I get as excited over bakeware and cookware in the housewares department of a store as the average man probably does over power tools in a hardware or building supply shop. A KitchenAid stand mixer is, to me, a beautiful machine with infinite capabilities.
The weight of a heavy-gauge bake pan in my hand conjures up a host of delicious possibilities.
But that day, as I held the cake pan in my hand reading the description on the reverse side of the label, I was perplexed.
It read: “Cast aluminum. Premium non-stick interior for easy release.”
My kids had given me a Garland cake pan containing six one-cup cake molds: two Fleur de Lis; two Bavarian; and two Cathedrals.
But I couldn’t fathom why the pan wasn’t producing a perfect product. Not only were the six individual cakes not releasing easily from the pan; they were firmly imbedded in it. Even a knife and spoon couldn’t coax the cakes out of the pan onto the cooling rack.
In my experience, I’ve learned that the general rule for baking is: if the occasion demands a perfect cake, something is bound to fall flat. I stood at the counter with the pan of cakes upside down in my hand, even going so far as to bang them on the counter, but they wouldn’t budge.
Years ago, when all four kids were at home, I baked plenty of cookies and muffins. In my opinion muffins were perfect foods with all the essential ingredients for a good breakfast: warm from the oven and chock full of oatmeal, honey, eggs, milk, fruit and bran. One of their favourite morning muffins was prepared with eggs, bacon and cheese. A delicious lunchbox treat was a Chocolate Coma cookie concocted with slivered almonds, dried tart cherries, chocolate chips, rolled oats, brown sugar, butter and eggs (a top-of-the-line snack in my opinion).
But, back then, if I became distracted and the cookies burned, my oldest son Paul was always there to take care of my mistakes. He liked nothing better—especially in his late teens when his appetite was at an all-time high—than to sit down to a plate of overdone cookies, accompanied by a hot mug of tea, to finish them off.
And that’s why I was so fervently wishing he were home: he might have eaten the cakes right from the pan…all of them, leaving no evidence of my latest baking gaffe.
I thumbed through the bright new Bundt cookbook published by Nordic Ware, looking for directions on how to effectively release the pound cakes, and that’s when I realized my mistake (if in doubt, always read directions after the fact); I had neglected to grease and flour the pans...which made me wonder…what’s the point of calling premium bakeware ‘non-stick’ if you have to grease and flour it to keep it from sticking?
Well…it sounded impressive when she said it, but then it occurred to me: her Nan must have cooked the same recipes over and over for the past 50 years…perhaps even in the very same pans; no wonder she was an expert.
There is certainly something to be said for keeping all those recipes in your head…after all, isn’t that what culture is all about…maintaining the old customs and traditions? But, much as I love and appreciate home cooking in Newfoundland, I still think its great fun to look through a new cookbook, find a new recipe, trade a recipe with a friend, or browse Google for a new dish that has recently been publicized on Food TV.
Few men, when they purchase a new tool, are content with it forever; most are going to fall prey to the latest new gadget on the market. And so it is with me; finding a new recipe or a new way to create the latest dessert is what makes life so enormously exciting.
Next time I bake with my new Nordic Ware Garland Pan you can be sure the end result will be a little nearer to perfection and, although I may not have had all the recipes stored in my head like someone’s Nan, I certainly had a great time trying out the new cake pan, even if I did have to spend the whole evening digging cake batter out of the corners of the Cathedral with a toothpick.
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