Butter and eggs-the why and how

You probably noticed that the recipes posted here ALL call for unsalted butter. In fact, everything should be made with unsalted butter. Even if the recipe does not call for it-you should substitute unsalted butter and add a pinch of your own salt. WHY??? you ask?

For two reasons:
1) Salted butter contains water. Not much, but enough that it becomes part of an equation that you don't want it to be a part of.
2) Salted butters contain varying amounts of salt so you can never control the amount of salt in a recipe with salted butter.

But mostly, unsalted butter will give your baked goods a much more buttery taste-it has a more sophisticated taste that is not masked with the salt.

Always remember to add salt to the recipe when you are using unsalted butter in a recipe that called for salted. Salt is a flavor enhancer and the other flavors will not be as bright with the reduction in salt. So add it back! A pinch for every bar.

In my house, salted butter is not allowed through the front door. There is no reason for it as far as I can see. One of those useless things in life.

Eggs:
Eggs are all about temperature. If you are making a cake, take the eggs out of the fridge at least an hour before you start. this gives the eggs time to come to room temperature. At room temperature an egg will "rise" more. Eggs rise in volume when you beat them. they can be used to leaven a cake without any additional leavening (like baking powder or Baking soda). If you beat them on high speed for about an hour over a steaming bowl of water, they will triple or quadruple in volume creating all the volume you need for a cake.

No matter-all eggs should be at room temperature for best baking experience.

Now-egg whites also benefit from room temperature-but they must not have a drop of fat. so if you are separating eggs-be very careful to make sure no yolk gets in the white.

WHen cooking with eggs - such as sauces or ice creams- you are asked to add a little of a hot ingredient (usually milk that has boiled) to the beaten egg. this "tempers" the egg so it is getting warmer slowly. if you were to add all the hot liquid at once you would scramble the egg. so the egg gets tempered, then you add the tempered egg back in to the hot liquid and you cook it again to form a custard. This requres skill and patience. you should stir the entire time and as it starts to feel thicker-its done. But over cook it and you will have scrambled eggs again. Be very careful with eggs and temperature.

On a side note, whipping cream is the opposite. In order to get it to whip to its fullest, have the cream, the bowl, and even the beaters very cold-this will ensure a very light and firm whip.

That is the food lesson for the evening!
innerdd@hotmail.com