Plugra is a European style butter that really does make a difference in your baking. I have used it for years, especially for the French pastries and baked goods that I do. It is basically butter with less water so that you have a higher fat content.  Why is that good? Your recipes will be lighter, richer, and more tender.

The only complaint that I have about Plugra is that it isn’t organic. I love using it, and I love the results I get with it. It does cost a little more than regular butter but if you are doing something really special it is worth it. The Plugra Home Page has a bunch of recipes, information, and hints for using the product. Here are some of my favorites:

• Warm Soft Center Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
• Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Foam
• Coffee Seared Steaks
• Mascarpone Stuffed Challah French Toast
• Torta al Cioccolato

Nope, the company did NOT send me Plugra, nor did they buy advertising. I really like this stuff and I think that if you haven’t used it you should try it.

image: marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

There are two types of baking powder.

The basic difference between the single acting and the double acting is the time it takes them to react. Either ultimately work as well as the other.

The single acting baking powder begins to release the gas as soon as it becomes wet while the double acting releases the gas in two parts, one with the liquid and the other with the heat.

With the single acting baking powder you cannot mix up a batter and then set it aside for any period of time, you must bake it immediately.

The homemade baking powder recipe that I posted yesterday is single acting…but as long as you bake the item immediately you should have as good results as with a commercial brand, without the expense or aluminum.

You would use the single acting measure for measure to the double acting, with the caveat that you did not hold the batter for more than a few minutes before baking.

Some sites suggest that you add 1/2 measure more to substitute for double acting bakign powder but I am skeptical about that. Other sites say that there is not a substitution for double and I tend to agree.

I will try to make the same recipe twice in the next few days, using both types and let you know.

Hope that clears things up.

Image Marye Audet 

Post from: Baking Delights

I don’t know if you are freaky about baking powder or not. I am because I don’t like the aluminum factor. Some people are allergic to gluten, though, and need to make sure they have a gluten free baking powder. Now, Rumford’s is very good,and it is gluten free and aluminum free, but it can be expensive, comparatively.

Whether you are on a gluten-free diet, or just want to make your own baking powder this video is awesome, and the baking powder is excellent.

This post will go over onto the substitutions page so if you need it in the future you can find it easily!

If you don;t catch what she says on the video the basic recipe is:

Gluten Free Homemade Baking Powder

Cream of tartar:2 parts

Baking Soda:1 part

Cornstarch:1 part

Be careful, making your own baking powder can be addictive..Pretty soon you find yourself making your own cleaners, and soap, and….

Post from: Baking Delights

Anyway, with the lack of time we all experience I thought that you might be interested in my 10 picks for the top foodie sites on the internet. These are the sites that i find myself heading toward over and over again.

1.All Recipes – This site is brilliant in my opinion. The recipes are easy to find, they have normal ingredients and they are rated by users. Add to that the comments on the recipes that people can make and it is easy to see if something is going to work for you or not. I love it.
2. Epicurious- Home of Bon Appetit and Gourmet Magazines. Awesome five star recipes, the stuff you want when you are cooking for someone you want to impress. They also have a rating system but it isn’t as good as All Recipes.
3. Group Recipes This is a cool site because besides recipes it provides a way to hook up and socialize with other food freaks and have your food rated. There are some incredible cooks there.
4.Chocolate Chipped, Food Porn For Chocolate Lovers I love this. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Yeah it’s food porn. Yeah I am addicted. So what?
5.Food Reference Is it about food? Then it is here. For example from today’s trivia section:DID YOU KNOW? Food Trivia
Mortadella is the original bologna – a very large smoked sausage (usually pork) from Bologna, Italy, studded with cubes of pork fat, peppercorns and/or pistachios and/or green olives. American bologna (boloney) is a very poor imitation.
Mortadella probably dates back to the 15th century, and the original recipes included myrtle, ‘mortella’ in Italian, hence the name.
6.Food Styling This is awesome. It has helped me alot with learning to plate, photograph, and style food for my blogs. And it is just great to look at. I am having trouble choosing and because the first site has photography but not instruction I am adding this How To Photograph Food, sort of a two for one deal, here at Baking Delights! Lots of tips and hints here too.
7.Chef Shop -Need some candied rose petals? what about Madagascar vanilla? What ever you need you can find here!
8 Chef Depot -If you can’t find it here it may not exist!
9. Star Chefs Cookbooks, recipes, interviews..awesome!
10.Wilton- I learned to make cakes with Wilton, and because of them I was able to create a beautiful wedding cake for my daughter. This is the cakers’ place to be! Great forums, awesome inspiration and information!

There are really so many places that are awesome, so many talented bloggers..but when you need something specific these are the pages to head for!

Post from: Baking Delights

This is the description from, Cooking.com

Sassafras Kids’ Mini Fairy Princess Magic Kit:
Sassafras mini kits are an offshoot of their deluxe boxed baking kits and include the necessities to create delicious cookies.

Kit includes:

Now, this is Kyrie. She is 4. As you can imagine, being the youngest of 8 means that you get lots of attention. Kyrie Grace believes, without a doubt that she is a princess.

Is that a match made in heaven, or what? I mean look at her, you can see that she lives for fairy dust sprinkles, can’t you? The cookie mix turns PINK for goodness sake! This is from a company called sassafras kids. They have a ton of other really cute kids cookery things, from pizza kits to cookie kits. I could not resist this one, and wanted to share. I was thinking it would be perfect to make those cookies for tea parties !

Post from: Baking Delights

Click here

However, they are quite pricey, imagine having several of these at $10+ each!!

Mine are unbelievably cheap — $3.00 each at Big Lots. The lids are tight and I’ve been using them for years. [Additional Tip: They can also be used for dough-rising.] If you’re concerned about bugs and other things, keep your flour and grain containers in the freezer.

Or get gamma seal lids for use with pails instead — these are particularly helpful for those of us who keep whole grain to grind ourselves.

Here in the US, you can get them at USA Emergency Supply for $6.89 each. More info here from another vendor that carries them: Pleasant Hill. You can also get the buckets at your local Lowes.

And with spring coming soon, you might want to read up on what bugs to watch out for in your pantry/cupboard:

From the Agriculture Department at North Dakota State University

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Found this vendor when I was trying to find some Danish supplies, and thought I’d share: they have things like aebleskiver and krumkake pans, etc.

Nordic House

Post from: Baking Delights

Two basic things a baker should have in his or her shelves (or cupboards, or baker’s rack, or whatever it is you use to store your baking supplies):

cake circles, or the tougher cake boards, and doilies.

, for 8″ cakes

More choices at TuffBoard, Pastry Items, a huge selection at Golda’s Kitchen, but I think nothing beats Sugarcraft when it comes to choices!! I count it one of our many blessings that we live just 10 minutes from them!

As for doilies, there’s a bunch at Amazon, or you can order from The Baker’s Kitchen, Country Kitchen Sweet Art, Candyland Crafts, glassine ones from My Paper Shop, but then again Sugarcraft takes the cake (no pun intended) for having the most supplies in one spot. I’m hoping Delores (the owner) will see this post and give me a commission, hee hee….

Post from: Baking Delights