Okay, I need help.

[Whisky]

Hello all,

I'm hoping one of you kind people know of a (or several) good websites or have book suggestions for someone just starting to bake. I know absolutely nothing about baking. This isn't the kind of thing for which I can turn to anyone I know either. My mom, God love her, can not bake and I haven't got the heart to tell her that her brownies are dry and her bread is tack. I don't have any childhood memories of baked things, and am much like my mom in that I enjoy cooking, but can not bake for my life.

I think I would enjoy baking. I tend to enjoy the science of cooking and like details. While I do enjoy going of the track when I cook and doing my own thing, I don't think following exact instructions and being careful with measurements will be a problem for me. It frustrates me to be aware of all the wonderful possibilities and lacking the knowledge. I'd like to start with a simple roll so that I can lean some basics, but if you think I should begin with something else, let me know.

I would appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thank You.

[jcs]

Most of the simpler baked goods differ from one another only due to proportions of flour, liquid (water, milk, whatever), eggs, butter, sugar. I usually just consult the CIA book or such for reference. Main thing with baking is to get your ratios right and use good ingredients. Especially flour (none of that bleached garbage--King Arthur is good), butter (highest quality you can find, cultured butters are wonderful), and eggs (find something fresh with brilliant orange-ish yolks).

Peter Reinhart has some great books on bread.

[Fred]

In the world of baking we use a formula rather than a recipe. Measurements are important because a slight change in the ratio of ingredients makes large changes in the finished product. Even mixing is critical. The time we mix as well as the order in which ingredients are added to the dough or batter is important. Precision is the name of the game. I was a decent cook but a poor baker myself. I resolved that by studyng baking at a culinary school. The textbook we used for the first year general baking course was "professional baking" by Wayne Gisslen. It is a decent text and can get you started on the right foot. It discusses the how and why of things rather than just being a formula book. I still use it and the formulas from it. I recommend you get that book and read it. It is available at Barnes & Noble - both the store and the web site. James Peterson also has baking book. I haven't read it but I like Peterson's cook books in general. That might be another good one.

To show you how critical precision is, our first year bread baking book was a French text translated into English. The problem was that flours in France and in the U.S. are different. In France you can buy bread flour in a number of different levels of hardness while, in the U.S. most bread flours are pretty similar to each other. The change in flour made the formulas pretty sketchy and we had to adapt and modify them to work with our flour. The culinary school did this on purpose, of course, because the adaptation required was a good learning experience.

I think a good culinary school baking text book is the way to go.

[Fred]

I'll give you an easy place to start. Here's a traditional American apple pie.

Dough. Get a glass of ice water ready. Yes, use plain old ice and water. Put 2 1/2 cups of pastry (or all purpose) flour in a large food processor. Add 2 sticks of ice cold butter cut into patties. Add a heaping tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cycle the food processer a few times to mix the butter and flour. Doin't overdo it. The dough should have little balls of butter spread throughout it. Don't overdo it. If you overwork the dough, it will become tough. Now add ice water slowly until the dough balls up in the processer. Wrap the dough and put it in the refrigerator. The colder the better for all of this.

Filling. Peel 3-5 lbs. of apples and cut them into wedges (8 per apple) and put them in a large mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of sugar depending on the amount of apples. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tbsp of flour. Add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg and mix it all up.

Get a 9" pie plate. Take 2/3 of the dough and roll it out round so that it is way larger than the pie plate. Place it in the pie plate and make sure it is pressed down all around. Get a knife and cut the excess dough from around the pie plate. Fill the dough with the filling. Add the cutoff dough to the 1/3 remaining dough and roll it out so that it is way bigger than the pie plate. Trim it like you did the lower dough. Go around the dough and pinch the top and bottom together. Cover the edge of the dough with aluminum foil to prevent it from over cooking. brush the top of the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle sugar over it. Cut some vents in the top. Put it into a 350 oven for an hour. After 45 minutes remove the aluminum foil. At the hour mark you should have a golden crust and some of the filling bubbling up through the vents. It's done. Remove and cool. Serve with cheddar cheese or ice cream. It doesn't get much better than that.

[Fred]

Oh, and here's a couple of hints that will help you with making dough. The first is to be sure your rolling surface, rolling pin and dough are covered pretty heavily with flour. That will keep things from sticking. The other is handling the dough after it is rolled out. I use a pastry scraper (also good for cleaning off your cutting board. I place the rolling pin at the far end of the dough, pull the edge up onto the pin and start rolling the pin toward me. I use the scraper to keep the dough from breaking and help it to roll up smoothly around the pin. Then just pick up the whole thing and unroll onto your pie pan or your pie.

[Fred]

While we're at it, let me give you another exercise in baking. I posted a "recipe" for a shortbread with eggs a couple of years ago. Traditional Scottish shortbread doesn't have eggs. It is here. http://www.foodieforums.com/vbulleti...ght=shortbread.

The main thing to worry about is that you roll out the dough very evenly so that the thickness of the dough is consistent. That will ensure that the cookies all bake the same. Other than that, it is a pretty simple dough making and handling task. Try it. You'll wonder why Lorna Doone's aren't made this way.

[Whisky]

Wow thank you so very much! My sister is coming in to town Friday and I plan to make that apple pie recipe, Fred. Thank you so much for it. Also, I will definitely check out those books. Maybe they can be the first additions to my food library. I haven't checked out the shortbread recipe yet, on my way to do that now, I was too delighted with the information and had to say thank you first.

[Whisky]

Well now I'm suffering from indecision. I want to make those shortbread cookies for her as well. I know. I will make the cookies Thursday night and they will be for all day snacking when she comes in to town Friday. Thanks again, You've got me started on my baking Path, I believe.

[Fred]

You're welcome. Come back and tell us how it went.

[Whisky]

Woohoo, success! I decided to hold off on the shortbread cookies because I used Thursday to prepare for everything else I cooked Friday. Ricotta cheese stuffed ravioli made with gnocchi dough instead of pasta, and chicken breast rolled with herbs and cheese in a white wine sauce (but that's another story). Despite your warning, I overworked the dough just a tiny bit, I think. Still, the pie crust was better than any home made pie crust previously made in my mom's kitchen. I realize it may be wrong of me to say that, but my mom said it first, so I don't feel too guilty . The filling was also great. It was what an apple pie should be in my book. It was sweet, but not syrup, with some tartness and enough but not too much cinnamon/nutmeg, and I would have never made it without your help so THANK you!

I think I need to work some more towards perfecting the pie. As I mentioned I think I over worked the dough slightly, and I also think I rolled it out just a tad too thick. I really don't mind the idea of refining the process because that means more pie! Also I decided to hedge my bets and used the ice cream maker we bought my dad for Father's Day to make some vanilla ice cream to go on top. So as I said, given that it was my first attempt at baking anything other than biscuits, I will call that a success and take the win.

And Thanks again, Fred.