BAKING PANS AND INGREDIENTS

So now that i am here in the Big apple, in between munches and a side stir of the puttanesca, i manage to bake here and there. Folks, i am buying my mixer, i left behind my trusted friend back home, and the prices are giving me vertigo believe me. Searching the best deal is the hardest, the price is second to the quality and in my case, i prefer that this time i get a mixer that can mix more than 1 kilogram per batch. Imagine my horror when i bought my mixer in 1998. Like most beginners, i did not know anything about the load, the horsepower, the minimum and the maximum flour and dough capacities of these mixers, gear versus belt drive etc., Now that i managed somehow to keep the mixer going for almost 12 years, i hope the one i am buying, please Lord at a price of $1600.00 is better. It is bigger, 20 quarts and has a safety guard.

Choosing what kind of mixer gave me a headache, i bake cakes and cookies so i had no choice but to give in to my culinary calling, planetary it was, not spiral.

I am now in the process of looking for bulk flour, sugar, margarine and shortening. It is new york guys, no trans fat here, and while there are so many choices of trans fat free margarine and shortening, i still have to find out if i can get them in smaller packagings. Nakaka miss ang bakery suppliers sa Philippines, you know the kind where you can buy "tingi" of one kilo this and that. My mother uses "i can't believe it's butter" from Unilever and it is transfat, but using it on a commercial basis? The tv ads here says it is better than the other transfat free butter substitute, Crisco is my choice for shortening as well, and i use it to make my kababayan also. Hmmm. I have not started yet really but i am very excited to try out everything, it is like me on my beginner's stage, the only difference is that i know how to bake breads now.

I have a starter chilling (like me) in the pantry, why bother putting it in the refrigerator, the pantry is so much colder!!! You have to wear a jacket to get groceries!!!!

gotta go, i ran out of eggs and milk, walmart and home depot are a good 10 minute drive, my sister and i take a cab since she does not drive and finally i was able to purchase my baking stone and peel at only $14.99 at Le Gourmet Chef in Woodbury Common. i told my sister i wish i can live in this store, it is like a roomful of all your wish list from the day you wish you can bake.

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3rd Class Flour, What's It All About

For starters i cannot make this Hard Monay if i did not bring any 3rd class flour or soft weak flour to New York. Once i ran out of 3rd class and tried Cake Flour, it turned bad, do not even think of using All Purpose, it will be soft but not chewy as this one made with yes, 3rd class indeed. So third class is hard to find here in the US if you will use that term. You have to say or look for soft wheat flour, that's it, not hard wheat flour, not cake or All purpose but something in between these two. It is easy to find in the Phil., just ask your local bakery suppliers and they know it is Tercera. Tercera is not for bread, bakers use it basically for cookies, cakes and other pastries, but we bakers know how to create bread recipes using part of this flour with the bread flour or hard wheat flour. It makes a softer version of any of your fave breads, with a cheaper price tag. Plus if i own a bakery, i get to use the third class for my cakes and cookies, lowering my food cos

Cutting Pandesal, Baston Style

So how do we really do the Baston style "singkit" cut? First start with a slightly stiff dough, if your dough does not have eggs or eggyolks, a hydration of around 55% is ideal. I have seen bakers use less water, but that will make your Pandesal too dry and dense after 1 day or so so try to keep it slightly on the soft side, but not too sticky. Why? If you use a sticky dough for the Baston style cut, the dough will spread and will have a flat look rather than a rounded shape we are all familiar with. In Tagalog, "lalapad" ang dough so medyo flat ung Pandesal. So after you mix the dough, divide it into 2 to 4 portions if you are mixing kilogram. Experienced bakers divide their dough into 500 gram portions, i do mine the same way. Flatten the dough, focusing more on the length and not on the height. The height of the dough should be around 2 to 3 inches only. Next, fold the dough while pinching the edges making sure the dough surface

Kape at Pandesal

When someone emailed me about Kape at Pandesal, i suddenly felt home sick. Just these two words. Dipping Pandesal in coffee. Who got this phenomenon or practice started? We all know the colonial Spanish era and Gregorio Zaide mentioned our fondness for idling around in the history books (Juan Tamad and siesta), but for breakfast? Who wants to jump up and down when you wake up? This is the answer. Dunking the warm, crispy Pandesal into hot, steaming coffee. How did this thing start? Who invented it? What made the Pinoys dunk their Pandesal? Maybe the Pandesal in those days are rock hard, or maybe it is one way to sweeten the bread. Baka may alamat dito. Is it because the Pandesal is salty in those days? After all, sal means salt right? The Italians love to dunk their Biscotti in coffee, but the Biscotti deserves it. Seriously, Biscottis if not dunked in coffee can give you a free tooth extraction. But the Pandesal? Okay to some, it cools down the coffee. Don't tell me they

How To Bake Pandesal and Other Breads

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