Quick Cooking Question

[Eastern Girl]

Quick question for the chefs on CP, how important is it to get the exact ingredients specified in a recipe?

I have been nominated to make a birthday dinner and birthday cake for my friend, and I can't cook or bake to save my life. I am pretty sure I was nominated so that my friends can take turns mocking me and my cooking, once I fail miserably.

Anyways, I have chosen my recipes, and done the shopping but was unable to find some of the specific ingredients. For instance, instead of regular brown sugar, I have Golden Yellow Brown Sugar (which I still don't get, how can it be yellow and brown?), instead of unsweetened bakers chocolate, I have semi sweetened bakers chocolate and instead of butter, I have margerine.

So, I am pretty stupid when it comes to this stuff, so my question to everyone, are these differences things that will really change the taste of the food?

Any help is appreciated.

[First Lady]

For instance, instead of regular brown sugar, I have Golden Yellow Brown Sugar (which I still don't get, how can it be yellow and brown?),

Yes, it comes in both colors and no problem with substituting.

instead of unsweetened bakers chocolate, I have semi sweetened bakers chocolate

Reduce the amount of sugar the recipe calls for.

and instead of butter, I have margerine.

No problem with this substitute.

[bigtmac19]

For baking you really have to be precise with the ingredients and the measurements.

The semi-sweet chocolate will not really be a good substitute for the unsweetened bakers chocolate. The margarine for butter may work, but it also may affect the flavour, and could affect how light the cake is. For something like cookies, it may not matter, but a cake is a little more easily messed up.

The golden sugar instead of dark brown will be okay, just the colour may be off, which usually isn't a huge issue.

Cake mixes work really well, taste good and are pretty fool proof?

What kind of cake/dessert recipe is it??

[Eastern Girl]

The recipe calls for about a cup of sugar and two or three squares of unsweetened chocolate, so if I use the semi sweet squares, what should I reduce the sugar to? Half a cup or 3/4?

[Superflyer]

The diffrence in the sugars is the regular brown sugar still has more molasses in it so it is a little stronger in taste but not enough to make a diffrence unless you are using alot of it.
As for the chocolate, just like First Lady said just cut down the amount of sugar you are using. And for the butter and margarine there is very little diffrence.

[Superflyer]

The recipe calls for about a cup of sugar and two or three squares of unsweetened chocolate, so if I use the semi sweet squares, what should I reduce the sugar to? Half a cup or 3/4?

I would say closer to the 3\4 cup, maybe even a little more, you should only have to take out a couple of tablespoons.

[First Lady]

The recipe calls for about a cup of sugar and two or three squares of unsweetened chocolate, so if I use the semi sweet squares, what should I reduce the sugar to? Half a cup or 3/4?

I would go with either 2/3 or 3/4 cup for the sugar.

[Eastern Girl]

Cake mixes work really well, taste good and are pretty fool proof?

What kind of cake/dessert recipe is it??

My friend wanted a specific recipe. It's one her mom always makes for her and she loves it, so she asked me to make it. If she hadn't, I would have skipped the mixes and baking altogether and just bought her a cake, save myself the torment. The recipe is for a chocolate banana cake with chocolate frosting.


Thanks for the responses and advice everyone.

[OilersBaby]

If this was me I would just buy the cake..cuz I cant bake a cake that looks good haha.

[bigtmac19]

I'm sure it will end up tasting great. Just relax and you'll do fine.
Have fun.

[Eastern Girl]

I am sure I will have fun with it, cause I really do like baking and cooking. I just can't do it to save my life. I am always finding new ways to ruin food. There are very few times where something I cook or bake turns out how it should.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

My friend wanted a specific recipe. It's one her mom always makes for her and she loves it, so she asked me to make it. If she hadn't, I would have skipped the mixes and baking altogether and just bought her a cake, save myself the torment. The recipe is for a chocolate banana cake with chocolate frosting.


Thanks for the responses and advice everyone.

In that case, I'd be as exact as you can. Things like the type and amount of sugar, and whether you use butter or margarine can have a huge impact on flavour. I'm a purist, so in general I'd say don't bake with margarine--always use butter.

[sadora]

Hey Eastern Girl, when it comes to cooking you can substitute ingredients to fit your liking. When it comes to baking you really have to know what you're doing because every ingredient in the recipe is there for a particular purpose, ie. to provide moisture, texture, flavor or leavening.

For instance, instead of regular brown sugar, I have Golden Yellow Brown Sugar (which I still don't get, how can it be yellow and brown?)The color in brown sugar refers to amount of molasses in the product. If it's darker, then it has more molasses. You can substitute this product fairly easily so don't worry about it.

instead of unsweetened bakers chocolate, I have semi sweetened bakers chocolateIf you're using semi sweetened over unsweetened the only difference comes into the sugar content. Depending on how much you're making you might need to adjust either the amount of sugar of the amount of chocolate used. If you're making a small batch you probably not need to worry about it.

butter, I have margerine.This is one ingredient I wouldn't recommend that you substitute for, simply because butter and margerine have different water content. When butter is used in a baking recipe it's there for moisture.

I've taken a few baking classes so if you would like, PM me your recipe and I can help you work it out.

[Hack&Lube]

The best part about cooking is improvising and using new ingredients and using different amounts to create new things.

Recipes definetely do not need to be followed in any way except for just generally. It's not a chemical formula or mechanical instructions or anything. Just a general idea of what ingredients go well with each other in general amounts.

I agree with the others as to the butter/margarine issue. It depends which margarine you use. Some light margarines will be recommended not for baking because they have higher water content.

[bigtmac19]

I would agree the most the about the butter/margarine substitution.

Especially if the margarine is a spreadable type, that doesn't substitute well for butter in my experience.

[bigtmac19]

The best part about cooking is improvising and using new ingredients and using different amounts to create new things.

Recipes definetely do not need to be followed in any way except for just generally. It's not a chemical formula or mechanical instructions or anything. Just a general idea of what ingredients go well with each other in general amounts.[/B]
[/B]
I agree with the others as to the butter/margarine issue. It depends which margarine you use. Some light margarines will be recommended not for baking on their website because they have higher water content.

I would agree with this, except in baking, generally you have to measure precisely, and it's much harder to substitute ingredients.

[sadora]

The best part about cooking is improvising and using new ingredients and using different amounts to create new things.

Recipes definetely do not need to be followed in any way except for just generally. It's not a chemical formula or mechanical instructions or anything. Just a general idea of what ingredients go well with each other in general amounts.

For cooking yes but not for baking. Recipes for baking are actually formulas to achieve a particular result. When you don't follow the formulas correctly you can ruin your end result.

[Hack&Lube]

I would agree with this, except in baking, generally you have to measure precisely, and it's much harder to substitute ingredients.

Sorry, yes I probably meant in cooking and not baking (because of the thread title), when you're talking about the mechanics of getting a cake to rise properly and be of the right texture, that's true. I guess I was just saying that maybe the people who have a little more experience are probably more comfortable playing around which I always do when cooking and baking. You get more interesting surprises because I never like having the exact same thing to eat twice and I think it's more fun.

In regard to the semi-sweet chocolate/sugar issue, it's better to err on the side of caution and use less sugar, less salt, etc. in cooking/baking the worst thing to ever do is have too much of one flavor. You can always compensate afterwards (add sugar to the frosting or just use more frosting for example).

[Eastern Girl]

Ok, so most are thinking I should use butter and not margerine. I will try and wrangle me up some butter.

[sadora]

Ok, so most are thinking I should use butter and not margerine. I will try and wrangle me up some butter.

Using margarine can make your cake dry.

[Boblobla]

Using margarine can make your cake dry.

That and butter tastes waaaaaayyyyy better than marg in baking.

I agree with the reduction of sugar and I would definately recommend using butter.

[BuzzardsWife]

my mom always told me that for cooking be creative but for baking be exact

[Machiavelli]

This is why I don't bake. For all my time and effort, I'll just pick up cookies or buy a cake.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

My friend wanted a specific recipe. It's one her mom always makes for her and she loves it, so she asked me to make it.

If that's the case then don't switch the ingredients. It might turn out fine but it won't taste like she's expecting it to.

One method to improve your baking is to measure ingredients by weight instead of volume. It's a much more accurate way to do things. There should be volume to weight conversion charts online somewhere.

[redforever]

The diffrence in the sugars is the regular brown sugar still has more molasses in it so it is a little stronger in taste but not enough to make a diffrence unless you are using alot of it.
As for the chocolate, just like First Lady said just cut down the amount of sugar you are using. And for the butter and margarine there is very little diffrence.


There is a HUGE difference in butter and margarine. You can substitute margarine for some recipes but it will depend on what kind of margarine. If you get the whipped margarine, or the diet kind, that has lots of water in it, your birthday cake is gonna be dry and crumbly.

And some types of recipes, just dont substitute period. Like shortbread cookies, fruit cakes etc. There will be a substantial difference in both the taste and the end result of the final baked product.

[redforever]

And I am not sure where you live.

In Calgary, I always use a bit less flour with most of my baking. We have a very very dry climate here and the flour will be drier as well, ....... meaning it will absorb more liquid than normal.

So to compensate, you either have to add a bit more liquid or a bit less flour, I have found the latter to work. AND, if your batter just seems a bit thin, you can always add a bit more flour. You can never take it out though if your batter is too stiff.

[redforever]

Unsweetened chocolate is sometimes in shorter supply because not as many recipes use it.

However, now there is a big trend towards bittersweet chocolate and it is usually readily available, at least that is what I have found. It will make an excellent substitute for the unsweetened chocolate and you wont have to adjust your sugar either.

So if you can find bittersweet chocolate, go for it. Then you can keep the other ingredients the same and you wont have to be a nervous wreck about someone saying, "this cake doesn't taste like it normally does"

You wont have any change in the taste with the brown sugar you found. If it called for demerra sugar, then yes you would, but regular brown sugar and golden brown sugar are pretty well exchangable.

[Ford Prefect]

A word on butter vs margarine, from an eater's POV. I have pretty sensitive taste buds, so factor that in, but butter rules. I find margarine is only marginally edible. I personally don't think margarine works as a substitute. Not only does margarine affect the flavour negatively, but I find it also affects the moisture content adversely as well.

I also find semi-sweetened chocolate and less sugar works better than unsweetened chocolate and more sugar.

The above isn't based strictly on my taste buds as I've done some baking, but not a great deal.

[bigtmac19]

Bump.
Hey Eastern Girl, how did your cake turn out?

[Eastern Girl]

Bump.
Hey Eastern Girl, how did your cake turn out?

Well... the recipe called for it to be baked about an hour, so I put it in for one hour. When that was done, I went to check it and the outer edges of the cake were cooked, but the middle was still liquid. So, I put it in longer, the middle finally cooked, but the outer edges were rock hard.

So, the 'outer shell' of the cake wasn't good, but the cake innards were not too bad. Also, the frosting didn't turn out at all. It was watery and ridiculously sweet. A little bit of it would have rotted the teeth right out of your head.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys, but I think I am a lost cause when it comes to this stuff.

[bigtmac19]

Oh, sorry to hear that!

It might not have been you, it might have been your oven? Sometimes the temperature is off, or it fluctuates too much, and cakes can do that.

I have never been able to make banana bread without it not cooking well in the middle and being too well done on the edges.

[stang]

My wife is very precise in the kitchen everything is EXACTLY as the recipe calls for...

I am the exact opposite... splash of this, dash of this, sprinkle of this....

Drives her nuts!!!

No point to my story... lol

[Eastern Girl]

^^ I've tried both approaches. I have failed at both approaches.

[Nancy]

Oh, sorry to hear that!

It might not have been you, it might have been your oven? Sometimes the temperature is off, or it fluctuates too much, and cakes can do that.

I have never been able to make banana bread without it not cooking well in the middle and being too well done on the edges.

My wife loves to bake, but prior to buying our house several years ago, we had rented a couple of older places. For a long time, she had a real battle to get recipes to turn out. Finally, someone suggested that she get an oven thermometer to make sure that the temps were right. They weren't. We had great landlords, and they replaced the thermostat for us. That helped tremendously, but as it was a small oven, I still think it had difficulty keeping an even temperture. Then we got our brand new house with a brand new full sized oven. Huge difference.

As for baking, it requires a lot more precision and experience than cooking. I can throw together a pretty decent (and sometimes awesome) dinner using random incredients from the pantry and without a recipe. But for the life of me, any time I've tried baking, even if I follow a recipe exactly, it just doesn't turn out.

An aside, here... if you have any recipe that requires yeast, always make sure it is not stale dated and that it is proofed properly. If you want to make it really awesome, go to the SuperStore bakery and ask them for fresh (i.e. non-dehydrated) yeast, they'll sell it to you.