Posts Tagged ‘cake’
Why Do We Need To Knead?
Bread dough is transformed as it is kneaded. It becomes smoother, more elastic. It feels and looks different.Understanding what take place during the kneading process will make you a better baker.
Bread dough needs to be elastic in order to capture the gases created by the yeast, stretch as bubbles form in the dough, expand, and rise. Without that elasticity, bread would not have the open texture we enjoy nor would bread be chewy. But what creates that elasticity?
The endosperm of the wheat contains two important proteins, glutenin and gliadin. When wheat flour is mixed with water, these two proteins link with the water molecules and crosslink with each other as they are physically manipulated by kneading.It takes a certain amount of physical manipulation to bring these molecules into contact and create strong links. As the kneading continues and these molecules create stronger bonds, gluten is formed. If you could see this gluten, you would see tiny strands like two cords twisted together. It is gluten that gives the dough elasticity.
If you watch the dough being mixed with the bread hook in your stationary mixer, you will see changes occur in the dough as the kneading takes place. First the dough will stick to the sides of the bowl. As the bonds become stronger and the dough more elastic, it pulls away from the sides into a drier ball. The sides should become clean.Within four or five minutes at medium speed , the dough will change even more and become elastic as the gluten is completely formed. After you have watched this process a few times, you will be able to recognize the changes in the dough as the gluten forms. If you pinch a portion of the dough and stretch it, it should pull to a thin layer before it breaks. Without that elasticity, bread isn’t good bread.
The author is a house painter and his part-time is interior design and IX Web Hosting.
Where Did the Holiday Fruitcake Originate?
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Who hasn’t tasted a fruitcake? Beginning in November, you can’t walk past a holiday gift display without noticing a fruitcake for sale. A fruitcake is almost always included on a holiday dessert menu and can usually be found tucked away in a corner at a holiday office party. Fruitcake has become such a ubiquitous holiday staple that it’s difficult to avoid. But what makes the hearty sweet cake so popular?
Fruitcake is not at all a modern concoction, but rather, dates back to the early medieval period when the cooks in rich families began experimenting with sweet breads. In the Old World, nuts and candied fruits were scarce and expensive, so cooks would save them for the holidays when they would combine their treasured ingredients into one special sweet treat. The basic ingredients include the finest wheat flour, white sugar, eggs, sweet butter, and exotic dried fruits. But variations of the bread might include rich filling such as marzipan (almond paste).
One of the most famous fruitcakes has its own name (Stollen) and is believed to have originated in Dresden, Germany. A traditional Stollen is oblong in shape, with each end tapered and a ridge running down the middle. It contains raisins, currants, rum or brandy, candied peels and almonds. The Stollen is first baked, then melted butter is brushed on and sugar is sprinkled, then additional fruit pieces are sprinkled over the finished loaf.
In New Orleans, the fruitcake is called King Cake and is traditionally served as a Mardi Gras treat. The Twelfth Night cake was developed from very old Araab recipes, although it containes many of the same ingredients that can be found in a traditional Christmas fruitcake. The basic recipe consists of a yeast-based brioche that is mixed with various nuts and dried or candied fruits. The cook often adds a dried bean or coin to the cake batter so it can discovered by one lucky person who will enjoy good fortune throughout the year.
Called by any name, the fruitcake remains a hearty symbol of Christmas tradition. Due to its exceedingly dense consistency, not everybody is a fan of the holiday fruit cake. A story published in the New York Times, 1983, tells of a man who received the family fruitcake that had been baked in 1794 as a Christmas gift for George Washington, but the President sent it back with a note of refusal. Some families have a “traveling fruitcake” that is passed from one family member to another each season.
In Anglo countries, the traditional holiday fruit cake may be served on Christmas Eve by a family member dressed in a Santa costume, making the evening both traditional and memorable.
With its centuries of international history, it is unlikely that the fruitcake will disappear from holiday traditions anytime soon.
Wedding cakes and their toppers
Once upon a time, wedding cake toppers consisted of a little plastic bride and groom that didn’t have much personality nor quality about them. The custom of having a statuette atop a wedding cake began back in the 1950s in the USA and the figures were said to represent togetherness and distinguised a wedding cake from being any other celebratory cake.
Since the early days of plain, little black and white plastic figurines with painted on bright pink faces much progress has been made. Times have changed and nowadays you can buy wedding cake toppers in hundreds of different styles and materials and you are truly spoilt for choice….in fact, perhaps today there’s too much choice – which makes it very hard for a bride to be to decide on just the one!
These days, choosing the right wedding cake topper is important – maybe not as important as choosing the right dress, flowers…or spouse! However, with the wedding cake being the center focus of any wedding reception, it does receive much attention. Wedding cakes are also in full view of all your guests for a good few hours before the cake is cut and the topper will be immortalised along with you and your spouse, when the photographs are taken of you both cutting the cake. It is therefore very worthwhile to choose a cake topper that reflects your personality, or one that shows your wit and sense of humor.
Maybe you’d prefer one that illustrates your hobbies or perhaps one that just ties the whole theme of your wedding together. As wedding toppers for cakes are such a visual element – the first step to deciding which type to go for is to browse many images of wedding cake toppers that other couples have chosen to see what catches your eye.
You will be surprised at what is available in the marketplace and online. Figurines are available that depict couples in mountaineering gear, of various ethinic background, walking hand-in-hand on a beach, riding a motorcycle or sitting gingerly on the edge of the cake. Monogrammed wedding cake toppers are also very popular and add an air of elegance and personalised heart shaped toppers that feature a photograph of the couple are gaining in popularity too.
If you’d like to browse an image gallery of wedding cake toppers, make your way to sites such as Wedding Cake Toppers where you’ll find many images of some of the best funny wedding cake toppers as well as links to the suppliers that stock them. As your big day fast approaches I wish you Shakespeare’s wedding wish – ‘May heaven give you many, many merry days!’