Adventures In Recipe Development
The ups and downs of recipe development as a baker.
As a self-taught baker, my focus has always been on the process and method of baking. How can I improve the baking process? How can I increase efficiency? Those are the questions I find most valuable. Over the years, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly, I can determine the difference between suggestion and necessity. However, recipe development is something I never dove into until now.
Recently I have been researching recipe development. “Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking” by Michael Ruhlman has been extremely helpful when it comes to understanding the core of a recipe.
This past month, I decided to start small. First, I wrote down recipes in a notebook. These were all drink recipes because I wanted to get more comfortable pairing flavors together. (Plus, it’s a lot easier to make a successful drink). So far, I’ve made a strawberry smoothie, coffee smoothie, and pineapple mocktail. All of which turned out delightful. Refreshing drinks for the summer.
Next, I decided to venture out. I made a lime-flavored cake. The buttercream was great. Unfortunately, the sponge just tasted like a butter cake. It was good but missing a great deal of lime flavor. When I can get ahold of more limes and the temperature goes below 100°F - I’ll do a second cake test with more lime juice and zest. Of course, if that doesn’t work, I’ll substitute the fat in the recipe.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how expensive recipe development is. Repurchasing ingredients over and over again for one recipe adds up. Overall, I enjoy the experience and I’m able to look at recipes in a different light.
As of now, my favorite recipe is my almond buttercream frosting. I hate when the almond is the only flavor that I can taste. Perhaps my palette gets overwhelmed by it. I love that this frosting has some orange flavor in there. When the heat wave is over, I’ll test an orange layer cake recipe and pair them together.
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Thanks for reading!
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Honestly having to buy exotic ingredients for a very specific recipe is a big reason why I generally stick to the same recipes over and over!
It's so true that developing recipes is so expensive, but I love reading about other people's processes. Looking forward to your coming insights! Thank you so much for sharing my article! I'm so glad you found it useful 🥰