Cupcakes, Chemistry, and Philosophy

I have a confession to make! A really big one! You ready for it? (Deep breath)

I have been a faith baker for a long time. I mean, most people I know are. This is how it goes. You open a cookbook, cruise through to the chapter you want, close your eyes and pick a recipe. Then you follow the instructions exactly, set the timer and have full all out faith that it'll all be great. The perfect cake will pop out of the pan and onto the plate into your adoring family's waiting appetites. Right? Isn't that how you do it? 

No! Uhm, really?

Until recently, I never thought about the why's of baking. Why do I put the refrigerated stuff out for 30 minutes? Why do I have to cream the butter and sugar separate from the flour and other dry stuff? Why can't I just mix everything together? Why do I have to use baking soda and baking powder together in some recipes and not in others? Why didn't momma tell me baking powder expires?

Why, WHY, WHY???

My most recent 'Why' was, "why is it so hard to zest lemons and limes and oranges???"

The answer!! Because I was doing it wrong. Hmmmm, that answer can cover a lot of different areas, but I'm not going there today. 

So here's the best way to zest...

First - don't forget to wash your yummy pieces of fruit. 

Slice off both ends of your lime (or lemon or orange)...like this. 

Set your lime up on end and with a paring knife, carefully cut between the pith and the peel. No really...the pith. I'm not lisping...for real. The pith is the white part of citrus peel we tend to throw away. 

Okay, now that you have some nice peel sections, look them over. If any pith snuck into your nice peeled section, it's okay. Just carefully use your knife and strip it off like this. 

Now, julienne your pieces of peel (cut into very small strips). Now dice the strips into very small pieces. 










Perfection! Ready to provide little bursts of delicious lemon flavor.

Here's a reminder of what using a grater looked like. Notice how wet it looks. That's the lemon oil we actually needed to flavor our icing. The majority of it's been left on the grater. 

Here's a freebie...it's actually easier to juice a lime with the ends cut off and I actually got more lime juice. Go figure. 

So with that lesson over, let's move on.

Today, no chemistry lessons. The hows and whys of baking powder and baking soda and eggs and sugar and flour - way cool stuff! I promise. But no chemistry today. 

As for philosophy...we had a small amount at the beginning. The faith of baking...or was I really talking about life. You can learn a whole bunch about life in the kitchen. Every time I try a new recipe I'm praying it comes out good. I have to clean up my messes as I go. I don't give up when I fail at a recipe. Sharing the yummy stuff that I make is much more fun than keeping it all for me...even the chocolate goodies. See, a short lesson! 


That's all for today,

Don't forget to Eat Dessert First!

Terri Milton
She Makes Cupcakes