PLEASE NOTE: Questions and Answers will no longer be updated on this page. I regret that time does not often allow to respond on an individual basis but please post any comments on the following BLOG ADDRESS:
www.realbakingwithrose.com

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Rose's Christmas Cookies
Many people have asked where they can get this book, touted by Tina Ujlaki in Food and Wine Magazine (December 2003) as "...one of my all-time favorite holiday cookbooks." Fortunately, Jessica's Biscuit carries it all year 'round.
Call 1-800-878-4264. The catalogue number is D612, price: $19.60

CORRECTIONS: THE BREAD BIBLE:

In the CRANBERRY-BANANA-WALNUT QUICK BREAD, page 101, the correct baking temperature is 350 degrees F.

In the PRETZEL BREAD on page 172, step #2..cut the dough into 12 pieces by cutting the dough into 4 pieces and then cutting each piece into 3 pieces.

In the ROSEMARY FOCACCIA SHEET on page 205, it may take longer than 20 minutes to form a ball. For the airiest texture and largest holes, allow the dough to double for the final rise and deeply dimple the dough with wet or oiled fingertips just before baking.

In the RYE BREAD recipe on page 326, on the flour mixture chart, the 2 1/4 cups bread flour weigh 12.3 ounces / 351 grams, and step #2: eliminate the words 'rye flour.' (Rye flour is used only in the sponge on page 325.)

In BRINNA'S PUGLIESE on page 347, the water should be 6 tablespoons (not teaspoons). In the GOLDEN SEMOLINA TORPEDO on page 366, step #2: ...whisk together ALL BUT 1/4 cup of the durum flour.

In the SOURDOUGH RYE on page 454, Hand Method, use the same amount of starter as is on the chart above (1 1/2 cups).

In the SOURDOUGH PUMPERNICKEL on page 462 (Mixer Method and Hand Method) use the same amount of starter as is on the chart on page 461 (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons).

In the SOURDOUGH WHEAT BREAD SEEDS on page 468, after the first paragraph add: "Cover tightly and allow it to sit at room temperature 8 to 12 hours. It will have puffed slightly. Proceed to step 2.
At step 2 add the words "That night..."
At step 4 on the following page add the words "The next morning"

In the CHALLAH on page 517, when making the sponge add the yeast listed in the ingredients.

In all breads, when making a starter that you plan to have sit for more than 4 hours, refrigerate it after the first hour at room temperature.

CANADIAN FLOUR: Canadian unbleached all-purpose and Canadian bread flour perform well in my yeast bread recipes. For quick breads using butter, however, it is necessary to use bleached all purpose flour or the center of the bread will fall and have a gloppy texture on cooling. For more information or specific questions regarding Canadian flour/brands and baking, you can contact editors@betterbaking.com

Questions about Bread Baking

1) I’m afraid I’ll kill the yeast—can this happen?
Yeast that needs proofing (soaking in warm water), such as active dry or cake yeast, will die if the water is hotter than 120°F. (or if the water is ice cold). Instant yeast, also called Rapid Rise, QuickRise, Instant Active Dry, Perfect Rise, or Bread Machine Yeast, can be mixed right in with the flour without soaking it in water first. Store it in the freezer and it will stay alive for at least year.

2) What is the best flour for bread baking?
All purpose flour is fine as long as it is unbleached as bleaching weakens the protein which is needed to give a good texture or crumb to the bread. Bread flour has higher protein and will make a chewier bread. Regional flours may be lower in protein than ones available nationally such as Gold Medal, or Pillsbury. For quick bread containing softened but unmelted butter, however, it is essential to use bleached all purpose flour or the center of the bread will fall and have a gloppy texture on cooling.

3) What is the best surface on which to bake bread?
A preheated baking stone or quarry tiles are ideal. Allow it or them to preheat for a minimum of 45 minutes. Stone retains heat, giving better oven spring or rise to the loaf, and absorbs moisture yielding a crisper crust. To avoid sprinkling flour or cornmeal on the stone, Silpain, or Silpat (both are silicone mats but Silpain is black and has little holes for breathing), or parchment, can be placed directly on the stone.

4) Are there any tips to getting a crisp crust?
Choose a bread that does not have a high amount of fat (or sugar). Spritz the shaped, risen dough with water just before placing it in the oven and steam the oven (using boiling water or ice cubes poured into a preheated pan on the floor of the oven). Leave the oven door partially ajar for the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking. Bake the bread until it is 212°F. so that residual steam inside the bread does not soften the crust on cooling.

5) How can you tell when the bread is fully baked?
The only way to know for sure is by inserting an instant read thermometer into the center of the bread. It should read between 180 to 212°F.

6) How do you keep a crust crisp?
Allow the bread to cool completely before placing it in a brown paper bag. If the loaf has been cut into, store it in a plastic bag and recrisp it in the following way. Place the loaf cut side down on the oven stone or baking sheet. Turn the oven to 400°F. and check after 7 minutes. The crust should be crisp and the crumb will be warm.

7) Do you have any other use for excess sourdough starter aside from giving it to friends?
Yes! When I feed my starter, if I know i'm going to bake a hearth bread within the next 3 days, instead of throwing out the excess, without refreshing or feeding it I simply refrigerate up to 1/3 cup starter (about 2.75 ounces / 75 grams) per loaf.
Just before adding the salt to the dough, I tear the starter into about 8 pieces and knead it into the dough. The starter dough adds extra depth of flavor and moisture, and also speeds the fermentation (rising) slightly even in a dough using the usual amount of instant yeast. (You should also add an extra 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/16th teaspoon of salt to balance this extra amount of dough--less if using less starter dough.) The starter dough serves as a "preferment" making it possible to use the quicker "direct" method of mixing the dough. (Simply combine the flour and yeast from the sponge or biga in the recipe with the flour and yeast for the dough.)

8) Do you have a recipe for 100% whole wheat bread?
I find regular whole wheat flour to be unpleasantly bitter when used as the sole flour for a bread. White whole wheat flour, however, produces a delicously wheaty, crunchy, fine-textured bread. It's especially fragrant when you grind the flour yourself shortly before mixing the dough. Simply replace all the flour in the "Basic Hearth Bread" on page 305 with equal weight white whole wheat flour. The first rise will take about 2 hours intead of 1. (I especially like the "Prairie Gold"hard white spring wheat berries or flour from Wheat Montana: www.wheatmt.com, 877-535-2798.)

9) Your rye breads have a very small amount of rye flour in proportion to white. Can you use more rye flour in a rye bread?
My preference is for a light rye flavor and texture so I use just under 18% rye. If you want higher than 20% rye you need to make a sourdough rye because the acidity of the sourdough is necessary to keep the crumb from getting sticky (due to the pentosans in the rye flour). To make a bread with about 42% rye, convert the sourdough starter to a sourdough rye starter by feeding it medium rye flour instead of bread flour. You will need a few extra drops of water to achieve a smooth consistency. It will take 9 feedings until you have replaced all the white flour in the starter with rye. (You can do the feedings every 12 hours, leaving the starter at room temperature, or more gradually, refrigerating the starter as per the chart on page 437.) Then use this starter to make the Sourdough Rye on page 451. When making the bread, feed the starter only medium rye flour but in the dough, omit the 3/4 cups of rye flour, and use a total of 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon (11.5 ounces/325 grams) of bread flour. The dough will rise much more quickly using this high a percentage of rye flour (about 2 hours after the first 2 business letter turns and about 2 1/2 hours after shaping).

Frequently asked Questions about Baking

1) Substituting ingredients: Can you? Sure. Should you? Usually the answer is NO. Baking is a delicate balance and substituting one ingredient for another will almost invariably throw it off and produce something different which may be better but more often than not is not! Things such as water and protein content make a significant difference to texture. If you would like to experiment, change only one ingredient at a time and see the results. It is a great learning experience.

2) How to you get your cookies to come out flat? Use butter, high liquid, and higher protein flour such as unbleached all purpose or bread flour.

3) How to get your cookies to come out higher? Use all or part solid vegetable shortening, chill the shaped dough well before baking, use lower protein flour such as bleached all purpose flour, or use egg with an acidic ingredient such as brown sugar, sour cream or cake flour to set it faster.

4) Fragile cookies vs. tough cookies? For fragile cookies use low protein flour and high fat, For chewier cookies, use higher protein flour such as unbleached all purpose or bread flour with a little water added before the fat to develop gluten.

5) How can you be sure the cake will come out of the pan in one piece?
With the exception of foam cakes such as chiffon and angel food where the pan must not be greased, a cake pan should be both greased and floured. Solid vegetable shortening is better than butter unless you use clarified butter. A non-stick vegetable spray with flour is far easier to use than the greasing and flouring method and indispensable when using a fluted tube pan which cannot be lined with parchment. An additional safeguard for cakes baked in fluted tube pans, particularly chocolate, is to invert the cake immediately after baking onto a flat plate and leave the pan in place. The steam thus created helps to release it from the pan. For standard cake pans I grease the bottom to hold the parchment in place and then spray the parchment and the sides of the pan with a non-stick vegetable spray that contains flour. The standard 9 or 10-inch cake should cool on a rack for 10 minutes which gives it a chance to shrink from the sides of the pan. Itís also a good idea to go around the sides with a small metal spatula or knife, pressing it against the sides of the pan, to be sure none of the cake has stuck.

6) How do I keep the top of my cakes from swelling up in the middle and cracking? Metallic cloth cake strips, available in cake decorating supply places, work very well to keep layer cakes level. Lowering the heat 25 degrees is another solution as is using cake flour or bleached all purpose which have a lower protein content.

7) When do you use the whisk beater versus the spade or flat beater on a stand mixer? The whisk beater is used to aerate mixtures such as egg whites for a meringue; the spade or flat beater to mix things together. Unless otherwise specified in a recipe, it is generally the flat beater that is meant to be used.

8) Why do recipes for beaten egg whites always warn you to beat until stiff but not dry and is there a way to keep this from happening? When egg whites are over beaten, they start to lose their moisture, airiness, and smoothness and break down when folded into other ingredients. The miracle solution here is surprisingly easy: use 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar for every egg white (1 teaspoon for 8 egg whites). Add it to the whites soon after you begin to beat them, when they start to get frothy. Note: egg white will never beat to stiff peaks if there is it comes into contact with any grease, either from the bowl, beater or even a bit of broken egg yolk.

9) How can you be sure your oven is holding the right temperature? Most oven thermometers I have tested are unreliable. The best way is by baking a reliable recipe. If the recipe says bake 30 to 40 minutes and it is done in 25, turn it down 25 degrees. If it takes longer than 40 minutes turn it up 25 degrees. Occasionally oven thermostats become erratic and do not hold temperatures no matter what the setting. This requires professional calibration or a new thermostat.

10) With all the specialty flours on the market, how can you tell which to use? When a recipe calls for cake flour, it is best to use cake flour but be sure it does not contain leavening. You can substitute bleached all purpose flour: for 1 cup of cake flour use 3/4 cup bleached all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons corn starch. For pie crust, pastry or bleached all purpose makes the most tender crusts. A national brand bread flour is usually best for bread but a strong (high protein) all purpose flour gives very similar results.

11) Is it really necessary to sift flour? Not if you weigh it. Sifting makes it easier to measure consistently. It does not, however, evenly incorporate dry ingredients. Whisking them together by hand, beating them in a mixing bowl, or whirling them for a few seconds in a food processor does a far better job of mixing.

12) What is the difference between 1 cup flour, sifted, and 1 cup sifted flour? There is a big difference in the weight or amount of flour. 1 cup flour, sifted means you put the flour into the cup and then sift it. 1 cup sifted flour means to set the cup on a counter and sift the flour into the cup until it mounds above the top. Then, with a metal spatula or knife, level it off. Be sure to use a cup with an unbroken rim, referred to as a dry measure as opposed to a liquid measure which has a spout. With this second method you will have the least amount of flour because the flour is aerated. Do not be tempted to shake the cup or tap it as that compacts the flour.

13) Why not just use a cake mix?
Cake mixes contain emulsifiers which give them what is known as tolerance, i.e., the ability to keep their texture despite additions of various extra ingredients. These emulsifiers result in an unpleasantly metallic after-taste. The flavor of a cake baked from scratch is incomparably superior.

14) Why is butter better for baking than margarine or other fats?
Butter is the fat that melts closest to body temperature so there is no perception of greasiness on the palate. Not only does it offer its own lovely flavor, it also enhances the flavor of other ingredients.

15) What is the best chocolate to use for baking? Generally cocoa (Dutch-processed) gives the best flavor impact in baking. In ganache (heavy cream and chocolate) or chocolate cream pie, where the chocolate is the main ingredient and does not get subjected to long heating, bittersweet chocolate is a good choice. Brand of chocolate is entirely a matter of personal preference. What tastes good by itself will also taste good when mixed with other ingredients. You be the judge!

16) What is the best way to stabilize whipped cream for frosting a cake?
Whipped cream tends to water out slightly after beating so to keep this from happening I use a small amount cornstarch which does not affect the texture.
It will not hold up well at room temperature but in the refrigerator will stay well on the cake for 24 hours! Many people have reported that this recipes has saved their lives!
For 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, use 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (if your cream is very low in butterfat use 1 1/2 teaspoons), and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Refrigerate the mixing bowl and (preferably whisk) beater for at least 15 minutes.
In a small saucepan place the powdered sugar and cornstarch and gradually stir in 1/4 cup of the cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer for just a few seconds (until the liquid is thickened). Scrape into a small bowl and cool completely to room temperature. Stir in the vanilla.
Beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream just until traces of beater marks begin to show distinctly.
Add the cornstarch mixture in a steady stream, beating constantly. Beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.

17) Why do so many baking recipes call for unsalted butter and then salt is added anyway? Because the amount of salt in salt butter far exceeds the amount you would add. Also, unsalted butter has a fresher, more delicious flavor.

18) Can you use those new low water higher butterfat butters in all baking? Not without making changes to the recipe as it will throw off the water balance and make pie crusts and cookies too fragile without adjustment. These butters are ideal for puff pastry, Danish, clarifying butter, and, of course, for spreading on bread.

19) How can I keep a pie crust from shrinking when I prebake it? A pie crust that shrinks a great deal is also one that is tough. This is a result of too much water, too high a protein flour, and or overhandling of the pastry. My cream cheese pie crust in The Pie and Pastry Bible is one that shrinks very little. But it will help any recipe to allow the dough to relax after rolling and lining the pan for at least 1 hour, covered and refrigerated. Lining the crust with parchment and dried beans or peas until it has set also helps to keep itís shape. A coffee filter, the sort used for coffee urns, is just the right size and shape to line the pastry.

20) What is the ideal thickener for fruit pie? The three most common starches used to thicken the fruit juices of a pie are flour, tapioca, and cornstarch. I prefer cornstarch because I find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit. But as any starch in excess dulls the fresh fruit flavor and can make the texture gummy, I like to let the cut fruit sit with sugar for at least 30 minutes, drain the syrup that forms, reduce it by 1/2 to 2/3 or until very thick (I like to use the microwave but be sure to use a large liquid measure sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray to keep it from boiling over) and add it back to the fruit filling. This way only about 1/3 the usual amount of thickener is required, the pie is just as juicy, and the bottom crust crisper.

21) What is the difference between condensed and evaporated milk? Condensed milk is both thicker and sweeter than evaporated milk.

22) Do you have a favorite pie crust? Yes, the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust on page 29 of The Pie and Pastry Bible. I now make it with heavy cream replacing the water and it is more tender and flavorful.