Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible.com

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1) Substituting ingredients: Can you? Sure. Should you? Usually the answer is NO. Baking is a delicate balance and substituting one ingredient for another will almost invariably throw it off and produce something different which may be better but more often than not is not! Things such as water and protein content make a significant difference to texture. If you would like to experiment, change only one ingredient at a time and see the results. It is a great learning experience.

2) How to you get your cookies to come out flat? Use butter, high liquid, and low protein flour such as bleached all purpose or cake flour.

3) How to get your cookies to come out higher? Use all or part solid vegetable shortening, chill the shaped dough well before baking, use higher protein flour such as unbleached all purpose or bread flour, or use egg with an acidic ingredient such as brown sugar, sour cream or cake flour to set it faster.

4) Fragile cookies vs. tough cookies? For fragile cookies use low protein flour and high fat, For chewier cookies, use higher protein flour such as unbleached all purpose or bread flour with a little water added before the fat to develop gluten.

5) How can you be sure the cake will come out of the pan in one piece?
With the exception of foam cakes such as chiffon and angel food where the pan must not be greased, a cake pan should be both greased and floured. Solid vegetable shortening is better than butter unless you use clarified butter. A non-stick vegetable spray with flour is far easier to use than the greasing and flouring method and indispensable when using a fluted tube pan which cannot be lined with parchment. An additional safeguard for cakes baked in fluted tube pans, particularly chocolate, is to invert the cake immediately after baking onto a flat plate and leave the pan in place. The steam thus created helps to release it from the pan. For standard cake pans I grease the bottom to hold the parchment in place and then spray the parchment and the sides of the pan with a non-stick vegetable spray that contains flour. The standard 9 or 10-inch cake should cool on a rack for 10 minutes which gives it a chance to shrink from the sides of the pan. Itís also a good idea to go around the sides with a small metal spatula or knife, pressing it against the sides of the pan, to be sure none of the cake has stuck.

6) How do I keep the top of my cakes from swelling up in the middle and cracking? Metallic cloth cake strips, available in cake decorating supply places, work very well to keep layer cakes level. Lowering the heat 25 degrees is another solution as is using cake flour or bleached all purpose which have a lower protein content.

7) When do you use the whisk beater versus the spade or flat beater on a stand mixer? The whisk beater is used to aerate mixtures such as egg whites for a meringue; the spade or flat beater to mix things together. Unless otherwise specified in a recipe, it is generally the flat beater that is meant to be used.

8) Why do recipes for beaten egg whites always warn you to beat until stiff but not dry and is there a way to keep this from happening? When egg whites are over beaten, they start to lose their moisture, airiness, and smoothness and break down when folded into other ingredients. The miracle solution here is surprisingly easy: use 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar for every egg white (1 teaspoon for 8 egg whites). Add it to the whites soon after you begin to beat them, when they start to get frothy. Note: egg white will never beat to stiff peaks if there is it comes into contact with any grease, either from the bowl, beater or even a bit of broken egg yolk.

9) How can you be sure your oven is holding the right temperature? Most oven thermometers I have tested are unreliable. The best way is by baking a reliable recipe. If the recipe says bake 30 to 40 minutes and it is done in 25, turn it down 25 degrees. If it takes longer than 40 minutes turn it up 25 degrees. Occasionally oven thermostats become erratic and do not hold temperatures no matter what the setting. This requires professional calibration or a new thermostat.

10) With all the specialty flours on the market, how can you tell which to use? When a recipe calls for cake flour, it is best to use cake flour but be sure it does not contain leavening. You can substitute bleached all purpose flour: for 1 cup of cake flour use 3/4 cup bleached all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons corn starch. For pie crust, pastry or bleached all purpose makes the most tender crusts. A national brand bread flour is usually best for bread but a strong (high protein) all purpose flour gives very similar results.

11) Is it really necessary to sift flour? Not if you weigh it. Sifting makes it easier to measure consistently. It does not, however, evenly incorporate dry ingredients. Whisking them together by hand, beating them in a mixing bowl, or whirling them for a few seconds in a food processor does a far better job of mixing.

12) What is the difference between 1 cup flour, sifted, and 1 cup sifted flour? There is a big difference in the weight or amount of flour. 1 cup flour, sifted means you put the flour into the cup and then sift it. 1 cup sifted flour means to set the cup on a counter and sift the flour into the cup until it mounds above the top. Then, with a metal spatula or knife, level it off. Be sure to use a cup with an unbroken rim, referred to as a dry measure as opposed to a liquid measure which has a spout. With this second method you will have the least amount of flour because the flour is aerated. Do not be tempted to shake the cup or tap it as that compacts the flour.

13) Why not just use a cake mix?
Cake mixes contain emulsifiers which give them what is known as tolerance, i.e., the ability to keep their texture despite additions of various extra ingredients. These emulsifiers result in an unpleasantly metallic after-taste. The flavor of a cake baked from scratch is incomparably superior.

14) Why is butter better for baking than margarine or other fats?
Butter is the fat that melts closest to body temperature so there is no perception of greasiness on the palate. Not only does it offer its own lovely flavor, it also enhances the flavor of other ingredients.

15) What is the best chocolate to use for baking? Generally cocoa (Dutch-processed) gives the best flavor impact in baking. In ganache (heavy cream and chocolate) or chocolate cream pie, where the chocolate is the main ingredient and does not get subjected to long heating, bittersweet chocolate is a good choice. Brand of chocolate is entirely a matter of personal preference. What tastes good by itself will also taste good when mixed with other ingredients. You be the judge!

16) What is the best way to stabilize whipped cream for frosting a cake?
Whipped cream tends to water out slightly after beating so to keep this from happening I use a small amount cornstarch which does not affect the texture.
It will not hold up well at room temperature but in the refrigerator will stay well on the cake for 24 hours! Many people have reported that this recipes has saved their lives!
For 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, use 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (if your cream is very low in butterfat use 1 1/2 teaspoons), and 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Refrigerate the mixing bowl and (preferably whisk) beater for at least 15 minutes.
In a small saucepan place the powdered sugar and cornstarch and gradually stir in 1/4 cup of the cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer for just a few seconds (until the liquid is thickened). Scrape into a small bowl and cool completely to room temperature. Stir in the vanilla.
Beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream just until traces of beater marks begin to show distinctly.
Add the cornstarch mixture in a steady stream, beating constantly. Beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised.

17) Why do so many baking recipes call for unsalted butter and then salt is added anyway? Because the amount of salt in salt butter far exceeds the amount you would add. Also, unsalted butter has a fresher, more delicious flavor.

18) Can you use those new low water higher butterfat butters in all baking? Not without making changes to the recipe as it will throw off the water balance and make pie crusts and cookies too fragile without adjustment. These butters are ideal for puff pastry, Danish, clarifying butter, and, of course, for spreading on bread.

19) How can I keep a pie crust from shrinking when I prebake it? A pie crust that shrinks a great deal is also one that is tough. This is a result of too much water, too high a protein flour, and or overhandling of the pastry. My cream cheese pie crust in The Pie and Pastry Bible is one that shrinks very little. But it will help any recipe to allow the dough to relax after rolling and lining the pan for at least 1 hour, covered and refrigerated. Lining the crust with parchment and dried beans or peas until it has set also helps to keep itís shape. A coffee filter, the sort used for coffee urns, is just the right size and shape to line the pastry.

20) What is the ideal thickener for fruit pie? The three most common starches used to thicken the fruit juices of a pie are flour, tapioca, and cornstarch. I prefer cornstarch because I find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit. But as any starch in excess dulls the fresh fruit flavor and can make the texture gummy, I like to let the cut fruit sit with sugar for at least 30 minutes, drain the syrup that forms, reduce it by 1/2 to 2/3 or until very thick (I like to use the microwave but be sure to use a large liquid measure sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray to keep it from boiling over) and add it back to the fruit filling. This way only about 1/3 the usual amount of thickener is required, the pie is just as juicy, and the bottom crust crisper.

21) What is the difference between condensed and evaporated milk? Condensed milk is both thicker and sweeter than evaporated milk.

22) Do you have a favorite pie crust? Yes, the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust on page 29 of The Pie and Pastry Bible. I now make it with heavy cream