Ingredients

The right ingredients make the difference between a good baked item, or a great one. If poor quality ingredients or substitutes are used, the results can even be poor, despite following the recipe. In most cases, especially with our high tech busy lives, baking takes time. We want the results of our time to be well worth it. For that reason I strongly urge you to not only not make substitutions, but to use the finest quality of ingredients called for. The following is a listing and description of items generally called for, what you should stock your kitchen with, and sizes of certain items as in the case of eggs.

Milk Products:
My recipes call for Whole Milk. Not 2%, not skim, not powdered milk, not soy or other type, not even goat milk. Whole Milk. Unless you drink this yourself, however, only keep this on hand when you plan on baking something.
Carnation Condensed Milk (or other major brand). Keep 1 can on hand.
Carnation Evaporated Milk. Keep at least 2 or 3 cans on hand. Do not use other brands; I have experience bad results with others.
Heavy Whipping Cream. Only purchase when needed for a recipe.
Cream Cheese - Only use Philadelphia brand. I tried others with poor results. Only purchase as needed for a recipe.

Butter:
Use pure salted butter, unless the recipe specifically calls for unsalted butter, which is often used. Do not use margarine, not even for greasing pans as the margarine burns quicker, and gives an off taste. Do not use butter or margarine substitutes. Personally, especially for holiday baking, I like to use pure butter imported from Europe (these can be found in the grocery stores these days.) The European butter contains a higher fat content and gives superb results. However, it is pricey, so unless you want to go "all out" it is not necessary. Watch for sales at the grocery store and stock up as butter keeps for quite a while.

Eggs:
Unless otherwise stated, the size of egg to use is Large. The difference of the size of egg produces either less or more liquid, depending upon the size. Large is just the right amount of liquid for most recipes. It doesn't matter if you use regular, organic, white, or brown eggs. Brown eggs just come from a different breed of chicken; the taste is the same. Do not use egg beaters or other substitute. Most people keep 1 dozen on hand in the refrigerator.

Flour:
Any major or even store brand is good for All-Purpose Flour. Do not use self-rising or pre-sifted flour. Keep at least one 5-lb. bag on hand.
Cake Flour: Keep 1 box on hand.

Sugar/Syrups:
Pure Granulated Sugar - One 5-lb. bag
Pure Confectioner's Sugar - 1 bag
Light Brown Sugar - 1 bag
Karo light corn syrup - 1 bottle
Karo dark corn syrup - 1 bottle
Splenda - if you are baking for someone who is diabetic. This is the only sugar substitute I recommend for baking. Use the same amount as you would for granulated sugar. 1 box if you will be using Splenda.

Shortening:
I prefer Crisco Shortening, regular, in a can. I do not recommend the butter-flavored shortening as I feel it gives an "off" taste. I also do not recommend the "sticks" of shortening. Granted, they are convenient, but for reason the consistency is not quite the same. Keep at least 1 medium sized can on hand.

Oil:
Pure Vegetable Oil, any brand. Do not use olive oil, canola oil, sunflower Oil, etc. Keep one medium sized bottle on hand.

Salt:
Regular table salt, either Iodized or non-Iodized. Can also use sea salt if you prefer. However, do not use salt substitute or Kosher salt. One container of salt is probably already in your kitchen shelf for all of your cooking and seasoning needs.

Other Items to Keep On Hand for Baking:
Baking Powder - 1 box, any brand
Baking Soda - 2 boxes, any brand (one box is great kept in the refrigerator to absorb odors)
Minute Tapioca 1 box (used for thickening in some recipes, such as for Cherry Pie)
Graham Cracker Crumbs - one box, any brand
Pecans and or Walnuts, shelled and in either halves or pieces - 1 bag of each
Shredded Sweetened Coconut (use a major brand as store brands tend to be too dry)
Maraschino Cherries - 1 jar, kept in refrigerator. Great for quick decorating.
Raisins - 1 box, any brand
Food Coloring - 1 bottle of red food coloring, and 1 box of assorted colors of food coloring
Baker's Chocolate Squares - or other premium brand - 1 box of unsweetened squares, and 1 box of unsweetened squares.
Cocoa - 1 can
Chocolate Chips - 1 bag
Dried yeast packets (watch the expiration dates on these, and keep in the refrigerator)

Extracts:
I cannot stress enough the importance of using only PURE extracts. The imitation extracts are fake flavors and chemicals. Use high quality pure extracts as they use more natural flavor ingredients and less alcohol.
Vanilla Extract: I recommend pure vanilla extract made from vanilla beans from Madagascar. Has a superb flavor. Nielsen-Massey is one brand of this type, which can be found in specialty food stores. 1 large bottle. Yes, this stuff is expensive, but worth it, and keeps for quite a while.
Pure Almond Extract - 1 small bottle

Spices:
Again, use only good quality spices, and replace at least once a year, ideally every six months. One bottle of each of the following, any good brand:
Allspice
Cinnamon
Cream of Tartar
Ginger
Ground Cloves
Ground Nutmeg
Dried Lemon Peel
Dried Orange Peel

Nice to have:
Rum, either light or dark (Better to use the real stuff rather than the rum extract)
Sambuca or Anisette (Italian liquor used in some desserts)
Sprinkles, decorator icings, etc. for cake decorating
Additional flavors of pure extracts (there are many)
Cardamon
Poppy Seeds
Pastry fillings
Whipped Cream Stabilizer (these come in packets)

Next Week: Cheesecakes

Drop Biscuits

From personal tasting experience, biscuits can either be wonderful...or horrible. There is almost nothing better than a light, fluffy, slightly golden biscuit, either eaten plain, with butter or jam, or incorporated into a dish of biscuits and gravy. Sadly, though, I have eaten my share (usually in restaurants) of what they call biscuits...hard like a rock and usually tasteless.

Personally, I think the dough for biscuits is something that gets "hard textured" the more it is worked with. For the typical symmetrically round biscuit one must of course make the dough, roll it out, cut it with a biscuit cutter, place it on the baking sheet, and finally bake it. For the novice, this is too much working of the dough and can result in those overworked and dried out versions I have referred to as bad restaurant fare.

When it comes to baking, I have never been one for how it looks, but more importantly how it tastes. With that in mind, my favorite...and easiest...biscuit recipe is not one that is rolled out, but rather mixed and then "dropped" onto the baking sheet rather than rolling it out. It is quick and easy to make, and the results are heavenly to eat. OK, so they often resemble the Rock of Gibraltar in shape, but who cares when they are so yummy. Here, then is my recipe, which I consider relatively fool-proof.

Drop Biscuits

2 cups sifted flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into medium sized bowl.
3. Cut shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture is "crumbly".
4. Make a "well" in the center of the mixture. Pour milk in. Stir quickly to mix thoroughly.
5. Drop dough, by tablespoons, onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake about 10 min, or until lightly golden brown.

Next Week: About Ingredients

Specialty Cakes - Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For those of you in the United States (there are readers of this blog in other countries), have a fun and safe Fourth of July. As part of our barbecue menu I made a dessert of Triple Berry Pie. I may get to pies as a topic in the future, but for now I wanted to finish up the cake section with another specialty cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It seems appropriate as Pineapple Upside Down Cake has long been a traditional favorite by many bakers for summer desserts including the Fourth of July.



To my knowledge, by nature of what it is and its required ingredients, there are not a lot of variations of the recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I have seen a few that call for a rectangular baking pan, but for the most part they are usually baked in a round pan, often a large skillet as is the case with my recipe, and inverted onto a serving plate.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

1 twenty oz. can of pineapple slices
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
maraschino cherries, halved

1. Drain the juice from the canned pineapple.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. In a sifter place the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift into large bowl together.
4. Cream 1/2 cup butter (beating in an electric mixer) with 1 cup sugar.
5. Beat the egg yolks with egg beater or fork in a separate small bowl. Add yolks to creamed mixture and beat well, then add flour and 1/2 cup milk, alternately, again beating well.
6. In another clean small bowl beat the egg whites (with a hand mixer if you have one, or with a clean egg beater or fork).
7. Fold the egg whites and vanilla extract into the batter.
8. Melt the 2 tbs. butter in a 10" heavy frying pan, one that has a heat resistant handle. (You can also use a 9" x 9" x 2" rectangular baking pan if you don't mind the non-traditional shape.)
9. Spread the brown sugar over the surface of the buttered pan.
10. Place the pineapple slices over the surface of the pan and add maraschino cherries in the centers of the pineapple.
11. Pour the cake batter over the fruit.
12. Bake about 45 min.
13. When done and slightly cooled, invert the pan and turn the cake (upside down, hence the name) onto a serving platter.

Next Week: Baking Powder Biscuits