One of the biggest problems with a stand mixer is that the mixer blade does not reach all the way down to the bottom of the bowl, so you have to get out a spatula and mix your batter by hand. It’s only an annoyance because the beauty of a stand mixer is that it should be hands-free. Over the past several months, a number ... Read More »
Cake mixes – as you might guess from the fact that I run a baking blog – are not something that I use very often. If I’m going to use a mix, I’d much rather it be a brownie mix. Most brownie mixes produce good, consistent results (I particularly like Ghirardelli brownie mixes) and are really easy to whip up when you need something. Plus, ... Read More »
Glass bakeware from Green Apple isn’t exactly the same as Pyrex bakeware, although the two are both made of glass. Glass bakeware is made of borosilicate glass, a glass that is extremely temperature resistant with a low expansion coefficient. It is most often used for for scientific and laboratory tools, but is also used for lamps and other glassware that might be exposed to high ... Read More »
It’s hard to find a good lemon cookie. Either they don’t have a particularly strong or distinctive flavor to them, or the cookies have an artificial sweetness to them due to overuse of (cheap) imitation flavoring. As a result, I was a bit reluctant to try Trader Joe’s Meyer Lemon Cookie Thins at first, but was willing to give TJ’s the benefit of the doubt ... Read More »
Hershey’s is getting more creative with what they put into their signature Kisses. Caramel and peanut butter, two staples of the filled Kisses line, seem downright ordinary compared to their newer offerings, like New York Cheesecake Kisses. Chocolate covered cheesecake sounds good in any situation and it’s no different when it comes in kiss form – after all, it’s what made me pick up the ... Read More »
It’s not that easy to find giant chocolate chips, and while there is some variation in size from brand to brand, most chocolate chips come in a fairly standard size and shape. Guittard’s Super Cookie Chips (scroll down to the bottom of the page for the listing) fit the bill nicely if you’re looking to go large. These chocolate chips don’t quite turn your cookies ... Read More »
Extracts, whether they’re vanilla, lemon, almond or any other flavor, are made by mixing a concentrated flavor with alcohol. The alcohol burns off during cooking or baking, leaving behind only the desired flavor in your dish. They’re very effective, but not always the most effective way to infuse flavor for a particular ingredient. For instance, citrus oils – isolated from the skin/zest of an orange, ... Read More »
Different types of honey have different colors, flavors and consistencies depending on what flowers the bees visited to produce that honey. Clover honey, for instance, has a fairly neutral floral flavor that is often associated with “plain” honey. Orange blossom honey, on the other hand, definitely has citrus notes to it. It’s easy to differentiate the two, even though they are similar in appearance. The ... Read More »
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