February 18, 2013 - 12:30pm
BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher
She does not have very many bread recipes in her book, because she covers the whole realm of baking: cakes, pies, cookies, BUT she does a great job of explaining the science behind bread. It's a great, very readable how and why book.
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but also the source of one of my biggest bread baking flops ever! It was really quite stunning to have followed the recipe so faithfully and have it come out so badly. I'm sure that I did something less well than I thought I had. At the time, I couldn't begin to guess what, though. Maybe it's time to revisit the book and that bread, just to see if better results can be achieved.
Paul
I thought Cookwise was an excellent book, but Bakewise was a bit of a disaster, organizationally speaking. Sections are repetitive, it is hard to follow, and just not as clear or as concise as her first book.
Try Shirley Corriher's Touch of Grace Biscuits recipe from Cookwise. Best light and fluffy biscuits ever.
Very similar to the Loveless Cafe biscuits. They are like drop biscuits, but dusted with flour and baked in a cake pan. They are my go to biscuits.
She is the food scientist who was a frequent guest on Alton Brown's Good Eats.
Touch of Grace Biscuits recipe on the New York Times website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/181frex.html
Shirley Corriher Making Touch of Grace Biscuits on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7baqgejDqfU
Personally the "Touch of Grace" biscuits left me cold. Very tender, but not flaky at all, and the cream gave it a weird "off" flavor.
Nevertheless, I like her discussion of the science - but nearly all of the actual recipes did not live up to their promise. Instead, by incorporating an understanding of the science, which she more than adequately explains, I have been able to improve and/or enhance tried-and-true recipes.
I have no idea why she seems to have been unable to go from theory to practice, but her theory informs MY practice, regardless of the failure of her own.