Ingredients Insight

About Nutmeg

About Nutmeg

Highly aromatic nutmeg is one og the oldest cultivated spices. It is the hard stone of the fruit of the nutmeg tree and is covered with a lacy, red webbing that is harvested as a separate spice, mace. Once nutmeg is grated, its volatile oils quickly begin to evaporate and its flavor diminish. So it is better to buy whole nutmegs, rather than pre-ground, and you can grate nutmeg as needed. Use nutmeg grater, a tool with fine, sharp rasps and a small compartment for storing one or two nutmegs, or the finest rasps on a shredder-grater.
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How to Use Coconut Milk

How to Use Coconut Milk

Coconut milk, which is made by soaking grated coconut in water, is sold in cans or frozen in well stocked grocery stores. It is available in full-fat and reduced-fat forms. Do not confuse it with sweetened coconut cream, sometimes labeled "cream of coconut", Use unsweetened desiccated or dried, coconut for the buttercream and for decorating the sides of the cake. To toast dried coconut, spread on a baking pan lined with parchment paper or baking paper and toast in 180 C or 350 F oven for about 3 minutes.
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What is Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder?

What is Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder?

Chocolate is made by crushing roasted cocoa beans into bits or nibs, to produce what is known as chocolate liquor. To make unsweetened cocoa powder, much of the cocoa butter (the fat of chocolate) is removed from the liquor and what remains is ground. Dutch processed cocoa, or alkalized cocoa, has a mild flavor and a rich, dark color due to the addition of potassium carbonate. Non-alkalized cocoa has a bolder taste and lighter color. Dutch processed cocoa reacts with the baking soda in devil's food cake batter to give the cake its distinctive reddish brown color.
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What is Oatmeal ?

What is Oatmeal ?

You do love oatmeal, right? And by the way, how to decide which type of oats to add to your breakfast in the morning? To have the most benefit of oats you must remember that the less processing the go through the healthier they are. Below are the different types of oats from least to most processed: 1. Groats Groats are minimally processed whole oats with just the outer hull removed. They are quite chewy and need a good soaking before use. Groats also take some time to cook. The groats are loaded with nutrients, try throwing some in your…
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What is Sour Cream

What is Sour Cream

Sour cream has become a staple in most kitchens, kept on hand to make quick dips, thicken sauces, and of course, to top baked potatoes. Like its relative, yogurt, sour cream also tenderizes and softens baked goods. Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Though only mildly sour in taste, the name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial fermentation, sometimes referred to as “souring”. Adding bacteria derived from lactic…
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Tips For Baking with Chocolate

Tips For Baking with Chocolate

Since there are now more types of chocolate than ever, here are a few things to keep in mind when you're baking with chocolate: 1. Know the percentages of cocoa matter. These days, many chocolate labels include the percentage of cocoa matter (cacao) in a bar. The cocoa matter includes the flavorful cocoa powder, as well as the fatty, nearly flavourless cocoa butter. For semisweet, that means 45 to 55 percent cacao, for bittersweet between 56 - 70 percent cacao and for dark more than 70 percent. 2. Choose Chocolate brands wisely. Chocolate brands often tout words and phrases such…
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Benefit of Chocolate

Benefit of Chocolate

Chocolate is made from the beans of Cocoa. From the cocoa bean pods the beans are separated after fermentation. Then the kernel of the seeds is broken in small bits which are called as nibs. These nibs are ground finely to obtain what is called cocoa liquor. This liquor when crystallized produces the dark chocolate which is the mother of virtually all other chocolates that are prepared. Sometimes by grinding the nibs fat from the resulting mass is separated which is called as cocoa butter. This along with sugar is used to make sweet chocolate. It’s also been said that…
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