I was out with some pastry chefs last night and I was talking about my nerdy experimenting with the snickerdoodles. One of them brought up the fact that shortening helps retain moisture in the cookie, so after a few days it will fare better than butter. I didn’t even take it into consideration!! Damn. Although I think cookies should be enjoyed within one or two days, they do sometimes hang around for a week. So, I’m going to do a 3-day-old cookie experiment (a repeat of the butter vs. shortening grudge match).
Monthly Archive for June, 2006
Yesterday I did yet another experiment with snickerdoodles, this time testing the effects of different brands of flour. To the left are the brands used in the experiment. I tried to get White Lily flour (soft winter wheat) to include in the experiment, I know it is carried at Balducci’s, but I couldn’t get there and tried 5 other stores, none of which carried White Lily brand. At this point, I decided it’s not worth it.
I had 6 people separately evaluate each cookie and tell me what they liked/disliked and if they had a favorite overall. The general consensus was that #2 & #4 were the best, which was Heckers/Ceresota and King Arthur Brand. The King Arthur cookie looked a bit prettier than the Hecker’s cookie, but both had about the same rise. #3, Gold Medal, faired the worst’everyone (myself included) said it was bland tasting. The Pillsbury flour was the fluffiest & cakey-est of them all with a nice flavor, but not everyone is into a cakey cookie. The whole wheat one was too dense for most with a very strong flavor, though one person said that one was his favorite. The reason the whole wheat is so dense is because when gluten strands develop (gluten is a protein that helps build structure and affects texture) the jagged bran cuts them, which makes it hard for whole wheat baked goods to rise.
Some notes about the products:
Both Heckers/Ceresota and King Arthur are unbleached flours (Heckers claims an emphatic ’Unbleached Forever!’ on their packaging). Both Gold Medal and Pillsbury were the bleached variety. Now, I suppose I should redo the experiment with all unbleached flour, but neither Gold Medal nor Pillsbury’s unbleached were available at the five grocery stores I went to. I did this experiment with flours that home bakers would not have to go out of their way to get, because I’m sure they don’t feel that one flour brand is very different from the next, though they would be wrong in thinking so. Now I’m rambling, but the point is, I wanted to experiment with flours that any Joe would be able to actually find at their local market.
Heckers flour is milled from hard wheat, King Arthur mills hard red winter wheat that is grown in Kansas, Gold Medal uses a mix of hard and soft wheat, while Pillsbury doesn’t state this information (at least not on their website).
I’m going to bake off more King Arthur & Heckers and pass them along to another set of people to see if there is a clear winner between the two, since they came out on top in the last judging.
Of course, now that I’ve done this experiment with cookies, I want to try it with cake and see if the same flours come out ahead. I’ll throw some cake flour in there as well — stay tuned for that.
For more nerdly information on flour check out King Arthur’s handy Guide to Understanding Flour Analysis.
There are a couple of things I’ve been very into lately that don’t really have anything to do with food, except by name, but I thought I’d share them with you anyway. I’ve been listening to this band, Cake Bake Betty, quite a bit these days. Also, Asobi Seksu’s new album just came out, which is called Citrus and happens to kick more ass than a kung-fu ass kicker (that’s a lot). Also, I just found out about an adorable line of scented jewelry and accessories shaped like food called Pancake Meow.
I found this recipe handwritten on a piece of crusty paper in a cookbook from 1912 that I just picked up. I’m not a fan of pickles, but since I discovered it, i feel the need to pass it on. Heck, i might even try it…
1st Day
Cut 1 peck (2 gallons) medium cucumbers in 1/2 in. slices. Cover with cold water for 24 hours and drain.
2nd Day
Add 2 cups salt and cover with boiling water.
3rd Day
Drain off salt water heat enough water to cover cucumbers, add 1/4 pound powdered alum (a sulfite to help keep your pickles crispy) to it and when boiling, pour over cucumbers.
4th Day
Drain cucumbers. Boil enough water and vinegar to cover cucumbers (1 qt vinegar to 4 qts water). Pour boiling mixture over cucumbers.
5th, 6th & 7th Days
Reboil the vinegar solution and cover cucumbers as on 4th day.
8th Day
Drain well and pack jars with cucumbers. Boil together 5 cups sugar, 5 cups vinegar, 1/4 cup celery seed, 1/4 cup mustard seed and 1 onion (remove onion after boiling). Cover the cucumbers with the boiling liquid and seal.
I just added a new feature to my site that I hope will grow even bigger and better. It’s my hotdog gallery (located on the right under “Archives by Category”). Just photos of friends stuffing their faces full of dog and random hotdog paraphernalia I’ve collected over the years. What can I say? I love hotdogs!
