I have a question for the seasoned bakers out there. In a nutshell, I'm wondering if there are 'master' recipes for cakes, muffins, etc. Perhaps it's a little bit complicated, but here goes the explanation…
In bread baking, as I understand it, it's all about the hydration when it comes to the actual recipe.
Basic White Bread:
Flour | 100
Water | 66
Salt | 2
Yeast | 1
Varying the amount of water in the recipe (along with some other factors, of course–in preparation, for instance) will yield different types of bread. Now, my question really stems from the idea that this 'master' formula for bread has existed for a long, long, time and yet it doesn't really exist for other things. I got to thinking, though, that perhaps there are recipes for cakes and whatnot that are 'master' recipes. Cakes have some general guidelines, for instance.
I'm not talking about necessarily with specific ingredients, because sometimes the bakers prefer shortening, real butter, oil, etc. What I really want to know is if anyone has any ideas about whether or not these recipes really exist.
Sponge cakes and pound cakes do, bread does (sort of), things like carrot cake do.
Does anyone know about anything else?
Best Answer
It sounds like you're essentially looking for Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. It has plenty of what you call master recipes - ratios of ingredients for various recipes. It's not just baked goods - also batters, stocks, meats, sauces, and custards. And it doesn't stop with the ratios; there's a lot of additional discussion of actual recipes to make on top of the plain base, as well as discussion of how varying the ratio will affect the result.
There are of course plenty of reviews on Amazon and elsewhere online, but if you like perspective from members of this site, yossarian also reviewed it in a blog post a while back. I also own it and think it's pretty great.
There's also an app based on the book for Android and iOS (thanks, Stefano). I haven't tried it but it looks like the reviews are mixed to positive - not the shiniest app but it does contain a lot of the basic information.