Baking has been a part of my life about as long as computers have. Technology helps me stay organized, write papers, communicate, research and keep up with what’s new. I’m rarely without my computer (or my Dash) because I believe that staying connected is how I stay sane. Baking, on the other hand, has always been my escape from all my various obligations and compulsive scheduling. I love consulting cookbooks, trying new recipes and sharing the sweet treats with friends and family.
At a recent family gathering, my cousin suggested I experiment with cake baking after having several slices of the Mocha Semifreddo I made from an online recipe. Cakes are not completely foreign territory (I mainly do cookies, brownies, bars, breads, crisps). I’ve just haven’t spent a lot of time trying them out. Since I had found success with a few different dessert and many dinner recipes on Foodnetwork.com, I decided to start there.
Well, needless to say, I was disappointed — twice. Where were the good cake recipes hiding? Instead of continuing my search online, I reluctantly turned to my trusty cookbooks. I couldn’t believe that my computer might not have the answer I was looking for. But after four dozen disenchanting cupcakes, and reading hundreds of online cake recipes, I needed to do something different.
After returning to a printed and bound baking resource, I not only made a divine two-layer chocolate cake (with ganache) but had several questions about online recipes:
- You add everything in at once? Several of the recipes didn’t have detailed directions on how ingredients needed to be combined and arbitrary oven temperatures. Sure, a veteran cake baker would “just know” what needed to be done, but a cake novice would need a little more guidance.
- Are there any editorial standards for their online recipes? Even though the recipes came from The Food Network’s site (a channel I watch often and trust for good advice), they lacked authority to me. Are they copied from cookbooks or just an approximation?
- Four out of Five Stars? Ah, customer reviews. Love ‘em or leave ‘em? I wish I would have read the actual comments instead of just looking at the overall rating. We rely on our friends and family to give us honest feedback about what we cook, so why wouldn’t we do the same online?
Since the cupcake debacle I’ve found several other food communities that show a lot of promise. Opensourcefood.com and Delicious:Days provide background on the inspiration, recipe and community comments for the dish all in one place. Plus, you can have a conversation with the recipe maker if you have questions. So, I haven’t given up on online recipes, but I’m not letting go of any of my cookbooks any time soon.
How do you stay current with food trends? Do you use online recipes or stick to your books? Ever posted a recipe online?
August 13th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Kara,hopefully you won`t laugh at me for linking this website, but I use it a lot and the recipes are great. They have a printed cookbook as well as e-book. http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/
I occasionally use web sites for recipes, but find it`s time consuming to find the right one. On the other hand I have around one hundred cookbooks and have book marks in the favorites.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Although I am not a baker, I consider myself a creative cook! When I need to be inspired, I will check my cookbooks and have even gone on-line to find a new idea. One site that was easy to navigate and had great recipes with reviews by people like me is sponsored by Nestle: VeryBestBaker.com I think it is a great website for the casual baker with easy to follow instructions and a variety of recipes. Happy baking!
August 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Kara: I’m so glad to see that you still have time to “bake”! As you know, I don’t bake (’cause I have Granny!) but I am rarely disappointed with Food Network recipes - at lease the savory ones. Nothing will ever take the place of my Cookbooks. Recipes are like everything else written - some good and some not. Baking is more scientific - things need to be precise. That is probably why I don’t enjoy baking.
I’ve never posted a recipe online and probably won’t, but I constantly look for new and challenging recipes and enjoy creating them. It’s so exciting to make something you’ve only read about and then eat it - jc