Essential Ingredients

Extracts Keep pure lemon, orange, vanilla, almond, and anise extracts to impart added flavor to your desserts. Always use pure extracts as imitation extracts impart an unpleasant flavor and defeat the purpose of making a wonderful-tasting dessert.

Flour All-purpose unbleached flour, bread flour, cake flour, whole-wheat flour, and pastry flour should be kept on hand and always in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag as humidity will deteriorate them. I use King Arthur flours, and if I can’t find them, I order them online.

To make your own cake flour, measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace them with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Always measure flour before sifting.

Flowers Edible flowers, preferably from your garden and unsprayed with pesticides, add a whimsical touch to almost any dessert.

Freshness I know. This sounds obvious. But I need to emphasize how important fresh ingredients are, especially when you are using fruit, herbs, eggs, and milk when making desserts. Freshness improves the intensity and quality of flavor and provides the platform for the dessert to be elevated to something special instead of ordinary. If possible, cook from your garden, pick from your neighbors’ trees, shop from local farms and farm stands, and remember to buy local so your ingredients haven’t had to be shipped by train or truck.

Fruit Thoroughly wash and dry fruit before using and, when possible, choose organic and local. In a pinch, buy frozen fruit. It’s actually quite good, as it is picked fresh and flash frozen. All you have to do is defrost it.

Gelatin Made from animal collagen, gelatin is used to gel many desserts. If you use gelatin sheets, one sheet equals 1 teaspoon of powdered gelatin.

If you are a vegetarian, you can purchase agar-agar, which is derived from algae, or Vegan Jel, which is made from vegetable gum, and follow the instructions on the package.

Ginger, crystalized Purchase crystalized ginger and keep it on the shelf for chopping into desserts or cakes.

Honey Honey adds moistness and helps extend shelf life in baked goods, plus it adds another layer of flavor. I like to keep an aromatic flower honey on the shelf as well as a darker honey for a stronger flavor.

Jams and preserves I have jars of raspberry, strawberry, orange, and apricot jams on my shelf, as well as cherry preserves, and pick up unusual ones on my travels to inspire me to create new desserts with them.

Liqueurs and spirits The French tend to use liqueurs and spirits in their desserts. The top French brands they use are Pastis or Pernod, licorice-flavored liqueurs; Cointreau or Grand Marnier, which are made from oranges; Calvados, which is made from apples; Chartreuse, which is made by Carthusian monks from 130 plants and herbs; Chambord, a liqueur made from raspberries; and Armagnac and Cognac, both brandies.

Nuts Almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pine nuts, and hazelnuts are all popular in French desserts. Nuts kept in a warm place can turn rancid, so when you buy them, store any leftovers in the freezer or refrigerator.

Raisins and currants Although not an essential ingredient, raisins and currants will keep in an airtight container if kept in a cool, dark place through their entire best-before date on the package, so they can be added to your supplies if you wish.

Rice Almost any kind of rice can be used in making desserts. I generally use short-grain rice or basmati rice in my dessert making.

Salt I prefer to use kosher, sea salt, or fleur de sel in all my recipes, especially because everyday table salt contains chemicals.

Spices Rather than buying spices in bulk, buy them in small quantities as they can lose their intensity over time. To build your spice rack for making desserts, begin with the following: ground and whole cinnamon, ground and whole nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground and whole cloves, star anise, anise seeds, and fennel seeds.

Sugars Always have on hand a selection of sugars: granulated, superfine, and confectioner’s, as well as light brown for adding a butterscotch flavor to desserts and dark brown, which is granulated sugar to which molasses has been added, to add a deep color and distinctive rich flavor. Keep turbinado, clear, colored, or sparkling sugars to give cookies and crusts a crunchy top.

Store sugars in airtight containers to avoid their absorbing humidity and becoming hardened or lumpy. I keep mine in large glass jars with screw-top lids.

Syrups A good selection of bottled syrups in your pantry enhances your ability to improvise when making desserts. Keep a bottle of black currant syrup, orange flower water syrup, or a good quality chocolate syrup on hand to drizzle back and forth over your desserts.

Vanilla beans While Tahitian vanilla beans are popular and exude a lovely perfumed flavor, most of the time I prefer Mexican vanilla beans, which impart a stronger flavor.

Vanilla extract I make my own, using the seeds from 3 to 4 vanilla beans added to 1 cup dark rum, vodka, or bourbon and storing it in the refrigerator for five weeks before using it. For my pantry, I keep the best-quality store-bought pure vanilla extract, such as Mexican vanilla extract, Nielsen Massey Madagascar vanilla extract, Penzeys double-strength vanilla extract, or a good-quality vanilla paste.

Yeast I use active dry yeast, which is available in most supermarkets. You just add warm water and it comes to life. If it does not come to life, or “bloom,” throw it out and repeat with a new package. Check the date of shelf life, printed on the packet, before buying.

Zest Try to use only organic unwaxed citrus fruit to avoid ingesting pesticides and wax, and always thoroughly wash the fruit before working with it. Citrus zest comes from the outside peel of the fruit, culling the flavorful oil from the fruit and making it an essential ingredient when you want to intensify a citrus flavor. I use either a citrus zester, a citrus microplane, or the big holes of a box grater.