My first week of bake shop has come and gone. I likely consumed entirely too many calories *tasting* my cookie dough, but I think I’m going to enjoy pastry more than I expected. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth, and always crave a nice slice of cheese before a slice of pie or cake. But I think I’ve overcome my fear of the science of baking thanks to a fabulous invention: the digital kitchen scale.

When weighing out our first recipe for banana bread I realized how much ingredients can vary when measured in cups/spoons. Sure they’re mostly accurate, but even the slightest variation can have a great impact on a recipe especially for salt and leaveners (i.e. baking soda/powder).  Some of the recipes we made this week called for only a few grams of baking soda, and getting that amount on the scale required a steady hand.  I thought back to all the times I packed a teaspoon extra tight with the powder and how much more of the ingredient that meant was in the final product.

The other epiphany of sorts that I had was about eggs. Every baking recipe I’ve used in the past has called for simply a number of eggs. But what size? Medium eggs weigh 1.75 oz while large eggs weigh 2.  Size can make a big difference.

Not being able to improvise in the kitchen is going to take some getting used to. I’ve always been good at adapting a recipe with the ingredients at hand. Our instructor brought up a great point about the difference between savory cooking and pastry. With savory you can often save a dish or alter it during the process, but with baking you won’t know if a recipe has failed until the final product.  Let’s hope my products turn out.

Cheddar biscuits and Banana walnut bread...breakfast of champions?