Klaus Tenbergen

Q: Many formulas call for half milk and half heavy cream. Can I just buy half and half from our suppliers?
J.K., Troy, Mich.

A: If you mix whole milk with heavy cream you have a fat content of about 48 percent. Half and half from your supplier only contains about 28 percent fat, which is cheaper, but not necessarily better for your application.

Q: We have a buttercream made from an Italian meringue, and it sometimes develops many small, uniform bumps throughout. Why is that?
Rebecca, via e-mail

A: You may have added the sugar solution, which was boiled to the soft ball stage, too fast, causing the eggs to coagulate. It's also possible the sugar crystallized while cooking. Acids such as cream of tartar cause sucrose to invert into its two simpler components, fructose and glucose. This may prevent unwanted crystallization.

Q: Is it really important to sift flour?
S.M., Minneapolis

A: I always sift my flour to remove impurities, aerate and combine the dry ingredients, such as chemical leavener or cocoa powder, to ensure a high-quality product and maintain consistency.

Q: What is the difference between all-purpose and self-rising flour?
Rachel, via e-mail

A: All-purpose flour and self-rising flour are not interchangeable, because self-rising flour does contain leaveners and salt. All-purpose flour is a blend of high and low protein flours. It is good to use in a variety of baked products and is mainly used in hotels, restaurants and foodservice operations where a large variety of specialized flours is not available.

Q: What does it mean to be Pareve?
A.O., Bartlett, Ill.

A: Pareve is a Hebrew word which denotes a food product as containing neither meat nor milk ingredients. This is important in the practice of kosher, in which milk and meat cannot be mixed during a meal. It is best to check for a hechshar from a reliable and consistent certification body, such as the Orthodox Union, when defining Pareve food.

Q: We have a formula that calls for quark. What is it?
Stephanie, via e-mail

A: Quark is often used as an ingredient for a cake similar to cheesecake, called “Käsekuchen” in Germany. Quark consists of 60 to 80 percent water. Dry mass has 1 to 40 percent fat; most of the rest is protein (80 percent of which is casein), calcium and phosphate. If quark is not available, try to source baker's cheese from your supplier.

Q: We recalculated our formulas to include bakers' percent, but don't know what to include in the total flour weight. Is there a uniform industry rule?
Bret, via e-mail

A: There is no uniform rule in the baking industry for what should be included in the total flour weight. I always include wheat gluten, wheat products, rye products, grains, seeds and high-fiber ingredients, as well as any of these products used in a pre-ferment.

Q: Which cutting board should we use: wood, plastic or bamboo?
J.J., El Cajon, Calif.

A: I would not worry about what kind of cutting board to use, but rather how you clean and maintain these boards. Wash the boards with soapy water or a mild bleach solution on a regular basis to kill bacteria. Cutting boards made from hard woods and bamboo have natural antimicrobial properties that help kill any remaining bacteria.

Q: How much vanilla seed will a vanilla bean yield?
Christine, via e-mail

A: A 7-in. to 9-in. vanilla bean will weigh approximately 5 grams and will yield about 1 gram, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanillin seeds. Half that amount should be enough to give flavor to a formula for four to five people. Remember that the vanillin seeds are the essence and flavor of the vanilla, so it is important that the skin be as thin as possible. You want a “plump” bean with a thin skin; you want lots of seeds with little moisture. By gently squeezing the bean between your fingers, you can tell how thick or thin the bean is. When the seeds are scraped out, they should come off the skin easily, and no mushy residue should be present. If you see so-called “sugar crystals” coming out of the bean, do not discard it. The crystals are pure vanillin.

Q: Can we freeze heavy cream?
C.B., Clearwater Beach, Fla.

A: Yes; however, once the heavy cream is thawed it will be not suitable to make heavy whipped cream. Before adding the heavy cream to any formula, return it to room temperature so the fat molecules that appear after the freezing will dissipate.

Q: Should we have a steam system installed in our older oven to improve the appearance of our bread? What difference does it make?
C.S., Beaver Dam, Wis.

A: If steam is injected into the oven at the early stages of baking, the surface of the bread stays moist and flexible, and with the help of docking and/or scoring of the surface, no random cracks will appear on the surface. Instead, you will see “controlled” breaking of the crust. As the bread continues to rise, will have a less dense crumb, more volume and a thinner crust. The crust will be crispier and glossier because the steam will facilitate the gelatinization of the starch on the surface on the bread.

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