If you get a chance, let me know which recipes you attempted? I'm curious to compare our experiences. I've also cooked often from Ad Hoc and Bouchon and never had issues, so I am really surprised at the problems I am having. Again, I have yet to go back and try any recipe with volume vs. weight measures but I plan to do so just to compare.
3 votes Can’t Vote Unvote Vote up 3 votes
When I purchase a baking book, I expect that the recipes it contains were fully tested, multiple times as written and that the ingredient weights are accurate, especially when it comes with a $50 price tag. Bakers, using Bakers Percentage, should be able to easily scale their formulas for home use quantities. The Bouchon bakers state that the recipes were tested multiple times and were scaled down from those used daily at Bouchon Bakery.
I was alarmed to read of your disappointing baking experiences with this book. Although I have had my copy since before Christmas, I have yet to bake from it. I found the recipe for “Bouchons” on page 102 and assumed that this is the one to which you refer. I read that a “Bouchon Mold” baking pan is required, exclusive to Williams-Sonoma and is priced at $29.95.
I decided to check the accuracy of the individual gram weights to the volume measurements using my own self generated equivalent chart and the one found in The King Arthur Flour “Whole Grain Baking” book beginning on page 584 where volume measurements are given in ounces.
•Butter 141g/5-oz. // 141g = 4.97-oz.
•AP Flour 50g/ ¼ C+1 ½ T. // 1 C AP Flour = 4.25-oz.(120g) therefore, ¼ C = 30g, 1 ½ T (120g/16= 7.5, times 1.5= 11.25g. OR 30g+11.25g = 41.25g- a discrepancy of 8.75g
•Cocoa 50g/ ½ C + 2 T // ½ C = 1.5-oz.(42.5g), 2 T (3-oz./16 = .1875-oz. times 2 = .375-oz.(10.6g) OR 42.5g + 10.6g = 53.1g- a discrepancy of 3.1g
My can of Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa states: "1 tbsp. (5g)" which is consistant with ½ C (8 T) + 2 T = 10 T times 5g = 50g. So it seems that Hershey’s cocoa weighs the same as Valrhona.
There will always be discrepancies between gram weights and supposed volume equivalents and it is essential that a gram scale accurate to 1 gram be used to achieve consistent results. This is pointed out on page 24. I can’t speculate what went wrong when your 50g of weighed cocoa became nearly two huge bowls. Though, I will be diligent when I begin baking with this book to see if I uncover any errors in the gram weight amounts. I will, as always, ignore the volume measurements.
A check of Amazon reviews for this book show seventy-nine(79), 5 star reviews out of a total of 92. One(1) 1 star review because “Fois Gras” was mentioned. Two(2) 2 star reviews both stated that the book was too heavy. Happy Baking!
You could be absolutely correct about the difference in weights between brands of cocoa, though I cannot imagine they'd be THAT far off. :) (I literally went through several boxes in attempting the bouchon batter two times before scrapping the project. The batter nearly destroyed my Kitchen-Aid, which itself has been to hell and back several times - it turned into putty in the bowl. I've never quite seen anything like it.)
What I may do is get the scale calibrated for one thing - to ensure that the gram measures are indeed accurate, though I'm sure they are as other recipes come out just fine. I'm also going to attempt the recipe using the standard volume measurements, just to see how things turn out. (I know the chef's notes in the book note a preference for weights, but given how things turned out, I can't possibly have a worse experience.)
I'm not a novice baker, which is partly why I was so excited to bake from this book, and this was such a disappointing experience. I've cooked/baked from other Keller books with no issues whatsoever, so I'm honestly wondering if there were errors in scaling these professional recipes for home use that were not caught, though that seems unlikely. But I can't find anyone else who has baked from the book, so . . . anyway, thanks for the advice! We shall see how things go.
You may find some solace in this person's review on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1AHVM0ZH5DX0B/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1579654355&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
Please keep us apprised of your trials. Best wishes…
