Helpful advice
Kelly Whitfield
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Q I would like to bake items for my daughter’s wedding reception and freeze the items ahead of time. Do you have suggestions for freezing and thawing baked foods?
A Here are a few hints for freezing and thawing baked foods to achieve the best quality possible. For cookies: bake and cool before packaging; package in airtight containers with freezer paper between layers and thaw in wrappings for at least 15-20 minutes. Yeast breads, rolls, and quick breads: cool quickly after baking; wrap in aluminum foil and place in airtight container or bag; thaw in wrapping at room temperature for at least an hour. Angel food and chiffon cakes: cool completely before freezing; for cakes baked in a tube pan, fill hole with crumpled freezer paper and place whole cake in box to prevent crushing; thaw in wrapping for 1-2 hours at room temperature. A tube pan is a round pan with deep sides and a hollow center tube.
For a better cake product it is best to freeze the cake without frosting, then frost just before serving. If freezing frosting, freeze separately. Powdered sugar frostings freeze best. Problems with frozen frosting include the loss of some gloss and grainy texture with granulated sugar frostings. Cooked frostings may separate. Frosting should be thawed at room temperature.
In general, a freezer that is less full is better when freezing baked goods. Good air circulation causes foods to freeze more quickly, eliminating the formation of large ice crystals, which diminish quality in baked goods. And test the temperature of your freezer to make sure it’s at 0 degrees F. or below.
A Is white asparagus as nutritious as green asparagus?
Q No, white asparagus spears have lower vitamin content than green spears. Green asparagus is a good source of vitamin C and folacin. Asparagus also provides potassium, fiber and is naturally low in sodium.
White asparagus is not a different variety than the green; it is just grown in darkness. When the spears emerge from the ground, sunlight turns the stalks green. To get white asparagus, dirt is piled on top of the plants so that the stalks can grow underground. When the tip breaks the soil surface, the white stalks are harvested.
If the recent freeze caused your asparagus spears to turn brown and wither, they should be picked and thrown away. These spears will have an off-flavor and will most likely have a softer texture.
Q Do you have any tips for slicing and chopping onions to avoid tears?
A Here are a few tips that may help reduce tearing. Try to avoid cutting off the root end before chopping the onion. It may also help to chill the onion for 20 to 30 minutes before chopping. You can also peel the onion while it’s under water which will prevent the juices from irritating your eyes.
Start with a sharp knife because a dull blade will bruise the onion and cause even more juices to fly. Turn on the stovetop exhaust fan and chop on a cutting board near the Stove. Brushing the cutting board with distilled white vinegar before chopping onions may also help.
F Kelly Whitfield, Lyon County family and consumer science agent, is a registered, licensed dietitian and certified diabetes educator. For more information on food, nutrition, health, and family issues, contact Kelly at the Lyon County K-State Research and Extension office at 341-3220 or email at kwhit@ksu.edu. Sources: Freezing Convenience Foods That You’ve Prepared at Home, Pacific Northwest Extension, Sept. 2002; Fresh Now From NY Farms, Cornell Coop. Extension; Let’s Preserve, Penn State Coop. Extension, Aug. 2005