If you have trouble removing cakes from pans, no matter how much butter and flour you use to grease them, try the parchment paper technique.
Parchment paper, also called baking parchment or baking paper, is a grease-resistant, moisture-resistant, heavy duty kitchen paper. It is available in rolls, rounds and sheets.
You can find parchment paper in the supermarket alongside the foil, plastic and wax paper wraps, and also in specialty stores.
Parchment paper is different from wax paper. Wax paper is coated with wax, whereas parchment paper is impregnated with silicone. Parchment can withstand oven temperatures up to 500°F. Wax paper purportedly can be used up to 350°F, but we haven’t tried it. Parchment is our go-to-paper.
With parchment paper, cakes lift out easily. Photo courtesy Beyond Gourmet.
There is no need to grease a cookie sheet/baking sheet that is covered with parchment, and cookie sheets don’t need “handles.” Cut the paper to the size of the metal sheet. But if the sides of a cake pan are not fully covered in parchment, butter them.
Another benefit of parchment: it keeps the surface clean, so there’s much less to wash up.
For rectangular cake pans: Line the pan with parchment, leaving 2-3 inches hanging over the long sides. To remove the cake from the pan, just lift by the parchment “handles.”
For round cake pans: Cut enough parchment to create the handles and place in the pan. Top with a round circle of parchment.
Prince William’s favorite, Chocolate Biscuit Cake. Photo courtesy Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon | New York.
Just because you’re not invited to the luncheon following the royal wedding doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it at home.
We’ve got the recipe for Prince William’s groom’s cake, the Chocolate Biscuit Cake of his childhood. It’s also said to be one of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite teatime treats.
It’s a very rich chocolate refrigerator cake, made from ganache and tea biscuits.
The recipe comes from royal chef Darren McGrady’s cookbook, Eating Royally. The book is an opportunity to see what the Royals eat and enjoy the exact same recipes served at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle and Kensington Palace.
Send sweet “Happy Mother’s Day” wishes with this collection of heart and flower cookies from Fancypants Bakery, maker of THE NIBBLE’s favorite decorated cookie gifts.
Why are Fancypants cookies different from other decorated cookies?
These are top-quality shortbread, not dry sugar cookies. You can taste the buttery goodness in each bite.
The cookies are made with all natural ingredients, including enriched wheat flour, butter, pure cane sugar, eggs, vanilla and cream of tartar. Coloring is used only in the decorator’s icing.
And the icing is delicious, too. Having tasted our way through cookies topped with too-sweet and hard-as-cement icings, we know a winner when we find it.
The classic French preparation: asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Photo courtesy California Asparagus Commission.
Asparagus has been popular since ancient times. The spring vegetable was cultivated by the Egyptians, appearing on a frieze dating to 3000 B.C.E.
The Greeks and Romans liked asparagus so much that they dried it to enjoy after the short asparagus season (April-June) ended. The oldest surviving cookbook, De Re Coquinaria by Apicius, has a recipe for cooking asparagus. France’s King Louis XIV built special greenhouses to grow asparagus.
Louis XIV (1638-1715) no doubt enjoyed his asparagus in what is now known as French style: with Hollandaise sauce, a rich sauce made from butter and eggs. In 1651, the great French chef François Pierre de La Varenne (1618-1678) published a recipe for Asparagus in Fragrant Sauce (Hollandaise) in his cookbook, Le Cuisine François.
Asparagus is one of our favorite vegetables: delicious, delicate flavor and only 20 calories per 5.3 ounces, or 4 calories per spear. It’s low in sodium, has no fat or cholesterol and is a good source of fiber, potassium and other vitamins and minerals.
You don’t need a special asparagus pot; a regular steamer does just fine. Enjoy asparagus:
It’s been a long time since we made dip from a mix. Back in college, dip made from sour cream and French’s Onion Soup mix alongside chips and pretzels was all the rage.
We were taken down memory lane recently when we received samples of Lays Dip Creations, dry seasoning mixes in Garden Onion, Country Ranch and Freshly Made Guacamole. (In some parts of the country, the products are branded as Tostitos Dip Creations.)
The packets contain dry seasonings such as onions, garlic and a combination of herbs and spices.
In these days of healthier eating, we’re surprised that the package directions indicate only sour cream as the base. Sure, you can buy reduced fat and nonfat sour cream.
But we substituted 0% Fat FAGE Greek yogurt and loved the result. FOOD TIP: While fat has been called a “flavor carrier,” it actually coats the tongue and inhibits tasting the subtleties of the recipe. The less fat, the more you can taste the seasonings.
Make a healthy, delicious lunch of yogurt- based onion dip and crudités. Photo courtesy Frito-Lay.
We made a happy, healthy lunch of crudités (raw vegetables) and yogurt-based Garden Onion mix, using 0% Fat FAGE Greek Yogurt. We’re always happy when we enjoy something that is so good for us.
We liked the lively flavor of Garden Onion seasoning mix, and have put it on our shopping list.
Ranch isn’t generally one of our favorite flavors, so it wasn’t surprising that Country Ranch didn’t score well with us.
We’re still waiting for the avocados to ripen, so we’ll have to report back on the third flavor, Freshly Made Guacamole.
The dips are all-natural and certified kosher by OU. They are soy free, MSG free and contain no gluten ingredients.
