Bake with Cheryl Rajkumar

Kitchen Kemistry’s Bake Pod -
https://m.facebook.com/groups/120229122034066

Recipe for P**l ice/ milk popsicle posted in https://m.facebook.com/groups/120229122034066

Click the link and join in to view the detailed recipe with loads of tips to reduce ice crystals, how to get a creamy consistency without using stabilizers, importance of ingredients et al. Watch out for interesting recipes and details on Gelato, Sorbet, FroYo, No churns, Popsicles and paletas and more frozen yummies.

Recipe for the vegetarian mirror glaze posted here. Click the link and join in to view the detailed recipe and video.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/120229122034066

Home made sour cream. Recipe posted in Kitchen Kemistry’s Bake Pod. Link given below. Click and join the group for more baking recipes, tips and techniques.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/120229122034066?tsid=0.8551092186165133&source=result

Yippee!!! It's 100 days to Christmas!!
Winter begins in November/ December. Wind chills. Frosty mornings. Frigid temperatures. Naked plants and trees. Heavy clothes. Dampness and darkness. Large gas bills. These are some of the not so pleasant things.

Mulled wine and warm cider. Soups and breads. Baking fruit cakes and Christmas pudding. Christmas tree and nativity decoration. Ornaments and icicle lights. Buche de Noel and candy canes. Hymns and carols. Santa and the fire place. Poinsettias and pine trees. A brand new year and few carried over un-kept resolutions. These are some of the pleasant things.

Personally, I love Christmas. I love cooking and baking that is filled with tradition. Stir up Sunday to bake the flaming Christmas pudding, Buche de Noel/ Yule log for the Christmas eve dinner, Peppermint in candy canes that also serve as a remedy for winter colds, Egg nog/ Egg milk punch to toast on one’s good health, Gateau des Rois/ King’s cake in honor of the three wise men for Epiphany and lots more.

Few more weeks to Christmas! It’s time to soak the dried fried fruits to bake mystically melting fruit cakes. I’ve been baking fruit cakes since 2011. Not too long though! But I’ve baked hundreds of pounds. It's the quintessential Christmas favorite of my family and friends. I’ve experimented quite a bit with different types of fruit mix, different alcohol and liqueurs, non-alcoholic substitutes, different versions with jeweled fruits, subtle fruits, bold fruits et al. I must say, it’s labor intensive, time consuming and a pricey project. The process takes muscle as well as makes a big hole in the wallet. I tend to lose few pounds when I bake large quantities of fruit cake. One needs to plan ahead of time – choosing the type of dried fruits and nuts, soaking liquid (alcohol or non-alcoholic), appropriate packaging, long term storage etc. Despite the elbow grease spent, I enjoy whole process. I love the aroma of warm spices wafting in my home. To bake a fruit cake that is dense yet moist, bursting with deep and rich flavors, pleasantly spicy and without overpowering booze, you need to soak the dried fruits.

So, what’s the hype about soaking dried fruits? What dried fruits do I soak? What alcohol do I use? What if I do not prefer alcohol, is there a substitute? That’s what this post is about. I do not claim that my suggestions are traditional and right, but these are tried and tested over months to know the results. Do try out if you’re convinced. Traditionally dried fruits are soaked three months to six weeks before Christmas. The longer you soak the fruits the better. The cake is baked a week or two before Christmas and fed/basted with alcohol. These two weeks help the fruits mellow and mingle with alcohol, flavors mature and the cake ripens.

For information on what fruits to soak, how long to soak, what alcohol to use, how to make candied citrus peel, candied ginger, spice mix, treacle/ molasses substitute, Black jack, nut mix, Non-alcoholic substitute, Rum extract/ essence, Trouble shooting, Check this - https://kitchenkemistry.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/christmas-fruit-cakes-tips-and-more/

Here’s the first boiled fruit cake recipe I tried in 2011 - https://kitchenkemistry.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/christmas-2011-and-delectable-delights/

Fruit cakes are a labor of love. Take care of those precious babies and they will taste divine.

Hello wonderful folks,

Today I have something to share with you all. Nay! Not a recipe or baking tip. It's something that made me smile and be thankful for the kind of people I come across in life. Very few know that I was in the service industry (Pediatric Cancer Research to be precise) for over a decade. It was a demanding and stressful job. In short, a thankless job because you're taken for granted most of the time. When I started this baking venture, things weren't different. It was 'old wine in new bottle'.Now a days, nicety is rare commodity. But messages like this gives me hope that manners and kindness exist.

I received this email a couple of days back from a complete stranger who found the recipe I shared to be good. She's taken time to reach out to me, thank me and wish me success. Honestly, I felt absolutely thrilled and re-booted my energy levels to carry on with what I love to do despite a million hurdles.

Here's sharing the mail I received. This not to blow my own trumpet but to reinforce kindness among us. Take a minute to read and get the ball rolling. I mean thank someone today. You have no idea what that may mean to a sulking soul. Take time to thank someone who helped you someway. Feels good :)

Hi Cheryl,

I'm # # and I live in # # # # # # # # #. I am writing this email to thank you for the wonderful butterscotch cake recipe you had posted a while ago.

I am an amateur, hobby baker. I saw the butterscotch slice photo you had shared on Facebook and I was tempted to make it. Butterscotch has always been my favorite flavor and I never thought I will make it myself. I followed your recipe exactly and the cake turned out to be absolutely delicious. I filled it with vanilla butter cream and frosted it which chocolate ganache. To say that my family and friends enjoyed every bite would be an understatement!

Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe. I am sure I will make this more often.

I have always admired your cakes and love reading all your descriptions. Although I follow a lot of bakers, I must say that your cakes are unique. You are extremely professional and I can see that in every single post. Your recipes are always to the point and easy to follow.

I wish you great success and happiness in everything you do. Thank you once again.

Regards,
# #

Thank you for the kind words.💙💙💙

Happy Baking,
Cheryl.

Icing nozzles / Piping tips for butter cream piping. NOT FOR SALE.

Neha approached me with a wishlist to scratch bake classic cakes and prepare a variety of melt-in-mouth frostings for her friends and family. Prior to this class her exposure was recipes off the internet and videos to bake decent dry cakes which was a hit or miss. But she wanted more than just recipes. So we had a telephonic conversation, long messenger chats, and exchanged detailed emails to understand her expectations from a one-on-one class which helped me tremendously to sketch out the class syllabus and it's practical application. The aim was to learn the right baking techniques that can be implemented to achieve a successful outcome. Baking is not about recipes. It's the correct practical application that will eventually give the knowledge to identify flaws and rectify in time.

We decided to spread the intensive hands-on class over two days (4 hours each day) to cover the following.

1. Basic baking principles
2. Understanding ingredients (stabilizing agents, tenderizing agents, leavening agents, shortening agents)
3. Measuring ingredients (dry ingredients and wet ingredients)
4. Preparing ingredients (temperatures, swaps/subs, formula to calculate recipes)
5. Basic baking tools.
6. Types of cakes
7. Cake mixing method
8. Chemical changes happening when cake bakes in the oven.
9. Cake storage
10. Recipes (detailed notes and hands on)
- Ganaches (Regular, soft, firm)
- Perfect American buttercream frosting
- Swiss meringue butter cream frosting (coloring butter cream, troubleshooting, storage, 60 flavor variations)
- Whipped cream cheese frosting
- Fruit fillings for cakes
- Classic vanilla cake (creaming and reverse creaming) with 14 variations
- Rich chocolate cake (creaming with liquid fat and modified high ratio method) with 14 variations.
- Butterscotch cake (creaming with mixed fat)
- Red velvet cake (all in one method)
11. How to construct a double barrel or tall layered cake with butter cream or ganache.

Practical application

1.Celebration cake - 9 inches tall double barrel cake. Flavors - Madagascan vanilla layer cake filled with mango berry filling and covered with vanilla frosting.
2. Rich chocolate cupcakes - Valrhona chocolate cupcakes filled with ganache and piped with strawberry butter cream rosette swirls using open star nozzle
3. Doll cake - Butterscotch cake with rum flavored butter cream frosting.
4. Semi clad cakelette - A three layer 4 inch red velvet cakelette with whipped cream cheese filling and frosting.

All ingredients and tools provided. As a policy, we use organic unbleached unbromated flour, organic cane sugar, organic sweet cream butter, organic pasture raised eggs, couverture chocolate (Lindt), premium quality cocoa powder (Valrhona), seasonal organic fruits and food colors.

Post class follow up - I check on my private class students about their progress and help if they're stuck with a project, help with design elements, propel towards improved techniques and recipe source to bake confidently. She baked her daughter's b'day cake. I'm delighted and proud to know she can pull off different types of cakes without ado. She has taught herself to do fondant accents and did a baby shower cake. All the best, Neha. Happy Baking!

A bunch of healthy smoothies!