Product Trials - Details

American Spoon's Fruit Perfect Cherries and Marionberries:


	I've been waiting to try American Spoon's Fruit Perfect in cherry and in marionberry for a long time. I finally made a cherry pie with a recipe from American Spoon's web site. I didn't love the pie, although it was o.k. For me, it was sweeter than I wanted a sour cherry pie to be. Also, the filling was really runny, but this may have been my fault for chilling the pie before baking so that the crust wouldn't shrink. The fruit, however, was delicious and I wouldn't have minded just eating it straight from the jar. This product is expensive though, about $7.50 per 13oz jar plus shipping, so I won't be using it all the time. These fruits would probably be really excellent served over a pound cake or ice cream or in place of syrup on waffles or pancakes.

Williams-Sonoma Devil's Food Classic Layer Cake Mix
	This is the ultimate chocolate cake mix. My husband made this for my birthday and we liked it so much that we went right back to the store and bought another box. It's expensive, especially compared to the box mixes in the grocery stores, but it's such a better product that I think it's worth it for special occasions (like my birthday!). The mix contains Valrhona cocoa and has a nice, rich chocolate taste with no "cake mix aftertaste". The finished product is also really moist, unlike many homemade cakes. The mix makes a 3 layer cake when 8" pans are used but other size pans may be used and the instructions are on the box. This product is not available on line, but should be easily found at most Willams-Sonoma stores.

Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
	This is a product which has recently showed up on grocery store shelves. It's a Dutch-process cocoa that is especially dark and rich, very similar to the Black Cocoa Powder that I've used from the Baker's Catalogue. I prefer the one from Baker's Catalogue, but the convenience of Hershey's being in the grocery store makes it worthwhile. If you like the kind of dark, strong, chocolate cookie that tastes like the cookie part of an Oreo, you'll like this product. The strength can be toned down a little by combining it with regular Dutch-process cocoa powder. It's excellent for use in chocolate cookies, but I find it a bit strong for brownies and cakes and frostings without combining it with regular Dutch-process cocoa. I also like to use it to make chocolate protein bars for my husband, as the dark cocoa does a good job of overpowering the strong protein powder taste. This cocoa is best for baking, I don't recommend it for drinking cocoa or for frostings. Note: If your recipe calls for regular (natural/non-alkalized) cocoa powder, you may not be able to make a direct substitution with Dutch-process cocoa powder. Regular/natural cocoa powder usually requires more leavening than Dutch-process cocoa and Dutch process cocoa may also absorb more liquid.

Love n'Bake American Almond's Almond Paste & Schmear
	I love anything resembling almond paste or marzipan and these two products by Love n'Bake American Almond Products are really good. The Almond Schmear is a softer almond product meant for using in pastries and as a filling. I used it as a filling for breakfast rolls, in the same way the cinnamon rolls are made, and it was very good. The Almond Paste is also nice. Because these products are in cans, they stay nice and moist and fresh, unlike the tube variety found in grocery stores which dries out and sometimes is so hard that my food processor can't even chop it up. I will definitely buy these again and will be trying their Hazelnut Praline and Pistachio nut paste as well.

White Whole Wheat Flour
	White whole wheat flour is a great product that I've been buying for years from the Baker's Catalogue. I've recently been able to find it at Adronico's Market and sometimes at Trader Joe's. It has all the goodness of regular whole wheat flour, but a much better taste and it's nearly white in color. It can be used interchangeably with white flour, but may require slightly more liquid in the recipe. I like using it for pizza crust and to substitute for half the flour in bread and cookie recipes.

Peppermint Oil
	Peppermint oil is a wonderful flavoring and it takes an extremely small amount to flavor a recipe. I used 1/4 tsp in a 9x13 batch of brownies and it was almost too strong! The flavor is like peppermint stick candy and is a great combination with chocolate. I use it in my husband's protein bars all the time to mask the taste of the protein powder. It's also good in tea, dip a toothpick into the oil and then use it to stir a cup of hot tea. This item is definitely a keeper in my pantry. It can be purchased from the Baker's Catalogue and sometimes from baking specialty shops.

Black Cocoa Powder
	Black cocoa powder is the darkest cocoa powder I've ever seen. It resembles fine ash or dirt in color. It's so strong that the directions recommend replacing half of the cocoa in any recipe that calls for Dutch Process cocoa with the black cocoa. So far, I've tried this in Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate sauce, and Chocolate frosting. It's best application is in cookies, I think. Being a dedicated dark-chocolate fan, this product is definitely going to be a permanent item in my pantry. This product can be purchased from the Baker's Catalogue. Note: If your recipe calls for regular (natural/non-alkalized) cocoa powder, you may not be able to make a direct substitution with Dutch-process cocoa powder. Regular/natural cocoa powder usually requires more leavening than Dutch-process cocoa and Dutch process cocoa may also absorb more liquid.

Fiori di Sicilia
	This is a wonderful flavoring to use in sugar cookies, cake, or any mild white baked sweet item. It's flavor is a combination of citrus and vanilla. So far, I've tried it in sugar cookies. The flavor is addicting! It's a strong flavoring, directions call for 1/2 tsp in most recipes and cautions against staining when spilled. I really like this item, but the one small bottle will probably be a lifetime supply for me as most of the baking that I do involves chocolate which would probably overpower this delicate flavoring. This flavoring is available from the Baker's Catalogue.

Caramel Coloring
	I purchased this because I really love the dark, dark squaw bread which is served at many restaurants. I had a recipe that called for it so I decided to splurge and get a small jar. The bread I made was indeed very dark and a great recipe. It's hard to say how much this coloring product contributed to the end effect. When it's gone, I may try just making my own caramel syrup and reduce some of the liquid in the recipe to see if it has an equivalent effect. However, I bake bread only a few times a year, so this one jar may well be a lifetime supply.

Cinnamon Filling
	I purchased this item fromthe Baker's Catalogue as part of a quest to bake the best cinnamon roll. A friend and I made this our baking challenge for the year. I found a recipe that I really like, but I felt that the filling was not moist or syrupy enough for my taste. I've tried a few variations, but still wasn't happy so I bought this product to try. It was very tasty, being made of a high quality Vietnamese cinnamon. Although it's a good product, I probably wouldn't buy it again as it's not appreciably different in texture than the homemade filling I was already using but it is nice to have in a pinch.

Raspberry Mousse Mix
	I purchased this product from the Baker's Catalogue because of the accompanying recipe in the catalogue. I guess their gimmick worked! The recipe was for a pie with a chocolate crust topped with raspberry mousse and drizzled with chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries. It was pretty good. Even my husband, who does not like cream-type pies, liked this one. However, although the mix is convenient and tastes good, I think I'll be trying to figure out how to make raspberry mousse on my own before I buy this product again. I would like the raspberry flavor to be a little stronger than it is in this mix.


Page updated: 05/11/2007