Rose's Heavenly Cakes (83 page)

"Double-acting" means baking powders will react, or liberate carbon dioxide, partially from moisture during the mixing stage and partially when exposed to heat during the baking stage. It is important, therefore, to store baking powder in an airtight container to avoid humidity. There is also a substantial loss of strength in baking powder after about a year. Date the top or bottom of the can when you first buy it. To test if it is still active, sprinkle a little over hot water. If it fizzes actively, you can still use it.

Baking Soda

Also known as sodium bicarbonate, baking soda has an indefinite shelf life if it is not exposed to moisture or humidity. If it clumps, it is hard to measure and must be sifted first.

Yeast

My preference is to use instant yeast because of its reliability and because it can be added directly to flour without needing to be "proofed." This eliminates the possibility of killing the yeast by using water that is too hot. (Note: Yeast will die if subjected to ice-cold water.) It is fine to whisk the yeast into the flour before adding the water, but the yeast can also be soaked (hydrated) in warm water (at least three times its volume) for 10 minutes. If the yeast has been frozen, allow it to come to room temperature before adding the water. Instant yeast is nationally available in supermarkets under brand names such as Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast or RapidRise, Red Star's Quick-Rise, Red Star's Instant Active Dry, Saf Instant, and Saf Perfect Rise Gourmet.

If unopened, instant yeast will last at room temperature for up to 2 years. Once opened, it is best to store it in the freezer. If you buy it in bulk, remove a small amount for regular use and freeze both the larger and smaller amount to ensure maximum shelf life, which is at least 1 year.

Though it is necessary to soak (hydrate) active dry yeast, it is not necessary to "proof" it. Proofing is done as reassurance that the yeast is still active. It is necessary to add a small amount of sugar to the water in order to have the yeast foam and demonstrate that it is alive and active. It is equally unnecessary but acceptable to soak instant yeast. You will need at least four times the weight of the yeast in water or three times the volume.

To proof 1 teaspoon of dry yeast:
Dissolve about ¼ teaspoon sugar in 1 to 3 tablespoons water warmed only to hot bath temperature, 110°F/43°C. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir to dissolve. Set it in a warm spot for 10 to 20 minutes. As the yeast activates, it will rise to the surface and will have a crown of bubbles.

Salt

I use fine sea salt for all my baking because it is not iodized. Iodized salt can give an unpleasant taste to a cake. Also, fine sea salt is easier to measure if you are not weighing it, and it integrates more readily into batter than does a coarse salt. Salt is very difficult to measure accurately for two reasons: Measuring spoons vary from brand to brand, and salt is extremely hygroscopic. It will readily grab water from the air and will increase its weight slightly. Using the same scale and the same salt, I have found 1 teaspoon to vary between 5.2 grams and 6.6 grams. When you find the level of salt that you prefer, for the most consistent results it is best always to use the same measuring spoon if you are not weighing the salt. But either by weight or volume, in very humid conditions, it may be desirable to add a little extra salt; conversely, in very dry conditions, a little less.

Cream of Tartar

Also known as potassium acid tartrate, this by-product of the wine industry has an indefinite shelf life. Use 1 teaspoon cream of tartar per 1 cup egg whites (1/8 teaspoon per egg white), and it stabilizes the egg whites so that it becomes impossible to dry them out by overbeating. Cream of tartar is also an effective interfering agent in sugar syrups for making caramel, to inhibit crystallization. I also add a little to the water when baking a cake in a water bath; it keeps the aluminum pans from discoloring.

Chocolate

The complexities and charms of chocolate are infinite and constantly changing based on many factors, not least of all its vintage or harvest. The fermentation, choice of beans, roasting, and blending of the beans, as well as processing, particularly the amount of conching, all have an impact on the final product. Needless to say, that product will vary from batch to batch. Storage and age of the chocolate will also influence flavor. The chocolate world has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. What used to be the most extra bittersweet available was 61 percent cacao; now, it has been eclipsed by 70 percent and even higher-cacao chocolates. And the terms "semisweet" or "bittersweet" no longer have any real meaning. As in the wine world, some companies are producing single-origin chocolates made from one variety of bean that may even be harvested in the "wild." Manufacturers sometimes indicate the vintage year on the bar.

There are now many wonderful chocolates available, and your choice will influence the flavor and texture of your cake, filling, buttercream, or ganache. The chocolates listed in the chart that follows are the ones that my tester, Woody, and I used to test the recipes in this book and are my personal preferences. But it's fun to experiment with other chocolates and determine your own favorites. What tastes good to you in the bar will also be pleasing in the buttercream, ganache, or cake.

The percentage of chocolate liquor or cacao mass, listed on some bars as just the percentage of cacao, which is how I will refer to it, indicates the amount of cocoa solids and cocoa butter in the chocolate. The rest of the chocolate is mostly sugar. The percentage of cacao in the chocolate, however, does not necessarily indicate its degree of bitterness: Quality of flavor comes more from the variety of beans used and the methods of production. But the percentage of cacao in bittersweet, semisweet, or milk chocolate does determine consistency. The higher the cacao percentage, the more cocoa solids and cocoa butter, which are solid at room temperature. This will make a cake crumb or frosting more firm as well as more chocolaty. By merely exchanging the same quantity or weight of chocolate in a recipe with a chocolate of a different cacao percentage, you may be either adding more cacao and less sugar, or using less cacao and more sugar.

Most of my chocolate cakes use cocoa powder (see
Cocoa Powder
), but those that call for dark chocolate, such as the
Baby Chocolate Oblivions
or the
Marble Velvet Cake
, have their best texture when the recommended cacao percentage is followed. Ganache consistency, however, is easy to adjust, so if you find a chocolate you adore that has a cacao percentage that differs from the recommended one, simply alter the amount of cream in the recipe, as indicated in
Ganache Proportions
.

Standards for chocolate established by the U.S. government, according to the Code of Federal Regulations, specify, among other things, the type of fat and percentage of chocolate liquor that must be contained in the chocolate. Real chocolate must contain no fat other than cocoa butter (with the exception of 5 percent dairy butter to aid emulsification, which does not have to appear on the label).

Semisweet, Bittersweet, or Dark Chocolate

Chocolate with a cacao percentage between 60 and 63 percent is what I use most often in my recipes. I refer to all chocolate other than unsweetened, milk chocolate, or white chocolate as dark chocolate and specify the percentage of cacao recommended. Although U.S. government standards require a minimum of 35 percent cacao (a total of 27 percent cocoa butter) for dark chocolate, most high-quality dark chocolate contains more than 50 percent cacao. If the percentage of cacao is not indicated on the wrapper of a dark chocolate, it is most likely around 53 percent.

There are two other ingredients present in small quantities in most dark chocolate: vanilla and lecithin, a highly effective emulsifier derived from soybeans, used to stabilize chocolate. The addition of lecithin reduces the amount of cocoa butter required to cover the cocoa particles and frees the cocoa butter to act as a floating medium for these particles. It also makes melted chocolate less thick and more fluid. Only a very small quantity of lecithin is necessary to accomplish this—about 1 gram of lecithin per kilogram for white chocolate and slightly more for dark chocolate.

Lecithin is used in most of the finest quality chocolate. As lecithin is not kosher for Passover, a Swiss company, Maestrani (see Taam-Tov Foods, in
Ingredients Sources
), exports an excellent chocolate containing no lecithin. The dark chocolate is pareve, meaning it contains no dairy products (see Taam-Tov Foods, in
Ingredients Sources
). Some other fine chocolates, such as Scharffen Berger, are produced under kashruth supervision. Write to the manufacturer or distributor for a letter of certification if you want to use a chocolate in kosher baking. For 100 percent organic chocolate (except for the minute lecithin component), choose Green & Black's. Cluizel chocolate is produced without lecithin due to Michèl Cluizel's strong philosophical stand against genetically modified products (it is not possible to distinguish definitively which lecithin is produced by genetic modification).

Pure Chocolate

Pure chocolate, also referred to as bitter, baking, or unsweetened chocolate, contains only chocolate liquor, also called cacao (cocoa solids and cocoa butter), and flavorings. Depending on the variety of the cacao bean used, 50 to 58 percent (53 percent is the average) of the chocolate liquor is cocoa butter. Most of the remainder is the cocoa solids. (This is the same amount present in chocolate nibs, the name for cacao beans after the pod is removed and before processing.) It may contain flavorings such as vanilla or vanillin (synthesized vanilla). This is why Scharffen Berger, for example, labels its bitter chocolate as 99 percent cacao.

Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate contains pure chocolate liquor, milk solids, vanilla or vanillin, sugar, lecithin, and extra cocoa butter. U.S. government standards for milk chocolate require a minimum of 10 percent cacao (including a total of 29 to 33 percent cocoa butter) plus 12 percent whole-milk solids, but high-quality milk chocolate usually contains between 34 and 45 percent and can even be as high as 53 percent cacao. Milk chocolate produced in Switzerland must have 30 percent cocoa solids plus cocoa butter.

Milk chocolate does not have as long a shelf life as dark chocolate because the milk solids eventually become rancid (though more slowly than in white chocolate, due to the protective presence of cocoa solids). When melting milk chocolate, it is essential to stir often to prevent seeding due to the milk solids.

White Chocolate

Until recently, white chocolate was not considered chocolate because it contains no cocoa solids, which are brown. Lesser-quality varieties contained palm kernel oil, so, in fact, they contained no chocolate component whatsoever. White chocolate, which is now recognized as real white chocolate, contains cocoa butter, milk solids, vanilla or vanillin, sugar, and lecithin. U.S. government standards require a minimum of 20 percent cocoa butter and 14 percent milk solids. High-quality white chocolate, however, contains about 30 to 35 percent cocoa butter, 21 to 27 percent milk solids, and 38 to 44 percent sugar. White chocolate can have no fat other than the cocoa butter that gives it its lovely deep ivory color and luxurious texture. Green & Black's white chocolate also contains the delicious little seeds of vanilla bean.

When added to cake batter (see
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cake
), the cocoa butter, milk solids, and lecithin in white chocolate contribute a higher rise, more velvety texture, and more moisture, resulting in a longer shelf life.

Melted white chocolate sets faster than dark chocolate, but it is softer at room temperature. Its shelf life is much shorter than dark chocolate's because of the presence of milk solids and absence of cacao solids. When melting white chocolate, it is essential to stir often to prevent seeding due to the milk solids.

Unsweetened or Bitter Chocolate

*For recipes calling for 52% cacao chocolate, you can mix 2 parts Commander to 1 part Gibraltar.

Chocolate Accessories