The Baking Answer Book (4 page)

¼ cup dark (not blackstrap) molasses

1 cup buttermilk or low-fat plain yogurt

¼ cup caraway seeds

1.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or coat it with cooking spray.

2.
Combine the rye flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, molasses, eggs, and buttermilk or yogurt, and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Stir in the raisins and caraway seeds.

3.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack, turning them right side up to cool completely.

Q
How is confectioners’ sugar different from white sugar?

A
Confectioners’ sugar is very finely ground white sugar, mixed with a little cornstarch to keep it from clumping. Most often it is used for sprinkling over baked cakes and cookies just before serving, or it is whisked together with water, milk, or another flavoring liquid to make a smooth and sugary icing. Occasionally, because it has added cornstarch, confectioners’ sugar is used instead of granulated sugar in cookie recipes where a particularly tender result is desired. It has a similar effect to using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, lowering the total protein content of the dough so that the baked cookies have the desired softness and fine crumb.

Q
What is superfine sugar?

A
Superfine sugar is finely ground granulated sugar that dissolves quickly in liquids. In England (and occasionally in American cookbooks) it is referred to as castor sugar. Although most frequently used in beverages like lemonade, superfine sugar has some baking uses. You will sometimes see it in meringue and frosting recipes. Occasionally it will be called for in cake and cookie recipes when a particularly fine-grained result is desired.

Q
What is brown sugar? What is the difference between light and dark brown sugar?

A
Molasses is a byproduct of the sugar refining process. Originally, brown sugar was partially refined sugar. The molasses left in the sugar colored it, gave it flavor, and kept it moist. These days, brown sugar is made by adding molasses to fully refined white sugar, so the exact percentage of molasses can be measured and consistency maintained. Light brown sugar contains about 3.5% molasses. Dark brown sugar has about 6.5% molasses.

Q
I opened a box of brown sugar months ago and now it is rock hard. Should I throw it away?

A
Like white sugar, brown sugar doesn’t go bad, but it can become so dried out that it is impossible to use. Store brown sugar in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag to avoid finding a rocklike mass in your pantry. If your brown sugar does dry out, there are several ways to soften it. If you have some time, place it in an airtight container with a slice of apple overnight. The sugar will absorb the moisture from the apple and soften. For a quicker fix, place the sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and cover it with a damp paper towel and then with plastic wrap. Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds to 1 minute, taking care not to melt the sugar, fluff with a fork, and use immediately.

Q
Can I substitute brown sugar for white sugar in recipes and vice versa?

A
You may substitute an equal amount of brown sugar for some or all of the white sugar in any baking recipe. Depending on the percentage of sugar in the recipe, you may be able to taste the molasses flavor in the end result. White sugar will work in any recipe calling for brown sugar, but the result may be a bit bland. If you find yourself without brown sugar but have white sugar and molasses on hand, you can improvise. For dark brown sugar, add a tablespoon of molasses for every cup of white sugar. For light brown sugar, add 1½ teaspoons of molasses for every cup of white sugar.

Q
Is raw sugar, or turbinado sugar, similar to brown sugar?

A
Turbinado sugar (sometimes called “sugar in the raw”) has a golden color and a molasses flavor similar to light brown sugar, but brown sugar has more moisture than turbinado sugar, which is dry like white sugar. This is because of differences in the way the two are processed. To make brown sugar, cane juice is fully processed into white sugar, and then molasses is added back in to moisten, color, and flavor the final product. For white sugar, the cane juice is filtered, crystallized, and washed to remove molasses. Turbinado sugar is processed like white sugar, but some molasses is allowed to cling to the crystals, which are then spun dry in a centrifuge.

Demerara sugar, popular in England, is very similar in color and texture to turbinado sugar. Muscovado sugar, also used in England, has a much more pronounced molasses flavor. Any of these sugars can be substituted for white sugar or brown sugar, making allowances for their differences in flavor and understanding that turbinado sugar won’t add moisture to baked goods the way brown sugar does.

Q
I see light, dark, and occasionally blackstrap molasses on the supermarket shelf. Which molasses is the best kind for baking?

A
Light and dark molasses can be used interchangeably, like light and dark brown sugar, depending on taste. Unless directed, avoid blackstrap molasses, which has a bitterness not welcome in most baked goods.

Q
Is honey more healthful than sugar? Can I substitute it for sugar when I’m baking?

A
Even though its production is much more picturesque than sugar’s (compare a hive in a field of flowers to a belching smokestack adjacent to a field of burned sugar cane), honey, like table sugar, is a simple carbohydrate, with almost no additional nutritional value. Honey is a little bit sweeter than sugar, and obviously has more moisture, so if you’d like to substitute honey for sugar, you’ll have to take this into
account. Use
cup honey for every cup of sugar, reducing the liquid in the recipe by 3 tablespoons for every
cup of honey used. Conversely, to use sugar in place of honey, use 1¼ cups of sugar for every cup of honey, adding an extra ¼ cup of liquid for every 1¼ cups of sugar added.

Q
What is the difference between light and dark corn syrup?

A
Light corn syrup is colorless and is flavored with salt and vanilla. Dark corn syrup is flavored with molasses and caramel flavor and color — thus its brown color. They can be used interchangeably in recipes, but dark corn syrup will add a bit of molasses flavor.

Q
In the past I’ve reserved maple syrup for pancakes and waffles. Is it possible to use maple syrup instead of sugar in baking?

A
Maple syrup is less sweet than sugar, so if you want to substitute it for sugar you’ll have to use more of it to sweeten your baked goods. To give your baked goods a mild maple flavor, substitute 1½ cups of maple syrup for every cup of white sugar, and reduce the liquid by 1½ cups.

Q
Can I substitute salted butter for unsalted butter in a recipe if I use less salt than is called for?

A
The salt content of butter varies from brand to brand and from batch to batch. Salted butter can contain as little as ¼ teaspoon of salt per stick or as much as ¾ teaspoon, and there is no way to know exactly how much salt your butter contains. For the most consistent results, it is better to use unsalted butter and add the precise amount of salt specified in a particular recipe.

Q
What is the difference between European and regular butter? Can they be used interchangeably?

A
European and European-style butters contain more butterfat (about 83%) than supermarket butter (about 80%) and less water. In baking, this translates into cakes and pastries with lighter and flakier textures and extra-rich flavor. Many professional pastry chefs will use nothing else. For the home baker, regular butter is perfectly fine, since most recipes for home cooks are developed using regular butter. But European butter can easily be substituted, in many cases with markedly superior results. In general, European butters are more expensive than supermarket brands (although many of them are now sold not only at gourmet and specialty food stores but also at supermarkets alongside their commercial counterparts), so it’s most economical to reserve them for recipes in which butter takes center stage, such as puff pastry,
pound cake, and shortbread. Be aware that imported butter is often sold in tubs or blocks, not tablespoon-marked sticks, so you’ll have to weigh or measure it to use it for baking.

Q
How do vegetable oil and vegetable shortening differ from butter? What about margarine? Why do some recipes call for butter and others call for oil or shortening?

A
Vegetable oil, shortening, and butter all have places in baking, but shouldn’t be substituted for one another without care. In baked goods where the fat’s primary function is flavor, as in shortcrust doughs, American-style layer cakes, and many cookies, you’ll do best with butter.

When creamed with sugar, butter and solid vegetable shortening become leaveners, giving cakes and cookies a higher rise than they would get with baking powder or baking soda alone. Vegetable oil won’t do this. For the same reason, butter or solid shortening must be used in puff pastry and Danish and croissant dough. The solid fat, when incorporated into the dough, melts in the oven to create air pockets, which translate into extreme flakiness. Solid fat is also essential for flaky piecrust. Vegetable shortening incorporated into flour creates more air pockets as the crust bakes than butter, but won’t give piecrust any flavor. Many bakers prefer a combination of vegetable shortening and butter for a flaky and tasty crust.

Vegetable oil lends moisture and tenderness to baked goods, but won’t help them rise. It is used in chiffon cakes,
where abundant whipped egg whites give the cake a light texture and the oil makes it moist but not greasy. Vegetable oil is also used in vegetable-based quick breads and cakes such as zucchini muffins and carrot cake, where the flavor of the butter would compete with the flavor of the other ingredients. Canola oil is a good choice for its neutral flavor.

Long believed to be a more healthful alternative to butter, margarine’s health benefits have been largely discredited in recent years. And because “butter-flavored” margarine tastes nothing like butter, it is best to stick with real butter when a recipe calls for it.

Q
What is best for greasing a pan so my baked goods don’t stick?

A
Butter, cooking spray, and vegetable shortening may each be used for greasing a baking pan. The choice will depend on personal preference, with consideration of what you are baking. Butter has a great flavor (cooking spray and shortening are flavorless) and promotes browning, but at high temperatures or for prolonged baking times can overbrown. Neither cooking spray nor vegetable shortening will burn. Cooking spray gives great coverage, so there’s no danger of missing a nook or cranny of an elaborate Bundt pan. Sometimes a recipe will call for greasing and then flouring a pan, because a thin layer of flour provides extra insurance against sticking. In this case, vegetable shortening is a better choice than cooking spray, which sits on the surface of a pan
in little beads and can absorb clumps of flour, which then stick to the surface of the baked cake in an unappetizing and unattractive way. Or use a cooking spray that already contains flour, such as Baker’s Joy, which will work the same way but in one easy step.