PERFECT MERINGUE

The will to achieve a perfect meringue topping for your pies.
Instructions (212)
1
Beat the egg whites thoroughly or else the meringue can fall because the sugar crystals aren’t incorporated throughout the egg whites. This is a common mistake
2
Start by separating the eggs while they are still cold. This helps the whites to fall away from the yolks easier. After separating the eggs, allow the egg whites to come to room temperature before you start beating them. The warmer whites whip up to a fluffier consistency and hold the air better.
3
Add the salt and cream of tarter to the egg whites when they get to the foamy stage. This ensures the egg white mixture achieves a good volume, which the cream of tarter helps to maintain.
4
Spread the meringue all the way across the pie, making sure the topping overlaps the crust all the way to the edge of the dish. Doing so minimizes the shrinkage of the meringue top during the baking process.
5
Follow your recipe’s baking instructions to achieve a beautiful meringue top. But keep in mind that you may need to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the meringue. Smart bakers keep a close watch on the oven and remove the pie when the tufts and peaks of the meringue reach a wonderful golden brown.

Food and WineTechniques Weep-no-more lemon meringue pielemon
Holly Stewart – Sunset

Foolproof Lemon Meringue Pie
“Why, oh why, does my lemon pie always weep?” writes Nadia Niles from Los Angeles. Or have a saggy meringue? Or fall apart when cut? These woes, and more, are frequently sung in chorus for this all-time favorite dessert.
And, after making this pie for days on end ? to weed out fact from fiction ? my sympathy bordered on self-pity. But persistence prevailed, and here are the secrets for success.
WHY DOES THE PIE FILLING GET WATERY?
For a lemon filling that’s glossy and translucent, and firm enough to cut yet melts in your mouth, cornstarch is the thickener of choice. It’s also a risky one because heat and acid (in the lemon juice) can destroy cornstarch’s ability to thicken or stay thick.
Happily, the most foolproof way to make a perfect lemon filling is also the easiest. Just dump in the ingredients ? in a specific order, with a combination of cold, then hot water ? and cook them together. As the starch granules swell with the heating liquid and begin to form a thickening network, the sugar and egg yolk proteins join forces, like suits of armor, to coat and protect the starch at its vulnerable bonding points from the effects of heat and acid.
WHY SHOULD THE FILLING BE HOT WHEN YOU TOP IT WITH THE MERINGUE?
Steam billowing from a hot filling quickly passes through the baking meringue instead of lingering at the filling-meringue interface. However, some of the steam will collect near the surface of the meringue. As the meringue cools, it contracts (shrinks) slightly ? just enough, after a few hours, to pop this moisture onto the surface in tiny golden brown droplets, or beads. The beads form faster if the weather is humid or if the pie is chilled. A tiny bit of cornstarch (such as in the recipe here) whipped with the sugar into the meringue traps some of this moisture and reduces beading.
If the meringue is swirled onto a cool filling and baked, steam in the reheating filling just reaches the meringue. As the pie cools, the steam condenses to form the sweet weeping (sometimes a pool) under the meringue. And when the pie is cut, the meringue is inclined to slip off the wedges.
WHY DOES MERINGUE SHRINK?
As egg whites are beaten, they stretch and trap air bubbles. The size and strength of the bubbles determine the durability of the meringue. Small, even bubbles are more lasting than big, uneven ones.
An acid, such as cream of tartar, makes egg-white bubbles stronger. Add it before beating the whites into a coarse foam. To further strengthen the protein in the whites and force the bubbles to break into firmer, tiny ones, gradually beat in the sugar. When the foamy mass is glossy and holds distinct peaks, the bubbles are still flexible enough to swell when heating air expands in them as the meringue bakes. If sugar is added before a coarse foam is established, the whites get too stretchy to make a stiff foam. If you add the sugar too fast, the granules won’t dissolve and the bubbles will be uneven. If you overbeat the whites, the meringue loses its gloss and the bubbles are stretched to their maximum; when heated, they pop and drain liquid. In underbeaten egg whites, the insufficiently developed bubbles break and drain.
However, even perfectly whipped meringues are relatively short-lived (unlike hard meringues, which are made with twice as much sugar and linger forever). Heat firms the pie meringue, and one that is baked longer at a lower temperature will hold up better than one baked briefly at a high temperature. As the meringue cools, the air in the bubbles contracts and causes slight shrinkage. Eventually, the bubbles sag, moisture drains from them, and the mixture gets gummy and chewy.
LINDA LAU ANUSASANANAN

Would you like to adjust your favourite recipes for your slow cooker or pressure cooker? It’s easier than you think! With these simple steps, and a few key recipes to test them all out on, you’re sure to find success every time.
Adjusting a recipe for the slow cooker
A whole range of stews, curries, bakes and braises can be easily adapted for the slow cooker. Follow these simple steps to ensure success.
Step 1: brown your meat
Meat will not brown in a slow cooker and needs to be browned on the stove top before being added to the recipe. This will greatly enhance the flavour, keep the meat succulent and cut down on the fat in the final dish.
Step 2: fill it correctly
Be aware that most of the heat comes from the sides of the slow cooker. To make sure everything cooks properly fill the pot between half to three-quarters full.
Step 3: adjust the liquids
In the slow cooker everything’s cooked covered at a low heat, preventing the liquid from boiling away. To avoid being left with a huge pot of sauce use around half the liquid specified in the original recipe.
Step 4: add dairy later
If the recipe calls for dairy add it in the last hour of cooking to prevent it from curdling. Evaporated milk won’t curdle and can be used at the time the recipe specifies.
Step 5: add rice and pasta last
Rice and pasta become starchy when slowly cooked, so cook them separately and add them to the pot just before serving.
A guide to times
Once you’ve followed these steps, use this handy guide to ensure you get the slow cooker conversion times right.
Original recipe Low setting High setting
40-50 minutes 6-10 hours 3-4 hours
50-60+ minutes 8-10 hours 4-5 hours

– Best Recipes.com.au
By Cassie Harrex

Answer:
Both baking soda and baking powder are leavening agents, which means they are added to baked goods before cooking to produce carbon dioxide and cause them to ‘rise’. Baking powder contains baking soda, but the two substances are used under different conditions.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. When baking soda is combined with moisture and an acidic ingredient (e.g., yogurt, chocolate, buttermilk, honey), the resulting chemical reaction produces bubbles of carbon dioxide that expand under oven temperatures, causing baked goods to rise. The reaction begins immediately upon mixing the ingredients, so you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately, or else they will fall flat!

OM ‘N KOEKIE GIS MET KITS GIS TE VERVANG

1 koekie gis is 25 g wat dan 15 ml kitsgis is.

Ek is seker jy kan die saamgepeste gis vervang met kitsgis.

WORK IN AN ORGANIZED FASHION

Follow this routine WHENEVER you bake ANYTHING, no matter how small. It will soon become a habit and baking will be a pleasure for the rest of your life.

1) Read the recipe right through to the end, ingredients and method. Make sure that you understand each technique.

2) Check that you have all the ingredients AND all the equipment on hand, including the right size baking tins or dishes.

BEFORE you start mixing:

1) Switch on the oven to preheat. (Remember that once the baking powder or bicarbonate of soda is activated the product must be put into the oven without delay, thus add right at the end of mixing process).
2) Prepare your baking tins / dishes, grease, spray with non-stick spray, line, etc.
3) Weigh and measure out ALL the ingredients.

While the product is in the oven, do the following:

1) Put the oven gloves and skewer for testing near the stove.
2) Place the cooling rack in a draught free position.
3) Wash all the dishes, wipe down surfaces and equipment used and clean your kitchen.

Louise Groenewald

OM KOEK VARS TE HOU

Indien jy koek wil vars en sag hou, plaas ‘n sny bruin brood bo-op die koek, dit sal sorg dat die koek heerlik vogtig bly.

Indien jy ‘n koek bietjie te lank gebak het en die kante is hard, pak bruinbrood snytjies reg om die koek, maak vas met lint en bere oor nag, more sal hy heerli sag wees.

Wanneer droe wors te droog geword het en hard is, pak dit sam met ‘n sny bruin brood in ‘n bakkie, en die volgende dag sal die wors heerlik klam wees

Dries Von Weidtz