Dessert Surveillance

Recently I toured the Good Housekeeping Research Institute – the product testing arm of Good Housekeeping magazine. Good Housekeeping issues a limited warranty for products that have earned the Good Housekeeping Seal.  It was fascinating to see how the different test labs are set up to evaluate all sorts of products – ranging from plastic food storage containers to bathing suits to televisions to vacuum cleaners to anti-aging facial cleansers. 

Of course, the area near and dear to my heart is the Test Kitchen, also known as the Food Department.  Among other responsibilities, the Food Department develops all the recipes that are in each issue of Good Housekeeping.  Recipes are tested multiple times – at least three – and they’re tested using gas ovens as well as electric ovens, and are also tested using different brands of appliances and cookware. But the equipment used is what Good Housekeeping readers are likely to have in their homes – not commercial grade apparatus. The Test Kitchen staff also creates and tests recipes for Good Housekeeping cookbooks.  Each recipe takes months to plan, test, and tweak.

There can be surprises.  In response to a recipe contest, “My mom makes the best _____________” readers submitted their treasured recipes.  The Food Department baked a cake from one of these submissions and the cake that emerged was unusually heavy.  Apparently there wasn’t enough sugar in the recipe, and that accounted for the heaviness of the cake.

According to the web site, in a typical month, the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen buys $2,241 worth of groceries, conducts 142 taste tests, and washes 6,481 dishes.

An interesting tidbit from the web site: The Food Department staff keeps their weight off, not by spitting out the food, but by “eating strategically.” They only taste a few bites of a dish and if they will be tasting desserts, they’ll skip lunch.

After I completed the tour, I wondered: Do all magazine and cookbook publishers perform such rigorous recipe tests?  If so, why do so many recipes not turn out quite the way I think they should?  Before, it was so much easier to blame the recipe.  Now I may need to blame the baker/cook (me!).

I recently participated in a 92^nd Street Y tasting tour of French macarons in Manhattan.  When I wasn’t concentrating intently on the macarons I was sampling, I pondered these questions:

(1)  Bakeries/chocolatiers known for their macarons typically offer a number of different flavors. How do they ensure that all of the varieties are fresh?  Over the last few years, I’ve eaten macarons that regrettably, weren’t as fresh as they could be, and  once, horror of all horrors,  I tasted a macaron that had definitely turned.   

(2) The tour leader, Alexandra Leaf, asked us: From a taste standpoint, which macarons are better?  Those baked in France, flown here while frozen, or macarons baked locally?

Commonsense would dictate that the local macarons would be fresher.  Interestingly, I thought the macarons baked in France seemed fresher.  One of the purveyors, La Maison du Chocolat, seemed extremely diligent about preserving the freshness of their products.  I inquired about having a box of macaroons shipped and they refused; they would not be able to ensure the freshness of their products.   

My analysis:. With macarons, if probably depends more on the skill of the baker and attention to keeping the product fresh than on the location of the baking. 

I’ve also found this to be the case with chocolates.  I frequent a Swiss chocolatier, with retail locations in New York.  Teuscher’s chocolates are made in Switzerland and the products are flown to New York a few times each week.  When I was in Switzerland years ago, I sampled Teuscher chocolates.  (I told myself it was for quality control purposes only.)  There was no difference in taste from those that I purchase at New York stores.

Regarding overall macaron preference: of the four retailers/bakeries, I preferred two – one who imports macarons, La Maison du Chocolat, and one who bakes macaroons locally, Mille-Feuille Bakery and Café.  However, as most of the macaron purveyors in New York City are bakers from France, even the “local” macarons are French.  

I assumed the sole reason for importing macarons would be to ensure the high-quality of the product.  Yet other important reasons can enter into it.  The New York Times quoted the President of Laduree, David Holder as saying: “We make the macarons in Paris for all the Ladurees around the world.  That way we can be sure no one will steal our recipes.” 

Of course, deciding not to purchase imported foods because of the carbon footprint is a separate issue.