"Dick Margulis" <margulisd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:wM-dnZm2SuWtkUbVnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Barry Harmon wrote:
>> My wife got a book on Swedish Cakes and Cookies from the library.
There
>> is a good section on Danish yeasted breads, so I took a quick look at
>> that section.
>>
>> In the section on (what else?) Danish Pastry, I found this statement
>>
>> "Margarine is better than butter. It is easier to achieve a flaky
>> consistency with solid baking margarine than with butter."
>>
>> Is this true?
>
> Sort of.
>
>> What's solid baking margarine and where do you get it?
>>
>
> It's unclear what the author is referring to. There is butter-flavored
> and -colored vegetable shortening (you can buy a version of Crisco that
> answers that description). It's not margarine, because it's 100 percent
> fat instead of 75 or 80 percent fat. But if the author is using language
> loosely, that might be what's meant. The idea is completely unappealing
to
> me, but there's no accounting for taste.
>
> There is also commercial danish pastry margarine, which is made with
palm
> oil, much more saturated than table margarines and therefore technically
> easier to work with. This is the stuff that leaves a coating on the roof
> of your mouth that you can't scrape off with your tongue and that annoys
> the hell out of you for hours. If you've ever eaten a danish made with
it,
> you know what I'm talking about and you didn't go back for seconds.
>
> Stick with butter, and don't take shortcuts on the chilling steps.
I agree with everything Dick has said.
Palm oil is the reason I don't ever eat commercial biscuits or pies if
offered them. Bleurch!!!!
Butter gives the best texture as well as the best flavour to most baking
but
for steamed puddings I prefer fresh suet and for savoury pastries I use
lard. Not bread, I know :-)
Mary
Mary
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