bake me a cake as fast as you can

Milk: why are you so complicated?

2008-09-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

A fellow member of a yahoogroups I'm in asked the group what 2% milk is because she always sees it in recipes. Now here in Manila, we don't have this kind of milk. Most of the milk we have are UHT milk which are packaged in cartons and they have a long shelf life.

low fat: Low fat milk is whole milk in which the milkfat level has been reduced from 3.25% to 1% (hence its popular name, “1% milk”).
whole milk: whole milk is milk with nothing added or removed. Whole milk must contain not less than 3.25% milkfat and 8.25% “milk solids not fat” (protein,
carbohydrate, water-soluble vitamins and minerals)
full cream milk:
non-fat/fat-free/skimmed milk: skimmed milk has a fat content of between 0.1-0.3 %. Skimmed milk therefore has nearly all the fat removed.
soy milk (not cow's milk, but still...)
canned evaporated milk: evaporated milk is a concentrated, sterilised milk product. It has a concentration twice that of standard milk.
canned condensed milk: condensed milk is concentrated in the same way as evaporated milk, but with the addition of sugar.

So what are the other variants of milk available abroad and what can we use to substitute?

1% milk - can use low fat milk
2% milk - can use reduced fat milk

image from decideforyourself.wordpress

Resources: Dairy News and The Dairy Council

Conversion: English and Metric System

2008-09-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some measurements and its equivalents that you may encounter while baking or cooking:

Dry Measurement
Pinch = 1/16 teaspoon
Dash = 1/8 teaspoon or less
1 teaspoon=1/3 tablespoon=5 ml
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoons=15 ml
2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup or 1 ounce
4 tablespoons=1/4 cup
5 tablespoons+1 teaspoon = 1/3 cup
10 tablespoons+2 teaspoons = 2/3 cup
8 tablespoons = 1⁄2 cup
1⁄2 cup + 2 tablespoons= 5/8 cup
12 tablespoons OR 1⁄2 c + 1⁄4 c = 3⁄4 cup
16 tablespoons = 1 cup
Zest of 1⁄2 lemon rind = 3/8 oz = 1 tablespoon
Zest of 1⁄4 orange rind = 3/8 oz = 1 tablespoon

Fluid Measurement
• Measure liquids in a liquid measuring cup or beaker
• Set the cup or beaker on a fl at surface
• Look at the amount at eye level
1 cup = 8 fl .ounces=237 ml
2 cups = 1 pint=16 oz= 473 ml (0.473 liters)
4 cups = 2 pints = 1 qt = 32 fl . oz.= 946 ml (0.946 liters)
4 quarts = 1 gallon
oz. = ounce or ounces
c. = cup
T. = tbsp.= tablespoon
t. = tsp. = teaspoon
g = gram or grams=0.035 oz
lb. = pound = 454 grams
1 oz. = 28.35 grams
1 liter = 1.06 quarts

Stir, spoon and level method of measuring dry ingredients used.

Dry Ingredients:

All-purpose fl our 1 cup = 4 oz = 112g
Cake flour 1 cup = 3.75 oz = 105g
Bran, dry (not cereal) 1 cup = 2 oz = 56g
Bread flour 1 cup = 4.5 oz = 126g
Cornmeal 1 cup = 5.33 oz = 150g
Cocoa (baking) 1⁄4 cup = 1 oz = 28g
Rolled oats 1 cup = 3.25 oz = 90g
Dry milk 1 cup = 3.5 oz = 98g
Granulated sugar 1tsp.=4g 1c.=7oz=196g 1lb.=2c.
Brown sugar, packed 1cup=7oz=196g 1lb.=21⁄4cup
Powdered (6X) sugar, sifted 1c=4oz=112g 1lb=41⁄2c
Raisins 1 cup = 51⁄4 oz
Fresh or frozen blueberries 1 cup = 5.25 oz = 147g
Chopped nuts 1 cup = 3.75 oz = 105g
Vegetable shortening 1 cup = 6.75 oz
Butter 1 cup = 8 oz = 2 sticks
Baking soda 1 tsp. = 1/6 oz = 4.7g
Baking powder 1 tsp. = 1⁄8 oz = 3.5g
Salt 1 tsp. = 1/6 oz = 4.7g
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg 1tsp. = 1/12 oz = 2.3g
Active dry or instant yeast 1pkg.= 21⁄4 tsp. = 7g
Fluid Ingredients
Honey 1 cup = 12 oz
Maple Syrup 1 cup = 11.5 oz
Vegetable oil 1 cup = 7 oz
Molasses 1 cup = 11 oz
Water or Vinegar 1 cup = 8 oz
Milk 1 cup = 8.5 oz
Whole egg, large* 1 egg = 12/3 oz = 10 per lb.
Fluid eggs 1 cup = 5 eggs = 8 oz
Egg white 1 white = 1 oz 8 whites = 1 cup = 8 oz
Egg Yolk 1 yolk = ~2/3 oz 12 yolks = 8 oz = 1 cup
*Large eggs are standard size used for home baking

Resource page: kswheat.com

Baking hiatus

2008-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, if you call 10 years a hiatus. A very, very looooooong hiatus.

I started baking at 6 years old when my cousins and I would make our "imbento" (invention) cakes. We'd base it on how my aunt would make her famous chiffon cake: with flour, sugar, egg, milk/water. Unfortunately, we didn't really follow a recipe. But the result seemed fine to us and we'd readily eat it for merienda (snacks). Once in a while our "cake" wouldn't turn out the way we'd plan it and we'd give it to our helper's son, who'd eat it and say it was delicious. We would even make a dough made of water and flour with a bit of sugar and fry it. Sometimes, it won't have sugar, still fried then topped with ketchup, hotdog and grated cheese.

I got into "serious" baking when my mom bought me a kiddie Betty Crocker cookbook when I was in 5th grade. I made my famous chocolate cake, brownies, and sugar cookies then. A few times, I would bake at my mom's or tita's request, my chocolate cake to bring to parties. I wonder if it was really that good then? Teehee.

I stopped baking when our cook became really good at cooking and she did all the baking here at home. She doesn't even use the cookbook anymore because she was really adept in baking our favorites. Now I have started again when I'd gotten married and I am really rusty at baking. Hopefully soon, I will get better. Although my first try was a success. But I cannot claim success on my own merits--the recipe was terrific in itself. And with 3 sticks of butter, it must be really good. :)