The Baking Answer Book (7 page)

Q
What is the difference between Dutch-process and regular cocoa powder?

A
Dutch-process (or alkalized) cocoa powder has been processed with an alkali to reduce acidity, making it milder tasting and giving it a darker color. Non-alkalized cocoa powder has a slightly more bitter taste, but is also more intensely chocolaty. The difference between the two is not only in taste and color, however. Because of their different pH levels, alkalized and non-alkalized cocoas interact differently in recipes calling for baking powder or baking soda. Recipes calling for Dutch-process cocoa powder use baking powder, which is essentially baking soda with added acid, as a leavener. Baked goods containing non-alkalized cocoa don’t need the extra acid in baking powder, and will rise well with only baking soda.

Q
How is an extract made? Is pure vanilla extract better than other vanilla extracts?

A
An extract is a concentrated flavoring that can be made from either natural or artificial ingredients. Extracts, including almond, coffee, maple, lemon, mint, and most commonly, vanilla, give depth and balance to baked goods. Vanilla extract is made by macerating chopped vanilla beans in a solution of alcohol and water until the liquid takes on the flavor of the beans. Artificial vanilla, which has a similar flavor profile, is made from wood pulp. Most bakers and pastry chefs agree that pure vanilla extract gives baked goods a more intense flavor and aroma than the artificial variety.

CHAPTER 2
Equipment

There are some pieces of equipment that are absolutely essential if you want to bake. You can’t make cookies without a baking sheet, or a cake without a cake pan. Good luck to you if you don’t own a set of measuring cups and spoons! And then there are items that you can certainly live without, but make baking a pleasure and a joy. I’m thinking of my lovely yellow KitchenAid stand mixer and my fancy Silpat baking mat, imported from France. The questions and answers in this chapter will help you assess the equipment you already own, make decisions about purchasing tools that you may still need, and make sure you’re perfectly equipped to bake whatever your heart desires.

BAKING PANS: A BAKER’S DOZEN

Here are 13 pans, listed loosely in order of usefulness. The items at the top may see daily or weekly use. Toward the bottom you’ll find pans that are nice to have, if only for the couple of times a year you make madeleines or a soufflé.

Baking sheets.
Equip your kitchen with several rimmed and rimless baking sheets to accomplish a multitude of baking tasks, from baking cookies, jelly rolls, and focaccia to toasting nuts and coconut in the oven.

Square and rectangular baking pans.
An 8-inch square pan and a 9-by 13-inch pan will allow you to make small and large batches of brownies and bar cookies as well as snacking cakes and sheet cakes.

Layer cake pans.
9-inch round cake pans are standard, but sometimes a recipe will call for 8-inch pans. You’ll need 2 or sometimes 3 pans to make one recipe. Buy them in matched sets, so your layers will match exactly. And choose pans with sides at least 2 inches high, to accommodate batters from a multitude of recipes.

Muffin tin.
Necessary for cupcakes as well as muffins, a 12-cup tin is the most useful. If you are only making six cupcakes or muffins, place batter in every other cup of a 12-cup tin and fill the empty cups with water to prevent buckling.

Loaf pan.
For quick breads and sandwich loaves. A 9-inch loaf pan is most common, but an 8-inch one is also handy. They can also be used to assemble ice cream and frozen mousse terrines. Mini-loaf pans are less essential, but fun to have if you want to make small loaves for gift-giving or a bread basket.

Bundt pan.
A tube pan with fluted sides is used to make coffee cakes and other casual cakes. Sometimes these cakes have sticky streusel toppings and fillings, making them difficult to unmold. That is why most Bundt pans now on the market have a nonstick surface, for a clean release. The standard size is 12 cups.

Pie plate.
Glass produces a nicely browned crust and is nonreactive (unlike metal) so it won’t affect the flavor of acidic fruit fillings over time.

Tart pan with removable bottom.
A 9-inch pan will make a tart that serves six; an 11-inch pan will serve ten.

Springform pan.
Cakes that can’t be removed from a regular pan, such as cheesecake or flourless chocolate cake, must be baked in a springform pan. A spring-loaded hinge releases the sides of the pan from the bottom, and the cake is left standing on the bottom of the pan, ready to serve. Nine inches is standard for most recipes, but springform pans come in a variety of sizes, including 3 and 4 inches for individual cakes.

Tube pan.
Necessary for making an angel food cake. Look for one with feet that elevate the pan as the cake cools, allowing for air to circulate under the cake once you’ve overturned it.

Soufflé dish.
Large (1½ to 2 quart) dishes will hold hot soufflés as well as a variety of frozen mousses and semifreddo desserts. Small ceramic ramekins (4-ounce, 6-ounce, and 8-ounce sizes) are necessary for making pot de crème, crème caramel, crème brûlée, and individual molten chocolate cakes and bread puddings.

Madeleine molds.
You can bake madeleine batter in mini-muffin tins, but these traditional shell-shaped molds give these simple sponge-type cookies the optimum crust-to-cake ratio.

Flan and cake rings.
Although professional bakers use cake rings (basically cake pans without bottoms) to bake cakes directly on parchmentlined baking sheets, home bakers will find them most useful for assembling neatly layered cakes. A cake ring will give shape to a cake layered with mousse, pastry cream, and ice cream, containing the fillings until they can set up in the refrigerator or freezer.

Q
What should I look for when shopping for baking sheets?

A
The best baking sheets, rimless or not, are made of heavy-duty aluminum, which conducts heat beautifully so that the bottoms of your cookies brown but don’t burn, and won’t warp over time the way flimsier pans will. It’s better to use parchment paper or a Silpat to render the surface of the sheet nonstick than to buy a baking sheet with a dark nonstick surface, because small items like cookies tend to overbrown on darker sheets. For the same reason, avoid French steel baking sheets if you are using them primarily for cookies. Of course, if you are using your baking sheets specifically for intense browning, such as roasting vegetables, then nonstick and French steel may be just right for you.

Q
Do I need both rimmed and rimless baking sheets?

A
If your kitchen activities are limited to baking cookies, then you will need only rimless sheets, which will allow you to slide cookies right from the sheet onto a wire rack for cooling, minimizing the chance that the hot, soft cookies will break during transfer. A rimless sheet also comes in handy for getting pizza or bread into the oven if you don’t own a pizza peel. Line the baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper, shape your pizza dough or bread dough on top of the parchment, and then slide the parchment from the sheet to a preheated baking stone as you would with a pizza peel.

Rimmed baking sheets, also called jelly-roll pans, are preferable to rimless ones for the many other times when it is important to keep your batter or whatever else you are placing on your sheet within the confines of the pan. This includes a jelly roll, of course, which is made by first spreading cake batter evenly across the bottom of the pan, before baking it, cooling it, spreading it with filling, and then rolling it up. Rimmed pans are also great for containing a mess, for example, when drizzling a cake with a glaze. Place your cake on top of a wire rack inside the pan. Your glaze will drip down the sides of the cake and onto the pan, not the counter.