Our home kitchens are not necessarily the cleanest cooking environments out there, as much as we’d like to think so. Pets might wander through, countertops aren’t necessarily sterilized, food storage might not be ideal and how often do you clean under the refrigerator? Things like this are reasons that many states won’t allow you to sell food prepared in a home kitchen; it’s an unregulated environment, and unlike restaurant kitchens, there are no inspections to help sort out the good from the bad. But this difference between home kitchens and restaurant kitchens is about to have a big impact on an important type of culinary contest: baking competitions.
In Europe, new regulations put in place by the EU might mean the end of local and regional baking competitions, some of which have been traditions for generations. The new rules say that all cakes (and other baked goods) must be destroyed immediately following a competition, rather than being shared with and tasted by onlookers. “[They state] that food produced for display purposes, containing fresh ingredients such as eggs, butter and cream, should not be eaten to avoid possible food poisoning outbreaks.” Recommendations have been made that suggest only bite-sized cakes be permissible at competitions in the future, as they are a suitable portion for judging and it will cut back on the amount that must be wasted after the contest.
I haven’t seen statistics that give details on the number of “poisoning outbreaks” related to baking competitions, but I bet that more people get sick after going on a Tilt-O-Whirl than after eating a sample of a pie at a county fair. It will be interesting to see if these new rules end up sticking in Europe, and if they do, hopefully the impact on baking traditions will not be a big one. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how the impact won’t be big, considering that there aren’t that many venues that allow home bakers to show off their talents. I’m just hoping they don’t spread overseas to the US because the baking contests are always my first stop at a fair or festival and I’d hate to see them go.
Aside from baking, traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I’d like nothing more than to be able to hop on a plan and fly anywhere in the world at any time. Who wouldn’t? Unfortunately, that thought is much more dream than reality, but it is what made this cute Airplane Mini Cake Pan catch my eye. The pan bakes up six carefully molded little planes. It can be used with just about any muffin or cupcake recipe, and one that provides you with a domed top is ideal, since that dome will become a rounded bottom for the cake plane once it is inverted and will really complete the look. The planes have great detailing and, thanks to rounded edges and corners, it shouldn’t be any problem to pop them out of the pan without damaging their shape.
More and more markets these days are offering customers the option of doing a self-checkout, where you can scan your own items into an automated register instead of standing in line. These are great at some stores, but when you have a cart full of fruits and vegetables that have no real bar codes, suddenly you find yourself with a lot of sympathy for every cashier who has ever had to look up prices on individual pieces of fruit. Popgadget mentioned a new gadget called a smart scale, currently being tested in Europe, that could make this little bit of the shopping process quicker and easier.
The Smart Scale has a camera built into it that can recognize any type of fruit or vegetable (that is programmed into its database) almost instantly, giving you an onscreen menu to quickly narrow down the type. It also, of course, gives you the weight and price per pound of that item. The camera is highly sensitive and can work through different types of plastic bags and common containers. It’s easy to see how the technology could be used for various bulk items, from nuts to rice to rolled oats – which means there would be no need to fiddle with paper tags and writing down the PLU codes from the bins on those items, or having to make sure the peach/plum/pluot is properly tagged and rung by a cashier, either.
Is this a substitute for dealing with a grower at a farmer’s market, or even with an employee at a smaller/more personal market? No, but as someone who shops in all kinds of stores, it doesn’t sound like a bad bit of technology to have available.
Not all chocolate cravings are created equal. Some call for a piece or two of dark chocolate, while others might need a big bite of white chocolate to be satisfied. Some aren’t satisfied by real chocolate at all and need to be treated with a slice of chocolate cake. For me, the answer to this kind of craving is an easy to make chocolate loaf cake. It takes only a couple of minutes to put together and needs no frosting, so you only have to wait for the cake to bake and cool (at least somewhat!) before indulging.
This cake was inspired by a recipe I’ve made many times before, a marbled chocolate bundt cake. That recipe is one featured in Alice Medrich’s excellent cookbook, Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Desserts. Tasting that cake, you would never know that it is lower in fat than your average pound cake, and so I took some ideas from that recipe to come up with this one. For instance, I used yogurt to add moisture and tenderness to the cake, and opted for cocoa powder to give the cake its chocolate flavor, rather than higher fat chocolate. While my finished product isn’t too low in fat, it’s still reasonable enough that two slices can be eaten without guilt – and it tastes delicious.
It looks like a pound cake, but has a soft and fluffy texture, with a very fine and tender crumb. It is moist in the way that you expect a good sheet cake to be, but not in the same “wet” way as a carrot cake often is. I’ve had some yogurt-based cakes that do seem wet and dense, and this cake is neither. The cake has a very deep chocolate flavor, with a perfect balance between sweetness and bitterness (from the cocoa powder). Loaf-style cakes aren’t usually served with frosting, and fortunately this cake has enough presence on its own that it doesn’t need any. I like this cake plain, but if you really want even more chocolate, stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips before baking.
As usual, I used a thick low fat Greek-style yogurt. You’ll get the best results by using a low fat or full fat yogurt, rather than nonfat, just because the extra fat will contribute to the tenderness of the cake. This isn’t to say that nonfat won’t work (it will), just that your results may be slightly different and you should take a bit more care not to overbake the cake. If you don’t have yogurt, use sour cream instead because it has a very similar flavor and consistency. Regular yogurt can be used if you don’t have Greek-style yogurt and the results should turn out just fine.
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