Bon Appetit Desserts (5 page)

WHAT: Fresh ginger
is a knobby root with bulbous offshoots and a spicy, sweet, pungent flavor.
Dried ground ginger
has a distinctive, strong flavor that is quite different than fresh ginger.
Crystallized ginger
is slightly chewy, candy-like pieces of ginger that have been cooked in sugar syrup and coated with sugar.

USES
: Fresh ginger adds a clean and refreshing flavor to sorbets, ice creams, syrups, and sauces. Dried ground ginger is an essential ingredient in many desserts and baked goods, such as ginger cookies and gingerbread. Crystallized ginger adds spicy sweetness to cakes, scones, cookies, and ice cream. With its sparkly sugar coating, it also makes a pretty garnish.

FIND
: Fresh ginger can be found in the produce section. It should be firm with smooth, tan, slightly shiny skin and a moist flesh with a fresh aroma. The skin needs to be peeled and, since fresh ginger has fibers that run down the length of the root, it should be thinly sliced crosswise or grated. Ground ginger is sold in the spice aisle. Crystallized ginger is available sliced, finely diced, and cubed at many supermarkets, natural foods stores, and Asian markets.

STORE
: Fresh unpeeled ginger will keep at room temperature for up to three days, up to three weeks tightly wrapped and stored in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to six months. Dried ginger can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to six months. Crystallized ginger can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three months, in the refrigerator for up to six months, or in the freezer for up to a year.

WHAT
: There are hundreds of honeys available, ranging in taste and form from robustly flavored liquid honey to whipped honey. The flavor and color of honey depends on the type of flower from which the nectar is foraged. For instance, when bees forage for honey in a lavender patch or on the blossoms of orange trees, the honey can take on the subtle flavors of that flower.

USES
: Honey is a natural sweetener that is used in many desserts and as a syrup for pastries, cornbread, and breakfast items such as pancakes and French toast. It lends its distinctive flavor to classic desserts and candies, such as baklava and nougat. Cakes and cookies made with honey stay moist longer than those made with sugar. And cookies made with honey are soft rather than crisp. Honey gives chocolate sauce a gooey, fudgy texture.
Clover honey
, the most widely used honey, imparts a traditional honey flavor, but
orange blossom honey
and
lavender honey
are two types of honey that are prized for their floral, perfumey flavors.

FIND
: Clover and other honeys are available at the supermarket and at farmers’ markets. Varietal honeys are often available in specialty foods stores, or online (see Online and Mail-Order Sources on page 632).

STORE
: Airtight at room temperature for up to a year. If honey crystallizes, the jar can be heated in a pan of warm water for 10 to 20 minutes to dissolve the crystals.

WHAT
: Jams and preserves are fruits cooked with sugar and sometimes pectin; preserves feature larger pieces of fruit.

USES
: Jams and preserves add a sweet, concentrated fruit flavor to a variety of desserts. They can be used as filling for Italian crostatas, French jam tarts, crepes, doughnuts, and layered cakes. They are often swirled in breakfast pastries and cakes and used in cookies such as thumbprints, pinwheels, sandwich cookies, and rugelach. Apricot jam has a light amber color and is often used as a glaze for fruit tarts.

FIND
: In the peanut butter section of the supermarket.

STORE
: Most jams and preserves will keep for up to a year in the refrigerator.

WHAT
: Pure maple syrup is the boiled-down sap of maple trees; it takes 20 to 50 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup. Maple syrup is classified according to the intensity of its amber color, going from light (AA) to dark (C), and its maple flavor, although the grade is not a reflection of quality. Generally, the darker the syrup, the more robust the flavor. Grade B is preferred for most of the recipes in this book because of its robust flavor.

USES
: Maple syrup is a natural sweetener. Because it lends a mild maple flavor to baked goods and desserts, it can sometimes be used in place of other liquid sweeteners, such as honey and corn syrup.

FIND
: Grade B maple syrup can be found at the supermarket or specialty foods stores. If you can’t find Grade B, Grade A syrup can be used instead. Avoid syrups that are labeled “pancake syrup” but look like maple syrup—these less expensive imitators of maple syrup actually contain corn syrup and artificial flavors, but no maple syrup.

STORE
: Once opened, maple syrup keeps in the refrigerator for up to a year.

WHAT
: Although often referred to as cream cheese, Italian mascarpone is technically a very thick cream. It has an even richer, creamier flavor than heavy whipping cream and a thick, smooth, spreadable consistency. Its flavor is similar to cream cheese but has a sweeter, creamier taste compared to the tangy, salty flavor of cream cheese.

USES
: Mascarpone’s creamy qualities make it a blank slate for showcasing other flavors. Mascarpone is the essential ingredient in tiramisù and is often used in cheesecakes, frostings, and mousses. It can also be served in lieu of butter atop waffles, crepes, and French toast or spread onto toast and topped with jam.

FIND
: In small plastic containers in the cheese or dairy section of most supermarkets, Italian markets, specialty foods stores, and natural foods stores.

STORE
: In the refrigerator for up to a month.

WHAT
: A sweet, thick, dark brown syrup with a distinctive roasted, tangy flavor that is characteristic of gingerbread. Molasses is the by-product of processing sugarcane or sugar beets into table sugar. There are three basic types of molasses available:
light
, which comes from the first boiling of the sugar syrup;
dark
, from the second; and
blackstrap
molasses, from the third boiling. Dark molasses is more robust and less sweet than light molasses, and blackstrap molasses is even darker and more bittersweet.

USES
: We recommend unsulphured molasses because it is the purest. The recipes in this book specify whether to use light or dark molasses; blackstrap should never be used because its flavor is too bitter.

FIND
: Near the maple syrups in the supermarket and at specialty foods stores.

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

WHAT
: Most nuts are fruits or seeds, although peanuts are technically legumes.

USES
: Nuts add flavor, texture, and richness to baked goods and desserts. They are sold shelled or unshelled, raw or roasted, salted or unsalted, or seasoned. Some, such as almonds, are available slivered, sliced, chopped, and blanched. Most desserts and baking recipes call for shelled raw or toasted nuts that are unsalted.

FIND
: Because nuts are high in fat, they can easily become rancid. It is best to buy them from sources that have a high turnover rate to ensure freshness—such as natural foods stores, farmers’ markets, and online sources specializing in nuts. They’re also available at supermarkets.

STORE
: To help keep them fresh, store shelled nuts airtight in the refrigerator for up to six months, and in the freezer for up to a year.

WHAT: Natural peanut butter,
also known as old-fashioned peanut butter, is made by blending roasted peanuts with some salt into a paste that is either creamy or crunchy. Many major-brand
regular peanut butters
contain sugar, molasses, and other additives. In recent years, these brands have replaced partially hydrogenated oils with palm oil; the palm oil prevents the natural oils found in peanut butter from separating from the peanut butter.

USES
: The separation of oil and peanut butter is a common occurrence in natural peanut butter, so it must be stirred to blend before it is measured. At room temperature, natural peanut butter tends to be thinner than regular peanut butter, yet firmer when cold. Since natural and regular peanut butter are quite different in texture and flavor, it is important to use the style called for in the recipe.

FIND
: In the supermarket.

STORE
: After opening, store in the refrigerator for up to six months.

WHAT
: Although they both create decadent, flaky crusts for desserts, phyllo dough and puff pastry are quite different.
Phyllo dough
is paper-thin sheets of dough (made of flour, water, and oil); in many recipes, each layer is brushed with melted butter and then stacked to create a crust.
Puff pastry
is made by wrapping chilled butter in dough and repeatedly rolling and folding. For each, it is this layering of pastry dough with butter that makes them puff. When baked, the butter releases its moisture as steam, which is trapped by the dough, causing the layers of dough to separate and puff. Baked phyllo dough is crisper than puff pastry.

USES
: Phyllo dough and puff pastry dough are two indispensable ingredients for making some of the most prized desserts and pastries, ranging from baklava and apple strudel to napoleons and elegant tarts.

FIND
: Making these doughs from scratch is very labor-intensive and time-consuming, but, fortunately, they can easily be purchased. Both are widely available in the freezer section of supermarkets and specialty foods stores, near the frozen fruits and desserts. Look for frozen puff pastry that lists butter as a main ingredient. Phyllo dough can also be purchased fresh at Middle Eastern markets.

STORE
: In the freezer for up to a year. Thaw frozen phyllo dough overnight in the refrigerator, puff pastry at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

WHAT
: Salt is a key ingredient in baked goods and desserts and comes in a variety of forms used in baking:

• Table salt
  is inexpensive common white salt; it’s very fine grained and contains additives that help prevent it from clumping. Some bakers prefer this salt because its fine grains blend and dissolve easily in batters and dough. However, others avoid table salt because they feel it has a harsh, chemical flavor.
  

• Kosher salt
  is coarse-grained salt that is free of additives and has a smoother flavor than table salt. If a recipe calls for kosher salt, don’t use table salt, as they are not interchangeable (table salt is far saltier).
  

• Sea salt
  has a fresh, smooth flavor and is available in fine and coarse grains. The fine grains are used like table salt, and the coarse grains are often used as a “finishing salt,” sprinkled on food as a garnish just before serving. Some sea salts are rich in minerals, which gives them an off-white or gray color.
  

• Fleur de sel
  (meaning “flower of salt” in French) is a sea salt that is hand-harvested off the coast of France. Because only the very top layer of salt is collected in a labor-intensive process, it is more expensive than table salt and kosher salt. It has large, damp grains and is available at specialty foods stores and natural foods stores. It is used only as a finishing salt.
  

USES
: A small amount of salt heightens and intensifies flavors; without it, breads, cakes, and cookies taste flat and can fall short of dazzling. When using salt in batters, whisk it with the other dry ingredients to ensure that it is evenly dispersed. When beating egg whites for meringues, add the salt toward the end, since salt can make egg foams unstable.

FIND
: Table salt and kosher salt are available in the baking aisle at the supermarket. Sea salt and fleur de sel can be found in some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

STORE
: Airtight in the cupboard indefinitely.

WHAT
: Solid vegetable shortening is pure vegetable oil in a solid state.
Bon Appétit
recommends non-hydrogenated shortening, which is healthier because it contains no trans fats. Note that shortening is not the same thing as margarine, which usually contains water, whey, salt, and other ingredients. If a recipe calls for shortening, do not substitute margarine, as the added ingredients can alter the texture of the dessert.