the "perfect" recipe won't make you a better baker
but I can tell you what will
Over the weekend I went to a baking book club (@bakebookclub, see y’all at the next one?) which was so much FUN. We snacked, we laughed, we overshared, I cried a little and if you ask me those are all the makings of a great time. We baked from Ravneet Gill’s Baking for Pleasure, and at a point we got to talking about the experiences we had while baking from the book. From cream puff recipes that made too many puffs with not enough filling to crème brûlée that took twice as long as directed to bake.
I personally, only took loose interpretation from the recipe I baked, which is very much my MO when baking other’s recipes. I know, I’m always saying to bake a recipe as written the first go round- but, I simply cannot. Sorry for being a hypocrite. Anywhoozle, I chose the passion fruit tart. Instead of the shortcrust pastry I opted for a Biscoff crust- because I have tons of Biscoff and not enough time to get through them all before I move. I used a mix of passion fruit and yuzu juice, just because I have both on hand. At the last moment I added some citric acid and a few pats of butter for exxxtra richness. So in the end, if the final product was trash, I am 100% at fault. But what if I didn’t make changes? What if I made the recipe as written and it was bad? Am I bad baker? Or is this a bad recipe? And if it was still good? Am I the perfect baker? Or is this the perfect recipe?
Then we have my twin flame Casey who joined me as my plus one to the party. She made the coffee choux from the book. I had sent her screenshots of the recipe. I know her background in pastry, I know she knows how to make choux and mousseline. So, I could have sent her the ingredients without instructions. Even though I sent her the full recipe, she made them based on her previous experience making both components. During the recipe brief she mentioned that there wasn’t enough filling compared to the amount of puffs. She also noted that the cream in the photos from the book looked more whipped and airy than her’s, which had more of a pastry cream consistency. I asked how she whipped the mousseline and she was lowkey shocked when I said whipped because she had immersion blended cold butter into the cream. Meanwhile, all my experience with mousseline is to whip the chilled cream and slowly mount butter in until light and fluffy. In the end it has a rich texture similar to a french buttercream. This is also the technique outlined in the directions of the recipe in the book. Which I think could maybe be the reason why there wasn’t enough cream to fill all the puffs, if she whipped the pastry cream it could have incorporated a lot more air which would have stretched out the reach of the mousseline- possibly having enough to fill all the choux. Just my working theory though. They were still delicious and perfect, but is that because a trained pastry chef with 10+ years of experience made them? Or was it because the recipe was good? Because technically, while the exact ingredients were used, the recipe wasn’t actually followed.
Then we got to talking about my experience with having people bake my recipes. I try to be as thorough as possible, because y’all TRUST ME and I can’t give you a shit ass recipe. But, sometimes a recipe doesn’t translate to every kitchen. Last fall I did a collab recipe with Good Culture and Graza for a pumpkin cottage cheesecake. I had someone reach out to let me know that it actually took about twice as long for the cheesecake to bake and that the recipe I had written was wrong. I asked if they used Good Culture or another brand. They used Knudsen’s, which if you’ve ever had Good Culture cottage cheese- that girl is THICCC with a few extra C’s. Versus Knudsen’s which in comparison is much thinner honestly. The consistency made a difference in the bake time. It’s not that I wrote a poor recipe, I tested that cheesecake 8 times with the bake time being consistent across the board for me. It just that a recipe is more of a starting point rather than a set in stone finish line. Sure ingredients play a huge roll in the success of a recipe, and making sure the ones you’re using are as close to the ones the developer used will put you miles ahead. But, there’s still something else thats gonna make you a better more consistent baker besides brand name cottage cheese.
A lot of nuance comes with a recipe (like 350F in my oven being totally different than 350F in your oven because to actually get my oven to 350F it has to be et to 375F) and none of them are perfect. Sometimes there’s more nuance than you can write down and much more than someone is willing to read. Because let’s face it- a lot of people glaze over all the “extra” fluff in a recipe and skip straight to the ingredients, then breeze through the instruction. But, all the fluff is what will make that recipe work for you! Sure, the perfect set of ingredients dialed in right down to the gram will get you pretty far- if you don’t know what you’re doing with them, you’re done!!
So what should you focus on over finding the “perfect” recipe? Technique of course, I’ve said this once- I’ll say it a million times. A recipe is nothing without technique!!! How do you get good at technique? You read the fluff and PRACTICE. You Google how to fold batters, watch 10 videos and PRACTICE. You experiment with different ways to perform different techniques to see what you like and what works for YOU. If you prefer a silkier custard then you’ll immersion blend your mousseline rather than whip it with the the butter. As you continue to practice, you’ll gain intuition, which is the second piece of the puzzle. Because, sure this recipe said to bake for 20 minutes but the center is still raw so maybe I should bake for a little longer. Which you know- would feel like common sense, but sometimes people do stick to the words of a recipe THAT HARD.
My friend Jenna, was telling me about one of her pastry cooks who over the weekend over proofed a decent amount of donuts because they needed to go for the set amount of time he was told when he first started working them a few months back. It’s getting warm (hot as hell) in southern california and their fan in the kitchen went out. So the kitchen was much warmer than usual, and the donuts were proofing quicker than usual. Yeast thrives in a warm environment. Instead of keeping an eye on the donuts and frying them off when they were perfectly proofed, the cook decided to wait until the 2 hour mark that he was originally told the donuts would be ready at. Had he used his noggin and the months of practice he had under his belt he should have been able to assess that the donuts would be H O T T O G O earlier than that 2 hour mark. A lot of baking is marked by visual cues; bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, let proof for 2 hours or until doubled in size, mix dough for 10 minutes on medium speed or until it passes the window pane test. The more you practice the more your intuition will grow.
I swear this next bit is not just me name dropping for the sake of name dropping OOKAYYYY. BUT, When I worked at Mr.Holmes, I met Milton Abel, who had previously worked at Noma, Per Se and The French Laundry- you know the big leagues. He flew in from Copenhagen to make a wedding cake for a friend and borrowed our kitchen. Me being the nosey nellie I am, I asked him tons of questions about what he was making and planning for the cake. He had brought sugar infused with elderflower he foraged to use in the cake layers and he was filling the cake with lemon curd. I was on my break while he made the curd- he called me over and asked if I wanted to learn how he does it. I was freaking out inside, duh. He tells me to watch the flame of the range not where the dial is set to. Once the curd started to thicken, he shows me what it should look like, a consistency similar to zabaglione. He shows me how slowly to add the cold butter to the blender to get the thickest richest final product with zero eggy aftertaste. I’m absolutely geekin’ when he says he’s gonna send me the recipe. It’s truly nothing crazy just sugar, eggs, lemon, butter. In true kitchen fashion the recipe is just the list of ingredients and the how is a hands on experience. Of course, that high ratio of butter helps with that insane texture, but it’ the technique that really brings the whole thing together.
You can have what is a “perfect” recipe ratio like this one, that has been used in some of the most famous kitchens in the world, so I think we can actually qualify it as perfect. But, if you don’t know what you’re doing and how to make it.. well then, you actually don’t have the perfect recipe. If you turn the heat up too high and cook it too quickly, then you lose the zero eggy aftertaste factor. If you add the butter in room temp and all at once you lose the lush cream factor. You see what I’m saying? Technique is everything to being a better baker/pastry cook!!! Stop thinking a recipe will change you an make you better!! That greatness is in you, ya just got nurture it with a little practice and a lot of compassion in the times you mess up ♡
Absolutely loved this! I've been baking for 2ish years and I've seen my genoise beautifully rise up over time from the delayed poor fellows I'd made. Like you said, same recipe, practice over and over and learn techniques that work for you. 🙌🏽
Really great read!
I just wanted to share: The first time I made your EVOO Chantilly cake recipe I messed it up and I knew it was my fault. I didn't fold the batter carefully, I put my oven at 350 (way too hot and I know better), and I didn't check it early like I normally do, just set the timer and walked away. Obviously it was dry. Still tasty but REQUIRED the Chantilly cream and berries.
I just made it again and this time I actually used my head while I was baking. I timed my eggs perfectly like the recipe says, took my time folding carefully and completely, and I put my oven to 335. It baked exactly on time and it was the most luxurious texture ever.
Although I did make two tweaks to the ingredients, I sadly didn't have Graza on hand so it was regular olive oil and I subbed the whole milk for reconstituted powdered milk and it. was. incredible. HIGHLY recommend that swap. The milk flavor just takes it over the top with the delicate almond flavors.
The one way I didn't use my head this time though was trying to make Chantilly cream and frost a layered cake on the hottest weekend of the year with no AC... it was a little floppy... but soooo delicious!