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Basic Baking from Sofia Sharpe on Vimeo.

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I was originally using this assignment as an opportunity to work on a mini stop action animation film inspired by my years working in an elementary school. I was disturbed by the amount of hyper stimulation the students were constantly bombarded with, not only in kid pop culture but also from what is considered “educational programming.” My desire was to bring it back to the basics like the mini documentaries and short films that were featured on Sesame Street during the seventies and eighties. After running through several trials it became clear this idea was bigger than what my current goal was and I needed to strip it down even further and bring myself back to the basics.

Thus, I brought out my Joy of Cooking book – a house hold standard and reference encyclopedia for your general cooking needs. I went through the standard recipes and made a list of main ingredients and their typical measurements. I came up with twenty separate ingredients that will cover all your baking needs; many of them serve the same purpose for leavening, binding, or flavor essence. I then took my redundant list and tried my luck with mixing the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. And to my delight, this list did not create a chemistry disaster in my oven, but instead worked rather well.

…and pretty tasty!

1.	1 pinch of salt	Combine dry ingredients
2.	¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3.	¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
4	1 teaspoon baking powder
5	1 teaspoon baking soda
6	1 cup whole wheat flour
7	2 cups all purpose flour
8	½ cup granulated sugar
9	½ cup packed dark brown sugar	Combine these 3 ingredients. Add to the rest of the wet ingredients before combining all wet and dry
10	1/3 cup warm water
11	1 packet of dry active yeast
12	¼ teaspoon vanilla extract	Combine wet ingredients
13	¼ cup brandy
14	1 cup buttermilk
15	1 cup whole milk
16	1 stick unsalted butter
17	¼ cup oil
18	zest of one lemon
19	2 egg yolks
20	4 egg whites	Beaten to firm peaks, folded into complete batter after it has risen in warm environment for 30 minutes
21	non stick spray	For baking tins
22	Fill whatever tins you can find in your kitchen. Bake at 375° until golden on top. Or make waffles and pancakes.