German Baking E-Book

Dr. Oetker Verlag

• Herausgeber: Dr. Oetker - ein Verlag der Edel Verlagsgruppe
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 319

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

- international erhältliche Zutaten - Traditionelle bewährte Rezepte aus "Backen macht Freude" - praktischen Umrechnungstabellen, damit Maßangaben zu Cups, Pints oder Unzen kein Hindernis darstellen Made in Germany ist auf der ganzen Welt ein Qualitätsmerkmal – auch bei Gebäck. Kein Wunder, dass Roggenbrot, Schwarzwälder Kirsch, Brezeln und Co. so beliebt sind. Dr. Oetker präsentiert nun mehr als 200 der beliebtesten deutschen Backrezepte aus dem Erfolgsbuch "Backen macht Freude" in englischer Sprache. Neben Klassikern wie Marble Cake, Nut twists, Kugelhopf Cake, Apple strudel, Onion slices und Rye bread finden sich in dem Buch moderne Leckerbissen wie Amerikaner cookies, Chocolate slices, Bacon waffles, Red currant meringue cake, Almond cookie flan und Sweet poppy croissants. Für jeden Anlass das perfekte Gebäck. Dank der Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitungen und Bilder gelingen diese Rezepte im Handumdrehen. "German Baking" ist ein ideales Souvenir für Touristen, ein praktisches Gastgeschenk für Austauschschüler und Erasmusstudenten – einfach ein Must-have für alle Fans der deutschen Küche.

Leseprobe

BAKING TODAY

You take a look in the oven: is the cake done? A beautiful golden colour as you expect it to be? Yes, and even a little better: the texture is fluffy, the smell is delicious and the appearance is irresistible!

It’s just waiting to be eaten!

A delight for all the senses …

German Baking Today is the standard work for everyone who loves baking and for those who want to learn. It will make it easy for you to create masterpieces with simple ingredients.

Whether you want to make mole cake, buttermilk cake or classics such as apple strudel and marble cake, the recipes in this book never fail!

Dr. Oetker’s Test Kitchen has carefully checked that every dish is easy to prepare – even for beginners – and that it will also taste delicious.

Step-by-step instructions and detailed photographs ensure that the result will be successful. The many new recipes will inspire you to try out and bake many of them.

Every day more people are discovering the art of baking and you too can enjoy homemade Schnecken (“snail” buns), a cream torte you have decorated yourself, your own fragrant rye bread or delicious crispy rolls.

You will be stirring, mixing, kneading, rolling and lovingly decorating your cakes and pastries as you enjoy:

German Baking Today!

We wish you a lot of pleasure in your baking experiments and much success.

Now, enjoy yourself !

Content

Introduction

Sponge / All-In-One-Sponge

Shortcrust Pastry

Yeast Dough

Fatless Sponge

Quark & Oil Dough

Other Pastries: Choux Pastry, Strudel Pastry, Puff Pastry

Meringue Confections

Deep-Fried Pastry

Cold Tortes

Christmas Confections

Bread & Rolls

THERE’S SO MUCH TO SAVOUR IN GERMAN BAKING!

The day starts with sweet or savoury rolls, later on some tasty sandwiches can be enjoyed during a break and it is not only on Sundays that a piece of cake or biscuits are served with afternoon coffee. Every region has, of course, its own specialities – but Kugelhopf, marble, Danube Waves and apple cake go down well everywhere. The many bread specialities are also unique – where else can rye bread with pumpkin seeds be found? And a German Christmas without the famous stollen is unimaginable.

Austria’s coffeehouse culturehas left its mark on the entire German-speaking world. In spite of the ‘Coffee-to-go’ boom, traditional cafés are still everywhere: with plenty of time to spare and friends to meet, a piece of Frankfurt crown, some cream puffs or Black Forest Gateau with a pot of coffee goes down a treat.

A ‘bee sting’ may hurt and sound dangerous but this particular one is pure pleasure. It is the name given to the highly popular yeast dough flat cake, which is covered with almonds, sometimes has a custard filling and gets its irresistibly sweet taste from caramelised sugar.

‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ American president John F. Kennedy intended this sentence to be a synonym for free people. A ‘Berliner’ is, however, also edible: more than 200 years ago, the Prussian army invented a fried yeast-based cake, a doughnut, which is traditionally made on New Year’s Eve as well as during the carnival season in many regions of Germany. The only place that people do not eat ‘Berliner’ is in Berlin – there, the cake which is filled with jam and sprinkled with icing (confectioner’s) sugar, is known as a ‘Pfannkuchen’, or ‘pancake’.

Even vegetarians like these ‘animals’! For generations, the legendary ‘Cold Dog’ has been one of the Germans’ favourite cakes – and it does not even have to go in the oven. In a rectangular cake tin, layers of petit beurre biscuits and chocolate cream are alternately placed on top of each other. After five hours in the fridge, the cake is turned out of the tin and cut – and childhood memories come flooding back. The ‘mole cake’ is a relatively recent recipe but has also now become a children’s birthday classic and adults find the combination of banana, cherries, cream, nuts and chocolate equally irresistible.

When it comes to crumble cake,there are no small portions! Immediately visions of a deliciously smelling cake on large baking sheets comes to mind, with the crumble topping of flakes made from sugar, fat and flour on top. Flat cakes, with their many regional variations, have been highly popular in Germany since the nineteenth century. They are cut into small pieces after baking and taste great either with or without cream – you simply have to take another piece.

A beer garden without pretzels is unthinkable! Every year, millions of visitors come to the Oktoberfest in Munich. Bavarian women in dirndls and the men in lederhosen are world famous – and a litre of beer and a Weißwurst, or veal sausage, are always eaten with a pretzel! They originally come from Southern Germany and are available in German beer gardens and brewery taverns all year round – and fortunately, they even taste good in the north!

General advice about the book

To ensure that the cakes, pastries and puddings you make taste as delicious and look as irresistibly mouthwatering as you imagine them, here are a few tips before you start cooking:

Preparation

Read the recipe through carefully before you start your preparations – in fact, read it before you go shopping to buy the ingredients. Many things will become much clearer when you understand the links between the various steps. Gather together all the ingredients, the appropriate tin or mould and the kitchen and baking utensils that you will need before you begin.

Estimating the degree of difficulty

Some recipes are fairly simple while others require a little more practice and experience. If you are not quite sure and are receiving guests, it is better to try out the recipe first.

Conversions and equivalents

The conversions and equivalents are valid for all recipes and listed on the inside pages of the cover will help you measure the correct quantities for your ingredients.

Preparation time

The preparation time indicated in the recipe is only given as a guideline – it is a rough estimate and will depend on your baking experience. The preparation time only refers to the actual time needed to prepare the ingredients for baking. Cooling times and the time dough takes to rise are only included in the preparation time if they take place at the same time as other preparation activities. The baking time is indicated separately.

Baking tins and moulds

All the recipes in this book use the baking tins or moulds listed below, which are all available in the shops):

•Baking sheet (40 x 30 cm/ 16 x 12 in), also with a high rim

•Muffin mould for 12 muffins

•Tart tin (diameter 26-28 cm/ 10¼-11 in)

•Bundt pan or kugelhopf mould (diameter 22 cm/9 in)

•Ring mould (diameter22 cm/9 in)

•Rectangular cake tin (25 x 11 cm/ 10 x 4½ in)

•Bread tin (30 x 11 cm/12 x 4½ in)

•Fruit flan mould (diameter 28 cm/ 11 in)

•Springform tin (diameter 26 cm/ 10¼ in) with interchangeable flat bases and a base with a tube in the middle for making a ring cake.

Baking tins and moulds are available in various materials.

Tin moulds are good for gas ovens but are not acid-resistant. Therefore it is advisable to line the inside of a springform mould with baking parchment paper if it is used as a pie ring for fruit pies.

Black moulds are very traditional and particularly good for use in electric and fan ovens. These moulds have excellent non-stick properties and heat conductivity; they are also resistant to fruit acids and easy to clean.

Both tin moulds and black moulds are also available with a non-stick coating which makes it much easier to remove the cake from the mould.

Enamel baking tins have an enamel finish which also acts as a scratch-resistant non-stick coating. They are very long-lasting and resistant to fruit acids. They give the cake an intense, even brown colour.

In addition, tins and moulds are also made of aluminium, ceramic, glass and silicon, all of which are suitable for use in any type of oven.

Baking temperature and baking times

The baking temperatures and baking times indicated in the recipes are given as a guide and they may be increased or reduced depending on the heating performance of the oven being used.

We recommend that you always preheat the oven fully and only put the cake in the oven when it has reached the temperature indicated in the recipe.

To make sure that the cake is done, use the checking test when the baking time indicated has elapsed

Checking if it is done

Sponge and all-in-one sponge: At the end of the baking time indicated in the recipe, stick a wooden skewer deep into the thickest part of the cake, then remove it again. If the skewer comes out dry, without any sponge sticking to it, the cake is done.

Fatless sponge: This is done when it is no longer moist to the touch but feels soft, and when no impression is left on the surface by a finger pressing it lightly.

Biscuits: These are done when they look golden yellow or golden brown.

Yeast dough and quark & oil dough: Lift up a corner of the pastry or cake with a widebladed knife. If the underside is lightly brown and dry, it is done.

Nutritional values

These values have been rounded and refer to a single piece or the total amount, as indicated in the recipe.

Information

At the beginning of most chapters dealing with the various kinds of sponge, dough and pastry, you will find an information section with general explanations, helpful tips and advice about the preparations of the recipes.

You will also find general information about a wide range of subjects related to baking: ovens, height of the oven shelves, kitchen utensils and baking accessories, baking ingredients, garnishing and decorating, as well as glossary of baking terms.

In addition, after each recipe you will find numerous tips as well as suggested recipe variations, modifications and explanations.

Maintain hygiene standards

All kitchen utensils should be clean and function perfectly. It is better to replace scratched cutting boards. Clean the fridge, oven and baking tins and moulds regularly.

From the moment they are purchased to the day the dishes are prepared, all food items must be transported, stored and prepared in an appropriate way.

Regularly wash hands, wear clean clothes and, if you cut yourself, wear kitchen gloves or use waterproof plasters.

Regularly clean your kitchen workspace, dispose of your waste, change dishcloths and tea towels several times a week.

Gelatine information

•Both red and clear gelatine are available as powder and in leaf form.

•1 sachet of powdered gelatine (9 g) is sufficient for 500 ml/17 fl oz (2¼ cups) liquid and corresponds to 6 leaves of gelatine (10 g).

•Soak the leaf gelatine in plenty of cold water for about 5 minutes. Then squeeze the gelatine leaves lightly, put in a small pan and dissolve over low heat, stirring all the time.

•Put the powdered gelatine in a small pan and stir in about 6 tablespoons of cold water. Leave the gelatine to swell for about 5 minutes. Then dissolve the swollen gelatine in the pan over low heat, stirring all the time.

•You can also dissolve the soaked gelatine leaves or swollen powdered gelatine in hot liquid, depending on the recipe.

•To set whipped cream: first whip the cream almost stiff, then briefly whisk in the sugar. Add the lukewarm dissolved gelatine all at once while still whisking; continue whipping the cream until completely stiff, then proceed following the instructions in the recipe.

•To set fillings for cakes and flans: stir about 4 tablespoons of the filling into the dissolved gelatine to ensure that the temperature of all the ingredients is the same and so prevent lumps from forming.Then stir the gelatine-cream mixture into the rest of the cream with an egg-whisk and continue following the instructions in the recipe.

•Fresh pineapple, kiwis, papaya and figs affect the jellying properties of gelatine because of the particular enzymes they contain. Therefore they must be blanched in hot water before they are used; otherwise use tinned fruit.

•To ensure that preparations containing gelatine set properly, they should be placed in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

Almonds

The nuts from the almond tree. Availability: peeled or unpeeled, whole, chopped, sliced, slivered or ground.

Aniseed

Highly aromatic seeds with a sweet aroma.

Baking powder

A product for loosening dough made from baking soda, a leavening acid and an anticaking agent. Carbon dioxide develops in the dough during baking which escapes and loosens the dough.

Bourbon vanilla sugar

Real vanilla sugar made from sugar and at least 5% real vanilla. Its black particles make it easily recognisable.

Cake glaze

Plant-based thickening agent packed in sachets which is prepared with water, fruit juice or wine according to the instructions on the packet. While it is still liquid and warm, it is poured over the fruit layer of cakes and cream cakes where it sets as a jelly. Availability: clear and red, with and without sugar.

Candied lemon peel

Candied peel from the citron lemon. Available in grocery stores ready diced.

Candied orange peel

Candied peel of the so-called ‘bitter orange’. It is usually available in cubes in grocery stores and is typically used for Christmas confections.

Cardamom

Dried capsule from the cardamom plant. Availability: whole or ground. Slightly burning, spicy taste. Frequently used for bread in Southern Germany.

Cinnamon

Dried inner bark of the cinnamon tree. It is available both ground and in sticks. Ceylon cinnamon (Sri Lanka) is preferable to Cassia cinnamon (China).

Cloves

These are the flower buds of the clove tree. They are available whole, dried or ground in grocery stores. They have an intense aroma with a bitingly pungent taste.

Don´t take a risk!

When preparing any dough, all baking ingredients should be fresh and of perfect quality. Lower quality ingredients and those that have been stored for too long can quickly spoil the cakes and pastries.

Coriander

The seeds from the coriander plant with a sweet, aromatic aroma. Availability: whole, coarsely or finely ground.

Cornflour (Cornstarch)

Binding agent made from corn, wheat or potatoes, used for custard, sauces or creams. It can also be mixed with flour to make dough.

Couverture

Milk, dark and white chocolate coating. Ideal for coating cakes, as an additional ingredient for dough, fillings or creams, as well as for decoration.

Cracknel

Crunchy pieces of melted, caramelised sugar, containing at least 20% nuts and/or almonds.

Cream stiffener

A powder made from plantbased starch products that is added to the cream while it is being whipped. It keeps the cream stiff for longer and prevents liquid separating from it.

Currants

Generally sulphur-free, these are dry, seedless grapes, with colouring ranging from red to violet and black. The fruity taste and aroma are more intense than with raisins.

Eggs

Eggs are a key baking ingredient. They are graded based on their freshness and classified according to weight categories. Medium eggs are used for baking in this book.

Eggs are available in four weight categories:

•Small: less than 53 g/14/5 oz

•Medium: 53 g/14/5 oz to less than 63 g /22/5 oz

•Large: 63 g/22/5 oz to less than 73 g/23/5 oz

•Extra-large: 73 g/23/5 oz and above

Fat

Mainly margarine and butter, and occasionally vegetable oil, are used for baking. Fat is important for the consistency of the dough. It helps to make pastry moist and smooth and ensures that the different flavourings really come to the fore. It is also possible to combine butter and margarine.

•Butter – it consists of 82% milk fat and a maximum of 16% water. Butter has a shorter storage life than margarine and should be kept in a cool place. When stored in the fridge, butter becomes very firm. Before using, it should therefore be allowed to reach room temperature so that it can be mixed smoothly.

•Margarine – the consistency of the different types of margarine varies depending on their fat composition. Margarine keeps its smooth and spreadable consistency even when stored in the fridge. Baking margarine can be mixed smoothly and can easily be combined with the other ingredients. Diet or low-fat margarine is only suitable for preparing dough in very limited cases, as it usually contains too much water. Diet margarines that are suitable for baking are identified as such on the packaging. For vegan baking, make sure that you check the margarine’s ingredients list. Butter, whey and yoghurt are sometimes added for taste, and colouring is sometimes included to improve the visual appearance.

•Vegetable oil – use vegetable oil when preparing quark & oil dough. To avoid spoiling the taste, it is recommended to use neutral oil such as rapeseed, sunflower or corn oil. Oil is also used to give chocolate glazes a smoother consistency.

•White fat – so-called white fats such as coconut oil consist entirely of plant oil. One of the advantages of this type of fat is its high heat stability. White fats are particularly well suited to deep-frying. Coconut oil is ideal for making cake glazes.

Flour

•Type 405 wheat flour This fine, very white flour is the preferred flour for general use and is also used for flans, cakes, biscuits etc. If the type of flour is not specifically mentioned in the recipe, you should always use type 405 when baking.

•Type 550 wheat flour This flour is very good for making yeast dough in general and rolls and white loaves in particular. But you can also make cakes and pastries with it.

•Type 1050 wheat flour This dark-coloured flour which is rich in minerals is very good to make bread and many other tasty pastries and confectionery goods.

• Wholemeal wheat flour The wholemeal wheat flour is made from whole grains of wheat including the husk and the ground wheat germ; it has a very full, rich taste. It is mainly used for bread and rolls.

•Spelt flour and wholemeal spelt Spelt flour is closely related to wheat and, like it, has similar good baking qualities.

•Type 1150 rye flour This dark flour is mainly used for making bread and rolls.

Flour types

German flour type

UK equivalent

US equivalent

Type 405 wheat

none

Pastry flour

Type 550 wheat flour

Plain flour

All-purpose flour

Type 1050 wheat flour

Strong flour

“First clear” flour

Wholemeal wheat flour

Wholemeal flour

Wholewheat flour

Spelt flour and

Spelt flour and

Spelt flour and

wholemeal spelt flour

wholemeal spelt flour

whole grain spelt flour

type 1150 rye flour

Light rye flour

Medium rye flour

Type 1800 coarsely ground

100% wholemeal rye

Coarsely ground rye flour

rye and wholemeal rye flour

flour

and whole grain rye flour (pumpernickel flour)

•Type 1800 coarsely ground rye flour and wholemeal rye flourBoth are made from ground whole grains, finely or coarsely ground depending on the size of the grains. It is used for making bread, for instance.

•Wholemeal flourWholemeal flours are not suited for all purposes and therefore cannot simply replace white flour in the recipe. Wholemeal flour needs more liquid, its baking qualities are less good for many purposes and simply replacing the white flour with wholemeal flour will make the pastry drier and harder.

Ginger

A spice from the rootstock of the ginger plant. Availability: fresh, ground, dried, preserved in syrup or crystallised. An intensely spicy and slightly sharp taste.

Grated coconut

Finely grated coconut meat. It can only be stored for a limited time, as grated coconut can quickly become rancid.

Hazelnuts

As a baking ingredient, the nuts are available whole, chopped, sliced or ground. Peeled hazelnuts are can be purchased in Turkish food shops.

Honey

There are many different varieties of honey, some of which have a liquid and others a creamy consistency. In general, sugar cannot, however, be replaced by honey.

Lemon

The juice and the grated zest are used for baking. Therefore only use untreated fruit and wash in hot water before grating the zest. Grated lemon zest is also packaged as a finished product.

Nougat

A thick, creamy paste made from shelled nuts or almonds, sugar and cocoa products. Nut nougat is dark, while almond nougat is white.

Nutmeg

The nutmeg tree provides both the nutmeg itself and the fruit shell (mace). Both spices are available whole and ground from grocery stores.

Peanuts

These are not nuts but the shelled kernels from the peanut plant. They should be used like nuts and almonds.

Pistachios

The nuts from pistachio trees have an intense light-green colour. Availability: whole, chopped.

Poppy seeds

Oleaginous grey or blue-grey seeds from poppies. Used, for example, for fillings or as an additional ingredient for dough. Availability: whole, ground or as an oven-ready poppy seed filling.

Pumpkin seeds

The oleaginous pumpkin seeds are available in or out of their shells, in pure, roasted or salted form.

Raisins (sultanas)

Light or dark seedless grapes, air-dried in their country of origin. They are available in grocery stores in sulphurated or unsulphurated form and can be used, for example, for dough, fillings and toppings.

Raw marzipan

Mixture made from sweet almonds and sugar.

Saffron

The dried pistils from a crocus. They are strongly pigmenting with a very intensive, slightly bitter taste. Available ground in small tins or as threads.

Sesame seeds

Seeds from the tropical sesame plant. Used for pastries, vegetables and salads.

Sugar

Sugar is available in different types and forms:

•White sugar the most frequently used, fine-grained sugar (granulated sugar).

•Coarse sugar: coarse, white sugar, suitable for sprinkling over cakes.

•Icing (confectioner’s) sugar: very finely ground white or brown sugar.

•Brown candy sugar: brown, fine-grained sugar made from molasses or black treacle, e.g. for gingerbread or honey cake dough.

•Cane sugar: Brown, finegrained sugar which is produced from sugar cane.

•Candy sugar: coarsely ground brown candy sugar, highly aromatic, primarily used for baking honey cakes and gingerbread.

•Sugar beet molasses:

Concentrated, dark juice from sugar beet. Used for Christmas confections (e.g. for gingerbread). Also tastes great as a sweet spread on bread.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds contain a great deal of oil. They are available in grocery stores with or without shells, pure, roasted or salted. They are, in particular, used for making bread and rolls.

Vanilla pods

Fermented capsule from a climbing orchid. Both the seeds that are scratched out of the pod and the whole/finely sliced/ground pod can be used.

Vanilla sugar

Vanilla sugar is a mixture of sugar and vanillin. It is available in grocery stores in practical sachets.

Walnuts

They are available both in their shells and shelled (whole or chopped), loose or packaged. Always buy walnuts fresh, as they perish easily!

Yeast

A biological leavening agent which loosens dough. Both dry and fresh yeast are available in grocery stores. Unlike fresh yeast, dry yeast can be kept for several months, and up to one year. The quantity required is indicated in each recipe.

Baking terms

What do they mean?

Coating

Coating a pastry base or cake with liquids such as fruit juice, a sugar solution or alcohol.

Crisping up

Putting in the oven and rebaking for a short time. It is done to revive cakes and pastries which been frozen and defrosted or have lost some of their freshness while being stored, such as bread and rolls.

Cakes and pastries with icing or glaze cannot be crisped up.

Dusting

Dusting cakes and pastries with icing (confectioners’) sugar or cocoa powder by shaking through a sieve or flour dredger.

Folding in

The careful incorporation of whipped cream, beaten egg whites, almonds, etc. into another mixture, pastry or dough. It is done with a spatula, cooking spoon or whisk.

Garnishing

Giving food a pleasing appearance. This includes piping whipped cream or icing on cakes and pastries, and applying other decorations.

Kneading

Working several ingredients to make a smooth, even dough. A hand-mixer with a kneading hook attachment can be used to knead the dough or you can knead the dough with your hands.

Stirring in

The slow, careful stirring in and mixing of fine substances such as flour or liquids into a dough with a spatula, cooking spoon or whisk

Ovens, kitchen utensils and baking utensils

Ovens and baking temperatures

Just as important as the correct preparation of the dough is the temperature of the oven. Today ovens can be electric or gas and usually have top and bottom heat, heated air circulation by a fan and a grill, with the ability to select various combinations of these.

The temperatures indicated in this book refer to electric ovens and gas ovens. The temperature settings in gas ovens vary depending on the manufacturer so that it is very important to check the manufacturer’s instructions so as to determine the correct temperature setting matching the temperature indicated in the recipe.

It is also helpful to have an oven thermometer so that you can check the oven temperature while the cake is baking.

When baking in a fan oven you can bake on several shelves at the same time. But make sure that the temperature is about 20 °C/25 °F below that used when baking with top and bottom heat.

For all cakes, the oven must be preheated and have reached the temperature indicated in the recipe before you put the cake in. Depending on the oven, the baking time indicated in the recipe may be slightly increased or decreased. It is therefore important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. It is also why you should check the cake towards the end of the baking time.

The height of the shelves

Any dough which is baked in a tin or mould must always be placed on a grid shelf and never on a baking sheet or directly on the bottom of the oven.

Tins or moulds with high sides or semi-high sides are usually put on the bottom shelf while shallower tins or moulds are usually baked in the middle of the oven. Flat cakes, small pastries, biscuits, cream puffs and meringues are also baked on the middle shelf in the oven. The indications in the recipe and the instructions of the oven manufacturer should also be taken into account.

Baking tins and moulds

There is a huge choice here: baking tins and moulds are made of white or black tinplate, enamel, ceramic, clay, silicone or glass. Different versions exist, such as those with an enamel or a non-stick coating. The material has an influence on the way a cake browns and the ease with which it can be loosened from the tin or mould. The most popular cake tins or moulds are the Bundt pans or kugelhopf moulds (diameter 22 cm/9 in and 24 cm/9 ½ in), rectangular cake tins (25 x 11 cm/10 x 4 ½ in and 30 x 11 cm/12 x 4 ½ in), fruit flan moulds (diameter 28 cm/11 in and 30 cm/12 in) and springform moulds (diameter 26 cm/10 ¼ in and 28 cm/11 in). Springform moulds are supplied with an interchangeable flat base and an additional base with a tube in the middle for making ring cakes. A pastry frame is suitable for baking tall-sided cakes and assembling/finalising square cakes and cream cakes. Make sure that you wash all baking tins and moulds with water and washing-up liquid directly after use.

Utensils for weighing, mixing and kneading

•The hand-mixer mixes, stirs and kneads. With the whisk and kneading hook attachments you can make dough, pastry, sauces, and cream- based mixtures. A stick mixer is also very useful.

•A stand mixer will make it easier to mix dough, whip cream and knead heavy bread dough. Because a stand mixer is more powerful, any type of dough will be mixed much more quickly. For this reason it is important that you should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. In our recipes we recommend the use of a hand-mixer.

•A timer is invaluable for timing the mixing and baking times.

•Stirring spoons are used to stir all kinds of ingredients.

•A whisk is recommended for whisking eggs or sauces and to fold in light, delicate mixtures.

•Weighing scales are indispensable in every kitchen. They are available with analogue or digital indication. It is particularly useful if they also have a tare function, which enables the weight to be reset to zero after the container is placed on the balance.

Utensils for measuring, draining and sprinkling

•Measuring jugs are used to measure liquids accurately and should be clearly graduated.

•You need bowls and mixing bowls in several sizes. To mix dough or pastry, whip cream or egg whites, it is best to mixing jugs and bowls made of strong plastic with a rubber ring built into the underside. These are stable and will not slip. Stainless steel bowls are very good for melting chocolate in a bain-marie.

•A fine sieve is used for dusting cocoa powder or icing (confectioners’) sugar over cakes and also for rubbing jam through. A large sieve is useful for draining fruit.

Utensils for cutting out, spreading and transferring dough or pastry into a tin or mould

•Pastry cutters for biscuits, cookies and other small pastries must have sharp, clean edges so that they make clean cuts in the dough or pastry.

•Pastry brushes are used for greasing tins and moulds, for spreading dough and pastry and for applying glazes.

•A pastry frame is used when making tall-sided cakes and for square cakes and tarts. It can be adjusted to different sizes.

•A pastry press is used to make cookie-press biscuits and pastries.

•A pallet knife is made of metal and looks like a wide bladed knife with a rounded end but without a cutting edge. It is used to release dough if it sticks to the work surface while it is being rolled out. It is also used for spreading cream or glaze on dough, flans and cakes and to turn out small pastries and cakes.

•A tart ring can be used on its own and is also ideal for filling tarts.

•A pastry scraper made from a flexible plastic material is used to divide the dough, scrape bits of dough from the sides of the bowl and for cleaning the work surface. It is also ideal for smoothing pastry and making creamy fillings flat, as well as for decorating the sides of cakes.

•A dough scraper with a steel blade is useful for transferring dough and for spreading it out in baking tins.

Utensils for rolling out, cooling and garnishing

•With a cooking roller you can roll out the edges of the dough more thinly on the baking sheet.

•A cake rack is a metal grill on which you put the pastry cool. Unlike a normal cake platter, the grid structure prevents the pastry or cake sweating underneath and becoming soggy. Cake racks have feet so that the air can get to the pastry on all sides.

•Kitchen scissors are used to cut dough and baking parchment to the size required.

•A grater can be used to grate lemon rind and chocolate.

Utensils for weighing, mixing and kneading

Utensils for measuring, draining and sprinkling

Utensils for rolling out, cooling and garnishing

Utensils for cutting out, spreading and transferring dough or pastry into a tin or mould

•Piping bags with star-shaped or plain nozzles are available in several sizes and are used to decorate cakes and pipe pastry.

•A pastry wheel cuts rolled-out pastry, at the same time giving it a serrated or wavy edge.

•A cake divider is very useful for cut the top of a cake into slices of similar size.

•A cake decorating comb is the ideal tool for creating beautiful designs on glazed or iced cakes and for garnishing flans. It can also be used to transfer a flan onto a cake plate or to move layers of cake onto a plate or another cake layer.

•A rolling pin may be made of wood, stainless steel, plastic or glass. It is used for rolling out dough and for crushing solid ingredients, such as praline, biscuits and sponge biscuits.

Garnishing and decorating

Garnishing with a paper piping bag

A home-made piping bag (see the diagram) is perfect for making fine filigree decorations because you can determine the size of the hole of the piping bag yourself – the smaller the hole, the finer the lines of icing or melted chocolate.

To make a paper piping bag, cut a square piece of baking parchment (about 24 x 24 cm/9½ x 9½ in) and fold diagonally to make two triangles . Now take the triangle and hold the middle of the long side with your left hand, then with your right hand fold the upper tip inwards onto the right-angled tip to make a cornet . With your left hand (which is now free), turn the bottom tip towards the two tips already placed on top of each other, take hold of them and pull the three tips together so that they are on top of each other and the cornet has a pointed end at the bottom . Now fold the three tips inwards, press down firmly , . and you’re ready!

Now fill the cornet almost half full with the icing or glaze, close it by folding down the opening several times and press firmly to secure. Fold the resulting corners towards the back. Now cut off a small piece of the point of the cornet .You can now pipe the icing or glaze through the opening you have just made and decorate the cake or flan. Instead of making the piping bag with baking parchment, you can use a small freezer bag. Twist the opening of the freezer bag to close it and cut off a small corner through which you pipe the icing or glaze.

Icing

Sift the icing (confectioners’) sugar and stir in enough water, tea, liqueur or juice, a little at a time, to make a thickish glaze. You can also stir some cocoa powder or instant coffee into the sifted icing sugar before stirring it into the liquid. You can colour the icing the colour of your choice by adding a few drops of food colouring to the finished icing. If the icing is made with hot liquid the icing will become very shiny and hold better. It is important to apply the icing immediately after you have made it because it begins to set very quickly and is then very difficult to apply.

Chocolate and couverture chocolate icing

Melting the chocolate or couverture chocolate

To ensure that the melted chocolate or couverture chocolate is beautifully shiny and that it remains easy to cut even when the chocolate coating has cooled and set, it must be melted very slowly. To do this, break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt two-thirds of it in a pan or bowl in a bain-marie over low heat, stirring all the time . Then take the con-tainer out of the bain-marie and stir in the rest of the chopped or broken up chocolate ; then continue stirring until all the pieces have melted . If the chopped chocolate added after removing the container does not melt properly, put it back in the bainmarie for about 3 seconds. Then remove it again and stir until all the pieces have melted.

The right temperature?

To check whether the melted chocolate will be easy to work with, there is an easy test: dip a corner of a pastry scraper into the melted chocolate, tap it a little and leave the chocolate to dry. Or put a few drops of melted chocolate on a piece of baking parchment, spread it a little and leave to set for 3–5 minutes. Do not stir at this moment, so as not to change the temperature. If the mixture does not set, it means that it is too hot; in this case put the pan briefly in cold water and give it a good stir. If you can see a grey film, the chocolate mixture is too cold; in this case put it back in the warm bain-marie for a few seconds and stir well.

To make chocolate curls and shavings

Melt the chocolate as described above and then pour it on a plate or cake decorating plate. Now “tap” the plate on the table so that the chocolate spreads. Then leave it to cool until it is almost set (but do not refrigerate).

You can make beautiful, large chocolate curls by holding a spatula at a very low angle to the plate and then scrape the chocolate with light, regular movements.

Important: the chocolate must not have set too hard or the curls will break and become crumbly. You can also make chocolate shavings by scraping a bar of chocolate with a potato peeler.

Again, make sure that the chocolate is not too cold or you will only get grated chocolate instead of chocolate shavings.

To make sure that the chocolate curls and shavings do not melt or break, do not use your fingers to move or position them: use a spatula or a wide knife.

To make chocolate glaze

To coat cakes and pastries with a chocolate glaze, coarsely chop the chocolate. Melt the pieces with a little cooking oil in a pan in a bainmarie over low heat, stirring all the time. You will get a beautifully shiny glaze which is easy to work with by adding about 1 teaspoon cooking oil per 100 g/3½ oz chocolate or about 25 g/1 oz coconut fat per 100 g/3½ oz couverture chocolate.

Take care: