Sugar is important in baking for more than one reason. It is obviously used for its sweetness but it also has the ability to trap air and therefore lighten the texture of baked goods. In addition, it provides an appetizing colour because it caramelizes when subjected to high temperatures.
I would be lying if I said that beet sugar is the same as cane sugar. The chemical composition, nutritional aspects and baking results may be equivalent, but for me there is also an emotional aspect. Having literally grown up in Demerara within the sight and smell of sugar cane in its various stages, I can tell you that cane sugar has an aroma that is definitely lacking in its beet counterpart. As children, we would make excursions (often semi-illicit) to the sugar factory and taste our way through the production process, from sweet and refreshing cane juice to fragrant yellow crystals. When I first came to live in Holland, I kept on throwing away freshly opened packets and buying new ones, only to have to throw those away as well. It wasn’t until my husband asked why there was always so much sugar in our rubbish bin that I managed to figure out what was wrong: the absence of the accustomed appetizingly syrupy scent had convinced me that the sugar was spoiled. From that day on, I have kept vanilla pods (beans) in my sugar canister in a desperate attempt to force some semblance of flavour into it. If you decide to perfume your beet sugar similarly, do let the people in your house know what you have done. I shall never forget my husband’s agonized yell that there were slugs in the sugar, the first time he saw the chopped-up pods nestling cozily between the crystals.
Granulated sugar is an all-purpose cooking and table sugar. It is refined sugar with a coarse structure. Caster (superfine) sugar is similar to granulated sugar, but it has a much finer structure with smaller crystals. It takes its name from the fact that it used to be sprinkled from a sugar caster, a practice popular in the past, when sugar was also used as a table condiment. This is the baker’s favourite sugar since its structure allows it to dissolve more readily, making it easier to cream with butter, for instance. Icing (confectioner’s) sugar is ground to a powder and a proportion of cornflour (cornstarch) is often added to prevent lumping. In baking, icing sugar tends to be reserved for making meringues, creams and frostings, or biscuits (cookies) with a very fine texture. If you were to follow the same cake recipe using first granulated sugar, then caster sugar and, finally, icing sugar, the result would reflect the type of sugar used. Granulated sugar would produce a coarser structure with large air pockets; caster sugar would produce more even-sized pockets; and icing sugar would produce a cake with a fine but rather compact texture.
As far as the brown sugars go, many people are inclined to believe that brown is healthier than white. That is true only if the brown sugar really is a semi-refined product and not simply cheap white sugar coloured by molasses, which unfortunately is often the case. The best, but most expensive, of the soft brown sugars is muscovado, a semi-refined cane sugar that comes in varying degrees of darkness. It is moist and in its darkest state it has a powerful taste and smell of molasses. There are other more neutral soft sugars on the market, and these are excellent for baking. Demerara (raw brown) sugar is a golden cane sugar with a coarse and hard structure and is the product of the first crystallization so that it still has natural molasses clinging to it. Originally from the province of Demerara in Guyana, it is now made in many other countries and the name is used to denote its type rather than origin. It has a marvellous flavour, but is best sprinkled on food for added crunch or used in recipes where it must first be dissolved; it takes ages to cream. Brown caster sugar is also sold, often made from demerara-type sugars that have been ground to the required fineness. These are easier to cream.
More exotic kinds of sugar, such as jaggery, can also be made from sugar cane and sugar palms. The flavour and colour will vary, depending on the base material. It is a cruder form of sugar, and is made and used primarily in India and the Far East. In Indonesia and Malaysia, it is called gula jawa or gula melaka and its consistency varies from a thick syrup to compact, hard cakes. The cakes can be crushed, and the result looks like granulated sugar. It is not really suitable for baked goods made by traditional Western methods, but it is very flavourful in local rice-based delicacies. Panela and piloncillo are Latin American variants and are usually made from sugar cane.
Dark treacle (molasses) is a by-product from refining cane sugar. This substance, so prized when subtly present in other sugar products, can be overwhelming on its own and is mainly used in combination with sugar. It makes delicious spice cakes and is sometimes used to give colour to fruit cakes. It adds flavour and moistness to some breads.
Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners known to man. It was used in ancient forms of baking and primitive confections and is still very much in evidence today in some spice cakes and specific types of confectionery such as nougat. It is available in countless varieties, from clover to orange blossom to Australian eucalyptus, and each has its own specific flavour characteristics. In appearance, it varies from yellow paste to amber liquid and the latter is generally used in baking.
Flour provides the body of breads and cakes and forms the backdrop for the other ingredients. Wheat flour is most commonly used for baking and is valued for its neutral taste. Always take care to use the flour specified in the recipe because it will have been chosen for particular properties. In other words, flour types are not necessarily interchangeable, and substituting one for the other can have very unexpected results. Bear in mind, too, that no two countries produce the same flour, whether or not they cultivate the same kind of wheat. Climate and soil play important roles as well as the season in which the wheat is planted. Hard spring wheat, for instance, is planted in spring and is stronger (in other words, harder) than hard winter wheat planted in autumn. Flour goes stale after a few months, especially whole-grain flours. Always store your flour in an airtight bag or canister and be sure to observe the manufacturer’s guidelines regarding shelf life.
Strong flour (bread flour) is the product of hard wheat and is used for baking bread. It has great powers of absorption and a high gluten content that allows the crumb to stretch without breaking as it expands. It needs to be kneaded very well in order to develop the gluten.
The soft cake flour so loved by American bakers is not widely available outside the United States. It is ideal for cakes because it can support all the fat, sugar and moisture necessary to produce a moist, tender-crumbed cake. Note that products sold in Europe as cake flour are not the same; many contain a raising agent, cornflour (cornstarch) and flavouring. American cake flour will give good results only in recipes compiled specifically for its use. None of the recipes in this book call for cake flour.
Plain (all-purpose) flour is used in most of the recipes in this book. It is a blend of varying proportions of hard and soft flours, making it suitable for many ends – as its American name suggests. When a raising agent is added, it becomes self-raising flour and some brands may also contain salt. In general, I prefer to use plain flour and add the correct amount of baking powder and salt needed, as these can vary.
Bleached flours are flours that have been treated with chlorine or similar substances. Freshly milled flour contains pigments that give it a yellowish tinge, and bleaching whitens it. Bleaching also ages flour artificially, and flour needs to be aged to strengthen the gluten and improve baking qualities. Rather than storing it and allowing it to mellow naturally, chlorine dioxide is added.
Wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour contains a high percentage of bran because the entire wheat berry is milled instead of just the endosperm. Bran content and coarseness may vary. Whole grains are generally held to be a healthier alternative, but this is debatable because the amount of extra nutrients absorbed by the body is so negligible that it can make little difference. What is true is that wholemeal products cleanse the digestive tract, as they contain indigestible fibres. As a rule, the gluten content is lower in wholemeal flour than white flour. Its shelf life is also more limited.
Semolina is coarsely milled durum wheat, one of the hardest types. Milling fragments it into particles of varying size. Finely ground, it turns into durum flour, which is the best flour for making pasta. The particles are sold as fine, medium and coarse semolina and are used in many Middle Eastern cakes and pastries. Semolina absorbs moisture while holding its shape very well and retains some bite even after being cooked, adding texture to baked goods.
Rye is a less demanding crop than wheat and can be grown in poorer soil and colder climatic conditions. Often stigmatized as a peasant food, rye flour is used in many excellent breads from northern Europe. In its coarsest form, it makes hearty pumpernickel-type breads, and in its finest milling, it is a crucial contributor to the texture of the famous Dutch spice cakes. Rye flour gives bread a moister and looser texture than wheat flour. Because of its low gluten content, it is often mixed with wheat flour in varying proportions depending on the desired result. Some supermarkets and most health food stores sell it. The finest milling – whole grain or otherwise – is needed for the recipes in this book.
Cornmeal is ground maize and is available in coarse and fine millings. It has been used for thousands of years in South and Central America. The Maya and Aztec Indians prepared a wide variety of breadlike products from cornmeal and developed a clever technique known as nixtamalization. The procedure involves soaking the grain with lime or wood ash, which softens the outer skin, making it easier to grind, and also enhances the nutritional value, reducing the risk of diseases such as pellagra. North American Indians used a similar method with wood ash. Cornmeal is not often nixtamalized outside Latin America. The fine type of cornmeal used for making polenta is suitable for the recipes in this book.
Cornflour (cornstarch) and potato flour are the starch that has been extracted from these plants. They contain next to no gluten and are often used in cake-making to ‘cut’ other flours, reducing the gluten content and so producing a shorter and more tender crumb. They are very rarely used on their own except as thickeners for sauces. Cornflour is not to be confused with cornmeal, which is milled from the whole kernel.
Rice flour is ground from rice grains and has a sweetly aromatic taste. There are various kinds, each with the specific properties of the rice from which it has been milled. Glutinous rice flour will therefore give a sticky result and a non-glutinous one will yield a looser result, more comparable to wheat flour. Always use the type that is specified. If the package simply says ‘rice flour’ and you have bought it in a Western supermarket, it is generally safe to assume that it is the more neutral non-glutinous kind.
Butter tenderizes cakes and breads and also adds flavour. My recipes all use unsalted butter, sometimes called sweet butter. Butter was originally salted to improve its keeping qualities and many people have acquired a preference for it, finding sweet butter too bland for their palate. However, the salt content can vary from brand to brand, so it is best to use unsalted butter for baking. Butter is made by skimming cream off milk, and then churning it until the solids and liquids separate. The solids form butter and the thin, tart liquid that remains is traditional buttermilk. The solids, with a fat content of about 80%, are either packaged as they are, or salted first. The water content hovers around 16%, but this can vary a little and can be influenced by seemingly remote factors such as animal fodder and grazing conditions.
Manufacturers have been inducing us for years to believe that margarine is a healthy substitute for butter. Ordinary margarine has the same number of calories as butter and a similar fat content; diet margarines may vary. Impartial surveys have shown that margarine is not the wonder product it is often thought to be, and it is certainly not risk-free in terms of health. Butter gives a far superior flavour and I use it almost exclusively.
Ghee, or clarified butter, is a favourite in Indian cooking and can be bought in tins from ethnic grocers. In the Middle East and North Africa, a similar product is known as samn. It can easily be prepared at home. To make it, butter is melted and the froth is skimmed off. The yellow liquid under the froth conceals a milky layer that leaches out as it cooks. This thin, milky fluid is discarded after the yellow part has cooled and solidified into ghee. Ghee will keep for far longer than butter, especially if salt is added. As it is almost pure milk fat, with very little excess moisture, it cannot be used interchangeably with butter unless specifically indicated in the recipe. ‘Vegetable ghee’ is simply margarine by another name, so steer clear of it.
Lard is rendered pig fat. Its high saturated fat content has reduced its popularity considerably in recent years in favour of fats perceived to be lighter, such as butter and margarine. It is used in some traditional breads and pastries and, handled correctly, can produce a wonderful texture. Lard is often described as bland, but this is a matter of opinion: I find that the flavour almost inevitably dominates the recipe in which it is used. It can also cause allergic reactions in some people, and for these reasons I prefer to substitute butter in my recipes.
Vegetable shortening is a smooth white substance made with partially or completely hydrogenated oils. It has no obvious flavour of its own and simply borrows some from the other ingredients. Although it has good creaming properties, it is not a fat I choose to use in cakes. However, I do use it in a few instances when the authenticity of a recipe requires it.
Oil (preferably a neutral-tasting one like corn, sunflower or peanut) is fine in many flatbreads and a few breads, but it does not have a beneficial effect on cakes. It lacks creaming qualities and produces a close texture. However, olive oil is used in some Mediterranean cuisines to make cakes. The flavour can be a bit too powerful for the purpose, and a Spanish tip is to heat the oil with some lemon peel and then leave it to cool before baking with it. Obviously, using a neutral-tasting oil neatly circumvents this step.
Cream is skimmed from the top of milk and its main use in baking is for fillings and glazes. It is available in varying percentages of fat, all suited to a particular purpose. Single (light) cream has a minimum fat content of 18% and is generally used in its existent state over fruit and puddings and in beverages. Whipping cream or double (heavy) cream contains 30–40% fat, enabling it to be whipped; the higher the fat content, the better it whips. When chilled double cream is whipped, the fat globules expand and stick to each other. If the fat is not cold enough, it will be too soft to support the surrounding foam, and the cream will collapse. If cream is overwhipped, it will separate, leaving globules of butter floating in milky liquid. Once the whisk starts to leave trails in the cream, you must be vigilant, as the process speeds up considerably from this point and even a few seconds can make a difference. The right stage to stop is a matter of personal preference and varies from soft to stiff peaks. There is usually a choice between pasteurized and sterilized or UHT (ultra heat-treated) cream. The former has a simple fresh taste and can be found in the chilling cabinet. UHT cream has a slightly sweet flavour, the result of some caramelization during the heat treatment. It is sold in small boxes straight from the shelf and does not need to be refrigerated, making it a handy storecupboard standby. However, it must be chilled well before whipping, for the reason given above.
Crème fraîche is a lightly fermented cream with a thick consistency and a fat content of at least 30%. It can be used as it is or sweetened or flavoured in some other way – for instance, with a few drops of rum. It makes an excellent accompaniment to many cakes and desserts and can be used in some cooked fillings too.
Sour cream was traditionally precisely what its name implies: cream left to sour naturally. Nowadays, bacterial cultures are introduced into single cream to produce a thick and slightly tart cream. It is used in a host of savoury dishes and is the cornerstone of many Central European cuisines, Hungarian prominent among them. It is also an excellent addition to some kinds of pastry.
Kaymak or qymak is a thick cream used in several countries, including Turkey, the Balkans and Afghanistan. Its consistency has often been compared to English clotted cream. The basis varies from buffalo to cow’s and goat’s milk, and in the Balkans it is generally salted and stored, to be used later as a cooking medium as well as in many sweet and savoury dishes. Afghans enjoy it floating on a special cup of tea or as a treat eaten with freshly baked bread. In Turkey, it is greatly prized in sweets and a sweet dish may be garnished with a dollop of kaymak, much as whipped cream or crème fraîche is used in the West. It is also used in many kinds of baklava, both as filling and garnish. It is a specialist dairy product best left to experts to produce since it is made by boiling, simmering, skimming and then chilling milk or a mixture of milk and cream – a process that takes several hours, if not days. In Holland and Germany, where there are large Turkish immigrant populations, there is a proliferation of small ethnic groceries that sell, among many other interesting things, tins of kaymak. Middle Eastern grocers in larger cities around the world will probably stock it too. Failing that, use crème fraîche. It gives excellent results for the recipes in this book.
The word ‘yoghurt’ has been borrowed from the Turks and they are likely to have been instrumental in its introduction to Western Europe. Yoghurt was originally a product that was made and eaten in central and western Asia and the Balkans, and is now enjoyed all over the world. Though most often made from cow’s milk, it can be made from several kinds of milk – including sheep, goat, water buffalo, mare, camel and even yak – often reflecting regional preference and local availability. To produce yoghurt, specific bacterial cultures are introduced into full cream or skimmed milk and the mixture thickens as it ferments. It is used in varying consistencies; it can be diluted to make refreshing drinks such as ayran and lassi, respectively Turkish and Indian. It is also used in a variety of savoury and sweet dishes, from soups to desserts. When well strained, it forms a soft cheeselike product. The texture and consistency of yoghurt sold in Western countries vary considerably, from thin and easily poured to thick and firmly set. Many commercially produced yoghurts are thickened with gelatine. This type of yoghurt is not suitable for the recipes in this book as the consistency is artificially induced and will break down on cooking. Try to get a thick, naturally set kind such as Greek or Greek-style yoghurt that has had much of the liquid strained out to produce a texture similar to crème fraîche.
Cream cheese is the mainstay of many cheesecakes. It was the serendipitous creation of two American dairymen who were, apparently, trying to reproduce French Neufchâtel cheese. Its rich taste and texture caused them to call it ‘cream cheese’ and it was marketed under the brand name that is still synonymous with the product across the globe.
Quark is a moist, soft curd cheese with the colour and consistency of very thick yoghurt. It is usually made from skimmed milk, but cream is sometimes added to make a richer version. A great favourite of the Germans, it is the basis of their deliciously light käsekuchen, or cheesecakes. Its popularity is spreading: already available in most European countries, it is becoming easier to find in North America. Similar cheeses are made in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. There is no real substitute; ricotta can be used, but the texture and flavour will change.
Ricotta is a soft, crumbly Italian cheese made from the whey left after the production of some other types of cheese. A coagulant is added to this whey to encourage it to produce a second lot of curd. It is used in sweet and savoury fillings for Italian dishes, and makes beautifully textured cheesecakes.
Milk (usually dairy milk from cows) is generally used to moisten dry ingredients. Raw milk is untreated milk straight from a primary source and should be boiled to make it safe to use, unless you are absolutely positive that it has come from a healthy cow on a clean farm. It is becoming increasingly difficult to buy raw milk, as regulations are constantly being changed. Most milk is sold as a pasteurized product; it is heated briefly to destroy bacteria and must be kept refrigerated. Pasteurized milk is available as full-cream (whole) milk, with a fat content of 3–4%; as semi-skimmed or 2% milk with a fat content of 2%; and as skimmed milk with a fraction of a percentage of fat. Sterilized and UHT (ultra heat-treated) milk are subjected to prolonged heat treatment, which lengthens their shelf life and makes refrigeration unnecessary. Pasteurized milk has a fresher, more natural taste than UHT milk, which is sweeter due to the slight caramelization that takes place when it is heated. I use semi-skimmed milk for everyday purposes, including baking, but do feel free to substitute full-cream milk if you prefer. I don’t recommend skimmed milk for baking unless absolutely necessary for health reasons.
Evaporated milk is subjected to even more rigorous heat treatment than ordinary sterilized milk. About half of its water content is evaporated, making it a very concentrated product that should be diluted before use. While not common in most Western countries, it can be a godsend to people living in remote areas or those who have to cope with primitive refrigeration. Like the other types, it is also available in full-cream, semi-skimmed and skimmed versions.
Condensed milk has a reputation for being a socially inferior product used only by colonials and yokels. Those who are prepared to put aside such preconceptions will discover that it can greatly enhance a number of dishes, including cheesecakes and ice creams. It is made in a manner similar to evaporated milk but sugar makes up almost half of its weight. Condensed milk is almost always sold in its full-cream form.
Powdered milk is made by extracting virtually all of the liquid present in milk. It is usually reconstituted before use, but nowadays it is a popular ingredient for bread machine loaves and is often added in its dry form. As it is almost fat-free, skimmed milk powder will keep better than the full-cream variant. None of the recipes in this book require powdered milk, but it can be used when fresher types are not readily available.
Eggs not only aerate a cake by trapping air when beaten, they also hold the other ingredients together because they coagulate when heated. Hens’ eggs are by far the most popular, mainly due to their availability. Free-range eggs tend to have more flavour and a more attractive yolk colour than battery eggs. In my recipes, I use medium eggs, called standard in many countries. They weigh 50 g/1¾ oz on average. In general, an overall difference of a few grammes will not spoil the result, so I specify a weight only where absolutely necessary – in meringues, for example. Always use eggs at room temperature. If you forget to remove them from the refrigerator in time, put them in a bowl of very warm water for a few minutes. Cold eggs are one of the main culprits in curdled mixtures.
The texture of a cake or bread depends to a great extent on the raising agent and it need not always be a tangible substance; rubbing fat into flour, for instance, introduces air into pastry and similar mixtures, lightening them without substantially increasing the volume. In other cases, a different application of an ingredient already present can make a huge difference.
Eggs, for example, can trap an incredible amount of air when whisked. Normally, eggs are beaten into a creamed mixture at room temperature. There will be some expansion, but baking powder will be required to make the cake rise sufficiently. If the same eggs are whisked over a bowl of hot water, they will expand significantly more than if they are whisked at room temperature, but both will lighten sponges without any real need for chemical leavening. Similarly, if you separate eggs and whisk them with the sugar, combining them later, they will provide a very light texture to cakes as long as you do not overwork the batter, thereby allowing some of the air to escape.
Baking powder is usually a combination of sodium bicarbonate and an acid agent. Single-action baking powder starts to work as soon as it is moistened and will lose its strength if you delay, hence the need to preheat the oven. Single-action baking powder is no longer widely used, and double-acting baking powder has become standard. Double-acting baking powder works in two ways: it starts acting as soon as it is moistened and then again when subjected to heat. It is slightly more tolerant than single-action baking powder but, nevertheless, it is always a good policy to bake cake batter as soon as it is prepared.
Bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate, baking soda) does not have much power on its own. It needs an acid agent. In baking powder, this has already been added, but if you use bicarbonate of soda on its own, you will have to add the required proportion of an ingredient such as cream of tartar, soured milk or buttermilk to create the desired reaction.
Cream of tartar is obtained from fermented grape juice and is not in itself a raising agent, but forms a component of one, as described above, to produce carbon dioxide. It is sometimes used to stabilize whisked egg whites.
Yeast is a living organism that multiplies very rapidly under favourable conditions. Warmth, moisture and sugar feed it, and it converts the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. However, it needs to be handled correctly. Too much sugar can slow down the rising process. If the liquid is too cold, the process will take far longer; while a liquid that is too hot will kill off yeast cells, severely retarding the rising process. This is why recipes always call for milk to be warm, lukewarm or at blood temperature. Salt can also kill yeast and should not come into direct contact with the moistened yeast unless the dough is to be kneaded immediately. Compressed or fresh yeast is sold in small cakes that must be kept refrigerated. It is not always readily available and needs to be very fresh to work properly. Due to its moist nature, it weighs more than dry yeast. It is not interchangeable and its use is not specified for the recipes in this book. Dry yeast granules are sold in sachets and small tins. The coarser granules should be allowed to ‘sponge’ first with some of the flour from the recipe, along with the sugar and warm liquid; never add salt at this stage. The yeast that is easiest to use and the one that gives the most consistent results is easy-blend (active dry) or instant yeast. The granules are extremely fine and the yeast is added to the dry ingredients prior to being moistened and kneaded. This is the type specified in my recipes.
Very few people can resist this most divine of foods, and the cocoa tree is very aptly named Theobroma cacao, ‘food of the gods’. Ever since the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortez drank the bitter beverage at Montezuma’s court in 1519, it has held the world in its thrall. Once their initial mistrust and prejudice had subsided, the Spaniards were able to experiment with the beans they took back to Spain, and they eventually found that roasting released more flavour. When they added sugar and vanilla, the taste became much more pleasant to the European palate. It was an exclusive product, available at first only to the rich, but by the eighteenth century chocolate houses had sprung up in many European cities, bringing it within the reach of more people. It was believed to have health-giving properties, an idea to which many physicians subscribed. In 1778, the Frenchman Doret introduced the first chocolate press, and chocolate culture developed steadily from that point. In 1828, Dutchman Coenraad van Houten patented a fabulous invention: a wooden screw press to extrude the cocoa butter. He had discovered that when the fatty matter was removed, a cake remained and this could be ground to powder. This cocoa powder was far more palatable than the greasy substance that had previously been drunk. He went on to apply potash to the powder, refining a technique that the Aztecs had used when they added wood ash to their chocolate. This process is referred to as ‘Dutching’ and produces alkalized cocoa, also known as European-style cocoa in some countries outside Europe, particularly the United States. Dutching gives a mellower, smoother taste.
Cocoa trees thrive in a warm, moist climate, and most of the world’s supply of cocoa comes from the Caribbean and West Africa. There are three main varieties: Criollo, Trinitario and Forastero. Criollo and Forastero are older varieties while Trinitario is a hybrid. Criollo is the King of Beans. It accounts for a mere 10% of world production and is grown primarily in Mexico, Central America and Venezuela, the region where it originated. An excellent quality of chocolate is also obtained from Trinitario, which constitutes 20% of world production and is grown in Trinidad, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Forastero is the more common bean and is cultivated mainly in Brazil and West Africa. Much of the chocolate we buy in supermarkets is Forastero or a blend that relies heavily on it. Specialist companies often manufacture the chocolate equivalent of vintage wine, and it is possible to buy chocolate made from a particular type of bean or beans from a specific location. The price tags tell their own story.
After the cocoa beans have been removed from their pods, they are left to ferment and are then dried, reducing their moisture content from about 80% to 8%. On reaching the factory, they are cleaned, winnowed and roasted, then ground to an oily paste. Once the cocoa butter has been extracted, cocoa can be made from the residue. For chocolate, the cocoa butter is not extracted or is only partially extracted, and extra may be added for a smoother texture. The other ingredients (such as milk, sugar and any flavourings) are added and the mixture is stirred continually for a period of time ranging from a few hours to a few days. This process is referred to as ‘conching’: the longer chocolate is conched, the smoother its texture becomes.
Beware of marketing tricks. There are products touted as chocolate coating or compound chocolate and these are described in flattering terms: ‘dark Continental style’, ‘luxury’ etc. They are often imitations of the real thing, with vegetable oils and fats replacing the cocoa butter. Similarly, the term ‘baker’s chocolate’ has no technical meaning and the confusion is made even greater by the fact that this also happens to be an American brand name. ‘Couverture’ is a more reliable indicator; this is good-quality chocolate with a generous amount of cocoa butter. It melts easily, both on the stove and on the tongue, and is prized by bakers and chocolatiers alike. There are excellent Belgian and French brands available.
White chocolate is, properly speaking, not real chocolate at all. It contains a high percentage of cocoa butter but no cocoa solids. The composition varies from brand to brand but averages out to around 40% sugar, 25% milk solids and 35% cocoa butter. More than with any other kind of chocolate, you need to be sure of the presence of a great deal of cocoa butter, or it will be next to impossible to melt it for baking.
Milk chocolate usually contains about 10% cocoa mass, 40% sugar, 25% milk solids and 25% cocoa butter. Connoisseurs tend to ignore it due to its sweetness and supposed lack of depth. Again, that depends on the manufacturer. One of my favourite milk chocolates has a cocoa mass content of 40% and is only lightly sweetened. However, it remains more of an eating than a baking product.
Unsweetened chocolate, the home baker’s favourite in the United States, is not readily available elsewhere. It has no sugar and is composed of an almost equal proportion of cocoa mass and cocoa butter, giving it a very strong flavour.
Dark chocolate is a semi-sweet chocolate made up of at least 40% cocoa mass with about 45% sugar and 15% cocoa butter and is the best chocolate for baking. I favour chocolate with at least 50% cocoa mass. There are many extra bitter varieties and it is a popular misconception that the higher the cocoa mass content is, the better the chocolate will be. That is only a single contributing factor and is more a matter of personal preference than a proportionate reflection of quality. In baking, it may even give a drier result than a chocolate with less cocoa solids but more cocoa butter.
Chocolate needs to be treated with care, especially when melting it. It can scorch and burn when subjected to high temperatures and can seize if it comes into contact with moisture. When chocolate seizes, it loses its malleability and becomes grainy. Both scorched and seized chocolate are unfit to be used. It is something of a paradox that while small amounts of moisture will make chocolate seize (e.g. steam escaping from the bottom pan when it is heated au bain-marie), larger amounts of liquids have no ill effect and allow themselves to be incorporated without any trouble as long as the temperatures match.
Both cocoa and chocolate are used as flavourings and each gives a different, equally delicious result. Cocoa is easier to use because it doesn’t need to be melted; it also produces a stronger chocolate flavour because it is so concentrated. I have never been a proponent of the ‘two tablespoons per cake’ theory: the outcome will be a brownish cake, not a chocolate cake. If a fair amount of the flour is replaced with cocoa, however, it will make a cake with a deeply satisfying chocolate taste.
Unsweetened cocoa is used for baking, and alkalized and non-alkalized cannot be used interchangeably in recipes. In many cases, alkalized cocoa can be substituted for non-alkalized without any trouble. However, non-alkalized cocoa requires a catalyst in the form of an acidic product to perform well, and this is usually catered for in the recipe. My recipes all use alkalized, or European-style, cocoa. When using cocoa in a cake, it is always advisable to mix it with hot water. This helps to release flavour and makes it easy to blend it into the batter. Dry cocoa, even if it has been sifted with the flour, has a tendency to form unappetizing clumps at the bottom of a cake.
The range of dried fruit seems to increase so rapidly that it is hard to keep track of what is currently available. Just a few years ago, dried cranberries were exotic. They are now mainstream and have been joined by all manner of tropical and temperate dried fruits, including pineapple, papaya, mango, cherries, blueberries and strawberries. However, the more traditional currants and raisins (particularly sultanas/golden raisins) remain the mainstay for baking purposes. As currants are quite tart and raisins generally sweet, the two are often combined in recipes to give a good balance of flavours. Always buy good-quality, fresh dried fruit. This may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it is all too easy to be fobbed off with stale fruit. You will recognize the staleness by the hardness of the fruit and a tendency to whiteness around the edges. I always like to rinse raisins and currants in warm water before using them and then pick them over, removing any stems and foreign particles. If you need the fruit for a yeast loaf, it will be sufficient to dry it well with paper towels and use it straight away. For cakes, though, the fruit must be dried very thoroughly or it will sink to the bottom. Washing and drying it the evening before you use it will allow enough time for any residual moisture to evaporate.
Coconuts are not nearly as bad for us as many lobbyists would have us believe and can even have beneficial effects. For instance, they are high in lauric acid, which has good antibacterial and antiviral qualities and boosts the immune system. Even the oil, which always receives particularly negative attention, is not as bad as it is often described. True, it is high in saturated fats, but these consist of medium-chain fatty acids, which are metabolized far more efficiently than many other kinds, putting less strain on internal organs. Because it is burned so quickly, it also has a neutral effect on cholesterol levels.
Fresh coconuts no longer present the problem they used to and can easily be bought frozen, in various cuts and textures. This shredded or grated frozen coconut is generally far fresher and sweeter-tasting than if you buy a whole coconut and take it home to grate yourself, unless you live in a region that produces them. If you find that the cut is too coarse for the purpose, whiz it in the food processor for a few seconds to make it finer. If you prefer to get a fresh coconut and start from scratch, use a sharp tool such as a screwdriver to pierce the eyes. Drain and discard the water. Give the coconut several sharp taps with a mallet or the back of a cleaver to break it into pieces. Pry the flesh loose from the shell and grate it.
Desiccated coconut is a reasonable substitute in most of the recipes, but not all. Always use unsweetened kinds for these recipes. I have given instructions, where appropriate, for reconstituting it slightly so that it does not need to steal too much moisture from the other ingredients in the batter, which can produce a dry result. It should be left to stand for a few minutes before being used. Be warned, however, that its concentrated nature makes desiccated coconut far more calorific, weight for weight, than fresh coconut.
Coconut milk has become a convenience product and is sold in cans and in powdered form. Canned coconut milk is generally of a high quality, but read the label to make sure that it is pure – undiluted and free of additives as far as possible. It can be used for its own delicious flavour and can also be substituted for dairy milk when baking for those who are lactose intolerant. There are still a few people who believe that coconut milk is the liquid you hear sloshing around when a coconut is shaken. Coconut milk is actually the liquid extracted from grated coconut flesh, and its milky whiteness does not in any way resemble the transparent liquid enclosed by the flesh. This is coconut water, a completely different thing. Those of us who come from the tropics know that the water from mature coconuts is best discarded. It is a far cry from the water of young, green coconuts, whose flesh has yet to set into the characteristic hardness of a mature coconut. If you ever see a West Indian or Asian vendor selling young coconuts, do not pass up the chance to taste one. They will lop off the top and stick a straw into the coconut so that you can drink the sweet, refreshing water, which is high in potassium and other minerals. And when your thirst has been quenched, you can ask them to split the coconut so that you can scrape out the lovely ‘jelly’ from the inside, using a slice of the green outer husk as a disposable spoon.
Nuts impart a great deal of flavour to baked goods and also add body when used in larger quantities to replace all or part of the flour. The texture or fineness of the nuts will also affect the texture of the finished product. When purchasing nuts, your taste is the best guide. For this reason, it is advisable to buy them in a shop where you can taste them. Failing that, buy them from a source with a good turnover. Buy them in small quantities, as not all kinds will keep well. The oilier the nut, the more quickly it goes rancid. Most nuts can be bought shelled, unshelled, whole, chopped, sliced or ground. With a few exceptions, I recommend buying shelled whole nuts and preparing them further yourself. Walnuts stay fresher in the shell; sliced almonds are better bought, as it is impossible to slice them properly at home without specialist equipment; blanched almonds, ground to the consistency of powder, are often better produced commercially. A food processor or rotary grater will grind most types of nuts quite well. The food processor is amazing in terms of speed, and if you add a tablespoon or two of the flour from the recipe, this will improve the result because the flour will absorb some of the oil and allow you to keep the motor running for a little longer. Rotary graters give a drier and finer result but take more time. Many bakers advise toasting nuts before using them. I never toast nuts for breads and cakes because they lose some of their natural sweetness, but almonds and hazelnuts can be lightly toasted if they are to be used for garnishing. Put them on a baking sheet in a moderate oven and watch them like a hawk because they change colour very quickly once they have warmed up.
Commercially prepared almond paste can shorten your preparation time considerably and good marzipan is impossible to make at home, so it always needs to be bought. However, there are many inferior products masquerading as almond paste and marzipan, so always check the list of ingredients to make sure that you are getting what you want. Peach and apricot kernels are often used in combination with almonds, and their pungent flavour, a bit like artificial almond essence, is nothing like the real thing. Almond paste is sometimes cut with cheaper nuts and even beans, and wily manufacturers leave just enough almonds in the product to justify the use of the word ‘almond’ on the label.
Marzipan is made by repeatedly crushing almonds with sugar between steel rollers to give a very fine and close texture. Its main use in cakes is as an edible decoration. It can be rolled out to cover a cake, and can be used to make all kinds of figures, such as flowers and animals. Marzipan for moulding and sculpting figures often has a high sugar content so that it can retain its shape.
Almond paste is not as fine as marzipan and is used in the United Kingdom and a few other countries as a base topping to separate the cake from any icing that is to follow. On the Continent, almond paste can have an even coarser structure. The recipes in this book require a coarse type of almond paste, which will give good results when baked. Marzipan cannot be used as a substitute because it has a completely different structure. You can easily make your own almond paste by mixing blanched ground almonds with an equal amount of granulated sugar, a little lemon zest and enough beaten egg to make a malleable mixture. Put it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day or two to allow it to mature before using it.
While sugar, flour, butter and eggs form the backbone and body of cakes, the judicious use of flavourings can contribute greatly to the taste. Natural flavourings are best and, of these, salt is perhaps the most necessary. It brings out the flavour of the other ingredients and without it most baked goods would taste quite flat. However, it should be used in small amounts and you should not be able to isolate it in the finished product. This is often one of the chief failings in commercially produced bakery items; the salty taste is so overwhelming that it overshadows the other ingredients.
Spices such as cinnamon and cardamom are traditional baking favourites. Cinnamon is the aromatic bark of the Cinnamomum verum. Some countries permit the sale of cassia bark (Cinnamomum cassia) as cinnamon, but real cinnamon is far superior. It is sold in sticks or in powdered form. Ground cinnamon is easiest to use, especially if you want it to be very fine.
Cardamom is the small green, white or black pod of the Elettaria cardamomum, one of the most expensive spices. The green ones are best for baking. The tiny seeds are housed in three cells and when bruised or ground, they release a fantastic aroma that enhances whatever other ingredients they touch.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a rhizome that is used extensively in Asian cooking. Ginger that has been candied or preserved in syrup adds a spicy kick to baked goods, and ground ginger is one of the main flavouring components for many spice cakes.
Similarly, a pinch of ground cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) also adds extra depth to spice cakes, but the flavour is too powerful to be used in large quantities.
Many people like to add nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) to milk-based drinks and desserts and the lacy outer covering (mace) is a welcome addition to a variety of stews and savoury dishes. However, it is underused in baking, which is a great shame because, true to its Latin name, it can add a great deal of fragrance. It is best used freshly grated.
Vanilla beans (pods) and extract are among the most essential flavourings employed in baking and desserts. The vanilla bean is the cured green pod of a tropical orchid-like plant and it becomes black as it ferments and oxidizes. Vanilla planifolia is most widely cultivated, followed by Vanilla tahitensis, and both have specific flavour characteristics. Beans are usually marketed as Tahitian, Madagascar and Mexican, in order of connoisseurs’ preference, and price tags correspond. The well-known term ‘Bourbon’ vanilla refers to a variety of V. planifolia that grows chiefly in Madagascar, the Comoro islands and Réunion. Split pods reveal thousands of tiny black seeds held together by a resinous substance. These are scraped off and used as an exquisite flavouring second to none. The scraped pods still retain quite a bit of fragrance and can be used to infuse other dishes with residual flavour or to scent sugar as described earlier. Vanilla extract is made from the beans and liquids in the form of water and alcohol. Always read the labels carefully to ensure that you are buying natural extract and not a synthetic imitation. Many brands are extremely expensive, but you generally get what you pay for.
Citrus zest contains a great deal of flavour that is released by grating it or paring it with a special zester. Grating brings out more flavour. Always try to do this over the other ingredients so that you manage to catch as much of the oil as possible. Lemon zest is most widely used, but oranges and limes also provide their own excellent and unique tang. Unwaxed, undyed fruit from an organic source is best because treated fruits may harbour traces of harmful chemicals. Producers sometimes subject the fruits to various treatments to enhance the colour and to get rid of any green spots and blemishes, so if you see fruit with the odd small green freckle, choose them above the uniformly coloured ones. Citrus oils extracted from the rind are pure and concentrated and a few drops will perfume a batter or dough. Most manufacturers advise the use of ¼ teaspoon to replace 1 tablespoon fresh zest. Be careful how you handle these oils, as they are very aggressive and corrosive. They are not always easy to find and, once opened, have a limited shelf life. When diluted, they are sold as citrus extracts.
Flower extracts, notably rose water and orange blossom or orange flower water, impart a delicate scent and flavour to baked goods. They are made from rose petals and the flowers of bitter oranges, respectively. Both kinds are usually extracted by water distillation and the pungent oils that rise to the surface (attar of roses and neroli respectively) are used in perfumes rather than food. The fragrant water that remains is used in a variety of dishes, generally sweet, and sometimes in drinks. When you buy them, make sure that they are not the cheap – and awful-tasting – imitations that are made from chemical components. Some of the best rose water comes from Iran, where it has been distilled for centuries. There are good brands of French and Middle Eastern orange flower water available. If you detect even a hint of artificiality, discard it and try to get a better one next time. I have come across suggestions to substitute orange oil or orange liqueur if orange flower water is not available. This will not work; the oil in question comes from the fruit rind and is also used in making liqueurs. It tastes quite different; the oil is fruity and more robust in flavour while the flower water is elusively fragrant and understated.
Liqueurs and other spirits can enhance cake batters as well as fillings. It is never a good idea to buy ‘cooking’ versions because the quality will not be very high. Buying good ones means that you can enjoy them in a glass too. Most of the alcohol will evaporate when the batter is heated, leaving a pleasant aroma.
Garam masala is a blend of roasted and ground sweet and sharp spices and is used to add flavour to Indian dishes. It can be bought from large supermarkets or ethnic groceries all over the world. There are subtle distinctions between subcontinental Indian mixtures and Caribbean ones. Caribbean Indians prefer a darker roast and a sharper combination and usually cook it in the dish from the start, whereas subcontinental Indians tend to use it more as a condiment to be sprinkled on a cooked or almost cooked dish.
OVEN
Electric ovens are generally the most reliable as far as temperatures go. Always preheat the oven to the required temperature unless specifically advised to the contrary. You need to get acquainted with your oven and see how it will work best for you. It is a frustrating fact that all ovens bake differently, even those of the same model from the same manufacturer. Even the best brands can have a special, annoying characteristic. The most common one is a hot spot that will make part of your cake set and brown slightly faster than the rest of it. Another touchy point is the advice given by many manufacturers of convection/fan-assisted ovens to decrease temperature and cooking time by 10% when using recipes compiled for conventional ovens. I find this advice a bit contradictory because 180°C/350°F in a convection oven is surely no hotter than the same temperature in a more traditional model. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that a fan-assisted oven distributes the temperature more evenly in all parts of the oven and the heat is therefore used very effectively. However, this may be more relevant for roast meats with a longer baking time than for bakery items. In my experience, it makes no difference whether I bake a cake in a fan-assisted or conventional oven, but if your oven is very sophisticated, consult the manufacturer or supplier. The best advice I can give is to stick to the temperatures indicated in the recipes and, if you are using a conventional oven, make allowance for a possible slight increase in the baking time.
OVEN RACK
Unless otherwise indicated, position the oven rack just below the centre of the oven so that the bread or cake ends up being in the middle of the oven.
GRILL (BROILER)
Some recipes require a grill. Any good grill will do as long as it can accommodate the tin in question. The recipes here were written with an electric grill in mind, so you might need to make adjustments for a gas grill.
TAWA, GRIDDLE OR HEAVY FRYING PAN
A tawa is an Indian griddle used for cooking flatbreads. Subcontinental Indians use a slightly concave type, Turks use a convex kind called a saç, and Caribbean diaspora Indians use a flat one. A good griddle or a heavy frying pan is fine for making the flatbreads in this book.
A large two-tiered bamboo steamer is perfect for the steamed recipes. If you have a steamer oven, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines and adjust the time to suit. You need to put the food into the oven before it starts to build up steam. Consequently, the overall time will be longer, but the time needed after the steaming temperature has been reached will have to be shortened. A high-pressure steam oven is not suitable.
MIXER
While a mixer is not a necessity, it is extremely handy. It saves you a lot of time and hard work, especially when kneading yeast doughs, creaming butter and sugar, and whisking eggs. My personal preference is for a heavy-duty countertop model and I always buy an extra mixing bowl and whisk. These can come in handy when, for instance, you need to whisk egg whites and yolks separately for the same recipe. A handheld mixer is fine for light jobs, but it will not knead yeast doughs, even though manufacturers supply dough hooks with them. By the same token, not all countertop models are powerful enough to tackle heavy doughs and some may stall.
FOOD PROCESSOR
A food processor is never essential but it is the best and quickest tool for chopping nuts and blending butter into flour for pastry. It will not whisk or whip as well as a mixer, though, and will knead only small quantities of dough at a time.
BAKING TINS
All of the cakes and breads given here can be baked in a few basic baking tins. I always find it useful to have duplicates, especially in the case of loaf tins and round tins for layer cakes. It is just as easy to make two cakes or loaves, and spares can be frozen for a future occasion. Heavy-duty metal tins, preferably non-stick, work best, but do grease them as advised in the recipes. Thin and shiny aluminium tins distort easily and tend to burn whatever they contain, but use them if that’s all you have, and keep a close eye on them. The sizes stamped on tins, springform ones in particular, are sometimes a bit of a mystery. A 20-cm tin is often stamped 8 in and a 24-cm one, 9 in. The arithmetic is a little inaccurate but it does help to standardize things. If in doubt, measure the tins and if you are forced to deviate, a little larger is better than slightly smaller.
COOLING RACKS
Wire cooling racks are essential. You can buy them in all shapes and sizes and you can never have too many. A few smaller ones are better than a single large one. The safest way to invert a cake onto the cooling rack is to invert the cooling rack over the top of the tin and, pressing the bottom of the tin (with mitt-covered hands) against the rack, swiftly turning both so that the cake slips gently onto the rack. You will need to repeat the procedure with a second rack to turn the cake the right way up.
SILICONE MAT
Silicone mats are resistant to exceedingly high temperatures and are often used by professional cooks and bakers to line baking and roasting tins. However, they are even better out of the oven as they make the ideal non-stick surface for kneading dough and rolling out pastry, minimizing mess. They come in a wide variety of sizes and some even have pre-printed circles that can be used as guides for rolling out pastry.
PASTRY BOARD, MARBLE SLAB AND COUNTERTOP
I find that the silicone mat has made both pastry board and marble slab redundant in my kitchen, but that is my preference. If you have them, do use them, but you will need more dusting flour when you knead bread or roll pastry. An impermeable granite or similar natural stone countertop is also good for pastry but too cold for yeast doughs. Check first to see if it is scratch-resistant. Marble countertops tend to stain quite easily and develop matte patches when they come into contact with acidic substances.
SCALES
Good digital scales, preferably metric, are absolutely essential. More than any other culinary discipline, baking depends on accurate weighing. Choose a flat plateau model with a deviation of no more than 2 g and a reach of 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz). A tare function, allowing you to return to 0 without removing the bowl, makes it easy to keep on adding ingredients to a bowl without trying to work out the mathematics of it all.
MEASURING JUG (CUP)
A heatproof glass or plastic jug with small increases is best. The liquid for yeast doughs can be warmed in the same vessel in the microwave, saving an extra pan.
MEASURING SPOONS
A teaspoon and a tablespoon are specific volume measurements, not a vague term depending on what kind of cutlery is available in your kitchen drawer. A teaspoon is 5 ml and a tablespoon is 15 ml, and good sets go right down to ⅛ teaspoon. All spoon measurements are level. For dry ingredients such as salt and baking powder, run the straight edge of a knife across the top of the spoon and use only what is left in the spoon.
BOWLS
It is always useful to have a good selection of larger sizes as well as several small ones for weighing out ingredients such as nuts, chocolate and dried fruits beforehand. A double boiler can be improvised using a heatproof bowl that fits snugly over one of your saucepans.
BOWL SCRAPER
A flexible plastic scraper is ideal for removing dough from bowls and for levelling the batter in cake tins.
BENCH SCRAPER
This straight-sided gadget usually has a wooden grip and a clear metal or non-stick blade. It is not essential, but is very handy for portioning pastry and dough and for scraping work surfaces clean.
ROLLING PIN
I use simple wooden ones made from one piece, as well as a few dowels for the filo recipes. The wood seasons itself beautifully with use and develops its own non-stick properties.
SPOONS AND SPATULAS
Wooden spoons are fine for stovetop stirring. For other jobs, I like the so-called ‘spoonulas’ that are made of silicone. The spoonlike indentation makes it easy to scoop out batter as well as to clean the sides of the bowl or mix ingredients together.
PALETTE KNIFE
A long-bladed offset palette knife is easier to use than a flat one, but either will do. This is the ideal tool for spreading chocolate glazes.
LONG RULER
A ruler is essential. A metal or plastic one has the advantage of being washable and therefore more hygienic in the kitchen.
A good selection of whisks is always useful in the kitchen, and a large balloon whisk is the best implement for folding flour into cake batters.
SIEVE (STRAINER)
I use a simple plastic one and find it as effective as any other kind.
FLOUR DREDGER
You can buy sophisticated crank-handled ones that take up lots of room, but a simple stainless steel icing (confectioner’s) sugar dredger with a very fine mesh makes it easier to sprinkle smaller quantities of flour.
PASTRY BRUSH
Real bristle is best. A narrow one is good for egg washes and a very wide one is useful for spreading melted butter on large sheets of pastry quickly and efficiently.
GRATERS AND ZESTER
A fine grater is best for nutmegs and a zester removes zest neatly from citrus fruits. However, a coarse microplane grater is even better for zest, as long as you stop as soon as you get to the bitter white pith. Rotary graters also grate nuts and cheese very well.
SKEWERS
Thin bamboo skewers or plain metal ones make good testers for doneness. Avoid non-stick kinds because it is often difficult to tell whether the mixture is cooked or has simply failed to stick to the coated surface.
BAKING PARCHMENT
Use good-quality baking paper for lining tins. You can also buy packages of precut liners for round tins, but it is just as easy to cut one yourself. If you pencil in a line, drawing around the tin, remember that you need the inner measurement, so cut slightly within the circle.
CLINGFILM (PLASTIC WRAP)
Clingfilm is great for wrapping baked goods for storage, but I also like to use it for rolling out delicate pastry. If you roll the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm, you will not have to add extra flour. There will be no mess to clean up and no need to fear that the pastry will break on its way to the tin if you use the bottom sheet to transport it.
