Baking Lessons: Back To Square One

Assalamualaikum

One thing that hit me hard when I started baking again here in Malaysua is that how I’ve been taking a lot of the recipes for granted all these time. Most recipes that I follow came from Australian or American/Canadian chefs/websites and most of the ingredients can be easily found in the grocery stores back in Montreal.

If you know me well enough, you’ll know that I have my go-to chocolate cake recipe that I ALWAYS use. Imagine how shocked I was when my fool proof chocolate cake looked like…well…let’s just say borderline inedible. The texture was so porous and…plastic-y. When you use the word plastic to describe a cake..you know how bad it was! So I was trying to understand what went wrong. After some observations…here are some lessons that I have learned so far.

First lesson: Chocolate Powder. In Malaysia, the cocoa powder and chocolate powder are two different things. It is something about being the cocoa being either Dutch processed or Broma processed. I am still learning about the two. Anyways, since there is a difference, it may be slightly tricky to guess which one to use in some recipes. I was lucky enough to join a class in Dough and Batter and the teacher was extremely helpful! I was told that the cocoa powder sold in most grocery stores like Van Houten is pure cocoa powder. Chocolate powder on the other hand is already mixed with some other additional ingredients including sugar. Using cocoa powder can make a cake dry and quite bitter. So for cakes, I would recommend you use chocolate powder. Chocolate powder can be found in stores that sells baking supplies. You can use cocoa powder to make chocolate crust or cookies I assume. I am also assuming that you can use cocoa powder in brownies or fudges, but then again, I can’t be 100% sure. I haven’t tried any recipes using cocoa powder just yet! I know I should…(read: chocolate crusted cheesecake)

Second lesson : Buttermilk. When you are making homemade buttermilk, use FRESH PASTUERIZED MILK instead of the usual UHT (Ultra High Temperature) milk. I have never seen UHT milk in grocery stores in Montreal before. Both kinds of milk are processed at different temperatures and duration. Thus the composition of the milk is different. Buttermilk contains acid. So there are different ways to make a buttermilk substitute at home. One of my favorite methods is to add acid based ingredients (lemon juice or vinegar) into milk. Pardon me for my lack of knowledge in food science but acids as such would coagulate fresh milk but it wouldn’t work the same in UHT milk. I’m assuming the lack of certain bacteria in UHT milk prevents the milk from coagulating. Another thing that frustrates me is how easy fresh milk turns sour in our hot weather.Sheesh, I need my own cow. =(

Third lesson: Eggs. Pay attention to the size of your eggs! In Malaysia, there is Grade A, B and C and there are also large, extra large etc. However, if you look closely…these sizes are not standardized. When I sued Grade A in my cake, it is still somewhat not big enough. So I have to look for extra large ones…or I could add more eggs in my batter. Not having enough eggs in the batter makes the cupcakes puff up real big and crack in the middle which is OKAY if you are planning to cover it with icing. Mind you the ‘puffing up” could be from random directions giving you odd looking cupcakes….oh well..They still taste good.

Fourth lesson: Butter Part 1. Now let’s talk about butter. Me being naïve and all believed that everything with the word butter on it is ACTUALLY butter. Nope. This may sound stupid but look on the packaging. Most of them are called “butterblend”. Which is usually a blend of both vegetable and milk fat. The price would be significantly different as well. These butterblends are usually about RM3-ish while pure butter can range from RM 6.00 to RM 10 per 250g or 1 cup of butter. Of course you can use butterblends in making pastries, cookies or even cakes, but don’t try using them to making frosting. ERK. Nope. Just No. Stick to butter. They are slightly more expensive, but still WAY yummier.

Fifth lesson: Butter Part 2. Since we touched a bit about butter and frosting… let’s talk about frosting. Whenever I make buttercream frosting, I’ll beat the butter using an electric mixer for a good couple of minutes to make it smooth before adding in the sugar. That’s not the case here in Malaysia. Outside temperature is too hot that beating the butter can just melt it into one gooey mess. Keep in mind that the idea behind beating the butter beforehand is to trap air into it. In Malaysia because the weather is hot, the air that is incorporated is also warm/hot. So the same method used in Canada could not be used here in Malaysia. Beating them too much would leave you with a runny frosting that is simply un-pipe-able (I can create new words can I?). I was told that I shouldn’t beat the butter more than 5 minutes. To be honest, you can simply use your trusted spatula to incorporate the sugar into the butter and chuck your electric mixer aside. It’s definitely the time for me to try other kinds of frosting. Yeay! I may need to rely on cream cheese frosting from now on.

Sixth lesson: Extracts. This may sound stupid but I just learned that rose extract does not taste like rose water. ERK! Thank goodness my parents found this Middle Eastern grocery store that sells rosewater. Phew. Also, if you are overseas and wanted to use pandan extract, smell and taste it first. I tried the Star Brand extract and the taste is so vile, I can’t even. Made my Kuih Bakar taste like medicine. A bad one that is.

Okay. Enough rambling for today. If you are new to baking or still learning like I am, I hope you are able to benefit from this post! If there are things that I have missed, do let me know!Happy baking!

Till then, Wasalam.

Love,

Sofhan Hasni