Baking for Dummies Read online

  Baking For Dummies®

  by Emily Nolan

  Baking For Dummies®

  Published by

  Wiley Publishing, Inc.

  111 River St.

  Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

  www.wiley.com

  Copyright © 2002 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

  Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

  Published simultaneously in Canada

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  Library of Congress Control Number: 2001098043

  ISBN: 0-7645-5420-4

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  1B/RR/QR/QS/IN

  About the Author

  Emily Nolan has loved baking for as long as she can remember. Her earliest memories are of digging in her mother’s huge tubs of flour as she put together pies and breads. Her mother handed Emily scraps of dough to keep her busy — even at that tender age, Emily had baking in her blood.

  Although she majored in English Literature in college, Emily catered to pay the bills, cutting her teeth in the professional food service industry. She learned about food preparation for 10 to 200 people, and was introduced to professional cake decoration, food preparation, and presentation. There she became deft at paying attention to details for food, setting up for parties, and creating menus for prestigious dinners, holiday affairs, and college graduations.

  After graduation, Emily was given her first opportunity as a head chef for a month-long program, creating menus and cooking for 150 people, three squares a day. There she applied everything she knew about baking and cooking, providing homemade bread, cakes, and cookies daily. Quality, nutritious food was her goal — and she achieved it.

  With that under her belt, Emily traveled to Philadelphia and became the head pastry chef for a restaurant/bakery, Le Bus. She was responsible for fulfilling orders for their three bakeries, plus any special catering orders that came through daily. On top of that, they baked for local four-star restaurants. Emily and her colleagues made everything from scratch, from the croissant dough to the rich, sweet pectin in their apple pies. She was also in charge of developing new desserts for the restaurants.

  After spending over a year at Le Bus, she decided to combine her English degree with her love for and knowledge of baking. So, she entered the world of publishing and became a cookbook editor. In her two years as an editor, she learned about cookbook publishing and how to address the needs of the reader and convey information in a clear, concise, usable format. Living in New York City enabled her to keep up with the ever-changing food trends.

  After leaving publishing, she returned to the kitchen, where she was the head chef for a month-long program. Again, with a staff of two, she fed over 200 people three time daily. Everything that came from the kitchen was high-quality, homemade fare.

  Today Emily does freelance editing, recipe writing, and recipe development. Presently, she is working on Sheila Lukin’s new cookbook (to be published in Spring 2002) and is doing recipe development for and contributing food article to magazines such as Food and Wine.

  Dedication

  For my mother, Irene Siembora, and my grandfather, Stephan Siembora — two great souls who taught me the joys of baking.

  Author’s Acknowledgments

  What author doesn’t love her editors? I am no exception. A special thanks goes to Jennifer Feldman, publisher of the Dummies cooking titles, for making this book a possibility. I am very grateful to Linda Ingroia, senior acquisitions editor, for giving me the opportunity to write this book and working with me through all the ups and downs along the way. Erin Connell was indispensable with her advice, follow-through, and attention to detail. Project editor Marcia Johnson could not have been more patient and understanding while dealing with technical difficulties and deadlines and ushering me along in the writing process. It gave me great peace of mind knowing that Elizabeth Kuball was the copy editor, and I appreciate the helpful suggestions that technical editor Lauren Chattman offered.

  Then, there is the team at home. Thanks to Martha McCoy, my grandmother Agnes, my mom, sister, and all of my aunts for offering their support, recipes, and advice. David Bidwell, I could not have done it without all of your help, support, and tasting suggestions. And, finally, Monkey, who was always ready and willing to rip open bags of flour, boxes of cake mixes, and bags of butterscotch chips in her attempt to prove that even a dog can bake . . . even if her stomach didn’t make a good oven.

  Publisher’s Acknowledgments

  We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

  Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

  Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

  Project Editor: Marcia L. Johnson

  Senior Editor: Li
nda Ingroia

  Acquisitions Editor: Erin Connell

  Copy Editors: Elizabeth Netedu Kuball, Tina Sims

  Technical Editor: Lauren Chattman

  Recipe Tester and Nutrition Analyst: Patricia Santelli

  Editorial Manager: Pamela Mourouzis

  Editorial Assistant: Carol Strickland

  Cover Photos: David Bishop

  Production

  Project Coordinator: Jennifer Bingham

  Layout and Graphics: Shelly Norris, Jacque Schneider, Janet Seib

  Special Art: Elizabeth Kurtzman, line art

  Proofreaders: Laura Albert, John Greenough, Linda Quigley, Marianne Santy, TECHBOOKS Production Services

  Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services

  Special Help: Chrissy Guthrie

  Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

  Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

  Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

  Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel

  Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

  Publishing for Technology Dummies

  Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

  Composition Services

  Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

  Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

  Contents

  Title

  Introduction

  About This Book

  Conventions Used in This Book

  Foolish Assumptions

  How This Book Is Organized

  Icons Used in This Book

  Where to Go from Here

  Part I : Baking Essentials

  Chapter 1: Bake, For Goodness’ Sake!

  Knowing How to Get Started

  Enjoying What You Bake

  Chapter 2: Stocking Up

  Flour

  Sugar

  Salt

  Eggs

  Leaveners: A Baker’s Best Pick-Me-Up

  Fats: The Good Guys with a Bad Rap

  Liquids

  Cocoa and Chocolate: A Chocoholic’s Dream

  Add-Ins and Flavorings

  Fresh Fruits

  Extras That Are Nice to Have on Hand

  Chapter 3: Going Over the Gear

  Baking Pans

  Basic Pots

  Electric Tools

  Other Essentials

  Great Gadgets

  Part II : Basic Training

  Chapter 4: Understanding Your Oven

  Knowing the Difference Among the Three Types of Ovens

  Rack Chat

  Preheating

  Gauging and Adjusting the Heat

  Chapter 5: Basic Techniques

  Measuring Ingredients

  Preparing Pans

  Working with Eggs

  Whipping Heavy Cream

  Working with Fruits

  Melting Chocolate

  Scalding Milk

  Toasting Nuts

  Chapter 6: Getting Ready to Bake

  Preparing Your Kitchen

  Working with Recipes

  Timing It Right

  Baking at High Elevations

  Cleaning Up as You Go

  Part III : Ready, Set, Bake!

  Chapter 7: Understanding Cookies

  Making Cookies like a Pro

  Drop Cookies

  Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Chocolate Drop Cookies

  Classic Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

  Everything Cookies

  Chocolate-Coconut Macaroons

  Butterscotch Drops

  Poppy Seed Cookies

  Shaped Cookies

  Peanut Butter Cookies

  Crisp Sugar Cookies

  Gingersnaps

  Lemon Cookies

  Apricot-Date Half-Moons

  Poppy Seed Thumbprints

  Russian Tea Balls

  Anisette Biscotti

  Pressed Cookies

  Basic Cookie Press Cookies

  Rolled Cookies

  Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing

  Royal Icing

  Tender Sugar Cookies

  Brownies and Bar Cookies

  Dense Chocolate Brownies

  Black-and-White Brownies

  Lemon Bars

  Crunchy Granola Bars

  Chapter 8: Creating Great Cakes

  Butter Cakes

  Light and Fluffy Yellow Cake

  Martha’s Chocolate Cake

  Carrot Cake

  Applesauce Cake

  Banana-Sour Cream Bundt Cake

  Pound Cakes

  Classic Pound Cake

  Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake

  Cupcakes

  Chocolate Cupcakes

  Lemon Cupcakes

  Lemon Frosting

  Sponge Cakes

  Angel Food Cake

  Jelly Roll

  Cheesecakes

  Classic Cheesecake

  Pumpkin Cheesecake

  Lemon Curd Cheesecake

  Lemon Curd

  Chapter 9: Fabulous Frostings

  Finding Out about Frostings

  Knowing How Much to Make

  Making Quick Frostings

  Cream Cheese Frosting

  Mocha Frosting

  Basic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

  Trying Your Hand at Cooked Frostings

  Sweetened Whipped Cream Frosting

  Chocolate Frosting

  Martha’s Sweet and Creamy Frosting

  Ready, Set, Frost!

  Quick Apricot Glaze

  Classic Sugar Glaze

  Getting Fancy with a Decorating Bag

  Chapter 10: Perfect Pies and Tarts

  Picking the Proper Pie Plate

  Making Perfect Piecrusts

  Old-Fashioned Pie Dough

  Stir-and-Roll Pie Pastry

  Getting Double-Crust Pie Ideas

  Making Simple Pastry Edges and Decorations

  Creating Tantalizing Pies and Tarts

  Pumpkin Pie

  You’ll-Be-Glad-You- Tried-It Apple Pie

  Blueberry Pie

  Cherry Crumb Pie

  Pecan Pie

  Chocolate Cream Pie

  Banana Cream Pie

  Sour Cherry-Berry Pie

  Cran-Apple and Pear Pie

  Making To-Die-For Tarts

  Tart Lemon Tart

  Wonderful Pear Tart

  Troubleshooting Common Pie Problems

  Chapter 11: Crisps, Cobblers, and Other Delights

  Baking with Fruit

  Apple Crisp

  Blueberry Crunch

  Delicious Baked Apples

  Peach Cobbler

  Custards and Puddings

  Pumpkin Custard

  Rich Chocolate Pudding

  Chapter 12: Quick Breads, Muffins, and Biscuits

  Quick Tips for Quick Breads

  Amish Applesauce Bread

  Banana Bread

  Cranberry-Orange Bread

  Crumbcake

  Sweet Chocolate Chip Pull-Apart Bread

  Boston Brown Bread

  Southern Corn Bread

  Making the Perfect Muffin

  Blueberry Muffins

  Corn Muffins

  Gingersnap Muffins

  Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

  Biscuit Basics

  Buttermilk Biscuits

  Cheese Biscuits

  Chapter 13: Yeast Breads

  Understanding the Role of Yeast Bread Ingredients

  Mixing and Kneading Breads

  Encouraging Bread to Rise

  Shaping and Baking the Loaves

  Yeast Bread Recipes