“Aw man! This pie doesn’t taste at all like what grandma use to make! I’m must be a terrible baker:(“
Maybe! Or maybe one of many things might be different from the recipe you’ve been trying to follow
Baking is largely both a science, and bullshit. Anything from the altitude you’re at, or the mosture in the air, or the way you’re measuring ingredients (ie weight vs volume) can effect how your final result of what you’re making will come out. A few examples just in my grandmother’s Apple Pie recipe are
Her recipe calls for Crisco in the crust, but Crisco changed their formula in 2007, effecting the taste and texture of the crusts made, so adjustments have to be made to account for that
The Apple tree in her backyard is gone, and no apples sold commonly in stores are similar to whatever random variety she had, and there are over 7,500 known varieties of apples
Not all flour that you buy from the store is the same, and I’m not just even talking about like. Cake flour vs wheat flour. Even in the US the kind of regular baking flour differs depending on where you live, and where it’s sourced from
So will I ever make that Apple pie I remember fondly from my childhood? Probably not! Just gotta figure out my own thing that works.
I dunno why I made this post at 6am. Just shit to keep in mind next time you’re struggling with an older recipe I guess!
Needed to see this. Thank you :)
The best thing to do for flour is checking proteins. For example for noodle making I ended up having to go to a Korean flour brand. APF works, yes, but the protein content in American flour leads to more potential tearing. It’s delightful, and strange, how science based baking and cooking is.
I went to chef school primarily for baking and whenever people talk to me about how they’re bad at baking (versus cooking) it’s always so nice when that clarity and perspective shift helps them get into baking with a whole new appreciation and excitement to experiment 🥰
