cookery terms and practices explained

[mint]

No, please don't look at me to explain them.  The title is misleading but it has the specific purpose of drawing you in...........[:P]

So, here goes, having just spent practically all day cooking and baking and having watched Mary Berry's baking masterclass for Christmas (whatever next?), I am left none the wiser about some apparently tried and tested tips.

First off, when you are mixing butter and sugar as the first stage of making a cake, why is there all the hoo-hah about putting some flour in the mix to avoid the mixture "curdling"?[:-))]

Nearly EVERY recipe I have read and I include Delia Smith's as well, talks about the dreaded curdling!  So, what is the problem if it does all curdle?  Will it affect the finished cake?  Will anyone even know, or care, that your mixture was all curdled before you baked the cake?

That was Mystery One, now on to a more interesting question which contitutes Mystery Two:

When you make a custard tart, the conventional wisdom is that the pastry needs to be baked in a hot oven and the custard in a moderate one or even better in a bain marie to avoid bubbles and a rough texture in the custard.

So, do you pre-bake the pastry case in a hot oven and then pour in the egg mixture and put it back on a low or moderate oven?

BTW, I was using a very old recipe today and it says Gas Mark 2 or 310 degrees fahrenheit!!!  Fortunately, I remembered O level maths enough to work out the centigrade!!!

Er..........I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am[:D] 

[idun]

mint, I would love some one to bring out a book...... the science of cooking for idiots, as I would buy it! There are all sorts of things I want to know. ie why do some cake recipes say use bicarbonate of soda as well as SR flour. In fact I have a huge list of questions that I would love answering.

re the cake..........I know that it is when the egg is added that it can curdle, but it does not always, and I think that the curdling affects the way a cake rises, so best to ere on the side of caution and follow the advice and the mix not curdle.

As you know, I HATE MY BLOODY CANON GAS OVEN! it is useless....... I love egg custard tarts and no matter what I do, blind bake, don't blind bake, the bottom always rises. So I scrape it off and eat the custard underneath and never serve it up to anyone else.

I used to make lovely egg custards and never blind bake, that was when I had a good oven and I baked on about 170/180°c and always perfect.

[YCCMB]

There's Peter Barham's

The Science of Cooking..

It doesn't say it's actually for idiots, though, but as neither of you actually are....

[Pierre ZFP]

There's also available on Amazon  'Cooking for Geeks' and 'The Engineers Cookbook' (I might have the titles slightly wrong)

Curdling happens when the casein in the butter (or milk of course) clumps together.  This is because the Ph of the mixture is too low (acidic) and/or the temperature is too high.  I can only think that adding the butter in stages means the temp doesn't rise too much.

I would also think that curdling in a cake is undisireable as the flour might not combine evenly and you could get fatty globules in the finished cake - not nice

[Patf]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]

Curdling happens when the casein in the butter (or milk of course) clumps together.  This is because the Ph of the mixture is too low (acidic) and/or the temperature is too high.  I can only think that adding the butter in stages means the temp doesn't rise too much.

[/quote]

That's interesting, never knew that. And it explains why my mixtures don't curdle - I use oil or veg. margarine, never butter. And water or orange juice instead of milk.

As for custard tart - I've given up on that ages ago!

[idun]

 But Pierre,  the curdling doesn't occur when intially creaming the mix, in which  butter or margarine and sugar are beaten together...... and, if they are well creamed, then slowly adding the egg, and I have to say, it doesn't always, could curdle......but, helas does sometimes.... hence the flour. There are a few recipes where the fat is rubbed in, but in fact the way one usually does those, means that the mix doesn't curdle anyway.

The baking heat, well is something else really. Too low for most cakes and it is not good and they don't rise or bake properly. Too hot and usually the cake rises, browns and sometimes burns on the outside and the inside is raw.

[idun]

My BEE IN MY BONNET, is seasoning food. As far as I am concerned, veggies and most dishes must have the salt in during cooking. It is as much nonsense, to me at least to say add it later, as it would be as to sear and boil up meat and add your curry powder on your plate.

If I salt the water, not over salt, but salt, it is still salty when the veggies are cooked, and yet the difference in taste between unsalted and salted veg is radical and unsalted, well, I have been served them in the past and I know full well WHY our ancestors went mad for that then rare commodity 'salt'.  So the science I would like to know is just how much salt is absorbed whilst cooking, because obviously some is, but not all that is in the pan. And when faced with unsalted, I have noticed that those that like salt, put huge amounts on their food, which is probably far more than if there was some in the food in the first place.

All the top chefs go mad about seasoning..... and I'm with them. My OH takes less salt, I use a little less..... but using none, for me it would not be worth cooking what I considered ruined food.

And this is the sort of science I need to know.

[osie]

Custard tarts, I think you need to blind bake... and why not.  If it goes wrong at this stage just bin it.

You can eggwash and bake for 5mins more the inside of the casing to make sure no custard seeps out

Blind bake at 200c. Pour in custard and bake at a much lower temperature 120c-140c.

I always salt(the big salt which is fantastic in France) from the beginning, middle, and then again at the end.  I find that salt helps when frying for example and if the food tastes good from the beginning then you got a good chance it will taste good at the end.  My understanding is that the salt does not penetrate the food.. on the contray it stops water going into the food.  I put lots of salt when boiling and wash it off afterwards.

[mint]

Osie, please, please, please give us your recipe for the egg custard to go in the tart?

I do know that you are a fantastic cook so I would love to know how you do your egg custard.  And no, this is not flattery, although it probably is a bit grovelling, but I am not too proud [:D][:P]