USES: A small amount of salt heightens and intensifies flavors; without it, breads, cakes, and cookies taste flat and can fall short of dazzling. When using salt in batters, whisk it with the other dry ingredients to ensure that it is evenly dispersed. When beating egg whites for meringues, add the salt toward the end, since salt can make egg foams unstable.
FIND: Table salt and kosher salt are available in the baking aisle at the supermarket. Sea salt and fleur de sel can be found in some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.
STORE: Airtight in the cupboard indefinitely.
shortening
WHAT: Solid vegetable shortening is pure vegetable oil in a solid state. Bon Appétit recommends non-hydrogenated shortening, which is healthier because it contains no trans fats. Note that shortening is not the same thing as margarine, which usually contains water, whey, salt, and other ingredients. If a recipe calls for shortening, do not substitute margarine, as the added ingredients can alter the texture of the dessert.
USES: Solid vegetable shortening is often used in combination with butter in crusts. Because it’s more malleable than butter (which contains some milk solids), shortening makes the crust easier to work with and to roll out, preventing the dough from cracking and falling apart. It’s helpful to novice pie makers for that reason. And because it’s all fat, it helps make the crusts flaky. However shortening does not have any flavor, so it’s best used in combination with butter. To measure solid vegetable shortening accurately, pack it firmly into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Rinsing the measuring cup with cold water first will make it easier to scrape the shortening from the cup with a rubber spatula.
FIND: Non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening is available at supermarkets, specialty markets, and natural foods stores. It’s usually found in the aisle where vegetable oils and olive oils are sold; in some markets it’s in the baking aisle.
STORE: Technically shortening does not need refrigeration after opening, but since it’s usually used chilled for pie crusts, do keep it in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a year, and will last even longer if stored in the freezer.
spices
WHAT: Spices are aromatic seasonings derived from the bark, roots, seeds, buds, or berries of plants and trees. Allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg are among the most frequently used spices for desserts.
Allspice, a brown berry, is available whole or ground. It’s originally from tropical regions, including Jamaica, South America, and the West Indies, and tastes like a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and black pepper.
Cardamom is a small, pale green pod with small black seeds. It is sold as whole pods, seeds, and ground. Cardamom is native to India and frequently used in Southeast Asian cuisines, Middle Eastern cuisines, and Scandinavian breads and pastries. It has a warm, pungent aroma and flavor. The easiest way to remove the seeds from cardamom pods is to enclose the pods in a resealable plastic bag, then whack them a few times with a skillet, rolling pin, or meat mallet. Remove the husks from the bag, and keep whacking until the seeds are crushed as finely as you like.
Cinnamon, the bark of an evergreen tree indigenous to India and Sri Lanka, is sold both in stick form and as a ground powder. However, much of the cinnamon on the market in the United States is actually cassia (also the bark of an evergreen tree), which has a stronger flavor than genuine cinnamon. Sticks of the two types appear quite different. True cinnamon quills consist of paper-thin layers of bark rolled together. Cassia sticks are a single layer of thick, stiff bark. If you prefer the flavor of true cinnamon (some people like cassia’s more assertive character), look for jars labeled Ceylon cinnamon or plastic bags of Mexican cinnamon.
Cloves are the dried, unopened flower buds of a tropical evergreen tree. They’re sold whole or ground and have a very pungent flavor. A little goes a long way; using too much has a numbing effect and its flavor will overpower the dish.
Ginger is the knobby root of a tropical plant. It is most frequently used fresh, dried and ground, and crystallized (see page 10 for more information).
Nutmeg is an oval-shaped seed of a fruit native to East Indonesia. It is sold whole or ground, and has a warm, sweet flavor and aroma. Whole nutmeg can be grated with a Microplane grater or nutmeg grinder, and will have a much more intense flavor than purchased ground nutmeg.
USES: Ground spices are convenient to use, but their flavors deteriorate more quickly than whole spices. Toasting spices changes their flavor dramatically (consider how different a slice of bread tastes when toasted), so if a recipe calls for a spice to be toasted, don’t skip that step—you’ll be shortchanging the dish.
FIND: All of the spices listed here can be found in the spice aisle.
STORE: In tightly sealed canisters in a cool, dark cupboard; ground spices will keep for six months to a year; whole spices will keep about twice as long.
sugar
WHAT: Sugar is probably the first ingredient people think of when they think of desserts. It comes in a variety of forms, including the familiar granulated white sugar, powdered (or confectioners’) sugar, raw sugar, and light and dark brown sugar.
USES: Sugar plays various roles, depending on the kind of sugar being used.
Granulated sugar is highly refined from the juices of sugarcane or sugar beets. It is sold in cubes and in several different textures, from superfine—which dissolves easily, making it ideal for meringues and for sweetening drinks—to coarse, which is often colored and used as decoration.
Powdered sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar) is white sugar that’s been ground into a fine powder and mixed with a small amount of cornstarch to help absorb moisture and prevent caking. If powdered sugar is excessively clumpy, sift it before measuring. Because it dissolves easily, it’s good for making icings, frostings, and whipped cream. It is frequently dusted over baked goods as a garnish.
Raw sugar is a coarse-grained sugar with a light amber color, sparkly appearance, and sweet flavor with notes of caramel. Turbinado sugar and demerara sugar are varieties of raw sugar. Raw sugar is partially refined, but unlike granulated sugar, it retains a bit of molasses residue. Since raw sugar has large sparkly grains, it is often used as a finishing sugar—it is especially pretty sprinkled on scones and pie crusts before baking—and can be substituted for white or brown sugar when used as a garnish. However, it is not always interchangeable with white and brown sugar in recipes that call for a particular sugar.
Brown sugar is white sugar mixed with molasses and comes in two main varieties: golden brown sugar, also called light brown sugar, and dark brown sugar, which has a stronger molasses flavor. When measuring brown sugar, always pack it firmly in the measuring cup, unless otherwise specified.
FIND: Granulated, powdered, and brown sugars are all sold in the baking aisle at the supermarket. Raw sugar is available in the baking section of many supermarkets and specialty foods stores.
STORE: In your cupboard or pantry. Brown sugar is a soft, moist sugar that hardens when exposed to air, so store it in an airtight container at room temperature. If it hardens, enclose it in an airtight container with a damp paper towel or wedge of apple on top and let it stand for a couple of days, or place it in a microwave-safe dish and cover with two damp paper towels, then microwave on high for about 30 seconds.