For our wedding, a friend gave me a copy of Baking Illustrated, apparently the Bible of baking. She was probably tired of my panicked emails saying, “why did my cookies come out like muffins????” and “Uh…is it supposed to look like this?” complete with pictures. I started reading it this morning, and have now realized that baking is complicated. The writers launch into protein content of flour and the acidic and alkaline properties of things like baking powder, soda and cream of tartar.
So far I have learned that I’ve been storing my cornmeal and whole wheat flour incorrectly (did you know that if you don’t store it in airtight containers in the freezer, it can go rancid?!), using old butter, and putting my eggs in the wrong place in the fridge. I wonder if I might have inadvertently poisoned everyone I love over the years.
However, I’ve also learned about how to properly measure sifted flour, that there really is no difference in light or dark brown sugar, and that true Irish soda bread doesn’t have eggs in it. I just hit the yeast bread section and already have a long list of things to make–blueberry muffins, homemade pretzels, the previously mentioned Irish soda bread…and I’m only 70 pages in!
While I try to make cooking recipes my own, the scientific explanations in this book make me think that meddling with a baking recipe might not be the best idea. With my luck, I’ll wind up with a flat cake heavy as a rock, and smooshy muffins.
