Gillian's very Important Baking Tips, or, Creating Frankengillian's Biscuits
First, let me admit up front, I can actually cook. I know most people know this, but I feel the need to reaffirm it publicly. The reasons for this are manifold and will son boe manifest.
In my many years of actual cooking, I forget that I have a pattern. I do my baking for Rosh Hashanah. That's September. It's a good time of year for baking. It was not obvious to me that I didn't do much baking in late December. Nor was it obvious to me that it's 20 years since Ive made pastry on such a warm and humid day. Nor that I was out of bench space (all the shopping yesterday) and was doing all my work on an 8 inch long and 2 inch wide strip next to the kitchen sink.
With all that in mind, here are some tips for saving the perfect recipe from extinction (which is this one, here: http://togs-from-bogs.blogspot.de/2013/01/lemon-things.html ), once you've been daft enough to try to make it when the temperature is 30 degrees and the humidity is palpable.
Tip 1:
If you feel you must bake and you find your perfect recipe, having all the ingredients and having made many similar recipes in the past may not be sufficient. Ask your German Australian friends, ahead of time if this recipe was one of those that worked well for their summer, or if it's one they save for cooler seasons. It tastes perfect for summer - lemon and almond and a rich shortcrust pastry, but that's not the point. I didn't ask. The remaining tips are the consequences of not asking.
Tip 2:
Check the humidity. If it's above 25%, make something else. If it's about 40% and you still intend to cook, have a drink. Maybe have two drinks.
Pastry doesn't like humidity. A metal rolling pin helps a bit. A wine bottle filled with ice helps a bit, but the truth is that there are some days when pastry will not be your best friend. The way to spot these days is when the actual shortcrust takes 30 seconds to make (by hand) because the butter is so wonderfully soft. You should remember at that point that it only just came out of the fridge.
Tip 3:
The butter melting at room temperature is a sign that the recipe is not really suited for hot days. You can deal with this by adding more flour, but the end result won't be perfect.
Tip 4:
Pressing the base into the tin then rolling it sort-of flat works. it's not graceful, but it works.
Tip 5:
Rolling the top layer in tiny bits with extra flour to hand works. It's very patchwork and gives that extra-special Frankenstein's monster look. Some of the ugliness can be softened with a bit of gentle encouragement, as the butter melts again. More of it evens out during the baking.
Tip 5:
Australian summer lemons are not the same as German winter lemons. One Australian summer lemon appears to have as much juice as at least 2 German winter lemons. At least, mine did.
Tip 5:
Tell all your friends that it's experimental. They don't need to know that it came from the perfect recipe...
In my many years of actual cooking, I forget that I have a pattern. I do my baking for Rosh Hashanah. That's September. It's a good time of year for baking. It was not obvious to me that I didn't do much baking in late December. Nor was it obvious to me that it's 20 years since Ive made pastry on such a warm and humid day. Nor that I was out of bench space (all the shopping yesterday) and was doing all my work on an 8 inch long and 2 inch wide strip next to the kitchen sink.
With all that in mind, here are some tips for saving the perfect recipe from extinction (which is this one, here: http://togs-from-bogs.blogspot.de/2013/01/lemon-things.html ), once you've been daft enough to try to make it when the temperature is 30 degrees and the humidity is palpable.
Tip 1:
If you feel you must bake and you find your perfect recipe, having all the ingredients and having made many similar recipes in the past may not be sufficient. Ask your German Australian friends, ahead of time if this recipe was one of those that worked well for their summer, or if it's one they save for cooler seasons. It tastes perfect for summer - lemon and almond and a rich shortcrust pastry, but that's not the point. I didn't ask. The remaining tips are the consequences of not asking.
Tip 2:
Check the humidity. If it's above 25%, make something else. If it's about 40% and you still intend to cook, have a drink. Maybe have two drinks.
Pastry doesn't like humidity. A metal rolling pin helps a bit. A wine bottle filled with ice helps a bit, but the truth is that there are some days when pastry will not be your best friend. The way to spot these days is when the actual shortcrust takes 30 seconds to make (by hand) because the butter is so wonderfully soft. You should remember at that point that it only just came out of the fridge.
Tip 3:
The butter melting at room temperature is a sign that the recipe is not really suited for hot days. You can deal with this by adding more flour, but the end result won't be perfect.
Tip 4:
Pressing the base into the tin then rolling it sort-of flat works. it's not graceful, but it works.
Tip 5:
Rolling the top layer in tiny bits with extra flour to hand works. It's very patchwork and gives that extra-special Frankenstein's monster look. Some of the ugliness can be softened with a bit of gentle encouragement, as the butter melts again. More of it evens out during the baking.
Tip 5:
Australian summer lemons are not the same as German winter lemons. One Australian summer lemon appears to have as much juice as at least 2 German winter lemons. At least, mine did.
Tip 5:
Tell all your friends that it's experimental. They don't need to know that it came from the perfect recipe...
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