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lauraemily:

noraleah:

“The science of cake”

Much of the tender, melt-in-the-mouth texture of cake comes from gas bubbles, which subdivide the batter into fragile sheets. The majority of this air is added in this initial stage by vigorous mixing of the fat and sugar – a process called “creaming”. Air is carried along on the rough surfaces of the sugar crystals. This is why we use caster sugar, as the smaller the crystals, the more air is incorporated. These bubbles of air are encased by a film of fat, creating a foam.

Via jeanhannah, who writes: This is the best, loveliest article I have read this year.

Like I needed another excuse to bake more!

Dr. Andy Connelly’s (“a cookery writer and researcher in glass science at the University of Sheffield.” what a fantastic resume!!) ability to invoke the smell of browning butter with the turn of a phrase is utterly delightful.

(via jeanhannah)

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lauraemily:

Behold (and try not to vomit)…

The #1 Most Harmful Beverage in America from the popular mall favorite Cold Stone Creamery, or as Aziz Ansari so deftly puts it: “the epitome of american excess and american greed”

Cold Stone PB&C (Gotta Have It size, 24 fl oz)

2,010 calories
131 g fat (68 g saturated)
153 g sugars

Sugar Equivalent: 30 Chewy Chips Ahoy Cookies

In terms of saturated fat, drinking this Cold Stone catastrophe is like slurping up 68 strips of bacon. Health experts recommend capping your saturated fat intake at about 20 grams per day, yet this beverage packs more than three times that into a cup the size of a Chipotle burrito. But here’s what’s worse: No regular shake at Cold Stone, no matter what the size, has fewer than 1,000 calories. If you must drink your ice cream, make it one of the creamery’s “Sinless” options. Otherwise you’d better plan on buying some bigger pants on the way home.

I couldn’t even get a small.  the sizes are like it, love it, and gotta have it?  What kind of crackhead terminology is that? – Aziz Ansari

think before you drink.

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lauraemily:

GPOYW – Spring baking edition

(photo courtesy of Bo Lee)

With Easter coming up, I’m resurrecting this chocolate cupcake recipe, donning my Sunday best, and enjoying the sunshine.

Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from the Cupcake Project):

  • 1/2 C water
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 3/4 C white sugar
  • 1/2 C Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
  • 18 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped into small pieces
  • 1 C unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 egg whites
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine the water, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
  3. In the top half of a double boiler, (I use a do-it-yourself method with a small bowl of chocolate placed in a larger bowl of boiled water, it works exactly the same way.)  melt the semi-sweet chocolate.
  4. Pour the melted chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
  5. Cut the butter into pieces and gradually beat the butter into the chocolate.
  6. Beat in the hot sugar-water.
  7. Slowly beat in the eggs and the egg whites one at a time.
  8. Add in the flour and xanthan gum, beat until the mixture is fully combined.
  9. Pour the batter 3/4 to the top of lined cupcake tins.
  10. Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes, or until the middle sets.
  11. Allow cupcakes to cool entirely before frosting.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 8 oz package Neufchatel cream cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups of sifted confectioner’s sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons of raspberry extract
  • 1 pint of fresh blackberries, washed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer, whip until creamy.  Add confectioner’s sugar to butter & cream cheese mixture 1 cup at a time until fully combined.  Crush, and strain blackberries, add to mixture.  Add extracts, mix until combined.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Decorate and serve with a smile!

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lauraemily:

funemployed:

a quick set of business cards i whipped up for laura, who makes delicious treats that are still super tasty despite their lack of gluten (promise! i’m not just saying that because she’s my friend). you can sample her wares today at the WORD bookstore in greenpoint. if you miss it (sorry for the late post!) you can also often find her at the greenpoint food market.

follow You Can Eat Bread?! on wordpress or twitter for updates.

i have the most supportive and talented friends who have made my forays into gluten-free baking all the more possible.

thank you steph.

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lauraemily:

My 2004 public health graduate thesis topic was the “Association Between Low Socioeconomic Status, Race, and the Increasing Incidence of Childhood Obesity.”  I was admonished by many for pin-pointing race as a predictor of obesity.  At the time no one wanted to admit that there was a disparity between racial cohorts because they were more worried about being politically correct than recognizing that Hispanic and African-American children bore a greater risk of disease burden.

Now, 5 years later, 20% of 4-year-olds are obese.  Not teenagers, not elementary school age children, toddlers.  A diagnosis of obesity under the age of 5 is highly correlated with obesity as a teen and then as an adult.  By turning a blind eye instead of admitting to the problem at hand, minority children have been effectively doomed to a life of co-morbidities and early mortality.

Specific interventions need to be made that target minority communities.  Lack of available grocery stores, unsafe neighborhoods, and drastic cuts in physical education funding in urban schools all contribute to the dismal statistics sited in the linked article.  It’s time that we stop ignoring the numbers and facing facts.