Here's what happens pretty much every day in the BA test kitchen: Someone takes a delicious-sounding idea (looking at you, Tex-Mex Breakfast Waffle Nachos) and turns it into a recipe with replicable, accurate instructions. But how does the test kitchen crew get from Point A to Point B? We asked them how they turn a tasty thought into a real recipe—and how you can do it, too. So, next time inspiration strikes, like, say, when you're holding a jar of Nutella and wondering what would happen if you put it in a molten chocolate cake, you'll know what to do.
Before you grab a single pot or pan, head to your computer or cookbook collection. “If you want to make your own recipe, you have to see what’s out there first,” says senior food editor Chris Morocco. He and the rest of the team do a deep dive on recipes to get a sense of proportions (i.e. what’s a standard ratio of leavening to fat in a cake recipe?) and cooking methods (i.e. looks like I should brown the meat before braising). “Use them as road maps,” says senior associate food editor Claire Saffitz. If there’s a common ingredient or step that they all have, it’s probably there for a reason.
Research is also a good way to identify ways you want to make your recipe different from what’s come before. For a strawberry shortcake recipe he’s been working on (stay tuned this summer!), Morocco noticed that he didn’t like the square shortcakes he saw online (they looked more like biscuits than shortcakes), and that slices of raw strawberry looked too slippery. He knew right away that he wanted round shortcakes instead of squares, and that he wanted to macerate the strawberries.
Before Saffitz starts cooking, she types out a recipe more or less as it would appear in the magazine, with ingredient quantities and precise instructions. Based on the proportions she notices in her research and the flavors she likes together, she pieces together a recipe that she thinks will work. Things change once she starts cooking; if a batter looks surprisingly wet, or if she realizes there are way too many scallions, she’ll adjust accordingly. But the typed recipe gives her a foundation, and an easy way to take notes as she cooks.
Morocco prefers to start cooking, then let the recipe take shape from there. He begins with an idea of what he wants to do, but writes down ingredients, quantities, and a few key words (i.e. “pulse”) as he goes. Associate food editor Rick Martinez agrees. “To me, writing down a recipe first is constrictive,” he says. He often jots down quantities ahead of time, but nothing else.
No matter how you approach the recipe before you start cooking, you'll want to keep a pen and paper in the kitchen. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve riffed on a recipe and forgot what I did,” Saffitz says. If you don’t write it down, you’ll never remember after the fact what you did. How much paprika did you use? Did you cook the onions until they were golden brown or deep brown? When Martinez doesn’t feel like pausing to write, he’ll use his phone to take notes, dictating to Siri or taking process photos.
Existing recipes are just for guidance—the rest is up to you. “Recipes are not dogma,” Saffitz says. Try subbing brown sugar for white sugar, fresh ginger for ground. If your favorite chicken dish always turns out perfectly moist, don’t mess with the cook time—but there’s no reason you can’t try a Peruvian-inspired marinade instead of your Asian go-to. Use the base coffee cake recipe you like, but experiment with totally different toppings.
With baking recipes in particular, it’s best to make changes one at a time, Saffitz suggests. If you tweak the sugar, the flour, and the fat and it doesn’t turn out well, you’ll never know what the problem was. Work in coconut oil on your first pass, but save the almond flour swap for your second try.
If a recipe calls for anchovies and you don’t like anchovies, go ahead and take them out. But think about why they’re there. They’re adding salt and a little funk—so maybe throw in some salt and grated garlic to compensate.
“The more you cook and push things, the more you learn where the boundaries are,” Saffitz says. You won’t discover what’s too much spice, or too much color, or too unorthodox a cooking method until you go too far. “You have to be comfortable with failure to get good. It’s about knowing that you’ll get it right eventually,” says Martinez. And when in doubt, “put crispy shallots on top,” Saffitz says. “It literally makes anything delicious.”