"Rose Levy Beranbaum" news and stories

The woman behind some of our most beloved bibles -- The Cake Bible, The Bread Bible, and The Pie and Pastry Bible -- has begun a project to share her old retro videos with the Internet on YouTube.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's first, which you can see above, kicks off six segments taped back in 1988, right before her cake bible was published. The featured recipe is a rather tasty-looking Orange Glow Chiffon Cake. What I think I love the most about this video is that you can watch her refer to a cheat sheet hidden behind the mixer. (I assume that's what she's doing, and not staring at the edge of the counter!) I think it's quite nice to watch a professional refer to notes because really, I always wonder how they memorize every last recipe, don't you?

Over the years cooking and baking my tiny apartment kitchen, I've learned what to prep before I actually get started with a recipe and what I'll be able to do on the fly. Because my kitchen is so small, much of the storage is above my head which means that if I need flour, sugar or an extra large colander, I'm going to need a step ladder in order to reach it, which isn't convenient if the pan is at the ideal temperature or the butter is perfectly softened. So I plan ahead before I start anything (or at least I try. I'm not perfect).

Over at Real Baking, Rose Levy Beranbaum has written a really helpful post about the five things that are most essential to do before you start any baking project. She mentions getting your butter softened, which is something I always try to do (if worse comes to worse, I use the microwave on the defrost setting). She has some good tips on how to get it softened up if you don't want to resort to technology. She also suggests that you preheat your oven, get your eggs warmed up to room temperature, prepare your cake pans and combine cocoa powder and boiling water if your recipe calls for that. She has tricks and tips on how to expedite all these steps, so make sure to go over and visit her post!

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I often get asked whether substitutions can be made in a recipe. Baking is really a sort of science experiment, much more so than actual cooking, so while substitutions will work sometimes it is often best to simply follow the recipe, if at all possible. I never thought to devote an entire post to the subject, instead answering inquiries on a one-on-one basis, but Rose Levy Beranbaum finally said what I, and other bakers, have been thinking for a long time:

Can you substitute ingredients? Yes. Should you? Usually, no.

There are many parts of recipe for breads, cookies and cakes that cannot change without fundamentally altering the final product. For example, if a recipe calls for baking powder you cannot substitute yeast. They may both be leaveners, but they are completely dissimilar. You could try to substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose, but the outcomes will not be identical because the properties of each type of flour are different. Flavorings and add-ins, like chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts or vanilla extract, can be substituted for other, similar ingredients, but the mainstays of a recipe should not be changed if you are expecting to reproduce the outcome of the original recipe. Rose suggests changing one ingredient at a time, if you really want to experiment, and watching the results. You might not get edible cookies, but you will gain a better understanding of how your ingredients work should you want to make changes in the future. Websites like FoodSubs.com can help, but if you want chocolate cake right now, try to stick with the recipe for the best results.