Vinegar, or acid in Baking

 I have been asked so many times these last week of my accidental mixing of apple cider vinegar and how my donuts tasted.  Some people even questioned the judges judgement, funny! 

If people observed, because, in reality you cannot show everything that happened in the kitchen to 12 people on a two hour TV Show, i smelled the vinegar and did not mix  my batter.  I scooped out most of the vinegar, but there was still some left.  How do you fix excess acid in your batter?  Baking soda!  I balanced the cider vinegar with baking soda, to release carbon dioxide, essentially neutralizing it. Baking soda has a lot more effects  in baked goods than chemical leavening!

Italian Meringue Macaron

 Pointers for successful macarons:

•check that your oven is heating to temperature, 290 degrees Fahrenheit,  convection, works well for me

•weigh your ingredients very accurately

•process your almond flour with your powdered sugar additionally in a food processor

• separate your eggs a few hours before using 

• cook your Itslian meringue to 244 degrees

• whip your eggwhites to stiff peaks before adding soft ball syrup

Pear Ginger Baked Donut

 Nonstick cooking spray

• 1 tbsp butter

•1 inch fresh ginger, finely minced

• 2 small pears, about ¾ lb, cored, small dice

 ·2 Tbsps brown sugar

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• 2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon fine salt

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 tsp ginger

• ¼ tsp cloves

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• ¾ c butter, softened___

• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ cup apple cider

• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, convection. Lightly grease 2 (6-cavity)

doughnut pans (or a 12-cup muffin tin) with nonstick

spray

2. Saute ginger in butter about 1 minute. Add pears saute about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder,

salt, 2 tsps teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, powdered ginger and whisk to

combine. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle

attachment, cream butter, brown sugar,

on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well

incorporated after each addition, scraping the bowl as

necessary, add sauteed pears and ginger. Beat in the vanilla extract.

6. Add the flour mixture alternately with apple cider and vinegar mix, and mix to combine.

Scrape the bowl well to make sure the batter is combined.

7. Pipe batter into prepared doughnut pans, filling

them about ¾ of the way. 

8. Bake about 15 minute

Note: If using silicone molds, lightly spray.

note:  Donuts will be very moist and tender,  allow to cool thorougly before glazing, or just fust with powdered or cinnamon sugar

Note:  also good as muffins

Note: when purchasing donut pans, look for a smaller “donut hole”

Maple Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp pear juice or apple cider

1 tbsp maple syrup or 

1 tsp maple flavor