Tag: baking powder

CAKE

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One of the oldest forms of what originated as a sweetened bread is cake.  In its simplest form, it is flour, sugar, milk, eggs, and butter, but it can be so much more than just that.  Cake can evoke so many different emotions and memories in each of us.  From the modest, but much-loved birthday cake of our childhood, to the multi-tiered symbol of love, the wedding cake, to the rich, decadent torte we enjoyed during our last extravagant dinner.  Or perhaps it was that $5.00 cake at the grocery store which looked so good you couldn’t pass it up.  Today a celebratory Cake is a ‘must have’ for most cultures at every occasion … from the baby shower to the anniversary dinner to the retirement party.

Duff Goldman photographed next to one of his designer cakes, a floral wedding cake at Charm City Cakes West.

I am fascinated by the incredible cakes produced on some of the Food Network shows. Watching episodes of Cake Boss or Ace of Cakes can leave you feeling hopelessly inadequate as a baker.  But you must know that lavishly decorated cakes didn’t begin when the Food Network started showcasing these professional bakers and their cake masterpieces.  It began during the Victorian era.

When hubby and I have a weekend free, we love to spend a Sunday afternoon strolling around rural town centers, browsing through curiosity and antique shops.  Recently I came across a fascinating  book entitled “The Victorian Book of Cakes, Recipes, Techniques and Decorations from the Golden Age of Cake Making”.  Not the original, this reproduction, written in 1958, is taken from the turn-of-the-century tome which was the standard for professional bakers during the Victorian era. The recipes range from petit fours to pound cakes, slab cakes and shortbread, to gingerbread and marzipan.

The illustrations in this book are remarkable in that they are not photographs but drawn capturing the precise details from each original baked item.  The images of wedding cakes are astonishingly beautiful, each having won prizes at the London International Exhibition 100 years ago.

The book has hundreds of recipes, which are quite interesting.  Most use the same simple ingredients, but with very minimal direction.  The cakes are generally traditional fruit cakes, with nuts, spices, and rum or brandy, such as the wedding cake Prince William and Kate Middleton served for their wedding.

For leavening agents, although they do not call it “baking powder”, a blend of ‘cream of tartar’ and baking soda (two pounds of cream of tartar to one pound of baking soda) is used – which essentially is ‘baking powder’ (invented by Alfred Bird in 1840).  Yeast or beaten egg whites were also used to lighten batters, all of which leads me to think that most of these cakes were probably more ‘bread like’ and quite dense.

In a Victorian bakery or pastry shop there would be a variety of cakes and biscuits for sale from scones and shortbread to meringues, marzipan and trifles.  This book gives the bakery owner, not only recipes for its ‘best sellers’, but advice on how to display these confections and what to charge … with cakes starting at a shilling.  One description for a “SHILLING GATEAU” is described as “very saleable and enhance the general shop display.  They should be made from a good Genoese base, either a light egg mixture or a closer-eating butter mixing.  The latter seems to be the favorite of the cake-eating public.”  How fun!  I guess we ‘cake-eating public’ like a ‘closer-eating’ mixture … whatever that may mean.

In addition to the advice and recipes are the original advertisements for all the baking essentials required, from flours and sugars to cake stands and ovens.  One advertisement which I found interesting was for a “vegetable butter” made from “cocoanuts, as an excellent substitute for butter, margarine and lard”.  Why has it taken us another 100 years to fully incorporate coconut oil into our baking?

Times may have changed and although some of the ingredients have stayed the same, progress seems to be  mostly in the preparation, and in the myriad of flavors we have today.

I’m sure you’ve probably realized by now that ‘I like to bake’.  Breads, cakes, cookies, it really doesn’t matter.  I find baking to be relaxing.  It also provides a much-needed creative outlet.  Taking an assortment of unrelated ingredients and turning them into, hopefully, a confection that not only tastes good, but is pretty to look at, is quite satisfying.  Not all my ‘bakes’ have been successful, of course.  In fact, some have been complete disasters, requiring a quick trip to the nearest bakery when it was an occasion for which I was to supply the “cake”.  But, for the most part, they’ve been pretty decent.

I’m not sure any of us would enjoy making the seemingly simple, but on closer inspection, overly-complicated recipes in this “The Victorian Book of Cakes” today,  but I do feel challenged to try my hand at making one or two – some shortbread perhaps?  Not that I would ever do what Julie Powell did with Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  But, then again …

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THE MUFFIN MAN

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Do you know the muffin man … the muffin man … the muffin man?  Well, if you mean the one who lives on Drury Lane … Yes, I know the muffin man!   I am dating myself now, quite certainly, by recalling this childhood song.  I doubt any millennials can sing it, or have ever heard of it.  But one thing I do know is that I love English muffins.  Doesn’t everyone?  Splitting an English muffin in half, toasting it and spreading it softened butter and jam has to be one of the best breakfasts I know of … although they weren’t originally intended to be eaten that way.

In America we think of ‘muffins’ s as small hearty, cake-like breakfast items, which may or may not be made with fruit and nuts.  These are not to be confused with English muffins, which we sometimes call “crumpets”.  Although both did originate in England and both are griddle cakes, technically, a “crumpet” is a bread-like dough using baking powder as its leavening agent, while “muffins” use the same bread-like dough but with yeast as its leavening agent.  Also, crumpets are meant to be eaten without slicing open … muffins are sliced open.  Confusing, I know.

If you’ve watched Downton Abbey, or Upstairs Downstairs, you know that all wealthy aristocratic families had their own kitchen staff which, depending upon the size of the household, included cooks and bakers.  The “muffin” or “crumpet” originated from the leftover dough the bakers would be baking that day.  He or she would take the leftover bits, roll them up into a ball, flatten them and toss them onto a hot griddle.  These would then be enjoyed by the “downstairs” staff at tea time.  These crusty morsels were such a tasty hit, the “upstairs” family wanted them too.  It wasn’t long before these bready treats were also being served “upstairs” at tea time.

The word quickly spread about these delicious, small, round grilled rolls.  And soon bakers everywhere were making them and peddling them on the streets to the working classes.  At that time it was far too dangerous for city homes and apartments to have an indoor working oven.  As a result most people could not do their own baking.  So this inexpensive bread roll became an easy breakfast to grab and go while on the way to work.  Early in the morning, on the streets of London, with a wooden board balanced on his head and a bell in hand, the “muffin man” would walk up and down the “lanes” ringing his bell to signal his arrival.

And now that we know who the muffin man was, let’s make some muffins!  I’m using British bread baker, Paul Hollywood’s recipe.  Not quite sure how they are going to turn out, but let’s have fun trying.

ENGLISH MUFFINS
Makes 8 to 10 good-sized muffins.  Prep time:  about 2 to 3 hours.

2-1/3 cups white, bread flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon softened butter
1 medium-sized egg at room temperature, beaten
2/3 cup milk, warmed
vegetable oil
corn meal

This makes a VERY wet, soft and sticky dough and can be tricky to handle.  Should it get too sticky while kneading, let it rest for ten minutes.  The gluten will relax and then go back to kneading.

In a large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment (or by hand), mix all the dry ingredients together.  You may want to dissolve the dry yeast in the warmed milk, or not.  It’s up to you.  If you dissolve the yeast in the warmed (not hot) milk, it will shorten the proving time a bit.

Add the milk (yeast mixture), beaten egg and softened butter.  Beat all the ingredients together until smooth, glossy and the dough has formed a ball.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and let it rest for ten minutes.

After ten minutes, begin kneading.  It  will be STICKY.  Don’t add more flour or you will change the structure of the dough.  Continue kneading (scraping the board if necessary) until the dough has stopped sticking and is smooth and shiny.  This will take about 15 minutes.

Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to double in size.  If you want to make the dough at night to cook in the morning, just place the dough into the refrigerator.  This will slow down the proving process.

When the dough has doubled in size, tip it out onto a lightly floured board which has been dusted with corn meal.  Roll the dough out like a pizza to about 1″ thick.  Using a biscuit cutter, dusted with flour (or tuna fish can, which is what I use), cut out the ‘muffins’.  You should get between 8 and 10.

Place the muffins onto a parchment lined sheet which has also been dusted with corn meal.  Cover the muffins lightly with plastic wrap and let them rest for about 30 minutes.

Preheat a stove-top griddle over medium heat.  Lightly oil the griddle.  If you prefer to oven bake them, preheat the oven to 350° and use a heated pizza stone.  When the griddle is ready, toss the biscuits onto the surface and cook them for about 10 minutes or more on each size, depending upon the thickness of the muffins.  Baking will take about 25 minutes (flipping them over half way).

When done, move them to a wire rack to cool.  Then put the kettle on, get the butter and jam.  Slice one open and lash on the goodness.  You deserve it.  Honestly, once I realized how to work with such a sticky dough, they were quite easy.  Now they are going to be a weekly treat … perfect for a weekend breakfast.

Ella Fitzgerald can even make this little ditty sound good.  Listen ……

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References:  Kitchen Project, The Foodies Companion, Bread Through History, BBC Food

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Classic English Scones

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The Lemon Curd is in the refrigerator chilling and now I’m ready to make the scones.  Today, I’m in the mood for a classic English scone.  Nothing fancy.  No lavender honey scones.  No chocolate chips and hazelnuts.  Not even currants.  Just flaky, buttery, warm from-the-oven scones.   You can get creative if you want to (and I’ll even give you some suggestions at the end), but for me, it’s the basic.

Classic English Scones are not the dry, triangular-shaped muffiny things you find in a lot of coffee shops.  They are more like the American biscuit so common in the South – but made with butter and not shortening.   It takes a light hand.  You do not want to overwork the dough building up the gluten, making them tough.   Some people prefer working the butter in with their hands.  I prefer a food processor.  Not only is it quicker, but the heat from your hands, makes the butter too soft and the scones are less likely to be flaky.

CLASSIC ENGLISH SCONES
Preheat the oven to 425°.    Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (depending upon size).   Makes 8 to 12 (again depending upon size).

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar*
6 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 beaten egg
cream
sugar

Preheat the oven and prepare the baking sheet.  I prefer parchment paper to greasing a baking sheet.  Combine all the dry ingredients. With a fork, pastry blender, or in a food processor, cut in the very cold cubed butter until the flour mixture is blended and about the size of a pea.  (Yes, my cuppa tea is always around.)  Do not overwork the dough.  You should be able to see bits of butter.

Make a well in the center of the bowl.  Mix the buttermilk and beaten egg and, with a fork, quickly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Turn the dough out onto a floured board.  Again, quickly form a round, smooth ball, after kneading a few times.

Roll to about 1/2″ thick.  With a biscuit cutter, tuna fish can, or glass (whatever you have), cut out the scones.  Again, you decide how big and how thick you want them to be.   (They can be frozen at this point and then baked at another time.)

Brush the tops with cream (or beaten egg white) and then sprinkle lightly with sugar.  Bake at 425° in the center of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned.

Cool on a wire rack and then serve with the delicious lemon curd you prepared earlier (or strawberry jam, whipped cream, etc.).  Don’t limit your imagination.

Now it’s time to put the kettle on and enjoy!!
Cheers!

 

Optionial ingredients:   You can add any combination of the following – dried currants, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, mini chocolate chips, mini white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, orange peel, vanilla, lemon peel, dried lavender buds.

*To make savory scones, omit sugar.  Add grated cheddar cheese, or chopped prosciutto, maybe fold in chutney, or herbs.  Let your imagination run wild.

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Custard Powder?

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As a Christmas gift one year, hubby received a ‘care’ package from home.  Among the Jammie Dodgers, Jelly Babies, Digestives and Cadbury Flakes was a bright yellow and red tin of “Bird’s Custard Powder”.   Idenbirdscustardtifying the other childhood favorites was easy, but what was this Bird’s Custard Powder?  Not only had I never heard of it, I wasn’t sure what to do with it.

The tin of powdered custard sat in the cupboard for quite awhile until one very cold, snowy winter’s night, neither one of us wanted to go out, but were looking for a little ‘something’ after dinner.  Hmmmm, we had this Bird’s Custard Powder in the cupboard……

The directions were fairly simply ….
Mix 2 tablespoons of custard powder with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar (according to sweetness desired) in a bowl. From 1 pint of milk, mix a little milk into the custard powder mixture to form a smooth paste.  In a small pot, heat the remaining milk over medium heat and then slowly whisk in the powder mixture.  Continue stirring until custard thickens.  

We poured the hot creamy mixture into dessert bowls and set them into the frig to cool. An hour later, with a dollop of whipped cream, we decided to ‘try’ our powdered dessert.  It wasn’t bad!   It ended up being a long, cold winter and we eventually used all the custard powder for ’emergency’ desserts.

Little did I know at that time how popular this yellow and red tin was.   Many trips to Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and other U.K. supermarkets made me well aware of this ‘must have’ staple for most U.K. kitchens.   Not only can you make thickened custards (aka ‘puddings’ in the U.S. – Jell-O puddings, Royal puddings), but it is a key ingredient for trifles, pie and cake fillings, or as a pouring custard over desserts.  There are actually recipes based on using this as the main ingredient.

I asked many Brits what was this powdered substance.  Interestingly, no one knew ….. and were not the least bit interested in finding out, but I had to.

Custard in the U.K. is what we in the U.S. would call a “pudding”.  It is a mixture of milk, eggs and sugar which is heated until it thickens, and has been an important part of the British diet since Medieval times.   Food historians have credited the Romans as being the first to actually combine cooked eggs with other ingredients to create savory and sweet foods.  The earliest printed reference for custard/pudding is 1730.   As always, it was the upper classes who were able to enjoy these sweet concoctions.

Alfred Bird, a registered pharmacist, chemist and an inventor, was bobirds-tubrn in Nympsfield, England in 1811.  Alfred was the loving husband to Elizabeth.  Elizabeth had food allergies – one of which was an allergy to eggs (the other was to yeast).  As a concerned husband who wanted his wife to be able to have something sweet to pour onto her desserts, as was the style, without suffering an allergic reaction, Mr. Bird went into his laboratory.

Combining corn flour, sugar and flavorings, he created an egg-free, powdered substitute, which, when heated with milk, thickens and pours like custard.   As happens so frequently, at a dinner party the dried-custard powder, which was suppose to be served to his wife only, was also accidentally served to all his dinner guests. They overwhelmingly enjoyed it.  It was then that Alfred realized his ‘invention’ might have mass appeal.

It wasn’t long before Mr. Bird formed Alfred Bird and Sons Ltd. and opened a successful shop in Birmingham, England to sell his Bird’s Custard Powder. This was 1837.  Six years later, the creative Mr. Bird invented another item that would ultimately transform the baking indbirdscustardoldustry ….. baking powder.

His egg-less custard and baking powder soon became household staples, as did his other products – blancmange powder, jelly powder, and egg substitutes. Others saw the success of these products and the competition began, but they couldn’t compete with the savvy Mr. Bird.

As a talented businessman, Alfred realized the power of promotions and advertising, creating fun and memorable advertising campaigns. Being touted as a healthy and nutritious food, children were often featured in his advertisements.  Soldiers in WWI were provided with Bird’s custard as a healthful addition to their diet.  It wasn’t long before Americans began using custard powder and other cornstarch derivatives as thickeners for custard-type desserts.
birdschildren
From an advertisement in 1918 :  “At so small a cost as Bird’s Custard, there are few dishes in our daily diet which provide so much real nourishment and body-building material.

BIRD’s Custard is not only a delectable dainty, enjoyed by everybody, but is also a genuine whole-some food, which may be consumed freely by the children and grown-ups, with the confidence that, money for money, no better value is obtainable.

There is no shortage of BIRD’s Custard. There is plenty for everyone. We are working hard to supply the exceptional demands of the Military and the Public.”

Alfrbirds olded Bird died in his home in 1878 at the age of 67, but not before passing the company on to his son, Alfred Bird, Jr. who then passed the company onto his son.  In his obituary in the journal of the Chemical Society (of which he was a fellow), Alfred Bird Sr’s. skills and research were discussed at length, but never a mention of his other achievement, the famous Bird’s Custard Powder.

Bird’s was purchased by the General Foods Corporation, which was itself taken over by Philip Morris in the 1980s and then merged into Kraft Foods.  Kraft Foods sold the Bird’s Custard brand in 2004 to Premier Foods, the current owners.   Bird’s Custard can now be enjoyed by ex-pats around the World, from Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria, Sweden, India, Canada and the U.S.A.

The recipes using Bird’s Custard are too numerous to list. There are cookbooks and cooking websites dedicated to using this powdered custard as an ingredient.  Now I know what to do with this yellow and red tin.  How about you?

Pastry and Sweets for the Dinner & Supper Tables by Alfred Bird

85 Recipes online using Bird’s Custard Powder

Desserts using Bird’s Custard Powder

References:  The Food Timeline, Wikipedia, Bird & Sons, Geni.com, Our Warwickshire.com

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