Mirror Mirror: In the Oven

2011 was the year I joined a book club. I read three books, went to one meeting, and we have all but given up trying to get our next gathering on the books.

I'm thinking 2012 could be the year of what I like to call my new "cake club," Bakers Dozen San Francisco.

This is what a cake club meeting looks like

As explained on its website,

"Bakers Dozen is a nonprofit group of baking professionals and enthusiasts gathering to exchange information in a quest for knowledge and excellence."

The group typically hosts three luncheon meetings a year, a field trip (to a local farm or ingredient producer, for example) and occasional special interest workshops. Each meeting has a theme, a panel discussion of experts, or presentations from book authors.

There's also a very active online discussion group - so I basically have a network of bakers eager to advise me on any cake quandary that should crop up.

Bakers Dozen Web site

This week, I went to my first Bakers Dozen luncheon. The theme was "Mirror Mirror: In the Oven." Instead of all reading the same book, everyone was given the same recipe and instructions for pound cake. We were asked to make the recipe and bring the cake to the meeting, along with a card indicating what brand of flour, sugar, and butter we used, so we could compare and contrast the results.

Two cakes baked in the same kitchen with the same batch of butter and sugar, in the same oven,
the same pans, with the exact same mixing time to the second. Everything controlled for, except for the brand of flour. 

I followed the recipe and instructions to the T. In the spirit of experimentation, I even kept the oven temperature at the prescribed 350, despite knowing that my oven runs hot and that it would likely result in an overdone cake. The crust turned out a little browner than I would have liked, but I didn't think it didn't hurt the overall taste and mouth feel.

My pound cake

Another member made her cake with exactly the same brands as I did: King Arthur Flour, C&H sugar, and Trader Joe's butter. Her cake looked significantly different.

My Cake Counterpart

I think I probably ate the equivalent of a whole pound cake by the time I was done tasting. And that was all before lunch.

Pre-lunch snack

Just like in a book club, we gathered to discuss our thoughts. Who used bleached flour? Who used unbleached? What's the water content in the different brands of butter? What's the protein content in different brands of flour? Did you use a dark or light loaf pan? Or glass or aluminium? Pure vanilla or artificial? How did these factors affect the flavor, crumb, density, moistness, crust of the cake?

*Head spinning* It all tasted good to me.

I was easily one of the youngest ones in the group, and one of only a handful of new members. While I did meet several baking hobbyists like myself, I got the impression that most of these ladies (there were only 2 men that I saw) had devoted much of their lives to the business of baking. It was fascinating, especially coming from someone who, until last week, baked primarily from a box.

One of these things is not like the other

So maybe the book club didn't work out. I have a feeling I'll have better luck with these guys.