Many of the recipes in this book rely on a few basic baking methods that are good to know well:
Blending the butter means working the butter (usually chilled) directly into the dry ingredients to create a coarse, crumbly mixture. This technique is used when you want flaky layers, as you do for some crackers or piecrusts. I typically do this with my fingers, but a food processor or mixer on low can do the work for you.
Creaming the butter means stirring the butter to soften it and, typically, blending it with sugar to create a light and fluffy base for a batter. As the butter creams, small air bubbles are incorporated; these later help the finished baked goods to be tender. The butter should be about room temperature (65°F to 75°F) to get the best result, and you should always start on a low speed, with either your mixer or food processor, until the butter and sugar are well blended, increasing to a medium speed to finish the fluffing. Creaming is typically used for cookies.
Beating eggs or cream should be done in a mixer or by hand with a whisk. A food processor can’t get as much air in as either of these methods.
Tempering chocolate achieves a beautiful, glossy chocolate coating that has a nice crispness to it. Tempering is a way to coax the different fats in the chocolate—all of which have a different melting point—to work together as a cohesive unit. Tempered chocolate not only looks better, but it also sets more easily and doesn’t start to melt at room temperature. It is, however, a bit of a pain to do and doesn’t have all that much impact on the flavor of your confections. Honestly, unless I need a pretty picture, I tend to skip it altogether.
However, if you’d like to temper your chocolate and don’t want to shell out over three hundred dollars for a tempering machine, your microwave and a good thermometer make it pretty quick and easy. Start by chopping your chocolate into small, even chunks. Place 75 percent of them in a microwave-safe bowl. Reserve the remaining 25 percent, which will be added in later.
Heat the chocolate in the microwave at 50 percent power, stopping every 20 seconds to stir the chocolate to help it heat evenly and not scorch. There is nothing sadder than scorched chocolate. You are aiming for a temperature of about 115°F for dark chocolate, 109°F for milk chocolate, or 105°F for white chocolate. This may take from one to four minutes depending on your microwave.
When you’ve hit the temperature, regardless of whether there are still unmelted chunks of chocolate, stop heating and simply stir the chocolate to melt the remaining solids. Then add the remaining chocolate to the melted chocolate. Keep stirring until the chocolate melts and the temperature of the chocolate is 88°F for dark chocolate and 85°F for milk or white chocolate. Once you’ve hit this temperature, your chocolate should be tempered.
You can reheat the tempered chocolate if it sets and it should remain tempered as long as you keep the temperature below 90°F. However, if the chocolate gets warmer than that, you’ll need to repeat the process from the beginning.
Some people are afraid of deep-frying. I am afraid of sugar work. There’s a bit of magic that happens when sugar reaches different temperatures, and not only is it dangerously hot even when it looks perfectly lickable, but it also requires the strictest attention to prevent the most horrid of burning sugar smells from invading your kitchen. I am easily distracted.
That said, it is satisfying when you finally start to get the feel for all the different thread and ball stages and manage to avoid burning yourself to boot. Your best friend when working with sugar is an accurate candy thermometer. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on one, but you do need to trust its accuracy. This is particularly true when working with natural sugars that are more finicky and prone to burning than the highly refined stuff. When a recipe requires sugar to reach a particular temperature, it’s best to stick with the recommended sugar and avoid substitutions; alternative sugars may need slight adjustments to their temperature.
And when working with hot sugar, always remember: NEVER LICK THE SPOON!