HELP IN MODIFYING RECIPE
Thierry Gerbault
originally sold by Hough Bakeries in NE Ohio, which is now out of business.
I have a recipe which captures the flavor, but I suspect that the bakery
included an amount of toasted wheat germ which lent an interesting texture.
My recipe appears below. I assume that I need to adjust the flour amount
down to compensate for including wheat germ, but I'm at a loss as to how
much. Any ideas?
TIA
Ingredients
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
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Regards, Thierry...
Reply to Thierry...@att.net
- Anything preying on your mind would starve to death.
naghma
like you should subtract the same amount of flour from your recipe as
the amount of wheat germ you add. i.e., if you add 1/2 cup of wheat
germ, use 1/2 cup less flour. hope that helps.
Thierry Gerbault
@posting.google.com:
Thank you... I'll give that a shot.
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Regards, Thierry...
Reply to Thierry...@att.net
- No, I'm not an elitist. Why do you ask, peasant?
Roy Basan
> I've been trying to duplicate a recipe for Butterscotch Brownies as
> originally sold by Hough Bakeries in NE Ohio, which is now out of business.
> I have a recipe which captures the flavor, but I suspect that the bakery
> included an amount of toasted wheat germ which lent an interesting texture.
> My recipe appears below. I assume that I need to adjust the flour amount
> down to compensate for including wheat germ, but I'm at a loss as to how
> much. Any ideas?
>
> TIA
>
> Ingredients
> 1 cup butter, melted
> 2 cups packed light brown sugar
> 3 eggs
> 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
> 2 cups all-purpose flour
> 1/2 teaspoon salt
> 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
> 1 cup chopped walnuts
Hello Thierry,
I have not tried that blond brownie recipe containing wheat germ, as I
seldom use wheat germ for cake and cookie work.
Traditionally, the direct way is to substitute equally in the same
quantity of wheatgerm by weight of the flour. But in your case if you
reduce the flour by replacing that with wheat germ,you will end up
with a weaker cake structure specially if your recipe has that high
amount of fat and sugar.. It will tend to bake longer and the
resulting brownie texture may appear gummy.
Then, I think the practical way is just to add the germ in to the
flour starting at low amounts i.e., from 7- 15% based on the flour
weight .
On the other hand if thought in the opposite way, the rather
viscous consistency of that brownie batter , the wheat germ
particles in it may act like added finely ground/chopped nuts and
there is a possibility of adding more of it;however I will be cautious
until it was proven that small amounts do no harm to the structure and
taste.In some cases even store purchased toasted wheat germ can be
prone to rancidity and off taste and that effect is even carried out
into the baked product..As brownies are stored items(like cookies),
the defect will be more distinct the longer you store the product.
I was wondering about the term interesting texture, for me that has a
broad meaning; it may or may not mean the presence of wheat germ; the
texture may come from variations with other ingredients; such as for
example: the presence of ground nuts and sugar syrups. Unless you
really was able to distinguish the wheat germ presence from that
blonde brownie brought from the already defunct store.
Good Luck!
Roy
Thierry Gerbault
news:95b037df.02093...@posting.google.com:
Roy, thank you for your thoughts and insight. I understand the
ramifications of the two main approaches you mentioned. Earlier today,
before I read your post, I made a batch of these by reducing the flour
and replacing that amount (plus a litte more) with wheat germ. As you
predicted, the results were a little gummy.
I think the approach of simply adding wheat germ may give better results,
and trying this by increments is probably the sensible way to do it.
You asked about my statement regarding texture... I feel fairly certain
that I was experiencing the texture of wheat germ. We purchased these
brownies at least a couple of times a month for a good many years, so I
had plenty of opportunities to try to figure out the components. The
nuts were in generously sized pieces and I couldn't detect any ground
nuts. There could have been syrup in the batter, but I don't see how
that would give this texture. The texture "on the tooth" so to speak,
seemed clearly to be wheat germ, as did the appearance when isolated the
particles.
I did a little research on the company, Hough Bakeries, and learned that
they were purchased (along with their recipes) by Kraft General Foods. I
dno't know what kind of luck I may have, but I have written to the
company and enquired about the recipe.
Thanks again...
--
Regards, Thierry...
Reply to Thierry...@att.net
- I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.