the kitchen generation

How to Prepare a Round Cake Pan

by: Kamran Siddiqi

It’s a Sunday afternoon and you’re baking a cake. Everything is perfect. From the mixing of the cake batter to the cake baking perfectly. You let the cake cool in its pan, and then you decide- “Time to take the cake out.”

Uh-oh. Half of the cake came out without a problem. The other half, on the other hand, is stuck to the bottom of the pan.

It’s happened to the best of us. Now, this is when we tell you that your future cakes will be fine and that they’ll always come out of their tins without a problem. “How?”, you say? Good question!

Here’s how:

First, cut a square of baking parchment (read: DO NOT use wax paper) a little larger than the round pan that you intend to use.

Now, fold that baby in half vertically.

Take the bottom half and fold it up to meet the top corners.

Now, take one of the bottom corners (it doesn’t matter which) and fold it to make a triangle.

Once you have a triangle, fold it in half, making an even skinnier triangle.

Now, flip your cake pan over and find the center of the pan.

Place the tip of the parchment onto the center of the pan.

And cut straight across the triangle. Set aside.

Grease the bottom and sides of your cake pan.

Open the parchment triangle and place it on the greased pan, making sure it is sitting flat on the bottom of the pan.

Grease the parchment paper.

Then, sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour into the pan.

Now, move the pan around in a circular motion, so that the flour coats every bit of the pan (including the corners). This step can be done over your sink or over a round dish or cookie sheet to prevent a mess.

Tap the pan to release any excess flour.

And use as needed.

[click HERE for the slideshow]

Notes:
• Another method to make a parchment round to line your cake pan would be to simply trace around the cake pan with a pencil and cut it out. Use whichever method you prefer.

• Some people also line the sides of their cake tin, but it’s sometimes unnecessary, as a small spatula or butter knife can easily release the cake from the sides.

If you feel that it is necessary:

Measure the circumference and the height of your cake tin and cut out a piece of parchment an inch larger than each of the dimensions.

Then, fold up one long edge about ½-inch, then unfold it, to leave a crease.

Use scissors to cut around the folded edge of paper, so that it make fit around the pan perfectly.

This piece of parchment would go in once the tin has been greased. The parchment round would go in after.

all photos © kamran siddiqi & the sophisticated gourmet

Tags: Cake, Cake Pan, How-To, Parchment Paper, tip thursday

A Conversation With Heidi Swanson

by: The Kitchen Generation Team

Heidi Swanson is a gifted photographer, writer, and recipe developer. She is the creator of 101 Cookbooks, an award winning site, and she is the author of Cook 1.0, Super Natural Cooking, and her latest cookbook (which is set to release today, April 5th!), Super Natural Everyday.

In her newest book, Super Natural Everyday, Heidi shares nearly 100 of her favorite go-to recipes. We were lucky enough to each receive an early copy of the book and all of us agree that this cookbook is simply a must on your bookshelf! If you quickly paged through the cookbook, the beautiful design (from the typography to the thoughtful layout), the recipes and especially the photos will leave you swooning and wanting to try nearly every single recipe in the book!

Heidi’s simple approach to photography is inspiring and it makes trying each of the recipes very approachable. Her poetic, but down-to-earth approach to writing is also inspiring and is seen throughout her cookbooks- even in her recipe directions. A good example in her latest cookbook, Super Natural Everyday, would be her recipe for Chanterelle Tacos, “… rub the Mexican oregano between your palms and let it cascade down into the mushroom mixture.” See what we mean? This book needs to make it’s way into your kitchen (order a copy here from Amazon).

In addition to her book, we sort of have an obsession with the person behind it all. Heidi is truly a visionary in the food community and we wanted to get to know the lovely person behind it all, as well as introduce her to those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Heidi’s amazing work online or in print.

What was the last thing you ate?
I ate ricotta pancakes for lunch, cooked extra golden. With lots of chopped herbs folded in.

What is your first kitchen memory?
We moved to the house I eventually grew up in when I was 4, but I have a few kitchen memories from our first house. I remember helping my mom make hors d’œuvres for a party one night. This is the kicker. She would have me tuck thin slices of salami into muffin tins, a cube of orange cheddar was then placed in the center of each, and into a hot oven it would go. Everything would melt and then completely crisp up. It was the 70s – you guys missed all kinds of culinary gems ;)…

When you’re in need of inspiration, what is the first place that you look?
My notebooks. I keep a running list of things I’ve liked in the past, ideas about how I might do them differently, or new ideas I don’t want to forget. Or I just walk to one of the markets I like – see what looks inspiring. If that fails, I go stand in front of my pantry for a bit, or flip through books, or magazines, or websites. Sometimes, getting inspired means getting out of town. Hoping a flight or driving somewhere new.

What ingredient is never missing in your pantry or fridge?
Seriously, one? Salt, butter, olive oil, good eggs. There’s always something with high-octane flavor too, like harissa or curry paste. To punch things up when I feel like it.

What is one ingredient you wish you had tried sooner?
I was late to the black garlic party.

What was your process for creating gorgeous photos in Super Natural Everyday?
Thank you :) Well, I tried not to over-think it, or over-style things. With the recipes for the book in mind, I simply shot as I cooked. If it looked good, I would shoot it. And then we would sit down for lunch or brunch or whatever. All the food photos use natural light, and plates, platters, spoons from my cupboards. Lot’s of flea market finds. And the outside shots are from out and about – around the city, and up the coast.

What is one item (i.e. spatula, skillet, microplane, etc.) in your kitchen that you constantly find an excuse to use?
There are a number of tiny metal cookie cutters I’m partial to. I feel like I feature things I bake with them on my site constantly. I’d make shortbread with tiny cutters as a kid, and maybe some of my affinity for them comes from that.

Do you listen to music while in the kitchen, or do you prefer silence?
I go through phases. Lately I’ve been listening to “current event” podcasts in the kitchen – BBC Global News, This American Life, The New Yorker Out Loud, The Moth, Monocle, and a few others. But other times I’ll listen to music. I’m always on the look out for new podcasts to listen to – so if any of you have any you love, I’m all ears.

We’re sure that some people will be curious, so what is one recipe from SNE that you’d willingly eat everyday if you could?
Black Sesame Otsu

Three words. Go.
Make & Learn & Share

Heidi, thanks so much for taking the time to converse with us! It was truly a pleasure. For those interested in purchasing Heidi’s new book, Super Natural Everyday, click here.

All images reprinted with permission from Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Tags: 101 Cookbooks, Cook 1.0, Heidi Swanson, Interview, Super Natural Cooking, Super Natural Everyday

Tip Thursday: Bringing Eggs to Room Temperature

by: Lauren McMillan

When I go into the kitchen I typically have an idea of what I want to make. Sometimes it’s quite planned – like a birthday cake, and other times it’s completely dependent on a passing thought or a feeling. More often than not, I don’t set my eggs out hours before. Butter? Usually. Eggs? Not really. Not every recipe needs room temperature eggs, but when they do, you certainly want to oblige. It helps the chemistry of the baked good to work in the desired way.

If I haven’t set out my eggs hours before, I use this simple trick.

Place your eggs – however many you need – in a dish or glass. Something that is tall enough that the eggs will be fully covered in water. If there are just one or two, I tend to use a glass.

Turn on the water, and test for temperature. You want it to be warm, but not hot. If it is too hot, it will cook the eggs and then you’ll have to start all over again with fresh eggs. You don’t want that. It should be comfortable and warm to the touch.

Cover your eggs with warm water.

Let them sit for ten minutes, or until ready to use. The eggs should be at room temperature, and not cold if you turn them in your hands.

When they’re ready, carefully drain or remove from your dish.

Finally, use as your recipe instructs! You’re good to go now.

Photos © Lauren McMillan of Celiac Teen.

Tags: Eggs, How-To, Room Temperature, tip thursday

Tip Thursday: Unsweetening Sweetened Coconut

by: Elissa

Last year I discovered an incredible little baking shop. It’s packed from floor to ceiling with every baking supply imaginable, squeezed tightly together in a tiny labyrinth of a store. I spent hours just looking around, but my favorite find? Big bags of unsweetened coconut flakes for a buck each. As someone who can’t get enough coconut but sometimes finds it too sugary, I stocked up.

I find that most grocery stores only sell sweetened coconut flakes. They work for a lot of recipes, but when you’re looking for unsweetened, the sugar levels are just too high. Luckily, there’s a fast way to make your own substitute.

Spread some sweetened coconut flakes onto a flat sieve.

Wash the flakes under very hot water, making sure to rinse every spot.

You’ll start to see the sugar actually wash away. Keep rinsing until the water is no longer cloudy, but clear.

Squeeze the flakes in your hands, pressing out the excess water. Spread the flakes on the sieve and let them drain completely.

When the flakes are fully dried, they’ll be fluffy again. The flavor won’t be as good as flakes that haven’t been previously sweetened (or better yet, flakes straight from the coconut) but this trick will do in a pinch when you can’t run out to the store.

Tags: coconut, Substitute, tip thursday, Unsweeten

From Madeleines to Maxines

by: Kamran Siddiqi

When I first sat down to write this post, I wrote it in a moment of unmitigated disappointment. I was not disappointed in anyone, but in a Madeleine recipe that I’ve been testing for months now. In a way, you could say that I am a little disappointed in myself for not achieving perfection yet, but sometimes in these moments of disappointment I learn things that I probably wouldn’t have if I didn’t mess-up and experiment.

The recipe is no adaptation of anyone else’s recipe and I suspect that classicists would have my email inbox filled with notes of “you really should try sticking to tradition” and things along those lines, but I am a person who enjoys delicious food (regardless if it’s a classic recipe or not) and I love experimenting and testing recipes for my blog. It’s calming, frustrating, and a wonderful adventure entangled into one package.

My madeleine recipe, at the time, was something I [literally] threw together and crossed my fingers and toes that it would all turn out well. I’ve had quite a few successes with throwing things together and hoping they’d turn out well, but this three month fight with my madeleine recipe has been a tough one. I’ve tested the recipe twice every weekend. I’ve tried different techniques, different flour combinations, different ratios, and everything else possible. Surprisingly, I am not tired of eating madeleines.

By this point, if I was one to give-up, I would have given-up and adapted a recipe that I loved, but the challenge has been an insightful one, and I still won’t give up until I am satisfied with the recipe. In my mind, there are two things that make a recipe worth making- the taste, the looks, and the story behind the recipe (Okay, that was three). On occasion, we must overlook the way something looks, and base everything off of taste. I know that because of my experiences with Indian food- the stuff will look like mush on your plate and still taste like heaven. Back to the madeleines . . . . With madeleines, the whole point, I think is to achieve perfection- definite detail on the cookie and wonderful taste.

The recipe is pretty much great, I will admit. The cookies taste wonderful, but they don’t look like perfect madeleines- they are full of air pockets and lack their signature bump.

I recently spoke of my madeleine woes with Lauren and Hannah, and they recommended that I’d just re-name them to “Maxines” if the madeleines tasted as great as they do. Oh, how I’d love to re-name something to fit one of my “failures” but I refuse to lose this battle, and I know that this is definitely going to be a battle I will win. I will one day un-mold my madeleines from their pan and say, “I won!”

Am I just obsessive with achieving perfection, or have you been as determined as I have been to perfecting a recipe? We’d love to hear your stories.

Tags: Essay, Perfection, Recipe Testing

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