General Baking Questions That Are A Mystery To Me (Long)
Decorating By evesloven Updated 21 Dec 2006 , 8:33pm by evesloven
Okay, I've got this fantastic book called the Cake Bible. A friend of mine gave it to me for an early christmas present. So, now that I've become addicted to it, I've got questions.
1. Sifted flour or sifted sugar..when a recipe calls for 3 cups sifted flour, does that mean measure three cups after you sift the flour, or measure three cups then sift the flour?
2. Egg yolks and egg whites. The recipes in this book for buttercream and general any type of frosting call for meringue made from egg whites and boiled icing using egg yolks. Don't I have to worry about salmanella (spelling?) when I use raw egg? I'm paranoid I'll make something with egg white or egg yolk and get sick or get someone sick since they aren't cooked. The boiled icing calls for making a syrup out of sugar and whatever other liquid base you are going to use, then pouring that liquid over the egg yolks you've whipped up a bit and then mixing it all together....so I want to know if that is safe to do. (which is kind of a dumb question considering these are recipe's in cookbooks and the people writing the books use this method), but I'd like some opinions from you.
3. So, if I didn't want to use raw egg, I could use meringue powder right? I'd just have to add in the extra liquid that I'd be taking out from not using egg?
4. Measuring cups.....is there a difference between a liquid measure and a regular measuring cup? I've found some awesome recipes that I really want to try that call for 1 liquid cup of heavy cream, is that different than me using my regular measuring cup to measure out a cup of cream to add in?
5. Sugar, I've seen discussions on here and other sites about 6x, 10x powdered sugar and I've got a recipe that calls for superfine sugar. I've looked on the bags of powdered sugar that I use and it doesn't have a number telling me how fine it is. How do I find that out? Also, where can I find superfine sugar? I'm assuming superfine sugar is granulated sugar just..well..superfine. 
Is this available at Wal-Mart and I'm just not looking hard enough?
And I think that's it. I feel kind of stupid asking these questions since a few of them seem like they are "duh" questions, but I'd rather know for sure than doubt what I'm doing. I'm working on producing a high quality product that tastes as well as, if not better than, the way it looks....and I want to make sure that I understand what I'm putting into my mixes. There's actually a lot of chemistry involved when you make your cakes from scratch...crazy!! LOL...I'm just used to throwing everything in, and now that I've found recipes that have very specific measures...I'm starting to think I should have paid more attention to my math classes in school. 
So, any insight you can give me will be GREATLY appreciated and held close to my heart....uumm..forever! LOL. 
Measure after it has been sifted.
I only use SMBC and no one has died yet!
Yes dry is different from wet and weight is different from cup measurement.
Superfine sugar is found in a milk carton type box here. C&H
The X's mean how many times it has been sifted.
Hi and welcome to Cake Central.
I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.
1. 2 cups sifted flour====that indicates to me to sift first, then measure
2-cups flour, sifted----that indicates to me to measure and then sift
2. I am going to leave this to someone else...I don't use eggs in my icing, but I think most of the icings that call for eggs are cooked in some way.
4. Liquid really needs to be measured in a liquid measuring cup as you get a more accurate measure that way. Liquid measuring cups are generally glass or plastic with the lines on the side so you can see how much you have in the cup.
5. Superfine sugar is just granulated sugar that is more finely ground that regular granulated sugar. It is not powdered....
Hope this helps...
Cindy
Powdered sugar=confectioner's sugar=icing sugar... It's pulverized sugar with a little cornstarch added. 10X is the most finely processed and what is mostly available in grocery stores. Some bakeries use 6X, which is a little less fine.
Superfine sugar is just granulated sugar that has been ground up a bit more than regular. If you can't find any labeled "superfine", just whirl regular sugar around in a food processor for a few minutes.
Most of your questions have been answered, but I will elaborate of a few other things. When measuring your flour for a scratch cake, after it is sifted, spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level with a knife. Do not pack the flour in, it will cause your cake to be heavier then you want. Alot of bakeries use the 6x PS because most of their recipes call for it, it is a little heavier then 10x. There is a recipe in the Wilton yearbook, for fluffy boiled icing, it calls for meringue powder and water, you beat it until it is stiff, you then can use the microwave or cook on top of the stove the corn syrup, water and sugar until it boils, you then let it cool slightly and slowly pour into the already beaten egg whites while mixing on low, be careful with this as this mixture will burn you, once you have all poured in, beat on high until stiff and glossy. This icing does not last long. When I make it with real whites it is only good for one day. It is pretty yummy, and years ago wedding cakes were made with this icing alot. Hope you enjoy your new book, and you know you can always hollar at us if you run into any more questions. Good Luck and Happy Baking. J
1. Rose gives weights of flour in the back of the book. I suggest buying a scale and using the gram weights for dry ingredients - then there is no question. It also makes less of a mess weighing instead of measuring.
2. The shells of the egg carry the salmonella, you can wash the shell, you should tap the egg on a flat surface to break it instead of the rim of a bowl, since tapping on the rim of the bowl pushes the shell into the egg contents and would be more likely to contaminate the contents. You can use egg beaters or a similar product which are pastuerized.
3. You can replace egg whites with meringue powder. I haven't found a recipe that I couldn't.
4. liquid can not be measured accurately in dry ingredient measuring cups. Dry measurering devices are to be filled to the top so they can be scraped level. Wet measuring cups always leave a small amount of extra space at the top. I would assume this is to allow for the surface vixcosity issues. I prefer the OXO liquid measuring cups that can be read from above.
You asked some really good questions. I just wanted to give this a bump for more people to see.
Thank you so much everyone for your replies!! You've been a great help with this stuff. I totally didn't know that the egg shell was what carried the salmanella. That's crazy. I'm thinking that I now have liquid measuring devices at home....all my measuring stuff is glass, with the exception of the plastic cups I use for flour. That's nice to know. 
I've noticed the different measuring/weighing options Rose has in the back of her book, I just purchased a kitchen scale, so I'll have to start using that a little more. You guys are awesome!! Thank you soooooo much! 
Superfine - the Walmart generic will say superfine above Sugar. I haven't had a problem with their sugars so far, except generic powdered sugar.
Liquid measuring cups are the ones with a handle, usually see-thru. Dry are the ones that stack, or are bought on a ring. Either is fine, but if you need to be exact, use the right one. I prefer Pyrex for my liquid cups, as it can be heated.
Zmama you are awesome. You totally answered another question I had. I have a bunch of Pyrex measuring cups/glasses/etc...and I was going to use it to melt some chocolate chips and was afraid to use it for that. I think I had a total blank moment cause for the life of me I couldn't remember if I could heat Pyrex or not. Thank you thank you.
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