flour

Dry and tough cookies and cakes can be caused by badly measured flour.  Do not pack flour in (and shave with a knife) or shake your  measuring cup.  First aerate the flour with a spoon or whisk or chopsticks as Alice Medrich does.  Then lightly spoon flour into measuring cup – just filling it. A cup of flour should weigh about 4.5 ounces.  This will make a huge difference in the outcome of your sweets.

Too much mixing after the flour has been added to the moist ingredients in the batter can also result in a tough cookie or a heavy crumb in a cake – as well as a cake with a high rise – domed top.  Just mix in flour (unless stated otherwise) and really try not to over mix.

peach peeling

My peach raspberry crisp was a failure.  Too soupy and the once crisp topping (now soggy) was laced throughout like cereal in milk.  Bummer.  I managed to eat some of it – but it was not blog-worthy.  Peeling peaches, however, is a blog-worthy skill.  Sorry no other real sweet to discuss.  I did make an interesting raspberry tart with a coconut crust, but I haven’t had the time to write about it!  Next week for sure…

Enjoy the weekend and peaches!

peeling peaches:

Prepare an ice bath (bowl of ice and water).

Bring a pot of water to boil – deep enough to cover the peach.  Using a slotted spoon, dip each peach in the boiling water  for 30-45 seconds.  Immediately place peach into ice bath.  Now pull the skin off with your hands.  You can also use a paring knife or give the peach a quick rub with a paper towel.

If the peach skin is not loose, just repeat the above.