Latest news with #KingArthurBaking
Daily Mirror
14-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Bake your scones 'soft and light' by swapping out two key ingredients
Looking for the perfect scone recipe? According to food experts, if you swap two ingredients in your recipe you'll get the perfect bake every time Baking can be a bit of a minefield, with some recipes seeming more like a science experiment than a fun kitchen activity. But if you're after something simple and foolproof, scones are your best bet. The joy of scone-making lies in its simplicity – one bowl, a handful of ingredients, a quick stir, and you're pretty much there. The usual suspects include flour, caster sugar, milk, and an egg, but food gurus suggest that swapping out two of these could take your scones to new heights. They propose giving butter and milk the boot, and instead, welcoming cream and lemonade into the mix. While many recipes swear by cold butter as the secret to a top-notch scone, it can be a right faff to blend it into your flour, especially if you're going old school and using your hands. So, to save you time and arm strength, experts recommend subbing in cream. Not only will it merge effortlessly with the flour, but it'll also lend your scones a heavenly softness, reports the Express. Cream brings a luxurious richness to the bake, promising a moist, tender crumb and a gorgeous golden crust when baked. King Arthur Baking reveals: "Using heavy cream as a base, cream scones can feel like a morning indulgence. Ultra-tender and cake-like, they're softer than butter-based scones. Reason to love them: They're quick and easy to make and don't require working the fat into the dry ingredients." If your recipe calls for 113g of butter and 113g of milk, simply swap these out for 227g of heavy cream. The secret ingredient for light, fluffy scones is lemonade. The carbon dioxide in the fizzy drink acts as a leavening agent, much like baking powder or yeast, aerating the scones for a lighter texture. Plus, it adds a subtle sweet lemony note to the flavour profile. Culinary website recommends a mix of 125ml of thick cream and 125ml lemonade for irresistibly soft and sweet scones. For an extra citrus kick, try serving with a dollop of lemon curd and cream instead of traditional jam. They confess: "I really dislike rubbing butter into flour to make scones. There, I said it. The bench always seems to be the wrong height, my hands get tired, and it takes forever. All the planets aligned the day I discovered lemonade scones." "No pesky fridge-cold butter that refuses to yield to the flour. Instead, cream takes its place, adding the necessary fat plus tenderising the scones," they added. "Milk gives way for lemonade, which not only provides liquid, but also flavour and, best of all, the bubbles in the lemonade aerate the dough, helping the scones rise evenly."
Boston Globe
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
With these two chewing the fat, King Arthur Baking's new podcast is a delicious mix of wisdom, stories, and tidbits
Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up 'Things Bakers Know' is the new podcast from King Arthur Baking Co. Handout Advertisement The hosts begin the sourdough episode with a back-and-forth about naming starters, which many bakers do, and what they call their own. Hers is Jessica's Jazzy Starter, named for her by a colleague. She doesn't name anything, not even her cars, she says. His four starters are called 'Choices,' as in, it's your choice to feed your starter or you'll pay the consequences. We hear listeners' recorded voices with more names: Bread Pitt, Rise Up, Domer Simpson, Yeast Mode, The Baby (which the caller explains got confusing when she and her husband had a real baby). Advertisement The hosts obviously amuse each other. Their laughter is genuine. They're smart, a little sassy, and quick with quips. They sound like old friends, which in fact, they are. They knew each other before they started working together. Her laugh is a joy and makes you want to laugh with her. He says that recently he listened to a sped-up recording of a work meeting he couldn't attend. 'Your laugh at high speed is amazing,' he tells her. Jessica Battilana is cohost of the new King Arthur Baking podcast, 'Things Bakers Know.' Battilana, 46, is the staff editor at the company. She was raised in Woodstock, Vt., did a stint as a cheesemonger at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, earned a Grand Diplome from Tamarkin, 47, is the editorial director. He comes from Cincinnati and describes himself as 'Midwestern to my core.' He was a producer for 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,' worked at Time Out Chicago, and spent many years at the website David Tamarkin is cohost of the new King Arthur Baking podcast, 'Things Bakers Know.' The two are not together when they record, though segments have an armchair quality. They're in their homes with scripts, says Battilana, but if they stick too closely to them, they don't like how stiff they sound. In a discussion about how to reheat pizza, Battilana says that she reheats slices cheese-side down in a nonstick skillet, then turns them over to heat the crust. 'You're lying!' he says. 'That's not possible!' He tells her she's essentially heating the crust in pizza grease. 'What you're making is fondue.' Advertisement Guests appear now and then, including Zoë François of 'Zoe Bakes Cookies' chatted about her chocolate chip cookies on the podcast. Zoe Francois 'Begging them not to,' interjects Tamarkin, who ends every podcast with some variation of 'Just please follow the recipe.' On a biscuit podcast, after Battilana says that 'your biscuit vibe says a lot about you,' he describes his as fluffy with soft edges that have almost baked together in the pan; hers are flaky, buttery, crispy-edged, high in stature. He hears this question often: 'Why'd my biscuits come out so thin?' His answer: 'Because you put them in thin, baby.' We learn that before he makes biscuits, he freezes everything. Then a discussion about flour (ideally something with less gluten than all-purpose), butter (American, not European), grating frozen butter (the water in the butter forms pockets of steam during baking that create flakes). For their second season, 10 episodes will launch in September and run until just before Thanksgiving. Subjects include butter, Thanksgiving pies, and an entire episode on holiday baking questions. The duo is often riffing — about everything. In the pizza episode she says the Neapolitan trend is over. He sees a rise in super thin pizza, like 'Great Lakes tavern-style' in Chicago and surrounding areas. Later in an email, he tells me, 'It is a very thin round pizza, made with a dough that is enriched with butter, that is cut into squares and usually served in bars alongside beer. Very delicious!' Advertisement Both think slices that droop at the pointed end are out. He calls a more structured style 'a no-dip tip.' An ideal slice remains stiff when you hold it up. At one point when Tamarkin is explaining to listeners how to send in a question, he says, 'Jessica and I will use it to pontificate and have long conversations that have nothing to do with your question and eventually get around to answering your question.' Find 'Things Bakers Know,' on or Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts. Subscribers will be notified about new episodes. You'll also see a link to send a voice message with a baking question. Sheryl Julian can be reached at
Forbes
16-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Grow A Small Business Sustainably
By Olanrewaju Babalola Without a holistic approach to growth, businesses risk inefficiencies and wasted resources. In today's fast-paced market, small businesses need more than just quality products and services to stay competitive. Long-term success requires a well-rounded strategy that aligns with overall business operations. One effective tool to help understand and optimize your processes is SIPOC (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers). This framework provides a clear picture of how your business functions from start to finish, enabling you to craft a more effective growth strategy. While it's crucial to focus on specific areas in the early stages of entrepreneurship, sustainable growth requires a broader perspective. Entrepreneurs must step back and take a strategic view of their entire business ecosystem to ensure all moving parts work together seamlessly. Without this holistic approach, businesses risk inefficiencies, wasted resources, and missed opportunities for expansion. Drawing on insights from my undergraduate research on total quality management (TQM)—a holistic business approach focused on continuous improvement—this article explores four key concepts aligned with SIPOC that can drive sustainable business growth: participative management, process management, relationship marketing, and quality education. Participative management fosters a culture where employees, suppliers, board of directors, and even customers (in summary, all stakeholders in the business) contribute to decision-making. Often, this approach leads to improved employee engagement and a more innovative workplace. Businesses that embrace participative management benefit from higher morale and stronger alignment with company goals. Success Story: As an employee-owned business, King Arthur Baking actively includes employees in shaping its company policies and product development on a long term. Going into the pandemic, when there was an immense amount of uncertainty, different stakeholders within the organization came together to figure out solutions in ways that they didn't have to do before. Customers also tend to play a role by providing direct feedback on new recipes and baking trends, which influences product offerings. Why It Works: How to Implement: Successful participative management creates an organizational culture where everyone feels heard and valued. It transforms a traditional top-down leadership approach into a collaborative, innovative workplace that drives sustainable growth. Process management involves mapping out every operational step and identifying inefficiencies to optimize work activities. Businesses that excel in process management ensure consistency, reduce waste, and scale effectively. Without efficient processes, companies risk increased costs and poor customer experience. Success Story: Over the past five years, Amarra, a New Jersey-based manufacturer and wholesaler of special-occasion dresses, integrated artificial intelligence into its operations to enhance efficiency and customer experience. With AI-powered inventory management systems, Amarra has reduced overstocking by 40% and decreased content creation time by 60%. Why It Works: How to Implement: An effective process management strategy ensures that businesses remain agile, competitive, and capable of handling increased demand without compromising quality. Strong relationships with customers, suppliers, and the community create a competitive edge. Relationship marketing focuses on engagement across all stages of interaction to foster trust and loyalty. Businesses that prioritize relationship marketing enjoy increased customer retention and supplier reliability with a stronger brand reputation. Success Story: Zingerman's Bakehouse focuses solely on community as it seeks to be a good neighbor in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With relationship marketing at heart, the bakery is mindful of how loud its trucks are, how it manages the garbage, and how much it gives back to neighbors, among other things. Zingerman's maintains close ties with local farmers and food producers to ensure quality and reliability, while also engaging customers with educational food events and personalized service. Why It Works: How to Implement: Relationship marketing turns one-time buyers into long-term brand advocates, creating a sustainable and profitable customer base. A culture of lifelong learning is essential for business growth. Quality education does not start or stop at formal training. It could be gotten through mentorship, peer-to-peer learning, and skill development. Small businesses that invest in education often see increased innovation and productivity. Success Story: Northern California-based Philz Coffee invests tremendously in specialized staff training for technical roles like coffee origination and roast-mastering, but equally in soft skills like hospitality and emotional intelligence for baristas. Why It Works: How to Implement: Businesses that prioritize quality education create a workforce that is not only skilled, but also motivated to contribute to long-term success. More articles from AllBusiness: The success stories of these small businesses highlight the impact of integrating participative management, process management, relationship marketing, and quality education. When businesses align these four elements, they create a synergy that enhances superior business performance. Key takeaways: For small businesses looking to scale, these principles offer a structured path to sustainable success. By taking a holistic approach to business growth, entrepreneurs can ensure they are thriving in an ever-evolving marketplace. With a strong foundation in participative management, process management, relationship marketing, and quality education, businesses can achieve sustained success and maintain a competitive edge for years to come. About the Author Olanrewaju Babalola is an entrepreneurial consultant and business analysis professional with about a decade of experience in strategic, client-facing roles across diverse industries including education, retail, financial services, and consulting. He has guided hundreds of small businesses at different stages around the world to become better in their outputs and outcomes, as a trusted advisor and mentor. He writes about entrepreneurship and small business, leadership, innovation, business analysis and business education. His insights have been featured in numerous business articles on platforms like MSN Small Business, Small Business Currents, BusinessDay, Businessing Magazine, Business Africa Online, and more. 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