Utah Bakers Dozen

Okay, so I've never made fudge before. Sorry tensai and sjansen, it's a fact that you'll just have to live with. I can, however, recommend a great book on the subject. Ruth Kendrick is an expert at candymaking (and dutch oven cooking, for that matter). I have seen her book in bakeries from Utah to New Hampshire. It is a respected tome in the baking and pastry field, and if the experts turn to it, I think you should too.

Speaking of baking and pastry experts, it's time you learned about the Utah Bakers Dozen. It's not all experts, but there's a fair share of them in the group. This is a group of amateurs and experts alike, both home bakers and professional pastry chefs. If ever there was a similarity between hacking and food, it's baking. Perfect example: high alitude baking. This is one of the ultimate food hacks. And a few months ago, the focus of the UBD's meeting was this very topic.

As it turns out, there's another meeting coming up. Details will be posted on their site soon, but let me give you the low-down now. The topic is "Ice Cream and Cupcakes". It will involve a tour and demonstration at the Spotted Dog Creamery in Salt Lake, followed by an ice cream and cupcake social at the home of a member of the group. It will happen on Sunday, June 4th at 1pm. Now, they don't usually meet on Sunday. In fact, I think most of not all of the meetings before this have been on a Monday. If you're a member of the group, the cost is $5 in advance (or $10 if you sign up after June 2) and if you're not a member, the cost is $10 in advance (or $15 after June 2).

If you can't make it to this meeting, don't despair! There will be others! Also, we've put together a message board at Google Groups for the UBD. You don't have to be a member to post, so don't worry about that. It's a pretty new board, so there's not a whole lot of traffic yet. But that doesn't mean that if you post, your message will be ignored. There are people from the group watching the board, not knowing what to talk about, so go help 'em out!