—Barbara Fairchild, Los Angeles, California
the desserts pantry
There are many wonderful things about making desserts, not least that you get to eat them afterward. One of the other pluses is that you probably have most of the staples in your cupboard or refrigerator right now: flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla extract, baking chocolate. From there, it’s not a huge leap into the delicious world of cakes, pies, custards, ice creams, and cookies—not to mention Linzertortes, Pavlovas, baked Alaskas, tiered wedding cakes, and croquembouches. Following is a guide to the ingredients you’ll be using most often as you bake and cook your way through the recipes in this book, from angel food cake to zabaglione.
Whisk RatingsTo help you determine at a glance which recipe fits your skill level, we’ve given every recipe in the book a “whisk rating,” on a scale of one to four whisks. A complete Index of Whisk Ratings begins on page 638.
almond paste & marzipan
WHAT: Pliable sweet “doughs” made primarily of ground blanched almonds and sugar, with the addition of glucose or egg whites.
USES: Almond paste is usually used as an ingredient in desserts for flavor and texture. Marzipan is lighter, finer, and sweeter and is often tinted and sculpted into fruit, vegetable, or animal shapes. In the recipes here, it is usually rolled into sheets to cover cakes or to be cut into various shapes.
FIND: In tubes or cans at most supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.
STORE: Unopened in a dry, cool place for up to a year; once opened, store airtight in the refrigerator for up to three months.
baking powder & baking soda
WHAT: Key leavening agents for baked goods—in other words, they help cakes, cookies, and muffins rise and have an airy texture. Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) has four times the leavening power of baking powder. It releases carbon dioxide gas when combined with an acidic ingredient (like buttermilk, molasses, sour cream, or yogurt) and causes dough and batter to rise. Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda, cornstarch, and one or more powdered acids, which release carbon dioxide gas first when moistened and a second time when heated, thus giving baking powder a double-acting leavening ability.
USES: When using baking soda or baking powder, whisk them with the other dry ingredients to distribute them evenly.
FIND: In the baking aisle. You can make your own baking powder by whisking 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1½ tablespoons cornstarch three times to ensure that it is well blended.
STORE: In a cool, dry place for about six months. Store homemade baking powder airtight at room temperature for up to one month.
butter
WHAT: Butter is made by churning cream until it separates, forming a milky liquid and the solid butterfat. Unsalted butter is the preferred choice for baking since it allows you to control the amount of salt in recipes. European butter (also known in the U.S. as cultured butter) is made by churning fermented cream rather than regular cream; it has a higher percentage of milk fat and works well in desserts.
USES: Butter adds flavor and richness, makes baked goods tender and flaky, extends the shelf life of breads, and aids in browning. Well-chilled butter is crucial to the success of baked goods like biscuits, shortcakes, scones, and pie dough; however, when beating butter with sugar for cakes and most cookie doughs, the butter will “cream” better if it is at room temperature.
FIND: European butter, such as Plugrá (European-style butter) and Isigny Ste-Mère, can be found alongside regular butter in well-stocked supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.
STORE: Butter absorbs odors easily; store it airtight in the coldest part of the refrigerator and away from foods for one to two months (wrapped). Regular butter can be frozen for up to six months, European-style butter for up to four.
chocolate
WHAT: The purest form of chocolate is the cacao nib, formed after cacao beans are removed from their pods, fermented, dried, roasted, shelled, and cracked open. You can use nibs to add subtle chocolate flavor and a crunchy texture to baked goods, but most nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is, basically, a combination of cocoa solids and cocoa butter; after further stages of refining, chocolate as we know it is formed.
USES: As a rule of thumb, use the best-quality chocolate you can find and afford. In fact, many of our recipes specify “high-quality chocolate” such as Lindt, Perugina, Valrhona, and Scharffen Berger, which reward you with incredible depth of flavor, sweetness, and smooth texture. Most labels on packages of chocolate now indicate the percentage of cacao—the higher the percentage of cacao, the less sugar and other ingredients.
Dark chocolate includes unsweetened, bittersweet, and semisweet chocolates.
Unsweetened chocolate (100 percent cacao) is pure chocolate with no other ingredients, including sugar; also referred to as baking chocolate.
Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates contain sugar, vanilla, and lecithin, an emulsifier; sometimes you’ll also see milk solids added to mellow the flavor. Bittersweet has a richer chocolate flavor and is less sweet since it has a higher percentage of cacao. In certain Bon Appétit recipes, to guarantee the best results, it’s important to use a bittersweet or semisweet chocolate that doesn’t have too high a percentage of cacao; in those cases, we specify that the chocolate should not exceed 61 percent cacao. In other recipes, the cacao percentage will not affect the outcome; those recipes will simply call for “bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.”
Milk chocolate, made with the addition of dry milk powder, has more sugar than bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.
White chocolate is technically not chocolate because it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor. It is a blend of cocoa butter, sugar, milk products, vanilla, and lecithin. For the best results when using white chocolate in a recipe, use the highest quality possible; make sure it contains cocoa butter, not vegetable oil. Lindt and Perugina are excellent brands.
FIND: In the baking aisle or the candy aisle. If your supermarket doesn’t carry high-quality chocolate, check specialty foods stores or online (see Online and Mail-Order Sources on page 632).
STORE: Wrap tightly and store in a cool, dry place. Unopened, chocolate will keep for several months.
cocoa powder
WHAT: A powder made of the chocolate liquor extracted from cocoa beans.
USES: Natural cocoa (sometimes labeled simply “cocoa” or “nonalkalized cocoa”) is slightly acidic and has a strong flavor and a slightly red color. Many baked goods rely on natural cocoa’s acidity to help set the proteins in baked goods. Dutch-process cocoa has been treated with an alkali, which neutralizes its acidity, softens the harsh flavor, and dramatically darkens the color. But because it lacks acidity, it might not set the proteins properly in baked goods, resulting in cakes that collapse, for example. Use Dutch-process cocoa only in recipes that call for it; substituting Dutch-process for natural cocoa is not recommended.