Bees again? Seriously?

I've started a new food blog that I will update with the baking that I do in my spare time. It's still has it's training wheels on and will eventually see a face lift but for now it's up and going. I tried to post some cakes that I haven't had a chance to post on this blog. I also realized that I tend to type A LOT so I kept to a format that will hopefully keep my rambling to a minimum.

http://bakinginthebeehive.blogspot.com/

I leave and heave a sigh and say good bye

Hey all,

Obligations that require our attention and time have come up and we are no longer able to continue with The Bumbling Bee project. This has been a once in a lifetime learning experience and we are grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to everyone so very much for their support. I will always be a baker and will continue to make some super tasty stuff and work on refining my recipes. I plan on starting a food blog soon - I'll post the URL here when that takes place. Thank you all again, it's been fun.

tips and Tools Tuesday: Pastry Cream!

Ok, first things first, what the heck is this stuff? To simplify, pastry cream is the best tasting vanilla pudding you'll have. It's basically just a custard. Here's a fabulous recipe from Epicurious:

• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  

preparation

In medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.

Transfer remaining 1 3/4 cups milk to heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup sugar over, letting sugar sink undisturbed to bottom. Set pan over moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring.

Whisk hot milk mixture, then gradually whisk into egg yolk mixture. Return to saucepan over moderate heat and cook, whisking constantly, until pastry cream simmers and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, discard vanilla pod, and whisk cream until smooth. Transfer to bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Pastry cream can be made ahead and refrigerated, wrapped well with plastic wrap on surface, up to 3 days.)

I wouldn't change a thing except maybe use potato starch instead of corn starch. When heated a lot or overcooked the corn starch can give off a slightly metallic taste so I like to use potato starch just in case.

Ok, so now you have a fabulous bowl of pastry cream. What to do?

Puff pastry fresh fruit tarts or even just mini pies will pastry cream filling and fresh fruit on top

Eclairs/Cream Puffs

Filling of a cake

Parfait cups

Trifle cake

Don't forget to mess around with the flavoring! The last batch of pastry cream I made I added just a hint of almond extract and it blew my socks off.

Overload on cakes!

I've been doing some trial and error runs for cakes lately. I've been taking pictures of my success and quickly eating the evidence of the failures. Case and point; yesterday I turned out a very successful pumpkin spice cake but then had the failure of my first coffee flavored cake. I was attempting to use actual coffee beans and apparently they need to be ground to a fine dust - otherwise it's like eating tiny pieces of coffee flavored plastic bits .. gross!

Last weekend I made 2 cakes. A small lemon curd cake and an almond pear bundt cake. Both were tasty but I enjoyed the option of not eating lemon for once and had a hearty slice of the almond. The pears couldn't keep up with the almond flavoring so I guess my almond cake is best suited with berries.

Today over at Design*Sponge they posted a recipe for a mini boston cream pie (which is really a cake). Just looking at it I knew I could do a very tasty version and if it wasn't friday afternoon with no one to eat it over the weekend - you better believe I'd be in the kitchen. Pastry cream, vanilla cake and ganache. Doesn't get any better than that.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Vanilla Beans

I've been baking for quite awhile but I always avoided using real vanilla beans because those little suckers are EXPENSIVE! I used to hate recipes that would call for expensive and exotic ingredients because the whole benefit of cooking and baking at home is to cut the cost down. I didn't like the idea of finding one particular ingredient for just one recipe so I either didn't use the recipe or found a reasonable substitute. Just about everywhere I looked for vanilla beans it was about $7-10 for 2 beans. In my mind they either need to be filled with liquid gold or vanilla extract would just have to be a good enough substitute.

When planning out my sisters wedding cake I decided that I need to splurge and buy vanilla beans for her vanilla raspberry cake layer. While compiling resources and doing extensive research I discovered that Costco has amazing prices on vanilla beans. I was nearly brought to tears as I read the sign. 10 beans for $12. You better believe that I stocked up and that the cashier thought I was absolutely nuts. The best part (aside from the price) about the Costco vanilla beans is that they come in glass tubes (5 in a tube). When you uncork them the smell is absolutely heavenly. They do have expiration dates on them but they can be frozen.

So, the question that is begging to be asked; is it worth it? In my humble opinion - for just a little over a dollar per bean, completely and absolutely 100% yes. I am still pretty stingy with the vanilla beans but always use them when the vanilla flavor is being showcased such as in pastry cream (vanilla custard) and in vanilla cakes. There is such a difference and I really don't think I'll make pastry cream again without using them. To make it even more valuable; vanilla beans can be used in 2 ways. The most common is to split the bean and scrape out the seeds and incorporate that into the recipe. But, if you save the emptied pod you can add it the milk you're going to use for the pastry cream and let it soak. I even take it a step further and leave the pod in while boiling the milk in preparation to make the pastry cream. People also put their emptied pods to their sugar supply to allow the flavor to be soaked into the sugar. Either way, the vanilla bean definitely performs double duty.

For the next tips and tools tuesday I'll post a recipe for pastry cream and provide some awesome ideas for how to use it.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Prep bowl with lid

Pyrex has changed my life. I don't actually bake with any pyrex but I love LOVE LOVE my pyrex prep bowls. I bought a set at Walmart and for the life of me I can't find them online but here's a set so you can see the difference in size. I have the smallest size.

I love these so much because they're the perfect size for a prep bowl and for small storage. My favorite use of them is for separating eggs. I use two bowls, one for the whites and one for the yolks and whichever half I'm not using I just put a lid on it, label and throw it in the fridge for later use. I also have found them super useful for mixing small amounts of frosting that I wanted to color. For everyday use we love using prep bowls for snacks (pretzels, craisins) because the size limits our intake.

Since they're pyrex, they'll never break. They actually nest ok and they're microwave and dishwasher safe. The best part though? The lid is so snug that I could fill it with water and hold it upside down. It does make it a little bit more difficult to open but I'd rather have a tight lid than being able to open it with one finger. They're really affordable too. I got 4 bowls for under $9.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Cookie Scoops

Today I present both a tip and a tool. I am so in love with using ice cream scoops for cookies that I don't even remember how I used to make cookies prior to owning a scoop. Sure, a spoon might work but it won't be consistent and you're going to get messy. With an ice cream scoop you can bet that your cookies will be identical and your fingers will stay clean.

I know there are TONS of various tools used to scoop cookies but I stand by LibertyWare's thumb dishers (I use the red size). Not a very exciting name, I know. I love these scoops because it honestly, not exaggerating, ejects the dough. A function that most cookie scoops struggle with. With a single flick of the thumb the dough pops out. When using it with stickier dough (gingersnaps..ugh) it can get gunked up overtime but a little hot water fixes that problem. There are similar scoops where you squeeze the handle together but I find those difficult to actually scoop with because cookie dough is pretty heavy. I also use the scoop as a visual cue as to the desired consistency of the dough. When the ball of the dough is slightly feathered when I drop it, it's perfect. Because of this visual cue I can add more flour if needed without having to bake any cookies off.

I have yet to break a LibertyWare thumb disher and with practice I can scoop at lightning speed. Technically, I don't know if they're dishwasher safe but I always throw mine in the utensil basket and have never had a problem. Locally, both Gygi and Standard sell these but I'm not which one has the best price. Or, they're all over the internet.

Ok, now the tip. To keep your hands clean and to get identical shape and weight of your cookies you scoop the dough and then bring it up along the side of the bowl. This way you can ensure that your scoop is full of dough and that the top is level. Here's a video that shows the technique.

PS-The scoop in the video is the same as the one I mentioned above. And I don't use the water trick unless it gets gunky because the water residue can change the appearance of the top of the cookie.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Silicone Spoons

I am devoting a whole tips and tools tuesday to one of my most favorite kitchen tools, silicone spoons. I'm also focusing my love towards one spoon in particular, the silicone spoon with stainless steel handle available at Sur La Table.

You might have clicked on that link and said "whoa! $10 for a single spoon, yeah right!" because I know that's how I reacted. My husband purchased some for our personal use but I couldn't give into the sticker shock. I then purchased the cheapo white spoons, you know, these guys:

They were super cheap but you know what, that's exactly what I paid for, super cheap. First, the most major flaw in my book; they're not dishwasher safe. Not even on the top rack. Second, if one lasts long enough to use over a long period of time, eventually the plastic handle will weaken and break. Especially true if you're working with heavy doughs. Third, the connection between the rubber scraper and the plastic handle will eventually become a little loose and food will get in there and it's nearly impossible to clean. Forth, if you are working with any sort of food coloring it will stain your spatula no matter how much you clean it.

Then I bought a fiberglass mixing spoon. Why? Because it's made of fiberglass! It's heat resistant, virtually unbreakable and since it's one piece, no place for gunk to hide. The spoon works great except it's as hard as a rock. I need a flexible spoon that will scrape the sides of the bowl and the cup portion of the spoon was really deep so instead of mixing stuff would just stay in the cup and not incorporate.

Finally, I made the right choice and bought my own fancy stainless steel silicone spoons. I have to admit, I'm in love. Unlike every other silicone spoon I've felt, these spoons are solid throughout the entire spoon, except for a small bit around the edges. I like this feature because with most silicone spoons theres the handle and a still rectangle about an inch into the spoon portion which makes a weakness in the spoon and eventually the silicone will crack and break. The spoon portion is taking the most resistance so it only makes sense to make it as solid as possible. BUT! With the last cm or so around the edge of the spoon is soft and flexible, making it still pliable enough to scrape.

The connection between the handle and silicone spoon seems secure and tight, I've never noticed any gunk in the seam but we've only had the spoons for about a year so we'll see if they last the test of time. They come in a lot of colors and even more styles. We also own the more spatula shaped spoon which has a flexible fin (one side of the spoon doesn't have the solid support) and I have to admit that I always reach for the solid spoon but the spatula shaped spoon does come in handy when folding.

The only flaw that I've found is that if you leave the spoon in the pot, resting on the side, the steel handle does conduct heat quickly and the spoon becomes too hot to handle with bare hands. You can find slightly better prices online but after shipping, it's a mute point. Plus, in this case handling the spoon was what sold me on it.

tips and Tools Tuesday: Sheet Pans

When it comes to sheet pans the wheel has been reinvented time and time again. There are special sheet pans for cookies, pizzas and just about anything else that to go in the oven. I confess, I had one of those fancy pants air pocket sheet pan for cookies and I HATED it. It was an odd shape so it didn't really nest with anything, the sides were flush so everything just slid right off of it and it was a pain to clean.

The bakeries I've stepped in I've noticed 1 kind of pan, run of the mill sheet pan. They come in 3 sizes, quarter, half and full. No questions about what's best for what, you grab a sheet pan and a piece of parchment and you're ready to bake. Since they're all the same, they nest perfectly. Since they're all the same you know how things are going to bake on them. I've carried this over into my home and now into The Bumbling Bee. Sheet pans are great and I'm not going back to specialized fancy pans again.

You know what the best part of standard sized sheet pans? Pan collars. I never knew such a thing existed until I worked in a commercial bakery. They are a little expensive but to me, they're worth their weight in gold. You simply place the pan collar on the sheet pan and your sides have increased significantly. I use a pan collar to make the brownies and bars. If you plug the corners with some strategically folded parchment paper you can bake half sheet cakes. And, if you have to stir something midway of roasting (like chex mix or nuts) you can get a little carried away and not worry about making a mess.

Now, where to buy these simple but fantastic kitchen tools. Historically I've bought all of it at Gygi but next time I'm going to price check Standard too because they're just around the corner. And you might notice that bun pans are cheaper than sheet pans and the only difference between the two that I can tell is that the sheet pans are a heavier gage. I recently bought a bun pan and plan on putting it into rotation so hopefully it works just as well.

*Small disclaimer, I'm not sure if pan collar is the correct term for the actual item. I've tried and tried to find a picture online but with no success. I took some quick pictures of my own so you know what to look for.

Tips and Tools Tuesday: Oven thermometer

This tips and tools is so simple and easy that it almost doesn't seem worth mentioning. When we bought our house and settled in I was eager to bake everything and anything. I've never had a problem before but just about everything I baked failed. Thinking that it was me, I just kept on trying. Finally, after some trouble shooting I decided to buy an oven thermometer. It turned out that my preheat signal goes off about 10 minutes too early and my oven has a hard time keeping low temperatures so if I need 250 degrees I have to set it for at least 280.

Every oven is different and sometimes they break or act funny. There was nothing more frustrating than knowing that I spent a lot of time and a lot of money on ingredients only to have it fail and that the solution was a $5 oven thermometer. When baking cookies I always have my eye on the thermometer because with the constant opening and closing of the door, sooner or later I'll end up at 300 degrees.

I have one of these guys. It's great because with the hook you can have it face any direction and 350 degrees is at the center so with a quick glance you can tell if it's ready or not. It's a cheap buy that I doubt anyone ever regrets.