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Baking Ingredients

Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookies

By Denise Pare-Watson

Pomegranate Molasses is a unique product which is not commonly utilized and for that matter, not commonly attainable.  It is my objective to encourage you to consider pomegranate molasses and provide you with some compelling reasons why you should try it.  I will introduce you to an easy recipe on how to make your own pomegranate molasses and how to use it to make deliciously distinctive Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookies.  The recipe incorporates pomegranate molasses into the cookie dough as well as into a garnish on top of the baked cookie.  The cookies are lightly spiced to compliment the flavour of pomegranate molasses.  The cookie dough is rolled in organic cane sugar before baking to give them a crunchy exterior and a tender center.  The flavour and texture of these cookies make them a pleasure to eat.

Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookie
Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookie

Let’s start with the fundamentals.  What exactly is pomegranate molasses?  It is essentially pomegranate juice that is boiled down to a syrup (a reduction).  The syrup has a concentrated flavour with a pleasant lingering taste of sweet and sour on the tongue – a very unique tang. You can use it in almost everything from beverages, salad dressings or drizzling on roasted vegetables, glazing ham and as a flavour enhancer to many varieties of food – both sweet and savoury. 

Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookies
Pomegranate Molasses Sugar Cookies

Pomegranates/pomegranate molasses are classified as a super food having many health benefits.  They are an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins, and anthocyanins.   You can read additional information about pomegranates in my post, “Fun With Pomegranates”.  

Pomegranate Molasses is a very popular condiment and flavouring ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking.  It can often be found in the international aisle of most major grocery stores or stores specializing in Middle Eastern food products.  If you cannot find it in stores near you, pomegranate molasses can be easily made at home. (see recipe below).  

I was amazed to learn that pomegranate molasses is also helpful in reducing your body temperature in the summer (see my note below under “What Else Can I Do with This Recipe” regarding a refreshing pomegranate molasses beverage).  

I encourage you to explore how easy it is to incorporate pomegranate molasses into your food and beverage preparation. Its versatility is unique in the fact that it enhances both sweet and savoury dishes. 

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Filed Under: Cookies, My Recipes, Nut Free Recipes Tagged With: Baking, Baking Ingredients, Cookies, Pomegranate Molasses

The Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts

By Denise Pare-Watson

Urb’n’Spice Ultimate Recipe Series

Is there anything more Canadian than butter tarts made with pure maple syrup? I truly believe you will agree that these Ultimate Canadian Maple Butter Tarts are hard to beat.  Maple is as much a part of the Canadian food scene as poutine, tourtière or Nanaimo Bars.  This particular recipe is also included in an article pertaining specifically to maple for the Culinary Historians of Canada‘s CANADA 150 FOOD BLOG CHALLENGE.  You can read all about it here.

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My Mom always made this family favourite with maple syrup and I have carried on that French Canadian tradition. The filling for this tart recipe is essentially a custard (similar to pecan pie filling or cheesecake). The addition of maple syrup is delightful and oh, so Canadian. While many butter tart purists prefer their baked treats without embellishments, roasted pecans or walnuts and/or raisins are a great addition.

Maple Butter Tartlet with Pecans | urbnspice.com

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License Abstract: You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Desserts and Sweets, My Recipes, Pastry, Pies and Tarts, Urbnspice Ultimate Recipe Series Tagged With: Baking, Baking Ingredients, Baking Tips, Maple, Maple Syrup, Pastry, Tartlets, Tarts

Roast Your Nuts!

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Confident Kitchen Series

If you want to “step it up a notch” in your kitchen, whether a professional kitchen or a home kitchen, Roast Your Nuts before using them in your recipe. It is a surefire way to elevate the taste of your food in both cooking and baking from flavourless to outstanding.

Why bother?  You would not consider having a cup of coffee with un-roasted beans, would you?  Have you ever eaten a cookie, cake or bread that has the addition of nuts that really did not deliver the taste you were expecting?

Roast Your Nuts: The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies | urbnspice.com

Chocolate Pecan Cookies 

For example:

  • A chocolate chip pecan cookie
  • Hazelnut Raisin Bread
  • Granola Bars or granola
  • German Chocolate Cake with traditional coconut & pecan filling
  • Bar nuts, candied nuts, spiced nuts, etc.

As well, other food-related items that are not baked but have nuts added, such as:

  • A spinach salad with goat cheese, cranberries, sliced pears and candied pecans (that were not roasted beforehand)
  • A pesto with pine nuts or walnuts that were not roasted

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016-2018 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms:  X 
License Type: Commercial
License Abstract: You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Desserts and Sweets, Making Sense Series, The Confident Kitchen Series, UrbnSpice Chef Muse Tagged With: Baking Ingredients, Baking Tips, Learning Tips, Recipe Tips, The Confident Kitchen Series, Tips and Techniques

Making Sense: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Confident Kitchen Series

Today’s post will concentrate on, what exactly is the difference between Baking Soda and Baking Powder? In my day-to-day life as a chef, I am presented a lot of interesting questions regarding all kinds of stuff, such as:

1. What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

2. What does it actually mean when the recipe calls for “creaming” ingredients?

3. What is the difference between a conventional oven and a convection oven?

But first, I need to start with a story or two. Growing up in a family of five girls, there were lots of learning “incidents” in the kitchen. For example, there was the time that one of my sisters decided to make a cake. Her cooking experience up to that point was limited to scrambling eggs. That was exactly what she did when the cake recipe called for eggs! The addition of a leavening agent in this cake would have been helpful. None-the-less, the end result would still have been the same – the cake did have an “interesting” texture with all the yellow particles.

Recently, I was presented with a few recipes that had been used for quite some time in a bakery with a loyal clientele. One of the recipes was a bran muffin. While it was not a particularly extra-ordinary muffin, it was a regular on the list of items offered. I set to organizing the ingredients for the batter. The verbal instructions were: “you will have to overfill the muffin cups because these muffins do not rise at all”.  My inquisitive nature kicked in, so, I asked myself these questions, “Why is this muffin not rising to the occasion?” What is preventing it from becoming a star attraction?

One of my mentor culinary instructors, Chef Maxwell, always ingrained into our heads that we should first read any recipe for balance and accuracy. He was the first to say, “just because a recipe is printed in a book does not mean that it is correct, in balance, or makes sense.  So true, Chef, so true!

Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda: Happiness is working with Children | urbnspice.com

Making Sense: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

My Chef Mentor gave us very good advice.  Checking a recipe for balance and accuracy is now something I do with every recipe before I start.  When analyzing this particular recipe, I noted a few things:

a. There was baking soda listed as the only leavening agent in the recipe which had a lot of “heavy” ingredients (wheat bran, etc.)

b. The recipe had a good balance of acid (molasses and buttermilk) to counter the bitter effect of the baking soda. This balance is necessary to prevent the batter from tasting “soapy”.

c. When using baking soda, keep in mind that as soon as a liquid is added to the batter, the reaction is immediate (this reaction is caused by the acid); meaning, you should get the muffin in the oven quickly or it loses its effectiveness.

d. Baking powder is often used in addition to baking soda in a muffin recipe to give the muffin batter “lift” and tenderness. Baking powder is actually a combination of three ingredients and they all play an important role in the result.

e. You need to be careful when adjusting leavening products because if you use too much, you have a batter that will likely taste bitter – not very pleasant.

Here is a leavening formula that I use when assessing recipes similar to this one. It depends on the ingredients used, but as a general rule of thumb:

For every two cups of flour in a recipe, use:

a. 2 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder, or

b. 1/2 teaspoon soda plus 1 cup buttermilk (for the acid) and 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

Making Sense: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

There are a few things that could affect the overall result of your recipes:

1. Was an error made in the preparation of the recipe? In other words, even though you may be diligent about gathering all of your ingredients before you actually start the recipe, did all the ingredients listed actually end up in the prepared item? (i.e. were you distracted by phone calls, doorbells, children tugging at your jeans or chocolate in the pantry? They can affect the overall result.

2. Was there an error made in writing the recipe? Many recipes are not triple-tested or edited for accuracy of ingredients and method. I have a recipe from a professional reference book for a spectacular lemon mousse recipe that completely omitted the sugar in the list of ingredients!

3. Is it inexperience or over-exuberance that affected the overall result of your recipe? I remember when my daughters (youngsters at the time) and I made “The Best Ever Muffin Recipe” together, as we had done many times in the past. This particular time, the muffins were quite inedible. We discovered that the baking soda had been “helpfully” added twice and the baking powder had been inadvertently omitted.

4. Is your oven temperature accurate? A simple and inexpensive internal oven thermometer ($ 5 – $ 10 in a hardware store) can help determine if your oven temperature is accurate. If your oven is set to 350oF and the internal oven temperature is 50oF higher or lower, it can be detrimental to the result of your recipe. Adjust the oven temperature accordingly, and you will be pleased with the results. Money well spent for peace of mind.

Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda: Best Ever Banana Muffins | urbnspice.com

This is an example of a perfectly baked muffin 

As for the problematic bran muffin recipe – it went through a transformation with the addition of baking powder which made a big difference to the end result. The muffin was no longer dense and flat, but tender and light with a nicely rounded top when baked, as it should be. (Go to Muffin tips and Techniques)

In summary, baking soda and baking powder are powerful leavening agents, and when used properly and accurately, will result in excellent baked goods. The “cooked egg” method of making a cake is not recommended! No amount of leavening agent could improve that particular cake.  However, it is interesting how this one particular baking misadventure has developed into an over-blown/inflated tale even after all those years ago!  Fun in the Kitchen – what are your baking stories?

You Might Also Like These Urb’n’Spice Posts:

The Best Ever Banana Muffins

Convection vs Conventional Ovens – What is the Difference?

Baking Dilemmas & the Fix  – See this Post

Additional resources:

David Lebovitz wrote recently about how to tell if your baking powder still works in this post

If you enjoyed this article, please leave me a comment below with your feedback.

You can find me on social media (see links below) – just be sure to tag @urbnspice and #urbnspice so I am sure to see it. Enjoy! 

Denise Pare-Watson - The Urb'n'Spice Chef | urbnspice.com

 

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urb’n’Spice Chef

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 Urb'n'SpiceAll Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms:  X 
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License Abstract: You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). You may make other uses of the content only with the written permission of the author on payment of a fee.

Filed Under: Have you Ever wondered about Series?, Making Sense Series, Muffins & Quick Breads, The Confident Kitchen Series Tagged With: Baking, Baking Ingredients, Baking Tips

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Meet Denise – The Urbnspice Chef

Welcome to Urbnspice - A Taste of Heart and Home. Inspiration in my kitchen is often a trip to the market or an experimental coincidence! Come and join me on this culinary journey where I share my passion for the creative, technical and teaching components of the profession and unravel culinary quandaries for you with fun and easy to follow user-friendly recipes, tips & techniques.
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