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"Cooking is a art, Baking is science."
Oh, and Andy; now I know why I agree with you 99.99% of the time. In cooking at least, we are virtual twins.
Good cooking skills come from knowledge of the basic cooking techniques, how foods and ingredients react with each other, a knowledge base built on the knowledge of other before us, and personal experience. To some, baking is a science. And indeed, some things have to be done in exact ways. I don't htink you can uct corners when making puff pastry. It has to be done according to proven tecchnique to get the layerd, flaky texture. Cakes, pie dough, bread doughs, and all quickbreads can be played with. by altering the ingredients, or ratios of ingredients, I can tailor my baked goods to my needs. For instance, I can use flavored soup bases instead of salt in a pie dough, for when I'm making a meat pie. I've also been known to add sugar and spices to the crust, especially when making a fruit pie. And most cakes and quickbreads are simply a large batch of flavored pancake batter, with a few changes to the recipe.
With breads, I never use a recipe. Instead, I look for the dough texture, and flavor to determine when I've got it right. I can also change baking temperatures, and bake rustic style breads, or in a loaf pan, or even braid as for a brioche. I've rolled various ingredients into my dough, and have made both savory and sweet breads, all by knowing what the dough is supposed to feel and taste like in my head. It's the same with pie crusts. Mine always come out flaky and tender, with a light flavor. They're never soggy on the bottom. Again, it's the feel of the dough before water is added that garuntees my pie crust quality. This its true for making streusel, or crumb toppings, pizza crust, almost everything I beak, including shortbread and cookies too.
Baking is as much an art as it is a science. Did you know you can make cookies in the microwave, or bicuits and breads on the stove top?
I cheat though. I have thirty or so years of playing with food in my kitchen and so have built an extensive knowledge base in my head. believe me, there have been some mistakes, some that were so bad that the pan had to be thrown away. But they were few and far between.
I better get off the soapbox now. It just kind of bothers me when people say that baking has to be so exact to a recipe. To me, that stifles creativity.
I have to admit though, that to enable others to re-create what you have made, you'd better be able to turn it into a recipe, complete with quantities and techniques. Sometimes that can be difficult when you are always winging it.
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North