Ask the baker: Sinking streusel and tasteless coconut

By Nick Malgieri
Los Angeles Times Syndicate

(Los Angeles Times Syndicate) -- Q. I have been baking for a long time and have had some great successes. However, I cannot depend on my streusel for pies to turn out well. I can make the same recipe and it will come out perfectly on top of the pie and other times it sinks into the pie or spreads over the pie with no streusel effect, or sometimes the butter sits on top. What am I doing wrong?

A. Whew! You've got problems. First of all, the differences in performance may depend on the different fillings that the streusel topping is placed on. I always use the following formula with great results: Melt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter and stir in 1/3 cup packed light brown or granulated sugar.

Add a dash of cinnamon, if you like. Then mix in 1 cup flour (spoon flour gently into measuring cup and level off) that has been mixed with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Let stand, then break into 1/4- to 1/2-inch crumbs and scatter on your pie filling. Perfect every time.

Q. I made a cherry pie last week and the filling was so runny it seemed like it had no thickener in it, though the recipe called for 3 tablespoons cornstarch to be mixed in with the sugar that I stirred into the cherries. What went wrong?

A. Cornstarch needs to come to a good boil to thicken properly, not something you want to have happen to your pie filling. I usually make a cherry pie filling like this: Mix 1/4 of the cherries and the sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat. When the mixture is good and juicy, dilute 3 tablespoons cornstarch in 2 tablespoons water and stir into the hot liquid. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Fold the thick starch mixture into the raw pitted cherries and construct your pie. After the pie has cooled, the juices should be thickened but not solid. The filling will gently ooze when you cut a piece of pie and will hold its shape well enough to allow you to serve the pie easily. Incidentally, the same procedure works for blueberry and strawberry-rhubarb pies.

Q. I recently made a coconut layer cake using a fresh coconut, and the cake -- and coconut -- were completely tasteless. Was this my fault?

A. Sometimes the coconuts available in grocery stores are old and have lost their freshness and flavor. I am a great proponent of that old American standby, sweetened shredded coconut. It works well in most recipes, and I think it gives a more vivid coconut flavor than 90 percent of the fresh coconuts available.

Q. Puff pastry has always eluded me, though I can bake most everything I have ever tried successfully. Any suggestions?

A. There are, of course, a hundred rules for making good puff pastry. Aside from taking a participation class at a cooking school, try the following: Do each part of the process on successive days. Make the dough, wrap and refrigerate. Prepare the butter, wrap the dough around it, wrap and refrigerate. Roll and fold, wrap and refrigerate.

By dividing the process into shorter steps, you will be able to devote more time and attention to each and accomplish each step with more confidence and, consequently, better success. There is nothing better than freshly made, all-butter puff pastry. Good luck!

Q. Whenever I grind nuts in the food processor, they refuse to become a fine dry powder and clump up in a greasy mess. I know the nutmeats are fresh because I store them in the freezer.

A. If you grind the nuts directly from the freezer, they will clump up and refuse to become fine. Either leave the nuts in a single layer on the countertop until they have thawed and come to room temperature, or heat them briefly on a jellyroll pan in a moderate oven, then cool.

Also, adding part of the sugar from the recipe can help to grind the nuts finely without creating clumping or greasy problems.

Q. I love to bake bread, but sometimes when I mix my dough, put it into a bowl and cover it, it just doesn't rise. I am careful to use yeast before the expiration date on the package. What's wrong?

A. If you dissolve your yeast in warm water, you may be making the water too hot for the yeast. If the temperature of the water exceeds 110 degrees, the yeast will be killed and no fermentation will result.

Q. I recently made a sweet yeast-risen coffee cake and the recipe called for a large amount of yeast. I thought sugar was a food for yeast. Why did the recipe call for so much?

A. Sugar is indeed a food for yeast, but yeast prefers to feed on simple sugars, such as the ones found in flour and milk. Refined sugar is a complex sugar and the yeast must manufacture and use enzymes to digest it, so refined sugar actually slows down the action of yeast in some senses.

For more FOOD news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about FOOD

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.