Recipe fail

[jethrien]

All right, Mr. Pastry Chef/Cookbook Author, let's have words.

This cupcake recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of cream in the cakes and 1 cup of cream in the filling. That totals to 2 1/2 cups of cream for the recipe.

I bought one pint and one half pint. That totals to three cups. (A little less, actually - I've found that the pints don't quite contain two cups.)

In the directions for the cupcakes, you call for 1 1/2 cups of cream. For the filling, you tell me to mix the peanut butter with 3/4 cups of cream. Then, several steps later, you have me whip and fold in the other 1 1/2 cups cream.

...what?

That brings the total to 3 3/4 cups cream. Do you see a problem here?

Also, for the record, if step 3 starts "Pour ganache over batter" and ends "Pour batter into cupcake tray", there should not be a "chill four hours" hidden in the middle of the step.

And perhaps it's because of the insufficient chilling, but if you fill the 12 specified cupcakes 2/3 full as directed, there's way too much batter. When filled 5/6, there's still enough batter for 16 cupcakes.

Clearly I didn't read the recipe quite carefully enough when doing the shopping trip or planning the evening. But then, generally, recipes don't require you to redo the math or hunt for Easter eggs. If they're actually written well. Just sayin'.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

This is why copyediting cookbooks is a specialized skill. And something I never want to do.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

What are the copyeditors responsible for in something like this? I mean, they definitely should have caught the math error. And someone probably should have indicated that any step requiring more than fifteen minutes should be called out separately. But the "too much batter" problem only shows up if you actually make the recipe. Is someone other than the author responsible for trying out all the recipes and making sure they all actually work?

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

The copyeditor doesn't make any of the recipes. The author's responsible for that. But I believe they sometimes hire people to check them. But the copyeditor is responsible for making sure that all and only the ingredients on the ingredient list are used in the recipe. And they should be checking that the steps are clear. So, yes, the math error is the copyeditor's job.

And given the size of most cookbooks, doesn't that copyediting job just sound like death?

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily - it's just that it sounds more like accounting than editing. There's someone out there who is perfect for this job, I'm sure.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I bet there's a lot of crossover between cookbook copyeditors and indexers, another job that sounds like death to me.

On the up side, you'd get a lot of money per project. (Though divided out over time...no better than any other copyeditor.)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I've got just enough OCD to see how some people might enjoy that kind of thing without quite enjoying it myself.

[maydove.livejournal.com]

I am so confused by the ordering of "Pour ganache over batter" and "Pour batter into cupcakes tray." Does the ganache just magically stay on top as you pour it into the tray? (Or maybe this is okay? I haven't done much baking.)
I get the sense that this is just one of many problems, though.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

No, that was actually ok. There was a foundation of batter that you then poured ganache over, then melted butter over that, and stirred it all together. Then you put it in the fridge for four hours. Then you put it in a pastry bag and piped it into the cups. It's not that any of the individual steps didn't work so much as that the way they were grouped hid the fact that there was a four hour pause lurking. Usually, when you have actions grouped together, they're short actions that have something in common - separate the eggs, beat them to a light froth, and fold them into the batter. When you then start with a new bowl or a new piece of equipment or stop working entirely for several hours, it's customary to start a new step number.

This felt as if someone wrote a two page document with no paragraph breaks and then randomly hit "enter" a couple times at random intervals. Usually, there's supposed to be a logic to paragraph breaks, and usually if you skim something, you don't expect them to bury the most important part in a subordinate clause in the middle of a overly long paragraph.

[maydove.livejournal.com]

At least he could have put it in all caps. It's sad that many potentially delicious cupcakes may be ruined by poor editing...

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

They came out ok, but not really worth the effort.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

This is why I don't trust most mass-market cookbooks. Rachel Ray - for instance - is too prolific for me to believe that anyone has actually made/tested all of her recipes - and even if they have, someone should really edit down to the good ones! They can't all be great!!

Known chefs with one cookbook per restaurant? Fine. Cook's Illustrated? YES. But I trust random internet bloggers more than the publishing industry these days.