IlluSTraTEd STEP-BY-STEP Baking easy-to-follow recipes with more than 1,500 photographs Caroline Bretherton ILLUSTRATED STEP-BY-STEP Baking ILLUSTRATED STEP-BY-STEP Baking Caroline Bretherton LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, DELHI Senior Editor Alastair Laing Project Art Editor Kathryn Wilding US Editor Rebecca Warren Managing Editor Dawn Henderson Managing Art Editor Christine Keilty Senior Jacket Creative Nicola Powling Senior Production Editor Maria Elia Senior Production Controller Alice Holloway Creative Technical Support Sonia Charbonnier Photographers Howard Shooter, Michael Hart DK INDIA Project Editor Charis Bhagianathan Senior Art Editor Neha Ahuja Project Designer Divya PR Assistant Art Editor Mansi Nagdev Managing Editor Glenda Fernandes Managing Art Editor Navidita Thapa DTP Manager Sunil Sharma Production Manager Pankaj Sharma DTP Operators Neeraj Bhatia, Sourabh Challariya, Arjinder Singh First American Edition, 2011 Published in the United States by DK Publishing, 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001 – 181842 – Sept/2011 Copyright © 2011 Dorling Kindersley Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-0-7566-8679-6 Color reproduction by Alta Image Printed and bound by L-Rex, China DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 or [email protected] Discover more at www.dk.com Contents introduction 8 recipe choosers 10 everyday cakes 26 celebration cakes 80 small cakes 112 patisserie 148 cookies & slices 186 meringues & soufflés 240 cheesecakes 268 sweet tarts & pies 284 savory tarts & pies 356 classic & artisan breads 396 flat breads 470 quick breads & batters 494 index 534 acknowledgments 544 Introduction My first introduction to baking was at my first birthday party, when family history has it that I launched myself into a cream-laden gâteau head first, a moment carefully preserved forever by my mother’s polaroid camera. Years later I have a similarly enthusiastic response to baked goods, albeit tempered by a lifetime of experience. Getting It Right: Be Patient, Be Precise Baking is something most people approach with caution, speaking of fallen sponges, soggy bottoms, and crumbling pastry. Yet it is, above all, a science. With a tried-and- tested recipe (as all the recipes in this book are) and careful application to quantities, timing, and temperature, there is little that cannot be achieved by the home baker. The key to competent baking is patience and precision. Read the recipe carefully, follow it unwaveringly, and you will rarely fail. Must-have Equipment Having said that, there are a few items of equipment that will help you along the way. Digital scales are an absolute must. Weighing ingredients carefully is vital to most baking. Unlike everyday cooking, where we can rely on taste and personal preference, the correct balance of fat to flour to eggs is always required to make a cake rise. Beyond the scales a simple set of baking equipment should include: a set of quality, non-stick cake and tart pans, and baking sheets. A large mixing bowl, a set of measuring spoons, a spatula, a balloon whisk, electric mixer, and some wooden spoons. Many of the recipes in this book can be achieved with little else, but if you love to bake and would like to attempt the more complex recipes, I would recommend a standing mixer with dough hook. This takes a lot of the hard work out of bread making, for example, and well kneaded dough will always produce better bread. Finally, an oven thermometer. It may seem strange when your oven has a temperature display on it, but the temperature inside some ovens differs significantly from the dial setting. For a small outlay you can buy a simple thermometer that hangs from the oven shelf and accurately reads the temperature inside your oven. My Essential Tips Once you have your equipment in place the best thing to do is practice. Carefully follow a new recipe the first couple of times you attempt it and you will soon find your confidence growing. You will start to understand how ingredients respond and work together so that, with time, you will be able to create your own alternative versions. Cakes should mostly be light and airy. Barring the heavier fruit varieties, most cakes rely on air being whisked into the mixture then carefully preserved by a light touch when folding in the flour, before cooking. Although butter gives a richer taste to the finished cake, baking margarine will produce a lovely, light result too. Meringues need a scrupulously clean bowl and not a trace of yolk in the egg whites, or they will not whisk well. A long, slow cook always helps. My oven is always too hot to produce a pure white meringue, so I counteract this by propping the door open slightly with the handle of a wooden spoon to allow the temperature to drop. Meringues that are cooled in the oven tend to crack less, too.