A Pinch of This, a Dash of that

A Pinch of This, a Dash of That
My column from April 1, 2017.

I have trouble following directions. While this applies to many things, such as me lifting my left foot when my physical therapist tells me to lift the right, this character flaw is most visible when I am in the kitchen.

I tinker with recipes.

I clip recipes out of newspapers and magazines. A bookcase near my kitchen holds two shelves worth of cookbooks. Smart phones and tablets give me access to so many recipes online.

I love cooking and baking, but my approach is less “follow the recipe” and more “Hmmm, what if I do this?” While this usually works out OK with cooking, baking is a science, a chemistry experiment that requires precise measurements, temperatures and following the steps.

Working as the features editor for the Lifestyles section allows me to choose what recipes will appear. I confess to experimenting TWICE with the muffin recipe that appears on page C3 this week.

The recipe only makes eight muffins, but I wanted to bring them to the office the first time I made them, so I tinkered with the measurements to get 12 servings. I also did not have raspberries on hand, but my pantry included a jar of blueberry jam begging to be used.

While creaming the butter and sugar, I decided adding a cream cheese filling would make the recipe better.

When I pulled the pan out of the oven, the muffins looked like a “fail.” They did not rise and collapsed in the middle. The muffin tops popped right off.

But the taste? Delicious, albeit a bit messy to eat.

Co-workers helped me get rid of the evidence of my tinkering while I plotted how to improve the recipe.

My plot failed again on round two. Frozen whole blueberries instead of jam and adding an egg and bit of flour to the cream cheese filling kept the muffins from collapsing in the middle, but this batch failed to rise and the muffin tops still are too easy to pop off. I packed up the batch to share with friends.

Making food to share with others is one of my joys in life. I usually make caramel brownies for these friends, but one decided to give up chocolate for Lent and I did not want to tempt and torture her. When we gathered for a visit last spring, I made both chocolate mousse and tiramisu. The first is from a recipe I learned from my mother, and while it is a recipe I do follow exactly, mine never turns out quite as silky and rich as hers does. The tiramisu is an “almost” from scratch recipe. I cheat and buy ladyfingers. I do not recommend making both in the same day unless you have a stand mixer. My kitchen does not include this marvel (although I covet one) so anything that needs mixing or whipping means breaking out the electric hand mixer.

I may try making the muffin recipe as directed at least once to try to determine what I can do to get my tinkered version to rise. And I’ll continue to tinker in the kitchen and share the results.

Update: My mother and stepfather gave me a stand mixer as my Christmas present. I love using it.