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Joan asks: I’m looking for a recipe to make a white or yellow cake with jam filling—I have lots of strawberry freezer jam I’d like to use. Have any recipes or recommendations? Can I just make a regular layer cake and put jam in it? Or will it all soak into bottom layer?
Baking S.O.S. says: You are exactly right: You can simply make a layer cake and spread jam in between the layers. It will help keep the cake moist, plus it adds more flavor. The only drawback is that you don’t need a whole lot of jam–just a thin layer–so it probably won’t use up too much jam if that is your ultimate goal. (I’m thinking strawberry jam over ice cream would be a tasty accompaniment, though!)
One thing I really like is a strawberry & cream cake: you could use strawberry jam and whipped cream or pastry cream (or vanilla pudding for a quick & easy substitute) to fill in between the cake layers: delicious!
 I read a newspaper article recently about Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. In the article, a woman was attempting to make pancakes from scratch for the first time in her life. She didn’t know how to make pancakes that didn’t come from a box mix. Unfortunately, her experience represents that of most Americans.
Beth asks: I love to bake, but mostly stick to the basics. On occasion, I want to try a recipe that calls for bread flour or self-rising flour. Is there something I can add to all-purpose flour as a substitute?
Baking S.O.S. says: You CAN substitute all-purpose flour for self-rising flour with the following adjustments: For every 1 Cup of flour, add 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt.
As for bread flour, it is different from all-purpose flour in that it is made from higher-protein wheat which contains more gluten. Gluten provides structure to baked goods. Gluten is necessary to provide a strong structure to baked goods like bread and rolls. But gluten is NOT desirable in products that should be more tender like cookies and cakes.
Sooooo. . . bread flour is best for breads and rolls. But is isn’t absolutely necessary. You can still make bread with all-purpose flour. Your bread will probably turn out more tender; the dough may be softer to work with. Try kneading the bread dough a little longer to really develop the gluten.
Anthea asks: Regarding flour for cakes: what’s better to use, all-purpose or self-rising? I baked humming bird cake recently with self-rising flour + baking powder (no baking soda). The cake ended up play dough-ish. I live in Australia, and my local supermarket doesn’t sell/stock all-purpose flour. How does one make all-purpose flour?
Baking S.O.S. says: I am going to start by assuming that self-rising flour in Australia is about the same as self-rising flour in America. (I hope that’s right!) But unfortunately, self-rising flour can vary by brand. Most contain added baking powder and salt and sometimes baking soda, too.
Typically, the best way to substitute self-rising flour for all-purpose flour is to simply omit the baking powder and salt from the recipe.
To be more exact, the ratio is: for every 1 Cup of flour, omit 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt.
When you have too much leavening in a recipe, it can cause the cake to rise too high and then fall flat, and my guess is that is why your cake turned out like play-dough. If you added baking powder to self-rising flour, it probably had too much leavening and actually became more dense rather than lighter. (I have done the exact same thing, too–very frustrating!!!)
One other suggestion: all leaveners (baking soda & baking powder) lose their effectiveness over time. If your self-rising flour is old, it is possible that your cake will not rise sufficiently because the leavening is no longer effective. This could have produced a dense cake, as well.
I hope one of these suggestions will help. Good luck!
 Quick Tip of the Day: If you don’t have time to make frosting and decorate sugar cookies with elaborate icing techniques, try using colored sugar sprinkles instead. To help the sugar sprinkles adhere to the cookies, lightly spritz the unbaked cookies with water from a spray bottle, then sprinkle with colored sugars. This will help the sugar stick better, and the sugar will melt into the cookies a little as they bake. Quick, easy, and tasty!
Kirsten asks: I am making pie dough with lard. When I try to roll it out, it is dry and crumbly. What should I do to fix it?
Baking S.O.S. says: As with any pie dough (regardless of the type of fat used), if the dough is dry and crumbly, try adding just a little bit more water to moisten it and bring it together in a ball. Be certain the water is ICE COLD, and add just a few drops at a time. Pie dough can become too wet very quickly, so err on the safe side and add just a little at a time until the dough comes together in a neat ball.
Next, flatten the ball in a disk shape, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. This relaxes the gluten in the flour and makes it less elastic, meaning the pie dough will roll out more easily.
Note: The importance of using ice cold water is to keep the fat in the pie dough (lard, shortening, or butter) from melting. Cold pieces of fat will create a flaky pie crust. Warm, melted fat will turn your pie crust mushy.
Anthea asks: How can I fix dense heavy cakes such as fruit (i.e. carrot or apple) or yogurt or sour cream-based cakes? My cakes have a lovely crust, but the main part inside is like play dough. Thank you.
Baking S.O.S. says: Since you are asking specifically about cakes made with fruit and yogurt or sour cream-based cakes, my first guess would be that you need more baking soda–a base–to counteract the acidity of the fruit or yogurt or sour cream. Please refer to my earlier post where I give a guide for how much baking soda (or baking powder) to use.
These types of cakes tend to be more dense and moist by nature, so it can be tricky to tell exactly when they are done. Be sure to bake the cake long enough to fully bake it through the center. Use a wooden toothpick inserted in the center or gently touch the top of the cake to be sure it springs back. If it “squishes,” it is still wet and under-done.
 Cut-out sugar cookies Andrea asks: I am looking for any tips or advice on sugar cookie cut-outs. Whenever I make these, the cookies spread so much in the oven that the shapes become puffy-looking. Is there anything I can do to keep the shapes cleaner?
Baking S.O.S. says: There are a number of things you can do to prevent cut-out sugar cookies from spreading while baking. Perhaps one of these tricks might work:
1. I ALWAYS bake cut-out cookies on sheets trays lined with parchment paper. It reduces the amount of spreading drastically.
2. Working too much flour into the cookie dough while rolling it out can also make the cookies spread more. To avoid using excessive amounts of flour, I roll the cookie dough out between 2 sheets of waxed paper with just a little bit of flour.
3. Technically, you should re-roll the scrap dough only one time. The more you re-roll the scraps, the tougher they will become, and they will spread more, too. (But personally, I always re-roll the scraps until they are all gone. They still taste good, and I hate to waste cookie dough!!)
4. After rolling and cutting the cookie dough, gather the scraps, wrap them in plastic, and stick them back in the frige (or even the freezer) to chill them before rolling them out again. This is called “resting.” When the dough is allowed to “rest” in between rolling sessions, it relaxes the gluten in the flour, and the cookies will be more tender/not as elastic or tough.
5. Keep the cookie dough well-chilled. When it gets too warm, it gets sticky and hard to work with, tempting me to want to use more flour to keep it from sticking. But as I mentioned, the more flour you work into the dough, the more the cookies tend to spread. Once you have cut the cookies and placed them on the parchment-lined cookie sheets, you could also pop the sheet tray into the frige for a few minutes, as well, to allow the cookies to rest before baking.
This is my favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe, along with my favorite icing for sugar cookies. Enjoy!
This year, I will again be making my traditional dark chocolate truffles for Valentine’s Day. They come in 2 varieties: rolled in bittersweet chocolate cocoa (the traditional method) or rolled in finely chopped and toasted almonds.
 Dark Chocolate Truffles A gift box of 1 dozen truffles costs $12.00.
I am also offering a new creation this year: cake truffles. Cake truffles are a combination of cake and frosting mixed together, rolled in a truffle shape, and hand-dipped in chocolate or vanilla candy coating.
Cake truffle flavors include:
“Birthday Cake”: white butter cake with French silk frosting
Almond: almond pound cake with almond buttercream
Mocha: chocolate cake with espresso buttercream & Kahlua
Chocolate Raspberry: Chocolate cake with raspberry jam, vanilla buttercream & Chamboard
German Chocolate: Chocolate cake with German chocolate frosting (contains toasted pecans and coconut)
Lemon Raspberry: my signature yellow cream cake with lemon buttercream & raspberry jam
 Assorted Cake Truffle gift box
White Chocolate-Macadamia: my signature yellow cream cake with white chocolate buttercream & toasted macadamia nuts
Cake truffles cost $2 each. A gift box of 6 cake truffles is $12.00.
Please e-mail me at chefrb@bakingsos.com if you are interested in placing an order (local Columbus customers only). Thank you!
Robyn asks: I’m making butterfly cakes for my daughter’s engagement party, so I bought some pretty aluminum foil cases. When I opened the packet, I discovered each foil case has a separate paper liner sitting inside it. There was no mention of the paper cases on the packaging.
Do I leave the foil case on the outside when I’m baking the cupcakes in the paper cases, or do I take the foil off, put them aside and reassemble after baking the cakes? Thanks for your help.
Baking S.O.S. says: If you purchased Reynolds brand foil liners, the thin paper liners in between the foil liners are merely separators and can be discarded. You can bake directly in the foil liners.
Other brands of foil liners may contain an inner-layer of paper liner, and it is perfectly fine to bake the batter in the paper-foil combination liners; however, the foil liner may have a tendency to separate from the paper liner once the cakes are baked.
I think your best solution is to bake directly in the foil liners and discard the paper separators. Good luck!
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Buttermilk Pancake Recipe: Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
I want to help change that experience. Here is my family’s favorite recipe for homemade pancakes. My husband adapted it from a recipe he found in the Washington Post many years ago. It has become a wonderful family tradition for the kids to make pancakes with Daddy on weekend mornings. Easy to do, and so delicious! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Ingredients
1 C. all-purpose flour
2 Tbls. Sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1 egg
1/3 C. light sour cream
1 C. low-fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
2 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and sour cream together. Then whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla (if using).
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently.
4. Add the melted butter and stir just until combined. Do not overmix! The batter will be lumpy.
5. Heat griddle over medium heat. Coat the pan lightly with vegetable shortening. (This produces the prettiest pancakes. Butter or cooking spray do not work as nicely.)
5. Drop pancakes onto griddle and cook on both sides til done.
6. You may also add other ingredients to the pancakes while they are cooking, such as blueberries, chocolate chips, or diced apples & cinnamon.
This recipe yields enough pancakes to serve approx. 2-3 people. We like to double the recipe to feed our family of 4.