BAKING 101: Junjun De Guzman & Adoree Uy
Our letter senders this week are all bakers with great recipes who want to get into business but want to lessen their costs. I’ve accumulated these kinds of letters so that Adoree and I can answer them for this article. It is such a joy to hear that more and more people are slowly selling their baked products for the general public to enjoy; it is just that ingredients are really getting to be so expensive. I hope all of you readers get to learn from our suggestions.
Q: Hello, Chef Jun Jun and Adoree. I have been making this really good chocolate cake and it’s my mother’s recipe. I tried to sell it in our village but when I did, nobody wanted to buy it due to its high price. How do I bring down its price? -Marichelle of Paranaque
CHEF JUN JUN: I have a feeling that your chocolate cake uses butter in its recipe. You know that you can use margarine and it would not matter that much, since the taste of your cocoa will offset the flavor of your margarine. You can divide the cake into two pieces so that the price will not be as heavy on the pocket of your neighbors as a whole cake. Be simple with your packaging and also try to keep your prices within reach first; when you are famous already then you can command your price.
CHEF ADOREE: Marichelle, I wish you sent your recipe together with your question. It’s quite hard to give my answer without the recipe. In general, the more expensive ingredients used in baking are the dairy products which include butter, heavy cream, sour cream, fresh milk and eggs. Butter can be substituted with butter compound. I’ve tried using the butter compound and I found it to be good-tasting and very comparable with real butter. Heavy cream can be substituted with all-purpose cream. Fresh milk can be substituted with part evaporated milk and part water. Sour cream and eggs are hard to substitute though. I agree with Jun Jun. You can also sell your chocolate cake at a smaller size so that it will be more affordable.
Q: I’ve been trying this great recipe of tiramisu and a lot of my friends have asked me to make some for them. But whenever I tell them how much it is they just look at me and smile. I think they feel that it is just too much to spend for a dessert. How can I lower its price? -Natalia of Alabang
CHEF JUN JUN: If I know you, I am sure you are using the real thing—mascarpone--which you really must since classic tiramisu uses this type of cheese. Mascarpone is quite expensive in our country but there are numerous substitutes. I like working with this one: for every cup of mascarpone use ½ cup of cream cheese, ½ cup of heavy cream with 2 teaspoons of calamansi juice. Mix well until well combined and let rest for 30 minutes. Another area you can save on is the type of heavy cream that you blend into this after you mix it, which can be replaced with all purpose cream. The best tiramisu are those that are aged for two days in the refrigerator.
CHEF ADOREE: You can use regular cream cheese in place of the mascarpone. There will be a slight difference in taste but for the price, it’s okay.
Q: Hi Chefs. You know, I love making pies but I think they don’t like me that much; I have stopped making them since the filling I have for them has syrups that cost an arm and a leg. What do I replace it with? -Marthina of San Juan
CHEF JUN JUN: Syrups, such as light corn syrup, are really expensive but this is an essential ingredient that will make your pie filling so irresistible your clients will not stop ordering. There are cheaper, local brands of syrups that are now available in the market. Go to bigger and more reputable groceries since they will have more brands to choose from and if you have the time, please go to several groceries so that you can research and find out which one sells the cheapest syrup. I have enclosed with this article a really good recipe for pie but I am still thinking what the syrup will be.
CHEF ADOREE: Light corn syrup is hard to substitute. I’m afraid you will just have to charge your clients the higher price your recipe called for.
Q: Is there a method to lessen the butter or the fat that is incorporated into the ensaymada dough? There is just so much butter, egg yolk and queso de bola; all of these ingredients are so expensive. - Mayra of Bulacan
CHEF JUN JUN: You know Mayra, butter, egg yolk and queso de bola are all needed in making your ensaymada soft, moist and flavorful. If you are going to replace them then you will have a different ensaymada all together and it will never be the same as what you really have. I know that true ensaymada doesn’t have that much butter; it has a lot of egg yolk but eggs are not that expensive and you can do something else with the egg whites like meringue cookies or pavlova which I know you will truly enjoy. Regarding the queso de bola, substitute it with cheddar cheese since queso de bola is quite expensive and very rare during this time of the year. You can also search for a cheaper form of ensaymada wherein you don’t have to go through so much rising, or enroll in a good baking school.
CHEF ADOREE: The butter in ensaymada makes it soft so if you will lessen this, your ensaymada will turn out different in texture; same goes with the eggs. For the queso de bola, just use cheddar cheese or Edam cheese.
The recipe of the week will be hard to do with the numerous types of questions you have since there are an assortment of questions. Thank you for all these informative questions which I know all of you will truly enjoy making, reading and tasting.
Version Recipe
GOOEY, OEEY CHOCOLATEEY CAKE
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ cup evaporated milk
2/3 cup cocoa powder, European
¾ cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 pcs eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease line and grease a 9 x 3 inch round pan Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix evaporated milk and cocoa powder. Heat until cocoa is melted. Cool well.
Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with cocoa mixture. Begin and end with flour mixture. Stir well. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Test for doneness using toothpick. Cool completely.
Frost with icing.
For icing:
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups bittersweet chocolate,
chopped finely
1 tbsps light corn syrup
20 gms butter
Procedure:
Boil milk with light corn syrup. Pour into chopped chocolates. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add in butter. Mix well. Ice cake immediately. Cover with shaved chocolates.
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