AThose of us who go to the trouble of perfecting scratch cake recipes are not going to ruin all that hard work by slapping nasty crisco artificial flavor frosting on our cakes!
AI should hope not, and yet, I've seen plenty of people here rabidly defending both "clear vanilla" (in my book, as oxymoronic as "jumbo shrimp," "military intelligence," or "civil war") and high-ratio shortening, and I'd be greatly surprised if there isn't at least one who is just as rabid about condemning mixes.
I haven't yet attempted a scratch cake (and refuse to do so in a flavor I don't eat, and find distasteful), but I make plenty of cookies from scratch, including a couple of recipes I developed myself (one's a trivial variation on an existing recipe, but the other isn't so trivial). And (again with the exception of chocolate) I do make all my own frostings from scratch (and consider the ivory color of BC made with all real butter and all real vanilla to be a badge of honor). So I can certainly understand taking pride in baking from scratch.
AWell I'm certainly not defending shortening, but plenty of people eat Country Crock, I Can't Believe it's Not Butter or any of those other margarines that are simply shortening with some artificial butter flavor added and think nothing of it.
AShortening has its uses...i just think that to resurrect this thread with mentions of crisco and mapelene or whatever that was made no sense.
Agreed: I knew the equine was deceased when I flogged it, and that's the last flogging it gets from me, at least on this thread.
AWhatever... Keep the entertaining catty drama alive!! Fight, fight, FIGHT!!
My cake is better than your cake, neener neener neener...
AChemical flavoring, I suppose. He seems to like using technical terms for everything. I would've said 'maple flavor.'
"Maplene" is an artificial maple flavoring (it may indeed be a trademarked brand name), that's never been in the same room with a maple tree (I remember looking at the ingredient list).
Maple syrup and maple sugar, on the other hand, are simple (if extreme) reductions of the sap of the sugar maple tree.
There are at least three grading systems for maple syrup: Canadian, U.S., and Vermont. They're all fairly similar, and have nothing to do with quality, and everything to do with timing, color, and flavor; I'm most familiar with the Vermont system: "Vermont Fancy" is the lightest in color, and the most subtle in flavor, coming from the beginning of the sugaring season. "Vermont Grade A Medium Amber" is the next grade, coming from slightly later in the season, when the sap has undergone a fermentation process in the tree, with a slightly darker color and more robust flavor. "Vermont Grade A Dark Amber" is later, darker, and more robust, and "Vermont Grade B" is the latest, darkest and most robust of the commonly available Vermont grades. (I'm told that there's a "Vermont Grade C" that's even later, even darker, even more robust, and has some flavor notes that most people find unpleasant; I understand it's mainly used in maple-flavored tobacco, and in livestock feed.)
"Fancy" ("Grade A Light Amber" is the equivalent U.S. grade) through "A Dark Amber" are generally for table use only; "Grade B" is mainly for cooking, but some prefer it for table use.
AThat was very informative...i had no idea that maple flavor existed. I just always figured if you wanted maple flavor you just add maple syrup
Quote:
That was very informative...i had no idea that maple flavor existed. I just always figured if you wanted maple flavor you just add maple syrup
morganchampagne: just to stay on topic, "Buttercream on a chocolate cake" is wonderful.
and really you can add chocolate or cocoa to buttercream.
( just wanted to say that maple flavor/extract is great for diabetics who can't use maple syrup in things such as oatmeal or their low carb cookies.)
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%