I have always loved baking. From the time I was a kid I'd stand on a stool and learn from my mother and grandmother. The way to knead dough, stretch strudel dough to impossible rice paper thinness, and how to take the joy of baking from skill to the art of knowing what the right amount of this or that is. In Yinglish, Bubby's "aut azei, meine kindt, you make like this" she'd say as she'd grab an ingredient and add it without measurement.
Every Friday or Erev (evening before any holiday) included challah, and if we were lucky chocolate fudge cake for Sat. morning breakfast. I know I can buy challah, but when I bake it, I feel the sacred in the mundane, a sort of joyous uplift of spirit. I hear Bubby saying "autazei meine kindt."
Back to the mundane: We've learned more about food and health. Some ingredients are forbidden to people with heart problems, diabetes, gluten intolerance, allergies, etc. Unless you are in danger by eating any of the ingredient, try not to mess with the recipe though. A true story:
My lovely aunt "M", was obsessed with eating correctly. She loved my mother's challah and phoned her for the recipe. After making her own challot (in America people say challahs), she phoned Mama.
"Pearl mine just didn't turn out right. Do you think it's my oven?"
"Did you use the exact measurements?"
"Well I used whole wheat instead of white flour, I didn't use sugar, and I thought the oil should be cut."
Pearl laughing: "Well then, it's the wrong recipe."
Some recipes I have managed to alter for heart health, like the use of canola (or olive oil as my cousin Debbie uses). But for chocolate fudge cake, no, and I mean no substitutions!
Recipes for Challah and Chocolate Fudge Cake are in the next post.
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