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Home > Recipes > Recipe Guidelines > Eileen's Recommendations > Baking Hints > YOUR QUESTIONS > Eileen's Links
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| On this page I will be posting some of the emails that you send me with your questions and comments. I will not be able to post all of the emails I get from you, due to space and time limitations, but if you send an email to me and you don't want me to post your name, please let me know, in case I decide to post your email. I will never give out your email address, so please don’t be concerned about that. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you! |
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| Eileen Talanian |
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I began making your Pumpkin Butter Recipe about three years ago, and everyone in my family LOVES it. My husband goes through one batch by himself in a couple of weeks (he eats it on toast, on english muffins and even on pumpkin bread) I have recently gotten a canning pot and was wondering if you knew or had any reccommendations on canning the pumpkin butter so that it would stay good for longer periods of time. I was thinking about just giving it a water bath for the same amount of time as I would for a traditional apple butter recipe, but was hoping you would help me if you knew the correct time period. Thank you so much for all of your help, Hi, Regan, It's not recommended that you can pumpkin butter. Here's a PDF file from the University of Georgia explaining the situation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_can_pump.pdf I've never frozen it, but next time you make it, try putting a jar in the freezer - be sure to leave enough head space for it to expand when frozen - and try it after a month or two. Best, Hi Eileen, I came across your website in a search on the internet. I usually bake several types of cookies at the holidays. I usually tend to stay away from rolled sugar cookies because I have trouble getting the dough to roll out evenly. I was wondering if you have any tips on getting cookie dough rolled out evenly without buying any costly products? I love to see rolled out sugar cookies on my cookie plates because they add a decorated touch, they are just a pain to roll out and get the dough even. Can you help? Thanks. Hi, Lori, Thanks for writing! I'm sorry you have had bad luck with rolling out dough, because cut-out cookies make such a fine addition to a cookie tray. There is a really easy solution to your dilemma. Go to a craft or hobby store (like ACMoore or Michael's) or a well-supplied hardware store and look for square dowel rods. They usually come in a variety of widths, and are generally long enough to cut into two pieces for the application I'm going to describe for you. Buy a dowel that is the diameter of the thickness you would like your dough to be. You want the dowels to be around 18-inches long when you use them for rolling the dough, so keep that in mind when you buy them. If you cannot find square dowels, you can use round ones. When you are ready to roll out the dough, measure the length of the rolling surface of your rolling pin and place the dowels onto the counter, marble slab, or table where you will be rolling the dough, parallel to each other, so they are not as far apart as the rolling pin is long. Tape them down to secure them. Dust the space between them and roll the dough in that space, making sure the rolling pin stays on the rods as the dough thins out. The rods will keep the dough a uniform thickness. Just be sure to keep the dough lightly floured underneath so it doesn't stick to the counter. You can oil the rods with mineral oil before you use them, and they will wipe off easily. They can be re-used many times. I hope that helps. Please let me know how things turn out. Happy Baking! Best, Hi, What is the proper way to use parchment paper? Shiny or dull side up. I can never find any guidelines on the boxes. Thanks, Aleta Hi, Aleta, It doesn't matter which side of the parchment paper you use; both sides are the same, even though they might look a little different. Also, you can re-use the parchment if it's fairly clean after the first use. You can wipe it with a damp cloth and re-use it, and you can also turn it iver and use the other side after one side has been used. This makes it much more economical than people realize. Good luck with your baking! I hope this helps. Best, * Special note: Michael's craft store sells a rolling pin with interchangeable rubber bands of different thicknesses intended for fondant rolling, but it would also work for rolling cookie dough. Eileen, I want to start a homebased business selling my cornbread mix can you please give me any information on how to start ? I really need infor on how to package and sell it and if you know of any free websites that can help me cathreen Hi, Cathreen, The first thing you should do is contact your local health department to see what you are allowed to do from your home. Some local governments don't allow home food businesses, and you should find this out as soon as possible. If you are allowed to do this from your home, you need to look at some packaging companies to find the right bags, boxes, etc., that you will need. The companies can help you find the right product. They will ask you questions about what you are packing, and can recommend the correct type of package for you to use. Put some thought into the look of the packaging if you are going to sell into local stores. It will make a big difference in how your product sells. You should also contact the Small Business Association in your area. They have counselors who can give you guidance about starting up a business in your area. One thing I strongly recommend is setting up a web site so people can get information about your product on line. This will help whether you are selling locally or by mail order. Write to papers and magazines to let them know about your new product. If they decide to write about your product, it can really give your sales a boost. Call first to find out who you should be writing to, and don't send a sample unless they request it. Good luck with your business! Hi Eileen, I found your website while looking for recipes for Plugra butter and have become a fan! Some of your recipes call for European style butter. Some don't. Can you explain why different butters are used in different recipes? And, is there some adjustment to make if you are using a higher fat content butter. Thanks so much! Beth, Atlanta Hi, Beth, Thanks for the kind words about my web site. I personally use Plugra for all my baking, but I can get it from a restaurant supplier, so it's less expensive than in the grocery stores. When I mention it in a recipe it's because I think it's important to use it there (like in the all-butter crust where it makes ALL the difference). It makes a much better rolled butter cookie, also. Here's how to use Plugra in a baking recipe: When you sub for regular butter, you can reduce the amount you use by 15 to 20%. This is because there is more butter fat and less moisture in the Plugra, or in any European butter. The difference isn't only the amount of butterfat; it's also the way the butter is churned. Cookies will hold their shape better, a rolled dough made with it is easier to work with than one made with regular butter. I hope that answers your questions. If not, feel free to email me. Enjoy your baking! Best, Dear Eileen, I would like to know how to soften brown sugar that has become hard when it was stored in the refrigerator. If you can help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks, Hi, Shirley! When I need to soften brown sugar I put it in a microwave safe container, put a moist paper towel in with it, cover it, and microwave it for 20 or 30 seconds. You might need to microwave it more, depending on how powerful your microwave oven is. Hope that helps! Best, Good morning Eileen, I have a very important ?....I am having trouble with my cakes....My oven is level and the temperature is correct.. I use the wrap strips around my pans, BUT STILL the cakes turn out lopsided or bake up in the center and low on the sides......I know I can level them out, but there has to be something else that I am not doing that is making my cakes turn out this way......I am making cakes for people and this is so frustrating. Can you please help me. Thanks much. Hi, Judy, I'm sorry you're having problems with your cakes. It's especially troublesome when you are making them for someone else. If you are absolutely certain that your oven isn't baking too hot, and you are using the strips to keep the edges from setting too quickly, the problem may be that you are overbeating the batter. Try mixing it for a little less time and see if that helps. Good luck! Let me know how things worked out. Best, Dear Eileen, I am making a recipe for zucchini bread that calls for one cup of honey. What can I use instead of honey? I am trying to make it lower calorie to use for Weight Watchers diet. Thanks, Hi, Norma, Honey is 82.4% solids and 17.6% water. So if you replace the honey with something else, be sure to add enough additional liquid (either water or another liquid that is used in the recipe) to compensate for that. That is just under 3 tablespoons water per cup of honey. And just over 13 tablespoons solids (3/4 cup + a rounded tablespoonful solid sweetener). I don't bake with sugar substitutes, so I'm not well-versed in using them, but if you use a sugar substitute, be sure to add the extra water. Good luck! Please let me know how you fared. Best, Hi. Can you please tell me what you think the best pans are to bake cookies on? Thanks, Hi, Jennifer, I like to use professional-style pans, which I have found in packs of three at Costco. I found some non-stick pans of that type, also, at BJ's. They're about the same at both stores: around $16.00 for 3 pans. The professional pans are heavyweight aluminum, and measure approximately 13- x 18-inches with a 1-inch rim all the way around. The light, shiny surface helps bake a great cookie. (Be sure to use parchment paper for the best results.) If you have a restaurant supply store that is open to the public in your area you will be able to find them there. There are a lot of professional pans out there, and many are way over-priced, so be sure to compare prices. Also, be sure to measure you oven. It needs to measure at least 20- x 15-inches in order for the pans to fit in the oven and allow an inch all the way around for air circulation. Good luck with your search. Let me know if I can be of any further help. Thanks for writing! Good morning Eileen, I stumbled across your site accidentally and I thank god I did. It was wonderful...so informative...I can't thank you enough for having it. I have been wanting to start a baking business...aside from making desserts I also am going to do gourmet chocolate covered pretzels and I can't seem to find places to buy the chocolate, pretzels, trays to put them on etc...could you please help me out. I am on the computer all the time and can find nothing. Please help. Thanks so much. Hi, Judy, First, decide what kind of chocolate you want to use. Then call the manufacturer and find out who the distributor is in your area, contact the distributor and ask for a price list, ask what their minimums are, and find out what kind of turn-around time you should expect from them (how long from the time you order to the time you get delivery). Then determine what pretzels you would like to use, and do the same for them. If you have a restaurant food supplier in your area, you may be able to get the pretzels from them in large boxes. Eileen Eileen, What is your favorite material in kitchen countertops for working with pastry and bread dough? I'm having a small island built and intend to use it mainly for rolling and kneading doughs, but I'd also like the surface to be heat-proof. I'm considering stainless steel but wonder if there is a better choice. I'd appreciate your recommendation. Thank you! Holly Hi, Holly, I like to use marble or granite; they are easily cleaned, stay cool which helps the pastry, and are heatproof. Stainless should perform well, also. Enjoy your new pastry-making space! I'm always glad to hear from people who love to bake. Best, Eileen, I have several pound cakes to make and I want to know if I can bake more than one cake at the same time if I'm using a 10 inch tube pan. Karen Hi, Karen! As long as you can leave a couple of inches between the pans, and between the pans and the oven walls, it should be okay. Be sure to rotate the pans halfway through the bake time so the cakes bake evenly. (Swap the locations of the pans and turn them around so the side that was facing the back of the oven now faces the front.) Enjoy the pound cakes! Best, Dear Eileen: I am interested in starting a small home based cookie baking business. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and I now reside in Ridley Park, PA. I would like to know the guidelines I need to follow in order to start my business, for instance: Do I need a commercial size kitchen? Do I need liability insurance? Should I contact the Small Business Administration? Your help and guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance. To Suzanne and all of my readers, This is the question I am asked most often. Many people would like to start their own business from their homes. This is the advice I give: 1. Before you do anything, contact your local health department and local government to find out if you are allowed to have a food business in your home. 2. If it is allowed, obtain the specifications for a home baking business and make sure you can comply with them. When home baking businesses are allowed, most health departments have certain rules that you must obey, for instance, no fur-bearing pets, certain types of counters or floors, etc. It varies by locality. 3. If your local government does not allow home baking businesses, try contacting schools, churches, synagogues and even other businesses to see if they will allow you to rent kitchen time from them. 4. It sounds easy to start a business but it takes a great deal of planning. Be sure you know who your customers will be; are you selling to other businesses (wholesale), or will you be selling directly to consumers (retail)? What will your pricing structure be? What is your competition, and how is their product priced? What makes your product better/different than the competition? 5. Once you begin your business, make certain you do these two things: ALWAYS deliver your product on time, and ALWAYS deliver a consistently superior product. If your customers know they can count on you to deliver a consistently superior product when you promise to deliver it, they will be loyal and grateful. I hope this advice is helpful. Feel free to contact me if you have other questions. Eileen Hi, I was wondering if you could help me with something. I have a recipe for brownies that I really like but it is for a 9x9 pan. This size is small and I prefer using a larger pan. I didn't know if there was a formula to use so I could take the same recipe but use it in a 13x9 pan. I would appreciate any help you could offer. Thanks! Sincerely, Hi, Dawn! Thanks for the email. You can multiply your recipe by 1.5 (increase each ingredient by 50%) and it will fit nicely into a 9 x 13-inch pan. I hope that helps. Best, Dear Eileen, How come milk chocolate melts faster than semi-sweet, dark chocolate and white chocolate? My 10 year old is doing her science fair project on which one melts faster and when we tried it, milk chocolate melted faster than the rest. Is it because milk chocolate has more cocoa butter in it? We would love to hear from you if you know the answer. Thank you, Dear Linda, I did a little research on the web. It seems that the milk proteins make the chocolate very sensitive to heat. There are no milk proteins in semisweet chocolate, and that would account for the difference in melting point between the two. I’ve included a URL for a web page that has some information about this. Good luck with the homework assignment! I hope this helps to answer your question. Eileen Dear Eileen, I have been a fan of yours for quite sometime and having purchased your book and used the American Kitchen for special events. Would you be kind enough to include your recipe for those large shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate? They are by far my favorite. Betsy Hi, Betsy! I will be including the recipe in the near future. Thanks for writing! Eileen Hello, Eileen, I am so frustrated, I was going to make corn bread and while I was mixing it I discovered that there were some black or brown things in the flour. Is that normal? I don't want to bake it until I find out if cornmeal should be all yellow without the specks and things, whatever it is. Would you be so kind to help out with an answer if you happen to know? Thank you in advance. Anne G. Eubanks Dear Anne, It's hard to say, unless I could see the cornmeal, but if it is stone ground, the brown flecks would be part of the whole grain. So if it is stone ground cornmeal, which would be indicated on the outside of the package, then it is probably okay. Eileen
Dear Eileen, Hi, how are you? I hope it is OK to email you about a baking question I have. A while ago we talked about a way to make raw eggs safe in a recipe. I am making tiramisu for a dinner party and it asks me to make the cream using raw eggs. I would appreciate any advice you could share with me. Thanks. Elisa Hi, Elisa! Of course it’s okay to email me! Making eggs safe to use in a recipe that won’t be cooked is pretty easy: Place the lightly beaten eggs in the top of a small double boiler that has been set over simmering water. Insert a candy or instant-read thermometer into the pan of eggs. Using a rubber spatula, constantly stir the eggs while they heat, so they do not form hot areas that curdle (Curdled eggs are scrambled eggs). When the thermometer reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit, remove the pan from the simmering water and pour the eggs immediately into a bowl to stop them from continuing to cook. Any bacterium that was in the eggs is now destroyed, and you can use them safely. To cool them so you can use them in a recipe, fill a larger bowl partway with ice water and set the bowl of eggs into it. Stir until the eggs are cooled. Best, Eileen
Hello Eileen: I love your site! My question is where to find more exotic ingredients. For example, my older son used to be a chef and he suggested I use malt extract in my breads. We live pretty far apart now, so he can't recommend where I find it. I found what is purported to be the BEST BAGEL ever online and it calls for malt extract. I did find it on-line for $1.75 but shipping was $6.75. Any advice? JoAnn Jackson Hi, JoAnn, I'm glad you liked the site. I would recommend that you look for malt extract at a local natural foods store or home brewing store if you have one nearby. You wouldn't have to pay for shipping and you may be able to buy a small amount there. Other than that, the best way to find it is online. The problem, as you said, is paying the shipping costs. However, if you find a site that carries malt extract along with other ingredients that you would like to order, the shipping cost per item decreases significantly. Here is a URL for a page that can lead you to a natural foods store in your area that carries their brand of malt extract: www.nowfoods.com Please let me know how things have worked out for you. Good luck! Eileen Dear Mrs. Eileen Talanian, I must say how much I admire your mission statement and strongly agree. I, too, am a mother and bake all of our family treats at home from scratch. Just recently a teacher of my child's school remarked on how delicious my from scratch cookies were and that I should start selling them. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to start a home baking business? I live in the state of Florida and realize I must probably have liability insurance (any recommendations on reputable insurance food companies?), health inspection permit, a commercial kitchen that rents by the hour if there is such a thing? (I cannot afford to convert my home kitchen to a commercial kitchen it is cost prohibitive), information on having a business incorporated to protect personal assets from the future business. Any start up cookie or baking businesses that have information on how they did it that you highly recommend? I am trying to research anything I can find on how to start this the right way. I have already read the about us section on Mrs. Fields. When she started her home business it was a different era and no food regulations to adhere to. And I found it disturbing that her cookie ingredients list unhealthy hydrogenated fats. Mrs. Eileen Talanian, I am grateful for any advice or suggestions you may have. Thank you again. With warmest regards, Dear Miss Kelly, This is a question I am often asked. It is not easy to start a food business, mostly because of the equipment costs involved. I would suggest that you start asking the schools, churches, synagogues and community centers in your area to see if any of them would allow you to rent their kitchens on a part-time basis. You should also ask some of the local food businesses (although you wouldn’t want to ask anyone who would be in direct competition with your business) and see if they would be willing to share space. Also contact your local municipality or state government and see if they offer programs for start-up food businesses. Some states have what they call “incubator programs” that offer inexpensive spaces for start-ups. Check with your local Small Business Administration also, because they may have information about opportunities in your area. Good luck in this venture! I love that you want to use wholesome ingredients! Best, |
Eileen Talanian is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier and the International Association of Culinary Professionals |
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