Final answer:
The purpose of baking instructions from an author is to guide in the preparation of a cake, similar to how chemical equations guide reactions. Scaling ingredients proportionally, like in stoichiometry, is critical to achieve the desired outcomes in cooking.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding the Author's Purpose in a Recipe
In the context of a recipe, the author's purpose is to instruct on how to bake a cake. To effectively prepare the desired amount of cake, one must understand how to scale the recipe based on the given ingredients. For instance, if the recipe requirements are listed as '1 1/4 cups whole milk (or 3/4 cup heavy cream mixed with 1/2 cup water)', '1 tablespoon vanilla extract', '4 large eggs, at room temperature', '1 1/4 cups sugar', '1/2 teaspoon salt', '1 tablespoon baking powder', '3 cups all-purpose flour', '2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature', the key is to ensure that you have the exact proportions to achieve the intended result.
Let's use another example: If a pancake recipe calls for '2 cups of pancake mix', '1 egg', and '1/2 cup of milk' for one batch, and you have '9 cups of pancake mix', a simple multiplication will help you determine the amount of other ingredients required. This balance of ingredients is essential in baking and is akin to the stoichiometric principles used in chemistry; the ingredients in a recipe are the reactants that produce the final product, similar to reagents in a chemical reaction. In practical terms, this means if you want to triple a recipe, you must multiply all the ingredients by three, just as you would balance a chemical equation.
The same applies to your cake ingredients. If you were to double the cake recipe, for example, you would need '2 1/2 cups whole milk', '2 tablespoons vanilla extract', '8 large eggs', '2 1/2 cups sugar', '1 teaspoon salt', '2 tablespoons baking powder', '6 cups all-purpose flour', and '4 sticks unsalted butter'. This accurate scaling is crucial for maintaining the texture and flavor of your cake.