Baking with Buttermilk

Debbie Moose knows buttermilk and since it is an ingredient that we love – and that many of you have questions about – we thought we would have Debbie write an article for us on purchasing and using this time honored ingredient.

I love when the universe comes together in a synchronistic way. The same day that Debbie sent me this piece I received my Southern Living magazine in the mail and not only did a buttermilk cake grace the cover, but the article showed her Dad’s favorite treat (see below). Read up and then decide what you are going to make! Cakes, cornbread, pancakes and waffles are just a few things that work beautifully with buttermilk. Also be sure to check out Debbie’s book, Buttermilk: A Savor the South Cookbook where you will find more of her buttermilk musings. She also makes a good case for not making your own, which she describes below. Try our Chocolate Buttermilk Snack Cake and our Pecan Flour Buttermilk Pancakes (as seen in top image).

As a southerner, I have a special love for buttermilk, and not just because I wrote a whole cookbook on it. I can’t think of an ingredient that sums up the South as well or that works such magic in baking.

I still remember my father crumbling up leftover cornbread (made with buttermilk) into a tall glass of buttermilk as an evening snack, the glass so full that he ate it with an iced-tea spoon. Most southerners my age remember something like this, and maybe have done it themselves.

For a long time, the South was a poor place. And southerners didn’t throw things out, especially food. So when the butter was churned from fresh milk, the liquid that remained – the buttermilk – was put on a shelf for later use. That’s when the second part of creating buttermilk would happen: natural cultures from the air would enter it. The cultures helped it keep longer, and provide the distinctive tangy flavor. The flavor was a byproduct of using what was available, but over time southerners came to prefer it, long after everyone had refrigerators.

Buttermilk has a higher acid level than what my mother called “sweet milk,” which makes it a blessing for baking. When chemical leavening – baking powder and baking soda – were invented around 1800, the acid in buttermilk would really help them create those bubbles that make breads and cakes rise.

Flavor, tenderness, moistness, even rising – there’s so much that buttermilk brings to a dish.

Because of the cultures, buttermilk is more akin to yogurt than it is to regular milk. Today, buttermilk is made using commercial cultures, and you can find everything from no fat to full-fat versions. I suggest using the richest buttermilk you can get, and with the growth in small dairies, artisan milks are easier to find. Go with full fat for cakes, I say.

Before you ask about the old substitute – mixing vinegar into regular milk – don’t. All you’ll get by doing that is an acidic flavor. Powdered buttermilk isn’t much better, unless you want to add some buttermilk flavor without adding liquid.

Go get the good stuff. You’ll find plenty to do with it besides pancakes and biscuits. You can swap buttermilk for regular milk in recipes. If the recipe has baking soda or baking powder already, you’re probably OK to go. If you’re using a large amount of buttermilk, you could increase the baking soda by a small amount if you’re not sure, just 1/4 teaspoon or less.

Is Corn Syrup Bad for You?

OK folks I will state right here up front that this article is not meant to be the end-all of scientific and nutritional accounting of the controversy about corn syrup versus high fructose corn syrup. In reading the comments on other sites below similar articles it is clear that many people have strong opinions and a definitive stance is difficult to present without dissenters. Even the title, Corn Syrup versus High-Fructose Corn Syrup, seems like we are setting these ingredients up for a battle!

My focus here is to help home bakers understand what these two ingredients are and how best to use them – or not!

You will find recipes on Bakepedia calling for corn syrup – some candies for instance, or pecan pie desserts. As an invert sugar it prevents crystallization and is very useful in some recipes. We use Karo brand, which contains no high-fructose corn syrup. If you read their website articles carefully they say that the brand didn’t contain any high fructose syrup when they introduced the product in 1902 and they don’t now. There was, however, an in-between period during which their Karo syrup did contain high fructose corn syrup. I am not sure of those dates. This might be why there is confusion for some who think that their product does contain high-fructose corn syrup.

So what’s the deal? I am sure you have read many articles railing against high-fructose corn syrup. The main thing to know is that high-fructose corn syrup is not the same as regular old corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup begins as corn syrup but it is then further processed and modified. It is broken down enzymatically to create two different forms of sweeteners: fructose and glucose. It was originally developed as a lower cost substitute for sugar, which is why you see it in the ingredient lists of so many junk foods. It is the fructose that has been linked to obesity as well as other health related issues such as Type 2 diabetes, all of which can increase risk of heart disease. Controversy exists. “Regular” corn syrup, like the Karo mentioned, does not have this stigma attached.

Here’s our simple answer in two parts:

1. Overconsumption of sugar of any sort is not recommended. Neither is overconsumption of red meat, many fats or candy. Practice moderation.

2. We think the issue is with hidden sugars – in sodas, snack foods, even commercially prepared bread! High-fructose corn syrup is often used in this way. Become a label reader.

Moderation is key and we have no problem using corn syrup in our occasional baking. We would rather have a slice of real cheesecake or a homemade slab of toffee than to find out that we ate the equivalence in sugars from ketchup, chips and other processed foods.

For additional information, our friend David Lebovitz has a great post about why and when to use corn syrup.

Liquid Gold

This fall I am trying to work Lyle’s Golden Syrupinto as many desserts as I can. Why? Because this gorgeous golden liquid sweetener adds so much in terms of flavor and texture to everything from pecan bars to marshmallows to puddings, candies, cakes and more. Any time you might use corn syrup, honey or maple syrup I am urging you to try replacing some or all of those sweeteners with Lyle’s Golden Syrup. The color only hints at its amazing flavor. It tastes like buttery toffee butterscotch caramel. Hang in there with me; it is hard to describe if you haven’t tasted it but it is fabulous. As interesting as honey varietals. More buttery (even though it contains no fat) than any of the liquid sweeteners. Maybe try to imagine that rich, full, toasted flavor of toffee, but in liquid that is smooth as silk and that tastes more clear. I am actually hoping that I only make half sense here because then maybe you will go taste it for yourself – and then you too will be hooked.

It isn’t cheap and not every supermarket will carry it. When you find it, stock up on a few cans. You will not regret it. Once you do, try our Browned Butter Pecan Bars, Chocolate Bourbon Balls, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chocolate Salami, Gingerbread Stack Cake and our Pumpkin MallowMores.

Image: Peter Muka

And What is in Your Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Let’s address the subtitle. Apparently there is no pumpkin in your Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte. What you taste as “pumpkin” is all the spices – the same ones that are typically found in pumpkin pie, hence the association on your nose and palate. Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice or some combination appear in most pumpkin pies, pumpkin breads and other assorted pumpkin desserts. They make it taste like pumpkin.

Now of course there is nothing wrong with measuring out the individual spices and frankly there is a benefit to this: you can control the quality and freshness of each spice and you can also add more or less of the spices you like. But this all brings me back to that ridiculously popular drink name. There is actually a blend of spices called “pumpkin pie spice” and it is a convenient one-stop approach to the intermingled flavor that is synonymous with autumn. We decided to look into this.

Turns out that one company’s pumpkin spice blend is not like every other. Check out these two popular brands. The McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spiceis a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice while the Frontier Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg, in those orders denoting larger to lesser amounts. (Allspice, by the way is a spice unto itself and not a blend. In the top image it is the small black balls that look like large peppercorns). So without standardization among blends it is hard to standardize recipes. That said, we still went ahead and developed a slew of “pumpkin spice” and “pumpkin spice latte” desserts for you this season. No reason to go through withdrawal if your Starbucks is more than a block away. Check out our Pumpkin Spice Latte Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pumpkin Spice Latte Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes, Pumpkin Spice Meringues with Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin Spice Latte Candied Pecans, and a Frozen Pumpkin Spice Latte Mousse Tart.

As far as purchasing pumpkin pie spice, try a few blends to see which you prefer. Any of them will work in our recipes, with slightly different results, of course. All delicious.

Images: Peter Muka

Whole Wheat Flour with a Boost

A community member recently emailed me to ask what graham flour is and I thought it was a great question that deserved attention. Most of us are familiar with graham crackers but have your ever thought about how they got their name? Well, I live near Northampton, MA, where Sylvester Graham (1794 – 1851) lived and he is the flour’s namesake.

Sylvester lived and died in Northampton (there is a great breakfast/lunch spot named after him) where he practiced and preached about vegetarianism, which he believed helped one abstain and also cured sexual urges (and blindness). He believed diet affected ones health and mental outlook and created graham flour, which is a whole wheat flour, as an alternative to the bleached and chemically treated white flours that were becoming popular during the industrial revolution.

Now here is where it gets confusing. I often use King Arthur Flour as a resource, however, they call their whole-wheat pastry flour graham flour and this is in direct contradiction to every other resource. Graham flour is usually described as an extra-coarse whole-wheat flour (not finer, like pastry flour). Some references say it is a coarse ground whole wheat, others state that the endosperm is ground but the bran and the germ are kept coarse and added back in. What we can say is that it is a whole grain, but apparently different graham flours are processed differently. I decided to consult our friend in bread, Peter Reinhart and also Alice Medrich, who has just written a book on flour.

According to Peter, “different companies have kind of coined it for their own use, perhaps even sifting out some of the endosperm in order to make it even more coarse and branny — more Graham-y, so to speak.  And, yes, I’m sure some versions separate and then recombine the endosperm, milled finely, with the coarser middlings to emphasize the high fiber aspect.  But I think Graham himself just wanted people to eat 100% whole grain bread regardless of how coarse it was”.

He continues, “the real argument has more to do with what you also described: separating the bran and germ and then recombining them back in. But in this version, the endosperm is sifted out (whether stone ground or roller milled) and then the bran and germ are more finely milled on roller mills so as to not clog up the stones, and then added back into the endosperm. Craig Ponsford of Ponsford’s Place (a Bakery & Innovation Center) calls this ‘reconstituted flour’ as opposed to true ‘whole milled’ whole-wheat flour where there is little or no separation of the three parts of the kernel.  He feels that whole milling is the only way to assure full benefits from the flour, and I’d wager that Sylvester Graham would agree”. Alice concurred that graham flour is a “coarser whole wheat flour”.

So, what to do? If you are using a King Arthur recipe and it calls for graham flour, I would use their pastry flour. If you are using any other recipe that calls for graham flour, I would use a coarse ground whole wheat, such as Bob’s Red Mill Graham Flour. The flavor is nutty and sweet at the same time – just like graham crackers! Sylvester, by the way, was in full force during the 1930’s with his evangelism but his crackers really took hold after his death.

Try graham flour for:

• Graham crackers
• Boston brown bread
• Molasses bread
• Any rustic, whole grain bread
• We also like to use a small amount in pumpkin and apple quick breads (try substituting 25%).

When is a Jam not a Jam, Jelly or Preserve?

Think of all the recipes that call for either a jam, jelly, preserve or marmalade: jelly-roll, rugelach, sandwich cookies, used as a filling between cake layers such as in the classic Sacher torte, thumbprint cookies. This list goes on and on.

There is something they all have in common, in my opinion: they all are better for the inclusion of the fruity flavor the jam brings, but they don’t necessarily need any extra sugar. That’s where “fruit spreads” come in.

Most jams/jellies have a high sugar content and indeed sugar’s inclusion is part of the FDA labeling requirements. Fruit spreads are sweetened with fruit and fruit juice – not sugar – and while they cannot sport the “jam” title, I think they offer us more of what we often want – the fruit flavor!

You have to read labels. As you can see in the top image, the jar on the left lets you know on the front label that the contents are 100% fruit. There will be no sugar in that one and it will have a very concentrated fruit flavor. It might have other fruits other than raspberry making up the mixture, but chances are this tastes very raspberry-like. Taste test different brands to see what you like.

When you see the term “organic” on the label, that won’t necessarily tell you anything about sugar content. The marmalade-like orange fruit spread in the top image has no sugar. But look at this image below and read the left label. It’s organic all right, and even the sugar is organic but it is also the first ingredient, which means this is very sugary jam. Look at the label below on the right. No sugar. This product is the kind of fruit spread that I am recommending.

You will often see recipes on Bakepedia calling for “100% fruit spread” and these non-sugar spreads are what I am referring to. Do not confuse these with “sugar-free”. As you can see in the label below that often denotes an artificial sweetener such as Splenda and I do not recommend them.

Top Image: Peter Muka

Other Images: Dédé Wilson

How to Make Superfine Sugar and When to Use It

Superfine sugar also called bar sugar (since bartenders love its dissolvability in cold drinks) and caster sugar or castor sugar in the UK might not be a pantry staple for you – yet – but it does serve its purpose in the sweet kitchen. It is, just like is sounds – extra fine white granulated sugar. There are certain times we will use it in the Test Kitchen and this is a primer on what it is, how to use it, how to make it and when not to use it. In the image below you can see the superfine far left, standard granulated in the middle and large decorating sugar on the right. (Read more at All About Standard Baking Sugars).

• We use Domino Superfine Sugar – it has a new airtight package that makes it easy to pour and store, which we like. You just press and flip open the top. The downside is that is only 12 ounces in size, which is not a lot.

• You can substitute superfine sugar for granulated sugar in most recipes. Because it is finer, there is ever so slightly more superfine sugar per cup than regular granulated, but I have always substituted 1 to 1 and had great success.

• That said, if a recipe calls for superfine, use it. If it calls for regular granulated, we recommend you use that.

• Superfine sugar dissolves readily in meringue mixtures and also in cream when whipping. You might see it called for in angel food cake recipes, too.

• We like to use superfine sugar to make Crystallized Flowers as its extra-fine granule sparkles so nicely and coats the delicate petals so well and evenly.

• If you need superfine sugar for incorporating into a recipe, such as adding to a meringue mixture, you can make your own by buzzing regular granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

• We do not recommend that you use “homemade” superfine sugar for coating flowers or fruit when crystallizing because your homemade version will not be as sparkly as the commercially prepared. In fact it might be a bit powdery. That’s fine for beating into egg whites for a soufflé, but not good enough to provide a pretty, sparkling visual effect.

Top Image: Peter Muka

Bottom Image: Dédé Wilson

Coconut Flour Offers Gluten-Free Alternative

It might well be the year of the coconut: water, milk, cream, chips (savory and sweet), shredded, oil and now also coconut flour. It is a new darling in gluten-free circles in particular, and it does offer some welcomed properties, but it takes some getting used to when substituting it for other more traditional flours. Here is what you need to know about coconut flour so that you can experiment yourself.

• Coconut flour is very finely ground coconut after the oil has been removed. We do not recommend that you try to make your own; best to buy commercial coconut flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill.

• Look for coconut flour in natural food stores and online.

• Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freezer if not using within a week. Bring to room temperature before using.

• It tends to clump upon storage. Whisk well before measuring.

• Coconut flour is gluten-free but it does not substitute 1 to 1 for other flours. Use recipes developed for coconut flour.

• If you really want to try it as a substitution, replace about 20% of the wheat flour called for in a recipe with coconut flour but also add an equivalent amount of liquid.

• Or if you want to eliminate wheat flour, try using about 25% of the wheat flour called for with the coconut flour. It is that absorbent. If the mixture looks dry, add more liquid also.

• Every cup of coconut flour needs at least 2 eggs, sometimes up to 4.

• An equal amount of liquid to coconut flour is a good place to start.

• Nutritionally it is very high in fiber, low in digestible carbohydrates and fairly protein rich.

• It is paleo and grain-free diet friendly.

• It does have a coconut flavor, but perhaps not as much as you would think.