Bon Appetit Desserts (3 page)

WHAT
: Pliable sweet “doughs” made primarily of ground blanched almonds and sugar, with the addition of glucose or egg whites.

USES: Almond paste
is usually used as an ingredient in desserts for flavor and texture.
Marzipan
is lighter, finer, and sweeter and is often tinted and sculpted into fruit, vegetable, or animal shapes. In the recipes here, it is usually rolled into sheets to cover cakes or to be cut into various shapes.

FIND
: In tubes or cans at most supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

STORE
: Unopened in a dry, cool place for up to a year; once opened, store airtight in the refrigerator for up to three months.

WHAT
: Key leavening agents for baked goods—in other words, they help cakes, cookies, and muffins rise and have an airy texture.
Baking soda
(bicarbonate of soda) has four times the leavening power of baking powder. It releases carbon dioxide gas when combined with an acidic ingredient (like buttermilk, molasses, sour cream, or yogurt) and causes dough and batter to rise.
Baking powder
is a mixture of baking soda, cornstarch, and one or more powdered acids, which release carbon dioxide gas first when moistened and a second time when heated, thus giving baking powder a double-acting leavening ability.

USES
: When using baking soda or baking powder, whisk them with the other dry ingredients to distribute them evenly.

FIND
: In the baking aisle. You can make your own baking powder by whisking 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1½ tablespoons cornstarch three times to ensure that it is well blended.

STORE
: In a cool, dry place for about six months. Store homemade baking powder airtight at room temperature for up to one month.

WHAT
: Butter is made by churning cream until it separates, forming a milky liquid and the solid butterfat.
Unsalted butter
is the preferred choice for baking since it allows you to control the amount of salt in recipes.
European butter
(also known in the U.S. as cultured butter) is made by churning fermented cream rather than regular cream; it has a higher percentage of milk fat and works well in desserts.

USES
: Butter adds flavor and richness, makes baked goods tender and flaky, extends the shelf life of breads, and aids in browning. Well-chilled butter is crucial to the success of baked goods like biscuits, shortcakes, scones, and pie dough; however, when beating butter with sugar for cakes and most cookie doughs, the butter will “cream” better if it is at room temperature.

FIND
: European butter, such as Plugrá (European-style butter) and Isigny Ste-Mère, can be found alongside regular butter in well-stocked supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

STORE
: Butter absorbs odors easily; store it airtight in the coldest part of the refrigerator and away from foods for one to two months (wrapped). Regular butter can be frozen for up to six months, European-style butter for up to four.

WHAT
: The purest form of chocolate is the cacao nib, formed after cacao beans are removed from their pods, fermented, dried, roasted, shelled, and cracked open. You can use nibs to add subtle chocolate flavor and a crunchy texture to baked goods, but most nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is, basically, a combination of cocoa solids and cocoa butter; after further stages of refining, chocolate as we know it is formed.

USES
: As a rule of thumb, use the best-quality chocolate you can find and afford. In fact, many of our recipes specify “high-quality chocolate” such as Lindt, Perugina, Valrhona, and Scharffen Berger, which reward you with incredible depth of flavor, sweetness, and smooth texture. Most labels on packages of chocolate now indicate the percentage of cacao—the higher the percentage of cacao, the less sugar and other ingredients.

• Dark chocolate
  includes unsweetened, bittersweet, and semisweet chocolates.
  

• Unsweetened chocolate
  (100 percent cacao) is pure chocolate with no other ingredients, including sugar; also referred to as baking chocolate.
  

• Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates
  contain sugar, vanilla, and lecithin, an emulsifier; sometimes you’ll also see milk solids added to mellow the flavor. Bittersweet has a richer chocolate flavor and is less sweet since it has a higher percentage of cacao. In certain
  Bon Appétit
  recipes, to guarantee the best results, it’s important to use a bittersweet or semisweet chocolate that doesn’t have too high a percentage of cacao; in those cases, we specify that the chocolate should not exceed 61 percent cacao. In other recipes, the cacao percentage will not affect the outcome; those recipes will simply call for “bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.”
  

• Milk chocolate
  , made with the addition of dry milk powder, has more sugar than bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.
  

• White chocolate
  is technically not chocolate because it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor. It is a blend of cocoa butter, sugar, milk products, vanilla, and lecithin. For the best results when using white chocolate in a recipe, use the highest quality possible; make sure it contains cocoa butter, not vegetable oil. Lindt and Perugina are excellent brands.
  

FIND
: In the baking aisle or the candy aisle. If your supermarket doesn’t carry high-quality chocolate, check specialty foods stores or online (see Online and Mail-Order Sources on page 632).

STORE
: Wrap tightly and store in a cool, dry place. Unopened, chocolate will keep for several months.

WHAT
: A powder made of the chocolate liquor extracted from cocoa beans.

USES: Natural cocoa
(sometimes labeled simply “cocoa” or “nonalkalized cocoa”) is slightly acidic and has a strong flavor and a slightly red color. Many baked goods rely on natural cocoa’s acidity to help set the proteins in baked goods.
Dutch-process cocoa
has been treated with an alkali, which neutralizes its acidity, softens the harsh flavor, and dramatically darkens the color. But because it lacks acidity, it might not set the proteins properly in baked goods, resulting in cakes that collapse, for example. Use Dutch-process cocoa only in recipes that call for it; substituting Dutch-process for natural cocoa is not recommended.

FIND
: In the baking aisle (natural cocoa) or the coffee and tea aisle.

STORE
: In a tightly covered container in a cold, dark place for up to two years.

WHAT
: Purchased cookies, such as graham crackers, chocolate or vanilla wafers, biscotti, shortbread, gingersnaps, or any other crisp cookie.

USES
: Cookies are often used to make delicious, easy crumb crusts for pies, tarts, and cheesecakes. The cookies are ground into fine crumbs, then combined with butter or shortening and usually some sugar to form a moist, sandy texture that clumps together when squeezed, ensuring that the crumbs will stick to the sides of a pan.

FIND
: In the cookie aisle or—depending on the cookie—in specialty foods stores or ethnic markets.

STORE
: Unopened packages usually last a month or more.

WHAT
: A white, silky powder made from dried and ground corn kernels.

USES
: Lends a fine texture to cakes, cookies, and other pastries (it sometimes replaces part of the flour) and is used to thicken puddings, pastry creams, and cooked fruit fillings for pies and cobblers. Sauces thickened with cornstarch remain clear, whereas those thickened with flour turn opaque. To avoid lumps, mix cornstarch with a cold liquid, such as milk, then gradually whisk it into the hot liquid, or mix it with sugar, then add a cold liquid and stir while cooking. For cornstarch to thicken properly, it must come to a near boil.

FIND
: In the baking aisle.

STORE
: In a cool, dry place for up to a year.

WHAT
: A derivative of cornstarch, corn syrup comes in light and dark varieties.

USES
: It is often used in recipes for caramel, fudge, and frostings, as it inhibits sugar from crystallizing and creates a smooth texture. It also keeps ice cream creamy by preventing the formation of ice crystals.
Light corn syrup
is clear and thick and imparts a mild, sugar-like sweetness.
Dark corn syrup
contains caramel color and flavoring and adds a molasses-like sweetness. It can also be used as a topping for pancakes, waffles, and cornbread.

FIND
: Light corn syrup can be found year-round in the baking aisle at the supermarket; dark corn syrup is available at many supermarkets and is especially easy to find at holiday time.

STORE
: For up to six months in a cool, dry place.

WHAT
: A soft, spreadable cheese made from cow’s milk.

USES
: Cream cheese is the basis for most cheesecakes and many frostings. When baking with cream cheese, we prefer Philadelphia brand, as it sets frostings and cheesecakes better than other brands. (Do not substitute whipped cream cheese or low fat or nonfat cream cheese.)

FIND
: In the dairy case.

STORE
: Once opened, cream cheese should be used within ten days. Unopened, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one month past the sell-by date.

WHAT
: Cream of coconut is made from coconut milk that has been sweetened with sugar. (It is much sweeter than coconut milk, and these two items are not interchangeable.)

USES
: Used mainly in desserts and mixed drinks.

FIND
: It is available canned as Coco López or in a squeeze bottle as Coco Reál in the beverage and mixers section of most liquor stores and supermarkets.

STORE
: Unopened, it will last for up to a year in a cool, dry place.

WHAT
: A fine white powder made from tartaric acid.

USES
: It is beaten into egg whites when making meringue to help stabilize the egg foam and prevent it from weeping. It also serves as the acid in many baking powders. Because it inhibits the formation of sugar crystals, it is often used in candies and frosting to create a creamy texture.

FIND
: In the spice section of the baking aisle.

STORE
: In a cool, dry, dark cupboard for up to a year.

WHAT
: Originally, buttermilk was the liquid that remained after butter was churned. Today it’s made in a similar way to yogurt and is known as “cultured buttermilk”: Bacterial cultures are added to milk, and the mixture is heated at a low temperature. The bacteria cause the milk to ferment and thicken, resulting in buttermilk’s creamy texture and slightly tart flavor. Despite its name, commercial buttermilk is low in fat, with only 0.5 percent to 2 percent butterfat.

USES
: Buttermilk is used in many baked goods, such as cakes, scones, corn-bread, and coffee cake, though it can also be used to make deliciously tangy ice cream, custard, and panna cotta.

FIND
: In the dairy section of the supermarket.

STORE
: In the refrigerator. Check the sell-by date on the package.