I'm apparently a man obsessed. This project is constantly on my mind, and I'm continually reading and rereading the books I have about formulating recipes. I'm coming to the conclusion that creating a great cake recipe is hard--very hard. I believe I have enough knowledge to have a decent chance at arriving at good recipe, but that knowledge isn't sufficient for me to really have a deep understanding of all of the issues at stake. I would really like to get a culinary education for that reason.
Tomorrow, I'm going to write one of my chef instructors at the CIA, a chef who's passionate about food science. Hopefully he'll remember me and be willing to give me a little insight into what might be the problem. I simply don't know the answer, and am running out of possibilities to learn what it is, other than through trial and error. But that begs the question for me of how much trial and error really goes into the development of a great recipe anyway.
Cook's Illustrated is the magazine branch of the PBS television show America's Test Kitchen. In each issue, they'll tackle several recipes, trying to find the "best" of whatever food they're exploring in each particular recipe. They'll look at a myriad of recipes, make several of them, and then branch out on their own. They describe the process, and honestly, it sounds very much like the process that I'm going through right now. They'll slowly zero in each element of a recipe, with some wins and some losses, but of course, they get paid to do it. All I know is that I won't stop until I have it exactly the way I want it.
One thing's for sure: I'm persistent. It's 10:00 and I'm about to start in on my third cake today.
Wish me luck.
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