Apple Cider IS Not Vinegar (Yet)

Heather says:
This morning I woke up to a strange comment on the Apple Cider Pancake Recipe:

I was excited to try this recipe, but it was a total flop 🙁 The only thing I can guess is that the vanilla yogurt I used had significantly less sugar than the vanilla yogurt you used. The pancakes we ended up with had such a strong vinegar flavor that no one could finish even one… even after drowning in syrup. I am going to continue to experiment with this recipe, though, because the texture was excellent and they smelled wonderful cooking. Perhaps just cutting back on the vinegar would solve the issue?

The comment is strange because the recipe does not actually call for vinegar.

• 4 TBSP butter, melted
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup apple cider
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose or plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 large apple – sliced very thin
• Cooking oil- optional

I double checked. Yep, no vinegar.

Suddenly it hit me, the commenter did one of two things, they used a cup of apple cider vinegar OR the commenter’s apple cider had turned.

If the conditions are right, apple cider can ferment and turn into hard apple cider (yum!) or continue to ferment and turn into vinegar.

The solution:

1. Read carefully and don’t use apple cider vinegar unless a recipe explicitly calls for vinegar
2. Sniff and or taste ingredients before using them.

We all have cooking fails. I truly hope that this is something the commenter can look back on and laugh. “Remember that time when?”

That said, I still mess a recipe up once in a while, sometimes it’s because I wasn’t paying attention and sometimes it’s because a recipe was poorly written. When I test recipes that I intend to share, I always make the recipe, the first time as written. I want to look for errors and the intention of the original. The second time, I adjust it to our tastes and preferences, but only where the chemistry of cooking allows.

One of the great things about learning to cook is that over time, if you pay attention, you gain more flexibility in this experimentation. The role of each ingredient becomes more understood and the practice becomes intuition. In baking you learn what gives moisture and what actually creates the bubbles that keep cakes and breads from falling flat. In sautéing and grilling you learn more about what flavor combinations makes you happy.

Can I substitute x for y is a great question and one that should often be asked.

Dare to experiment.

Just understand that not everything will always work out perfectly.

Here’s to learning.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com