butter and perhaps some honey or jelly. (Never mind that I first need to learn to get myself up early enough to do this, but then again, fantasy is an integral part of my life.)
So, I searched the net for a good recipe to use, finding a five-star recipe for Southern Biscuits on Cooking.com from Alton Brown, which called for 7 simple ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, butter, shortening, salt, and buttermilk.
I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, so I searched the net to find a good substitute, discovering that mayonnaise would apparently do. I also made a couple of other “minor revisions” to account for other missing ingredients, trusting that they would somehow adhere to the science of good baking. . .
Using my granite counter top as a substitute for a classic marble top, I dumped flour onto the clean surface for rolling out the sticky dough. Since I forgot to clean my rolling pin, I instead patted the dough down to ready it for cutting. Not wise, as this can lead to tough dough – the dough should be handled as little as possible to achieve tender biscuits.
Since I didn't have a round biscuit cutter on hand, I used a moon-shaped cutter intead.Next, I placed my moon-shaped biscuit dough on the baking sheet, nestling them so that they are just touching, just because this is what my recipe said to do. (I later found out this is so the biscuits will rise higher and the edges won’t brown as much.)
I used the same baking time as the recipe indicated, but when I pulled the biscuits out, they looked quite hard. And they were.
Determined to serve hot, fresh-baked biscuits to my family and not to waste my efforts, I served them up anyway. My hubby wanted a hard-fried flat egg, so that’s what he got. The plate looks dry and not so appetizing.
Okay, so the kids tossed the biscuits, and my hubby, in his own sweet way, simply said nothing.
I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, so I searched the net to find a good substitute, discovering that mayonnaise would apparently do. I also made a couple of other “minor revisions” to account for other missing ingredients, trusting that they would somehow adhere to the science of good baking. . .
Using my granite counter top as a substitute for a classic marble top, I dumped flour onto the clean surface for rolling out the sticky dough. Since I forgot to clean my rolling pin, I instead patted the dough down to ready it for cutting. Not wise, as this can lead to tough dough – the dough should be handled as little as possible to achieve tender biscuits.
Since I didn't have a round biscuit cutter on hand, I used a moon-shaped cutter intead.Next, I placed my moon-shaped biscuit dough on the baking sheet, nestling them so that they are just touching, just because this is what my recipe said to do. (I later found out this is so the biscuits will rise higher and the edges won’t brown as much.)
I used the same baking time as the recipe indicated, but when I pulled the biscuits out, they looked quite hard. And they were.
Determined to serve hot, fresh-baked biscuits to my family and not to waste my efforts, I served them up anyway. My hubby wanted a hard-fried flat egg, so that’s what he got. The plate looks dry and not so appetizing.
Okay, so the kids tossed the biscuits, and my hubby, in his own sweet way, simply said nothing.
Determined again not to let my efforts go to waste, I decided to try another route. I heated up some black cherry preserves with a bit of water and some extra sugar ‘til just bubbly. I poured it over a few biscuits in hopes of softening them, and topped them with whipped cream.
Not too bad, but not exactly a shining moment either. Reinvented as a dessert, the dry biscuits benefitted from the moisture of the preserves and cream, but not enough to make them truly delicious. They looked pretty good, though, I thought.
In the end, what I reinforced for myself is that baking is indeed a science, but you can also turn it into an art. And that’s what makes baking so much fun. Anyway, I’ll keep trying to make those biscuits until I get them just right.
Not too bad, but not exactly a shining moment either. Reinvented as a dessert, the dry biscuits benefitted from the moisture of the preserves and cream, but not enough to make them truly delicious. They looked pretty good, though, I thought.
In the end, what I reinforced for myself is that baking is indeed a science, but you can also turn it into an art. And that’s what makes baking so much fun. Anyway, I’ll keep trying to make those biscuits until I get them just right.
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