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