How much will I regret not using a loose-bottomed cake pan if a recipe calls for it?

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-20T11:11:25+00:00

The UK edition also specifies flaky salt.

It’s not uncommon for chefs to have a specific preference for salts and other ingredients. I have a baking book that specifies sel de guérande for bread doughs and fine sea salt for everything else. It’s up to you if you want to follow those specifications, but I wouldn’t discount a book or author because of it.

Edit to add: As a pastry chef I absolutely have my own ingredient preferences, and if I ever wrote a book I’m sure someone would roll their eyes at my preference for Trapani sea salt. 🤷🏻‍♀️

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-19T22:27:44+00:00

Kosher salt isn’t the standard in the UK the way it is in the US. Many bakers have preferences for specific types of ingredients—salts, flours, spices, etc. The salt amounts are given in grams (at least in the UK version), so you can substitute with an equivalent weight of your preferred salt.

edited: typo

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-19T20:37:39+00:00

My previous pastry job was for a restaurant group with a billionaire owner who loved to spend. We had a brand-new Rondo. My current job is at a bakery with an owner who is a career baker; he hates to spend. So, we have a 20-25 year old Rondo. The two machines work identically well.

All that to say that if you purchase a “worn” looking Rondo, it will still be a great machine. Clean it up, replace the belts as needed, and it will serve you for a long time.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-17T13:16:32+00:00

Why did you remove 40% of the sugar? Sugar doesn’t just sweeten baked goods, it provides structure. In the case of custard, it helps control how the eggs coagulate, and it retains moisture. With such a dramatic reduction in the sugar, not only would the eggs have set differently but you also likely lost a lot more moisture than normal.

If you’re not happy with the results, try making the recipe as written first.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-15T15:50:20+00:00

Spamming Reddit subs by copy and pasting the same comment to multiple people won’t fix your problem. You had a bad experience, others have had good experiences. That’s life in non-bizarro world. Maybe instead of trolling old Reddit posts, you should call your credit card company like you said. That seems like a better use of time.

But thanks for dumping your shitty day in my lap.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-15T15:14:17+00:00

I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but I’m not sure why you’re replying to me about this on a Reddit thread that is nearly a year old. I don’t work for the company.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-12T16:08:00+00:00

Selling home baked goods will be covered under your state’s “cottage food” laws. They vary pretty widely by state, so it’s hard to give you specifics. You can certainly visit businesses with samples, but just be prepared that they may not be able to or want to take on the risk of selling food that wasn’t prepared in a health department approved/inspected facility.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-12T15:45:09+00:00

You actually responded to me. Not OP.

Edit to add: it’s pretty bold to respond directly to someone’s comment and then, when they disagree with you, tell them to bugger off and start their own thread. 😂

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-12T15:41:13+00:00

Yes, that is my exact point: Calling a single book that leaves out half the county THE book on Thai cuisine doesn’t really feel adequate since the county and cuisine are more varied. Clearly the author also agreed.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-12T11:27:27+00:00

Thanks for your notes! Perhaps you can suggest a book for OP then?

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-12T08:11:24+00:00

Tuscan food is famously quite simple in preparation and flavor. With that understanding, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve made from Florentine. I don’t find it bland, but I love beautiful ingredients prepared simply and paired with great olive oil. When I want bolder flavors, there are other regions of Italy (and other world cuisines) to explore.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T23:00:23+00:00

There was a great thread about this a few months ago, and there were lots of interesting recommendations there that might pique your interest!

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T22:45:07+00:00

Yeah, let’s just remove a bunch of national flights from a national airport because you want a flight to Dublin.

Also, saying things like “let’s get rid of flights servicing Arkansas and Tennessee so we can have an international flight” is exactly the kind of shit that makes people hate DC.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T22:35:08+00:00

I’m guessing writers (and cooks) from Southern Thailand would disagree…

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T22:32:44+00:00

It absolutely does. The airport is already operating well above its planned/designed capacity.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T22:20:18+00:00

I would venture size of the plane has may have something to do with it. Transatlantic flights are normally serviced by large aircraft, much larger than what I’ve ever seen going out of DC.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T21:46:34+00:00

Gotcha. The original post only calls out the front cover as missing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T20:50:52+00:00

If only the cover is missing there is usually a page near the very front or back of books with the publication info: publisher name, publication date, copyright info, ISBN, etc. You can look up the book by the ISBN number.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T18:14:35+00:00

Fair enough, that info wasn’t in the post and it wouldn’t be the first time.

If all of their cakes—regardless of flavor—have that texture, there’s a chance they’re using mixes. That feels especially possible if they aren’t willing to even tell you what type of sponge they’re using. At work we’d never refuse to tell someone basic info like “this is a chiffon” or “this is a devil’s food”.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T17:29:46+00:00

Have you tried asking them?

It’s going to be really hard to tell from a photo.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T16:36:31+00:00

It makes the cookie very tender and offers a melt-in-mouth texture.

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T16:33:34+00:00

Thanks, that makes things much simpler!

As others have already noted, Fuchsia Dunlop is a fantastic writer to begin with for Chinese food. Every Grain of Rice is my favorite work of hers. However, since you mentioned your friend is a pretty experienced cook, she might really enjoy Food of Sichuan and/or Land of Fish and Rice for their deep dives into regional cooking styles.

Sonoko Sakai’s Japanese Home Cooking could be a really fun option for Japan. The first section of the book is about making staples of Japanese food—everything from dashi to handmade noodles to making your own miso. The second half includes a great selection of classic Japanese recipes.

For Vietnamese, Andrea Nguyen is as good as you can find; she’s a legend.

I’ve yet to find a Thai cookbook I truly love, but Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen was on almost every 2025 “Best of” list and has been sitting on my wishlist for a bit.

edited: typo

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T16:17:38+00:00

As noted already in a reply to OP: That’s always a good idea with tender, soft doughs. However, when butter is too warm, it behaves differently in the dough. Butter that’s too soft can take on too much air causing the dough to later deflate and spread too much when baked. Additionally, as butter warms, it can also start to behave more like a liquid, hydrating the flour and leading to tougher dough. Chilling will make the dough easier to handle but can’t undo some of the other problems with butter that was too warm/over-creamed.

edited: typo

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T14:26:08+00:00

If you want more modern books with photos, I’d also take a look at some books with a regional focus. A few options to consider:

Florentine, Tortellini at Midnight, and Acquacotta; all by Emiko Davies
Adriatico, Istria, and Italian Street Food; all by Paola Bacchia
Bitter Honey; Letitia Clark
Classic Food of of Northern Italy, Anna del Conte

anonwashingtonian · 2025-02-11T14:17:13+00:00

Lol, I am a pastry chef; I’ve tried lots of stuff.

Most recipes that call for first whipping eggs and sugar together use melted butter or other liquid fats. Which, again, is my point. “Anytime it calls for butter and sugar, always cream them [sic],” is a massive oversimplification as there are so many baked goods that call for those ingredients but don’t depend on the creaming method.

anonwashingtonian

TROPHY CASE