Stabilizing egg whites with cream of tartar August 29, 2009

To be honest, I thought cream of tartar was an actual cream.  I would have never thought it looks like a white powdery substance that can be found in the spice section in your local grocery store.  At least that’s where I bought mine.  So what exactly is it and what role does it play in baking?

Interestingly, cream of tartar and a grapes have something in common.  Both are the result of the wine making process.  Cream of tartar is the sediment found inside of wine barrels after grapes have fermented.  It is also produced and manufactured by combining potassium hydroxide with tartaric acid.  Another name for cream of tartar is postassium hydrogen tartrate.   Other substitutes for cream of tartar are white vinegar and lemon juice.

I had my first experience using it when beating egg whites for a foam cake.  The recipe instructed to add 1/2 tsp. of cream of tartar to my foamy egg whites and then beat again until stiff.  At first, I expected the egg whites to stiffen immediately after the addition of cream of tartar.  Sort of like when I used a cream stabilizer to make whipped cream.  That cream stiffened quickly.  In this case, not so much.  I still had to beat those egg whites with my life!  FYI, I don’t have an electric whisker.  But the end result is just what I needed for my foam cake.  The eggs whites provided so much air to my light and fluffy cake.  Hence, the name foam cake!

Now, I’m beginning to fully understand the role and relationship of each ingredient when it comes to baking.  There have been other times when I used a recipe that called for cream of tartar and because I didn’t really know what it was, I never bothered to buy it.  Instead, I just dismissed it.  I was like, “eh, it’s just 1/2 tsp of something that I’m leaving out” and never gave it a chance in my baking.  I hope to have more success when using cream of tartar in my future baking escapades.

Goin’ nuts, another lesson learned August 25, 2009

A few days ago, I tweeted about making a peanut butter mousse filling for a birthday cake.  Yummy, right?  Well, not so much.  The celebrant is allergic to nuts!  I was so disappointed in myself.  I was given the freedom to choose any flavor cake and immediately I thought I would try a new filling other than buttercream.  So I decided to try a peanut butter or hazelnut mousse recipe and incorporate the method of the month by using a stabilizer.  I was so excited that it didn’t occur to me to ask if anyone had any nut allergies.  My sister said she was surprised that I would even choose this recipe knowing that nut allergies are pretty common.  Really??  I mean I grew up with PB&J sandwiches and I can honestly say I don’t know anybody that suffers from such.  Ok, wait, now that I think of it, there’s my cousin’s husband, my nephew… all right, I made a boo-boo.

Apparently nut allergies are common and now I know better to make sure that I ask.  I’m so glad that this lesson learned wasn’t the result of a far worse situation.

In case you wanted to know the recipe I used for the peanut butter mousse recipe, I’ve posted it below.  It’s from Epicurious’s Peanut Butter Mousse Cake Recipe with slight modifications.  I used part of the recipe for filling my chocolate cake.  It’s muy delicious!!

2 lbs cream cheese

2 1/4 peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp vanilla extract

4 cups heavy cream, whipped

2 packets of whip it cream stabilizer

Placed the room temperature cream cheese in mixer with peanut butter and sugar to beat for several minutes until combined.  Added the vanilla extract.  In a separate bowl, whipped the heavy cream with the stabilizer, about 2 – 3 minutes.  Folded whipped cream by the spoonfuls into peanut butter mixture.  I ended up not using all of the whipped cream because I didn’t want to change the texture of the peanut butter mixture too much.  It was already firm enough for my layer cake.  I suppose the cream cheese helped out.  Even though the stabilizer was added to the whipped cream, I didn’t add all of it to the peanut butter mixture.  Taste it.  I only used a cup of sugar as opposed to two cups because it already tasted heavenly and I didn’t want it to be too sweet.  And there you go, peanut butter mousse filling for your layer cake, enjoy!

Using stabilizers or thickening agents for baking August 15, 2009

Problems I’ve experienced with filling my cakes have occurred due to either a very wet, limp French buttercream or not so firm mousse.   Considering many possible factors including the enemy of butter, humidity, to the way certain ingredients are whipped in an effective manner, I’ve decided to focus on a new addition to the recipe.

I would like to introduce the method of the month for August – stabilizers or thickening agents. What are they?  What do they do?  Well, in relation to my melt proof mission, there are different types of stabilizers or thickening agents used in recipes to help resolve this problem and I will try to test them out.

Here are few stabilizers that are found in baking:

• cream of tartar
• gelatin
• vegetable gums like agar
• starches

I must confess that I vowed to stay away from instant gelatin for awhile after attempting to make a raspberry mousse that called for it.  Only because my gelatin did not dissolve correctly with the raspberry puree and freaked me out when it coagulated into a lump that felt like instant cartilage.  Sorry, just wanted you to know what daunted me about it.  So now I am ready to try instant gelatin again as well as other alternatives.  In fact, I have a sculpted cake coming up and I would hate for it to fall apart because the filling was not firm enough to support the cake.  That has happened to me before, too!

Right now, I’m contemplating between a peanut butter mousse or a hazelnut mousse.  Two different recipes, one calls for instant gelatin the other doesn’t.  I might try both to see which one holds up the best before using it in my sculpted or 3D cake.  I will post my results soon!

Room temperature eggs July 23, 2009

Ok, I know July is almost over but I couldn’t wait to start MoM (Method of the Month)!  I will keep a log roll of all the postings that have to do with each MoM so there’s no missing out.

Baking with room temperature eggs

I’ve decided to start with room temperature eggs for baking.  Have you ever wondered why baking recipes call for this?  Or did you learn the hard way after a giant crater attacked the center of your cake (me! me! me!)?

First, let’s understand the parts of an egg.  Common knowledge would be shell, egg white and yolk, sometimes two yolks if you’re lucky!  Haha, this is rare so don’t worry about having twins.  Anywho, the role of the egg in baking is defined like this:

As an ingredient, egg yolks are an important emulsifier in the kitchen, and the proteins in egg white allow it to form foams and aerated dishes.

So depending on what the recipe calls for, either for a fat such as egg yolk or a protein like egg white, understand why it’s important to use room temperature eggs.  For example, my crater cake (the butter cake disaster) rose in the oven and when it cooled, the center sunk in.  Then I realized that I’ve been using eggs straight from the fridge!  Cold egg yolks just won’t mix well or emulsify with your sugar or liquid batter.  Fat and liquid don’t mix folks!  So the trick is to introduce the two at the same temperature so that it doesn’t curdle.  Whew!

As for egg whites, you want these at room temperature in order to get the most volume from them.  Ever read a recipe when it says to beat egg whites until stiff and glossy?  I got the stiff part (volume) but glossy, whaa?  Well, they are referring to how the protein molecules in the egg whites become elastic when you beat them and therefore look glossy.

So there you go, don’t forget to bring those eggs to room temperature before baking that cake!  For more information, visit these articles.  They are very useful.

Baking 911

Eggs from Joy of Baking

Solving problems with “method of the month” July 23, 2009

Baking and cake decorating are indeed sweet adventures when you have fun with it.  There have been times when I felt like throwing in the apron, if you will, because my cake came out too dry or the the fondant would constantly tear.  And these problems would randomly occur so I never understood why.  Well, I’m beginning to learn why baking can be considered a science.

You see, basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter all serve an important purpose from exact measurements to the order you mix them.  There’s a certain chemistry that goes on.  And if you’re like me, you’re probably thinking, “Yikes!  Science… chemistry… uh, not subjects I really excelled in school so, ummm… baking, really?”

To help me understand this mad science, I have decided to do a “method of the month” regimen.  Each month I will post a method that can involve a certain ingredient or a particular adjustment with the intent to explain why it is important in baking.  Through research and advice from others, this will help me and hopefully others understand as to why certain problems may occur and become a more knowledgeable baker in the process.

Please join me and let’s begin this new sweet adventure:)  Happy baking!