Blondies

Makes 36.   Published July 1, 2005.  
Cooks Illustrated

Be very careful not to overbake the blondies; they dry out easily and will turn hard. Start checking the oven a couple of minutes before they will be done. If you can't find our recommended brand of white chocolate chips, coarsely chop a good-quality white chocolate bar.

Ingredients

1	cup pecans or walnuts (4 ounces)
1 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon table salt
12	tablespoons unsalted butter ( 1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled
1 1/2	cups packed light brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
2	large eggs , lightly beaten
4	teaspoons vanilla extract
6	ounces white chocolate chips (1 cup) or chopped bar, or 3 ounces each white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on large rimmed baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer nuts to cutting board to cool; chop coarsely and set aside.
2. 2. While nuts toast, cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
4. 4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate and nuts and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.
5. 5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Blondies Secrets

Published July 1, 2005.

Cooks Illustrated

Had a chewy, full-flavored blondie lately? No? Well, neither had we.

The Problem

Blondies are often greasy, cakey, cloyingly sweet, and bland--an inferior cousin to the brownie.

The Goal

We wanted our blondies to be chewy but not dense, sweet but not cloying, and loaded with nuts and chocolate.

The Solution

Trial and error produced the best texture. We started by testing several traditional recipes, keeping equal parts of light brown sugar and flour but reducing the usual amounts of butter and eggs. We also added baking powder for extra lift. We boosted flavor by adding several stiff shots of vanilla, oven-toasting the nuts, and using a mixture of white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips. We found the baking time was crucial and learned to disregard the usual signifiers of an adequately baked bar cookie (the cooked dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, a toothpick comes out clean), using color and textural indicators instead: Our blondies were done when they had a light golden brown top that appeared shiny and cracked.

Congo Bars

Makes 36 bars.   Published July 1, 2005.  

Cooks Illustrated

Despite their name, Congo bars have nothing at all to do with Africa. In fact, they are little more than blondies enriched with coconut -- an ingredient that was exotic in years past perhaps but is far from it these days. We tried adding both sweetened, flaked coconut and unsweetened, shredded coconut to our blondies, and tasters unanimously preferred the unsweetened. Sweetened coconut did little but make the bars overly sweet and unpleasantly chewy. We were able to extract a bit more flavor from the unsweetened coconut by toasting it golden brown before adding it to the blondie dough. If you have trouble locating unsweetened shredded coconut, try a natural food store or an Asian market. Keep a close eye on the coconut when toasting as it can burn quickly.

Ingredients

1	cup pecans (or walnuts), toasted and chopped coarse
1 1/2	cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon table salt
12	tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled
1 1/2	cups packed light brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
2	large eggs , lightly beaten
4	teaspoons vanilla extract
6	ounces white chocolate chips (1 cup) or chopped bar, or 3 ounces each white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on larged rimmed baking sheet and bake until deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer nuts to cutting board to cool; chop coarsely and set aside. Toast coconut on same rimmed baking sheet, stirring 2 to 3 times, until light golden, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. 2. While nuts and coconut toast, cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. 3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
4. 4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate, coconut, and nuts and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.
5. 5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Dough TIPS: Foolproof Pie Dough

Published September 1, 2010.
Cooks Illustrated

We wanted a recipe that is tender, flavorful, and—most important—consistent.

The Problem

Pie dough can go wrong so easily: dry dough that is too crumbly to roll out; a flaky but leathery crust; or a tender crust without flakes. And it's hard to get the same results every time.

The Goal

We wanted a pie dough recipe that bakes up tender and flaky every single time and also rolls out easily.

The Solution

The first step was to determine the right fat. A combination of butter and shortening provided the best balance of flavor and tenderness. The best method to cut the fat into the flour proved to be the food processor; it was the fastest and most consistent. But we couldn't figure out how to ensure same-sized pieces of butter time after time. The answer was to eliminate the pieces entirely. Rather than starting with all the flour in the processor, we put aside 1 cup of flour and processed the remaining 1 1/2 cups with all of the fat until it formed a unified paste. We added the reserved flour back to the bowl and pulsed it until it was just evenly distributed. Finally, we tackled the tenderness issue, which is partially determined by the amount of water added. The conundrum? In order to roll easily, dough needs more water, but more water makes crusts tough. We found the answer in the liquor cabinet: vodka. While gluten (the protein that makes crust tough) forms readily in water, it doesn't form in ethanol, and vodka is 60 percent water and 40 percent ethanol. So adding 8 tablespoons of vodka produces a moist, easy-to-roll dough that stays tender (because it contains only 6 1/2 tablespoons of water). The alcohol vaporizes in the oven.

Foolproof Pie Dough

For one 9-inch Double-Crust Pie.   Published September 1, 2010.   From Cook's Illustrated.

Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor—do not substitute. This dough will be moister and more supple than most standard pie doughs and will require more flour to roll out (up to 1/4 cup).

2 1/2	cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1	teaspoon table salt
2	tablespoons sugar
12	tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2	cup chilled solid vegetable shortening , cut into 4 pieces
1/4	cup vodka , cold
1/4	cup cold water

Instructions

1. 1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
2. 2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Step-by-Step

Key Steps to Foolproof Pie Dough

1. MAKE A FAT AND FLOUR PASTE: Completely blending part of the flour with all of the butter ensures a consistent amount of fat-coated flour in the final dough.

2. ADD MORE FLOUR: Pulsing in the final cup of flour ensures a consistent amount of uncoated flour in the final dough.

3. ADD WATER AND VODKA: Sprinkling with water and vodka ensures even distribution. No need to skimp—unlike water, vodka won't make the dough tough.

Ribs Tips: Rethinking Braised Short Ribs

Published January 1, 2009.

Rich, fork-tender short ribs usually need an overnight rest to get rid of the grease. We wanted the fat gone by dinnertime—no bones about it.

The Problem

Since so much fat is rendered during the ribs’ stint in the oven, most recipes call for resting them in the braising liquid overnight, so that the fat solidifies into an easy-to-remove layer. However, most people don’t plan their dinners days in advance and with so much fat, skimming it off with a spoon doesn’t work well enough. The meat and sauce come out greasy, no matter how diligent one’s spoon-wielding.

The Goal

A silky, grease-free sauce and fork-tender short rib meat, all in a few hours.

The Solution

The first task was to choose the right rib. Instead of traditional bone-in short ribs, we used boneless short ribs, which rendered significantly less fat than bone-in. While we didn’t miss much flavor from the bones, we did want the body that the bones’ connective tissue added. To solve this, we sprinkled a bit of gelatin into the sauce to restore suppleness. We also wanted to ramp up the richness of the sauce. Taking a cue from our French-Style Pot Roast recipe, we jump-started flavor by reducing wine with browned aromatics (onions, shallots, celery, and carrots) before using it to cook the meat. This added the right intensity, but we need another cup of liquid to keep the meat half-submerged—the right level for braises. More wine yielded too much wine flavor; we used beef broth instead. As for the excess fat, the level was low enough that straining and defatting the liquid in a fat separator, and then reducing it concentrated the flavors, made for a rich, luxurious sauce for our soft, succulent boneless short ribs.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Serves 6.   Published January 1, 2009.   From Cook's Illustrated.

Make sure that the ribs are at least 4 inches long and 1 inch thick. If boneless ribs are unavailable, substitute 7 pounds of bone-in beef short ribs at least 4 inches long with 1 inch of meat above the bone. To remove the meat from the bone, see the illustrations below. We recommend a bold red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Côtes du Rhône. The test kitchen’s preferred brand of beef broth is Pacific. Serve with egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or roasted potatoes.

Ingredients

3 1/2	pounds boneless short ribs , trimmed of excess fat (see note and technique below)
	Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
2	large onions , peeled and sliced thin from pole to pole (about 4 cups)
1	tablespoon tomato paste
6	medium garlic cloves , peeled
2	cups red wine (see note)
1	cup beef broth
4	large carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
4	sprigs fresh thyme
1	bay leaf
1/4	cup cold water
1/2	teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until smoking. Add half of beef and cook, without moving, until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn beef and continue to cook on second side until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes longer, reducing heat if fat begins to smoke. Transfer beef to medium bowl. Repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and meat.
2. 2. Reduce heat to medium, add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (If onions begin to darken too quickly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to pan.) Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it browns on sides and bottom of pan, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high, add wine and simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits, until reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add broth, carrots, thyme, and bay leaf. Add beef and any accumulated juices to pot; cover and bring to simmer. Transfer pot to oven and cook, using tongs to turn meat twice during cooking, until fork slips easily in and out of meat, 2 to 2½ hours.
3. 3. Place water in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top; let stand at least 5 minutes. Using tongs, transfer meat and carrots to serving platter and tent with foil. Strain cooking liquid through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator or bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle about 5 minutes and strain off fat. Return cooking liquid to Dutch oven and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin mixture; season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meat and serve.

Meringues TIPS and Secrets

Shaping Meringues

Use 2 soupspoons to drop 2 tablespoon dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Place 3 rows of 5 cookies on each sheet.

Beating Egg Whites for Meringue

Properly whipped meringue is glossy and smooth, with the consistency of shaving cream.

Chocolate Chip Meringues

30 cookies.   Published December 8, 2006.  
Cook´s Illustrated

Avoid making meringues on humid days, as they will never crisp. If your whites happen to have a little yolk or cracked shell in them, use a clean half eggshell to fish it out. Contrary to the old wive’s tale, we found that a speck or two of yolk won’t prevent the whites from whipping. If you have no cream of tartar, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar.

Ingredients

4	large egg whites , room temperature
1/4	teaspoon cream of tartar
1	cup sugar (7 ounces)
3/4	teaspoon vanilla extract
1	cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. 2. With electric mixer, beat egg whites at medium-low speed until opaque and frothy, about 30 seconds. Add cream of tartar, increase speed to medium-high, and, watching carefully, beat egg whites until white, thick, voluminous, and consistency of shaving cream (see photo below), about 90 seconds. Slowly sprinkle in half of sugar and continue to beat until incorporated, about 60 seconds. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to lowest possible setting, sprinkle in remaining sugar, and mix just until incorporated.
3. 3. Fold chocolate chips into the meringue.
4. 4. Following illustration below, use 2 soupspoons to place dollops of meringue, 2 tablespoons each (about size of walnut), 1 inch apart, fitting 3 rows of 5 cookies on each sheet. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until cookies have smooth, dry, and firm exteriors. Turn oven off and allow cookies to cool in oven for several hours. Once cool, store cookies in an airtight container, where they will keep for up to 2 weeks.

Individual Brownies

Published November 1, 2003. - Cook´s Illustrated

When baking brownies, Michelle Miceli of Cranston, R.I., pours the batter into greased muffin tins rather than a baking pan for easy no-cut brownies. The treats are perfect for tossing into a lunchbox or for portable snacking. Fill regular muffin tins with brownie batter to a depth of 1 inch, or two-thirds full. We found that our recipe for Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies (see the May/June 2000 issue) cooked up in just 15 minutes, less than half of the normal baking time. See Illustrated Technique

Brownies TIPS: Knowing When Cookies and Brownies are Done

Published September 1, 2005. From Cook's Illustrated.

Here are our tips to determining when cookies and brownies are done.

Cookies

Brownies

Overbaked brownies are dry and chalky and the chocolate flavor is diminished. Use the skewer test to determine doneness, but look for moist sticky crumbs.

 

A toothpick inserted into brownies should emerge with moist crumbs.

 

We think most cookies are best when they are chewy. This means taking them out of the oven when they are slightly underdone—in fact, the cookies are often so soft they will droop over the end of a spatula. Bake cookies on parchment and cool on baking sheet for a few minutes; after they have set up slightly, slide the parchment onto a cooling rack. if the cookies have crevices, the crevices should appear moist. When baking smooth cookies, look at the edges, which should be lightly browned; the center should be set but not fully dry.

TIPS:

Don't be alarmed if cookies droop over the edges of a spatula. When set, your cookies will be perfectly chewy.

Swedish Meatballs

Serves 4 to 6.   Published January 1, 2009.   From Cook's Illustrated.

The traditional accompaniments for Swedish meatballs are lingonberry preserves and Swedish Pickled Cucumbers (see related recipe). If you can’t find lingonberry preserves, cranberry preserves may be used. For a slightly less sweet dish, omit the brown sugar in the meatballs and reduce the brown sugar in the sauce to 2 teaspoons. A 12-inch slope-sided skillet can be used in place of the sauté pan—use 1 1/2 cups of oil to fry instead of 1 1/4 cups. The meatballs can be fried and then frozen for up to 2 weeks. To continue with the recipe, thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight and proceed from step 3, using a clean pan. Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes, boiled red potatoes, or egg noodles.

Ingredients

Meatballs
1	large egg
1/4	cup heavy cream
1	large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , crusts removed and bread torn into 1-inch pieces
8	ounces ground pork
1	small onion , grated on large holes of box grater (about 1/4 cup)
1/8	teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8	teaspoon ground allspice
1/8	teaspoon ground black pepper
1	teaspoon packed brown sugar (see note)
1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
1	teaspoon baking powder
8	ounces 85 percent lean ground beef
1 1/4	cups vegetable oil
Sauce
1	tablespoon unsalted butter
1	tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2	cups low-sodium chicken broth
1	tablespoon packed brown sugar (see note)
1/2	cup heavy cream
2	teaspoons juice from 1 lemon

Instructions

1. 1. For the Meatballs: Whisk egg and cream together in medium bowl. Stir in bread and set aside. Meanwhile, in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat pork, onion, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder on high speed until smooth and pale, about 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary. Using fork, mash bread mixture until no large dry bread chunks remain; add mixture to mixer bowl and beat on high speed until smooth and homogeneous, about 1 minute, scraping bowl as necessary. Add beef and mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl as necessary. Using moistened hands, form generous tablespoon of meat mixture into 1-inch round meatball; repeat with remaining mixture to form 25 to 30 meatballs.
2. 2. Heat oil in 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until edge of meatball dipped in oil sizzles (oil should register 350 degrees on instant-read thermometer), 3 to 5 minutes. Add meatballs in single layer and fry, flipping once halfway through cooking, until lightly browned all over and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (Adjust heat as needed to keep oil sizzling but not smoking.) Using slotted spoon, transfer browned meatballs to paper towel-lined plate.
3. 3. For the Sauce: Pour off and discard oil in pan, leaving any fond (browned bits) behind. Return pan to medium-high heat and add butter. When foaming subsides, add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is light brown, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in broth, scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits. Add brown sugar and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 minutes. Stir in cream and return to simmer.
4. 4. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer, turning occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

REAL SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Cook´s Illustrated: Published January 1, 2009.

Meatballs have to be Sweden’s national dish for a reason. What’s the secret to making them light, springy, and flavorful?

The Problem

Too often, most recipes for this dish produce flavorless balls of ground beef or pork covered with thick, grainy sauces.

The Goal

Substantial yet delicate meatballs with a sausagelike springiness and satisfying snap, accompanied by a light cream sauce instead of heavy, brown gravy.

The Solution

We began with a combination of beef and pork and a panade—a paste of bread and liquid that is mixed into the meat. Although these yielded moist meatballs, they were too tender and practically fell apart. A panade works in two ways: Its liquid adds moisture, and the bread starch gets in the way of the meat’s proteins, preventing them from interconnecting and becoming tough. But it can result in meatballs that barely hold together. Thinking of other ingredients that lightened food, we turned to baking powder. Combining baking powder and a slice of bread mixed with cream provided moistness, substance, and lightness. To get sausagelike springiness, we took a cue from sausage-making techniques and used our stand mixer to whip the pork with salt, baking powder, and seasonings before adding the panade and gently folding in the ground beef. The results? The panade and baking powder kept the meatballs delicate and juicy, the whipped pork distributed the fat and provided spring, and the barely mixed beef offered heartiness. For the cooking method, shallow frying worked best—it browned the meatballs evenly and cooked them through. The final step was the sauce. Using mostly stock, a bit of cream lightened things, and some sugar helped balance flavors. A splash of lemon juice added just before serving lent brightness to these light, juicy Swedish meatballs.

Brownies TIPS: How to cut them

Neatly cutting brownies can be tricky because half the crumbs end up sticking to the knife, especially if the brownies are really fudgy. Callie Svenson of Tarpon Springs, Fla., found a neat remedy. Instead of using a serrated or chef's knife, she uses a sturdy plastic knife. It glides easily through even the stickiest brownies, picking up no crumbs. See Illustrated Technique

How to Cook Pasta

• Use 4 quarts of water for every pound of pasta. You'll need a very large pot, but this large amount of water will ensure that the pasta cooks evenly and won't clump.
• Forget about adding oil to the pot, but use plenty of salt. Adding oil to the boiling water does not prevent sticking. Frequent stirring does. Skip the oil but make sure to add salt--roughly 1 tablespoon for 4 quarts of water--or the pasta will taste bland.
• Taste the pasta early and often for doneness. Reading the instructions on the box is a good place to start, but for al dente pasta you may need to shave a few minutes off the recommended time.
• Wait! Before you drain that pasta...Take a liquid measuring cup and retrieve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water from the pasta pot. Then go ahead and drain the pasta for just a few moments before you toss it with the sauce. (Don't let your pasta sit in the colander too long; it will get very dry very quickly.) When you toss your sauce with the pasta, add some (or all) of this reserved pasta water to help spread the sauce.

Don't forget to save some water!

Baking Conversion Chart

Published January 29, 2009. From Cook's Illustrated.

Guidelines for converting ounces into grams.

Baking is an exacting science. Because measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by volume, and thus more likely to achieve reliable results, in our recipes we provide ounce measures in addition to cup measures for many ingredients. Refer to the chart below to convert these measures into grams.

Notes: * U.S. all-purpose flour, the most frequently used flour in this book, does not contain leaveners, as some European flours do. These leavened flours are called self-rising or self-raising. If you are using self-rising flour, take this into consideration before adding leavening to a recipe.

* In the United States, butter is sold both salted and unsalted. We generally recommend unsalted butter. If you are using salted butter, take this into consideration before adding salt to a recipe.

CONVERSIONS FOR COMMON BAKING INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENT	OUNCES	GRAMS
1 cup all-purpose flour	5	142
1 cup cake flour	4	113
1 cup whole wheat flour	5 1/2	156
1 cup granulated (white) sugar	7	198
1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)	7	198
1 cup confectioners' sugar	4	113
1 cup cocoa powder	3	85
Butter
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, or 1/4 cup)	2	57
8 tablespoons (1 stick, or 1/2 cup)	4	113
16 tablespoons (2 sticks, or 1 cup)	8	227

Baking Powder N1: Secrets

Published March 1, 2003. From Cook's Illustrated.

Wanting to know whether all baking powders performed alike, we tested four nationally available brands in our carrot cake to see how they fared.

The formulas used to make baking powders today are much more carefully calibrated than when this leavener was first packaged for home cooks nearly 200 years ago, but the chemistry remains the same. Baking powders depend on the inclination of an alkaline substance (sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda) and an acid (originally cream of tartar, but today there are more options) to react and produce carbon dioxide gas bubbles, thereby leavening batters for muffins, cakes, and other baked goods that need a quicker rise than can be provided by yeast.

Baking soda has always been a pretty good buy, while cream of tartar, a byproduct of wine making, has never come cheap. It was first used in prepared baking powders in 1835, but by the 1850s a cheaper alternative, monocalcium phosphate (MCP), was introduced, and it continues to be used in baking powders today. MCP is similar to cream of tartar in that it reacts with baking soda immediately when the two are combined with water. (Cornstarch is a component of all baking powders. It absorbs moisture, thereby helping to keep the acid and the baking soda from interacting during storage; it also helps to disperse the acid and baking soda evenly throughout a batter.) What this immediate reaction means in professional baker's terms is that MCP gives a batter more bench rise (the leavening that takes place before a batter goes into the oven) than oven rise (the leavening that takes place in the oven). This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does require the cook to get the batter into the oven fairly quickly; if not, the baking powder will exhaust much of its leavening power on the bench, and the muffin or cake will not rise as much as it could or should in the oven.

Enter the acidic leavener sodium aluminum sulfate (SAS), added to many baking powders since the beginning of the 20th century. SAS and a compound used interchangeably with it today, sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP), don't react with baking soda and water at room temperature. It's only in the oven, when the temperature rises above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, that their leavening power goes to work. Several top-selling brands of baking powder make use of both MCP and one of the aluminum compounds as a kind of insurance so the home cook gets both good bench rise and good oven rise. (Another popular brand uses only MCP with no aluminum compounds.) The MCP goes to work as soon as liquid is added to the dry ingredients, and the SAS or SALP kicks in when exposed to the heat of the oven. In most such formulations, about one-third of the leavening takes place on the bench and the balance in the oven. These baking powders are all referred to as double-acting, in reference to the fact that the leavening action takes place twice-once outside the oven, once inside the oven.

Does any of this make any difference in the kitchen? To answer this question, we made biscuits, scones, and yellow cake with the aluminum-free brand and baking powders containing SAS or SALP. We then compared the results. Both types of baking powders performed well in terms of creating a good rise; thus, the brands containing aluminum do not guarantee more oven rise as long as the mixed batter made with aluminum-free baking powder isn't left to sit around before baking. The other issue is taste. Critics of baking powders containing SAS or SALP state that these compounds give baked goods a slight but unpleasant metallic flavor. A couple of our tasters could indeed detect a very slight metallic flavor in each baked good made with the baking powders containing aluminum, but most tasters could not discern a difference.

The answer? Aluminum-free baking powders work just as well as brands made with aluminum compounds. If you have a keen palate that is highly sensitive to metallic flavors or if you wish to limit your ingestion of aluminum, choose an aluminum-free powder

Balsamic Vinegar

As said, "COOK´s Illustrated" loves testing different ingredients and tastes and them after consulting with their scientists and nutricionists, give their advise and results....
Ahead find BALSAMIC VINEGAR testings

Enjoy!

May

Published March 1, 2007.

Few foods demonstrate such a wide range in price—you can spend $2 or $200 for one bottle—or quality. Our tasters decode the mysteries of balsamico.

products tested (listed alphabetically)

• Alessi Balsamic Vinegar
• Cavalli Gold Seal Extra Vecchio Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale de Reggio Emilia
• Colavita Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• Lucini Gran Riserva Balsamico
• Modenaceti Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• Monari Federzoni Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• Ortalli Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• Pompeian Balsamic Vinegar
• Progresso Balsamic Vinegar
• Rienzi Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
• Star Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

See Product Comparison Chart

Traditional aged balsamic vinegar, produced in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, can cost $200 per bottle, making even fine French perfume look like a bargain. You can also walk into any supermarket in America and fork over $2 or $3 for a big bottle of balsamic vinegar. What are you really buying in each case? And should you buy either product?

Thirty years ago, almost no one in America had ever heard of (never mind tasted) balsamic vinegar. It was an obscure product made in northern Italy and so highly valued that many families passed along barrels of aged vinegar as part of a wedding dowry. Fast-forward a generation, and balsamic is now the best-selling vinegar in America, accounting for 45 percent of all supermarket vinegar sales. Intoxicated by its big, sweet, caramel flavor, Americans mix it in salad dressing; drizzle it on meat, fish, and vegetables; and add it to sauces, soups, and desserts. Of course, none of this popularity would have been possible if balsamic vinegar had remained a $100-an-ounce extravagance.

A Tale of Two Vinegars

It turns out there are two kinds of balsamic vinegar, and they're made by entirely different processes. The traditional technique takes a minimum of 12 years; the modern industrial method as little as a few hours. The centuries-old traditional way begins with late-harvest grapes (usually white Trebbiano) grown in Emilia-Romagna. The sweet, raisiny juice, skin, and seeds, called grape must, is boiled in open vats until reduced to about half its original volume. This concentrated must is added to the largest of a battery of wooden barrels, which are kept in uninsulated attics in this region where the summers are hot and the winters frosty. The battery comprises barrels of different woods—including oak, cherry, juniper, and mulberry—and sizes. The barrels aren't sealed; they have cloth-covered openings on top to allow evaporation. Each year, before the vinegar maker adds the new must to the largest barrel, he transfers some of its ever-more concentrated contents to the next largest, and so on down the line, before finally removing a liter or two of the oldest vinegar from the smallest barrel. This is traditional balsamic vinegar.

What's more, all this can only happen in two provinces of Emilia-Romagna: Modena and Reggio Emilia, an area designated as a government-protected denomination of origin, or DOP. Each province has its own consortium of experts who approve the balsamic before sealing it in its official 3-ounce bottle (an inverted tulip shape for Reggio Emilia; a ball with a neck for Modena). If you want a guarantee that you're getting true balsamic vinegar, look for the word tradizionale and these distinctive bottles—and be prepared to pay dearly.

All those rules are thrown out the window when it comes to commercial balsamic vinegar. With no law defining balsamic vinegar in the United States, manufacturers supply the huge demand any way they can, coloring and sweetening wine vinegar and calling it "balsamic vinegar of Modena." It may not be the real thing, but could I find one worth using until I hit the lottery?

We began by choosing ten top-selling, nationally available supermarket balsamic vinegars. All were made in Italy, and their prices ranged from $2.39 to $14 a bottle. We tasted them plain, reduced to a glaze for roasted asparagus, and whipped into a vinaigrette. We then tasted several traditional balsamic vinegars for comparison.

Now here's the bad news: Tasted straight from the bottle, there was no contest between supermarket and traditional balsamics. Even the best of the commercial bunch-while similarly sweet, brown, and viscous—couldn't compete with the complex, rich flavor of true balsamic vinegar. With notes of honey, fig, raisin, caramel, and wood; a smooth, lingering taste; and an aroma like fine port, traditional balsamic is good enough to sip like liqueur.

But the news is not all bad. The test kitchen made vinaigrette with both a 25-year-old traditional balsamic from Reggio Emilia and the top supermarket brand from our taste tests—and frankly, in dressing, the traditional stuff did not justify its price tag. In a pan sauce, most of that fine aroma and depth of flavor was cooked away. The lesson was clear: Don't waste your money on pricey traditional balsamic vinegar if you're going to toss it on salad or cook with it. The good stuff works best uncooked, as a drizzle to finish a dish. In vinaigrette or cooked sauce, the sharpness of a supermarket balsamic adds a pleasingly bright contrast to the vinegar's natural sweetness.

The Best Supermarket Option

Among the 10 supermarket vinegars we tasted, some were quite good, others quite awful. Why? An independent lab test supplied part of the answer. Our top choice contained the most sugar; vinegars with the lowest sugar content occupied four of the bottom five spots on the list. This makes sense—the sweeter supermarket vinegars tasted more like the traditional balsamic. It turns out that our tasters also wanted their supermarket balsamic vinegar to be viscous, like traditional balsamics. Lab tests confirmed that higher viscosity tracked with higher rankings.

But sweetness and thickness alone were not enough to guarantee a spot high on our list. The second-sweetest vinegar was also the second most viscous, and it broke the pattern by appearing near the bottom. We were puzzled, until we tested pH levels. This vinegar was the least acidic one tested, and tasters thought it was excessively sweet. So a good supermarket balsamic vinegar must be sweet and thick (like the real deal), but it should also offer a little jolt of acidity.

In the end, we found one supermarket vinegar that appealed across the board, working well both plain and in the dishes we prepared. The manufacturer told us they use must that is aged in the artisanal way for 10 years, mixed with the company's own wine vinegar. It may have come across as "honey-sweet," but this vinegar offered "a nice compromise between sweet and tangy," with a "nuanced flavor" that came closest to traditional balsamic.

Chewy Brownies N2: RECIPE

Makes twenty-four 2-inch brownies.   Published March 1, 2010.   From Cook's Illustrated.

For the chewiest texture, it is important to let the brownies cool thoroughly before cutting. If your baking dish is glass, cool the brownies 10 minutes, then remove them promptly from the pan (otherwise, the superior heat retention of glass can lead to overbaking). While any high-quality chocolate can be used in this recipe, our preferred brands of bittersweet chocolate are Callebaut Intense Dark Chocolate L-60-40NV and Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar. Our preferred brand of unsweetened chocolate is Scharffen Berger. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

1/3	cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2	teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2	cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2	ounces unsweetened chocolate , finely chopped (see note and related illustration)
4	tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted
1/2	cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2	large eggs
2	large egg yolks
2	teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2	cups (17 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 3/4	cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4	teaspoon table salt
6	ounces bittersweet chocolate , cut into 1/2-inch pieces (see note)

Instructions

1.         1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Referring to directions in Making a Foil Sling (related), make sling using the following steps: Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.        2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.

3.        3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool 1½ hours.

4.        4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Chewy Brownies N1

Who is not deeply in love with brownies and have tried several and millions of different recipes????
Most of the times we taste in a friends house a recipe tha
t was incredible, but then, when doing it at home it is just different!

Ok. Here some secrets from "Cook´s Illustrated" Just great! please tell me how did it go!!!!

Cracking the Code to Chewy Brownies

Ever since box-mix brownies appeared on the scene, these industrially engineered treats have held the key to chewy texture. It was high time to break the monopoly.

The Problem

Brownies are a tricky business: Homemade recipes have better flavor, while boxed mixes claim best texture. We were tired of having to choose.

The Goal

Our goal was clear: a homemade brownie with chewiness (and a shiny, crisp, crackly top) to rival the box-mix standard—but flush with a rich, deep, all-natural chocolate flavor.

The Solution

After testing numerous “chewy” brownie recipes, it became clear that to create a brownie with a truly chewy texture, we had to start from scratch. We consulted our science editor to see if he knew of any tricks that boxed brownies use to achieve their chewiness, and he responded with a phrase that would influence the direction of our research: high-tech shortening system.

First, a chemistry lesson: Fat can be divided into two broad types—saturated (solid) and unsaturated (liquid). The right combination of these fats is what gives box brownies their unique texture. Box brownie mixes already come with the saturated fat component, so when a cook adds unsaturated vegetable oil, the liquid fat and powdered solid fat combine in a ratio designed to deliver maximum chew. To get the same chew at home, we would have to discover the perfect proportion of liquid to solid fat.

We devised a series of recipes that all had roughly the same amount of total fat, but with varying ratios. After much trial and error, we homed in on the ratio that produced the chewiest brownie, and sure enough, the box-mix virtually mirrored our results. To combat greasiness, we replaced some of the oil with egg yolks, whose emulsifiers prevent fat from separating and leaking out during baking.

Now we could focus on the chocolate flavor. Because unsweetened chocolate contains a similar ratio of saturated and unsaturated fat to butter, we could replace some of the butter with unsweetened chocolate, thereby providing more chocolate flavor. Espresso powder improved the chocolate taste as well.

One last thought occurred to us: Only chocolate that is melted and incorporated into the batter actually affects the ratio of fats in the mix. Theoretically, we should be able to incorporate chocolate chunks into the mixed batter, and they should have no effect on texture as long as they didn’t melt until the batter started baking. Sure enough, folding in bittersweet chocolate chunks just before baking gave our chewy, fudgy brownies gooey pockets of melted chocolate and rounded out their complex chocolate flavor.