Pastry mistake -fail or not?
6 years ago
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- 6 years ago
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Scones, biscuits, muffins...whats the difference?
Comments (19)1. They are all quick breads which require low-gluten flour/s and little mixing. They all depend on the fat to shorten the gluten strands. 2. Scones vary widely in texture, shape, size, and flavor. They can vary from (soft) cookielike to cakelike in texture and from savory to sweet in flavor. Making them is similar to making biscuits. Scones can be rolled, shaped, or dropped, but the mixing method is about the same. Scones contain eggs as well as milk or cream, which makes them richer than biscuits. They may also contain pieces of dried fruits, unlike biscuits. a. Mix the dry ingredients together. b. Cut the chilled butter into the dry ingredients - this is done to shorten the gluten in the flour. Everywhere the butter coats the flour, the liquid will not be able to be absorbed by the flour, thus making short, or shortening, the strands of gluten. If the fat is cold and the mixture resembles a coarse meal, this will contribute to a flaky texture. c. Mix the liquid ingredients together (beat the egg lightly and add the milk/cream) and any other liquid ingredients, and add all at once to the dry ingredients, then stir to combine. Some recipes call for a little kneading to help develop the gluten, but avoid overkneading the dough because this will produce a tough scone. d. Judge the recipe... A high butter or sugar content in the dough will help inhibit the formation of gluten and produce a more tender product. 3. BISCUITS also rely on the fat for shortening the gluten formation. The method of mixing is similar to scones. There is less liquid in biscuits than most scones and biscuit dough usually requires a little kneading to develop the gluten because of the lack of liquid. a. The dough is then rolled. A thickness of 1/4-inch for plain biscuits, 1/2 inch or less for tea biscuits, and 1 inch or more for shortcake. Then it is cut into rounds or squares. b. Drop biscuits have more liquid than cut biscuits. 4. MUFFINS - The ratio of liquid to flour is higher than either scones or biscuits. The batter needs to be placed in a pan that forms the muffin, unlike scones/biscuits which will hold their shape once free formed or cut to form. a. There are two types of mixing methods for muffins. b. Traditional muffin-making: all the steps are geared to minimize mixing, and therefore gluten formation in the flour. The fat is most often in liquid form, either melted shortening or an oil. It's usually mixed with eggs and the liquids, then added all at once to the dry ingredients. Since fat affects tenderness, muffins with a high fat content not only taste rich, they also have a soft crumb. c. Stir muffin batter only until the dry ingredients are lightly moistened (NO ELECTRIC MIXERS PLEASE, or you'll end up with tunnels inside from overmixing). The batter SHOULD be lumpy as it's spooned into the muffin pans - even to the point some bits of dry ingredients are still remaining in the batter. d. Muffins made by creaming fat and sugar will be more tender, but they are also more cakelike. This is the second mixing method. -Grainlady...See MoreCrumby date nut bread
Comments (9)Lots of good advice already. Quick breads are all about PREVENTING gluten development. Therefore, low-gluten flour such as whole wheat pastry flour, spelt is another good wholegrain choice, and I often used a portion of rye flour in quick breads as another low-gluten choice, to achieve a tender crumb. Or if you are using a processed white flour try Southern all-purpose flours (which are milled from soft wheat varieties) like White Lily, Martha White, Gladiola or Red Band, which are better choices than even National brand all-purpose flour (which is milled from a mixture of hard and soft wheat). If you find you have tunnels running through your quick breads, you are over-developing the gluten - either by using a flour that is too high in gluten to begin with and/or over-mixing it. The Cook's Thesaurus was probably referencing making yeast bread with a low-gluten flour, not quick breads. In the world of baking science when we judge quick breads at fairs -- "crumbly" loaves of quick breads are caused by overbaking (which you indicated you did), too little liquid or fat, or too much flour (make sure you measure your flour properly - aerate, fill the cup with a spoon, sweep off the excess with a straight edge). I suspect baking it too long was the problem. Always check a quick bread (especially a new recipe) 10-15 minutes before the recommended time for doneness according to the recipe. You can use the toothpick method to check for doneness, or you can take the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer and most quick breads are "done" when the temperature reaches 210-degrees. Did you accidently use the convection feature if you have a convection oven, because that will speed the baking time. I'd also suggest getting an oven thermometer and check your oven for the actual temperature (and check it in several areas in your oven). It may be running a little hot. Although many (not all) quick bread recipes call for a 9x5-inch pan, it is important to use the proper pan size. Instead of a large 9x5-inch loaf, I prefer using either a Danish Loaf Pan or Tea Loaf Pan, which are long and narrow but hold the same amount of batter as a recipe that uses a 9x5-inch pan. The large slices from a 9x5-inch pan tend to break apart - especially if you try to cut thin slices, and are much too large for a serving - so they are generally cut in the middle into 2 pieces so they don't break down the middle. As an alternative to a 9x5-inch loaf, use two 7-1/2x3-1/2-inch pans (and reduce the baking time). These smaller loaves are easier to cut into thin slices. -Grainlady...See MoreRECIPE: Lobster purses
Comments (9)These are the ones I did not like....reason this 2005 post was brought up was for BNICEBKIND who posted and to help her if she did a search I wanted her to know not to use it...i made this as a first course it was not my recipe I tried it after many searches for this type of dish an I posted it back 2yrs ago...now the recipe was to cook all the ingredients an then pour a equal amount of the 4oz an then wrap I made it didnt care for it...See MoreGrinding wheat berries for flour for bread; conversion to ounces?
Comments (9)No. Soaking the wheatberries will make them too soft, and you'll get slurry instead of flour, and it will be hard to control the hydration. Yes, soak the flour, but in the amount of water you want to use for the recipe. It may seem crumbly dry, but just make sure it's as well mixed as you can. It'll be nice and moist at the end of the soaking period. I think I'd soak all the flour, rather than just the WW, but that's something to experiment with. Maybe the white would be greedy and soak it all up before the WW had a chance. Best of both worlds, soak the ww, then do an hour autolyze after mixing the rest. Do soak the WW for at least 8 hrs. Overnight is good. This is even more important if you have little chunks you’re trying to soften. An alternative to having coarsely ground bits of wheat, would be to mix in some interesting other whole grain, like millet. Just toss it into the soak. It's very nice. I've also used amaranth, buckwheat groats, various seeds and whatever took my fancy. Just keep to a small enough quantity that it doesn't impede the rise. Don't chill it unless your baking day gets postponed more than a day or two, and you think you'll get mold. Just cover your vessel, and leave it on the counter. Ambient humidity does make a big difference. I know you baked professionally, but I can't remember what. IME, all that “baking is chemistry” cliche stuff is about cake (which includes quickbreads and cookies). You have to have the right specific ingredients, in the right quantities, with the right methods under the right circumstances, to get a replicable product. Breads are different. They're much more about art, about adjusting for how dry your flour is, how dry the air, how active the yeast. You know there’s enough flour or water when it feels right. Pastry seams somewhere in between....See More- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
Thank you = )
Here’s another with a skull for my friend’s husband:
- 6 years ago
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Last pic just to show how flaky it came out, just to brag a little. Happy accident - maybe I’ll do this again on purpose.
This one has no bottom crust. It was made with the leftover dough scraps:
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
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