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A Vermont-based baking company is under fire for hosting a competition that barred white contestants from participating, an attempt to “foster greater inclusivity” in the world of baking. The 2024 Baking Pitchfest, hosted by King Arthur Baking, says it will provide “equitable opportunities for People of Color entrepreneurs,” gracing the winners with “financial support, brand exposure, and mentorship to help accelerate their businesses.” The competition is billed as an “accelerator program,” and will consist of two parts, a product edition and a bakery edition, which are limited to those defined as a “person of color led business” and a “person...

The King Arthur Baking Company is hosting a competition for bakeries and the winner gets a lot of dough. It’s called “Baking Pitchfest 2024.” Winners get mentorship from other bakers and financial support for their bakeries. It sounds like a great opportunity for the pastry and pie crowd. But there’s just one catch. *No white people are allowed to enter the competition.* Only bakeries that are owned by persons of color are allowed to participate.

NATIONAL BUNDT DAY National Bundt Day, also known as National Bundt Cake Day, is observed every year on November 15th. As people across the United States plan menus for the holidays, a bundt cake is sure to be on the list at least once. #NATIONALBUNDTDAY A Bundt cake can be any cake baked in a Bundt pan, forming it into a distinctive ring shape. The mold of the Bundt pan was initially inspired by the traditional European fruit cake known as Gugelhupf. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the cookware company Nordic Ware popularized the style for the...

I need some advice from anybody in the silicone mold business or knows somebody in that business. I need some simple molds made to order. Rather simple shapes. Basically molds in the shape of spheres but since the diameters would be 12 inches and larger I would need the spherical shapes to be divided. That way they could be layered like layer cake and then covered with icing and designs. I've contacted several silicone mold companies that specialize in mold for baking but, surprisingly, they are unable to provide such molds. As I stated the shapes of the molds are...

(Last Updated On: February 28, 2023) NATIONAL WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE DAY National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day on March 6th offers another way to celebrate one of our favorite desserts. This indulgent day inspires bakers across the country to wow us with their delicious creations! #WhiteChocolateCheesecakeDay Cheesecake is a sweet dessert that is a mixture of soft fresh cheese, cream cheese or cottage cheese, eggs, and sugar on a crust made from crushed graham crackers, crushed cookies, pastry, or sponge cake. Cheesecakes can be prepared baked or unbaked and are often served topped with fruit, chocolate, or whipped cream. There are...

When it comes to cooking and baking, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that butter just makes things better. But with the holiday season coming up, many may have to scramble to find enough butter for their baked goods. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which recently reported on a dairy shortage in the U.S. due to staffing issues and lower milk production. With less butter on shelves and in storage facilities (reportedly the lowest since 2017), that means the price of the yellow stuff has gone up. Over the last year, butter prices have gone up by more than...

This is the BiWeekly Prepper Thread for all things prepping.In these Strange Days, it's not a bad idea to have a little set back. Or a lot. I think we all saw empty shelves last year. We didn't go without though. Since I'm a prepper, I stocked up on TP and food and even bought a small freezer for meat when I saw empty shelves in Italy. My wife no longer thinks my prepping mentality is a little wacky, 20 years later. This year is turning out to be the year of systems hacking. Extreme weather events can happen most...

Anybody with a sweet tooth, please raise your hand. Now keep scrolling because you’ve got to check out these ultra realistic fish cakes this baker in Texas makes. These delicious works of art are created by Sugarbelle Sweets in Corpus Christi, Texas, by owner Dusty Sinclair. She’s a self-taught baker who specializes in custom cakes and cookies for weddings and other events. “I started Sugarbelle Sweets in 2014, but I’ve been baking most of my life,” Sinclair told me in an interview. She also said she’s an avid hunter/angler, along with the rest of her family. “When I’m not baking,...

The Covid-19 pandemic has tightened our social circles and narrowed the scope of our lives in ways no one imagined just a year ago. But the lockdown also brought an unexpected solace: Everyone, it seems, turned to baking sourdough bread. Social media has been overflowing with photos of frothy sourdough starters — many of them named, like a family pet — and the fresh-baked loaves that result. And though peak sourdough may have passed, many a fridge still contains that jar of starter. Most home sourdough bakers know that their starter contains a vibrant herd of microbes, which leaven and...

I am tired of buying store-bought products that do more harm than good. I am curious if fellow FReepers were using baking soda and Epson Salt on a regular basis and if so what is your favorite tip. Perhaps you have another 'Secret' product that you use.

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We will now begin the official countdown till Christmas. So if you haven’t finished your decorating,wrapping: and bakingtime to get to it. In case you have to do it twice.The tree faintedThe dog ate themSo as the world continues to go insane, remember: you needn’t participate. Jump off the wagon for awhile, I promise it will be a soft landing.And believe me, the lunacy will proceed without you.So comment on the world at large if you wish or just kick back and make some holiday appetizers. Either way, there’s still going to be only 9 days till Christmas, and time...

Today is Raj’s birthday, and that means only one thing around here: there will be cake. At one time that meant Mom’s Mystery Cake, which was about as simple as a homemade dessert could get and delicious when served with copious amounts of whipped cream. There are many more complicated variations of “fruit cocktail cake” out there but if yours looks more like a traditional cake with identifiable chunks of fruit in it you’re not doing it right. It should be more of an amalgamated pudding like creature. Mom’s Mystery CakeIngredients     1 (16 ounce) can fruit cocktail in heavy...

Happy Weekend, Everyone! A little birdie in a kilt whispered to me that we should have a cooking for Valentine's Day theme this weekend, and that is a perfect idea. I love chocolate so let's get some tried and true old favorite recipes out, as well as some new challenges if you want. But don't stop at dessert! Lots of our true loves have savory desires on Valentine's Day. Steaks, beef stew, potatoes Anna or Baked with sour cream... what is going to delight your honey, family, or even just yourself this week? Me, I'm thinking of chocolate this week....

“For the past 10 years, bread has been under attack.” Professor Zhou Weibiao, a food scientist at the National University of Singapore, isn’t wrong. According to current nutritional thinking, white bread is digested too fast, spikes blood sugar levels and is linked to obesity. In short, it’s the enemy of healthy eaters. Weibiao’s answer to this problem? He’s invented a purple bread. Rich in cancer-fighting antioxidants, digested 20 percent slower than regular white bread and made entirely of natural compounds, it could be the first superfood of the baked goods world. The great bake off A long-time staple food, bread’s...

Rioting has been reported at a concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. According to multiple reports, the Hot 97 Summer Jam concert grew rowdy Sunday night, prompting State Police to use tear gas outside the gates, the Asbury Park Press reported. A state police armored vehicle tear gassed the crowd because concert goers, angry the gates were closed, threw bottles, the Asbury Park Press said. State Police officers were wearing riot gear and had their batons out, according to NBC New York. NBC New York reported tasers may have been used.

The owner of a bakery in Lakewood said he will no longer sell wedding cakes after the Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled he did discriminate against a gay couple when he refused to sell them a cake. "We would close down the bakery before we would complicate our beliefs," Phillips said after the hearing, according to CBS Denver. Phillips also admitted he had refused service to other same-sex couples. The commission also ordered the baker to submit quarterly reports about the customers he refuses to serve and retrain employees to serve everyone.

White House executive pastry chef Bill Yosses is resigning after First Lady Michelle Obama fundamentally changed his job duties to focus on healthier food. Yosses is leaving the White House in June to work on a new project focusing on “food literacy” and The New York Times says Michelle is “partly to blame.” The openly gay chef was hired by Laura Bush in 2007 to make his trademark cookie plates and sugar sculptures. Mrs. Obama took over in 2009 and ordered Yosses to make healthier plates in smaller portions. Yosses began replacing butter with fruit puree and sugar with honey...

Are edible insects the food of the future? One Salt Lake City-based company thinks so. Chapul Inc. has cooked up an energy bar with an eye-popping ingredient -- crickets. Chapul Bars come in three flavors -- peanut butter, chocolate and Thai -- and sell for $2.99 to $3.59 each. They're made from natural ingredients such as dates, agave nectar, coconut, ginger, lime and dark chocolate. And all contain cricket flour. "Most people don't know that crickets are a rich source of edible protein," said Patrick Crowley, 33, an environmentalist and Chapul's founder. And compared to cows and pigs, crickets are...

For some time I’ve been trying to justify owning a robot without coming across as “that weirdo with the robot.” Now, I think I finally found my cover: A robot that bakes cookies! Mario Bollini and Daniela Rus of the Distributed Robotics Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have taken a PR2 robot, which is made by the robotics company Willow Garage, and programmed it to mix dough from scratch, make a giant cookie and then bake it in an oven. There are some caveats though (besides the giant cookie part). The PR2 robot costs about $400,000. In June,...