The Baking Answer Book (6 page)

Q
Can table salt, kosher salt, and sea salt be used interchangeably?

A
Table salt dissolves easily in baked goods and is the choice of most bakers. Kosher salt may be substituted, but is only about half as salty. Be sure to add twice as much for the same effect: If a recipe calls for ¼ teaspoon of table salt, add ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Sea salt is quite expensive (especially for French fleur de sel or Malden sea salt from Great Britain; see Resources) and its flavor is indistinguishable from table salt in baked goods. Save sea salt for sprinkling onto finished dishes where its pure flavor and crunchy texture can be appreciated.

Bittersweet Chocolate Cookies with Sea Salt

Here’s a baking recipe in which sea salt makes sense, used as a finishing touch sprinkled on top of the balls of cookie dough. Fleur de sel or any other good quality sea salt will work, but Malden salt from England is especially good, because the large flakes provide some crunch to the soft cookies as well as a salty contrast to the sweetness and trufflelike consistency of the cookies.

MAKES 24 COOKIES

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

2½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons sea salt

1½ cups packed light brown sugar

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.
Combine the unsweetened chocolate, 1½ cups of the chocolate chips, and the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on HIGH until just melted, 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the power of your oven. Whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

3.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of the sea salt in a small bowl.

4.
Combine the eggs and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat until the batter falls in thick ribbons when lifted from the bowl with the beaters, about 5 minutes. Stir in the melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla on low speed. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the remaining 1 cup chocolate chips.

5.
Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator for 15 minutes (or up to 6 hours) to chill the dough.

6.
Drop the batter onto prepared baking sheets by heaping tablespoonfuls, about 3 inches apart. Sprinkle a generous pinch of sea salt on top of each cookie. Bake until the tops are cracked and shiny, 10 to 12 minutes. Carefully slide the parchment sheet with the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Q
What kinds of chocolate should I have on hand?

A
Different types of chocolate are used to get various results in baked goods.

Chocolate Varieties

Unsweetened chocolate
, often called baking chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter but no sugar. It has a chalky rather than smooth texture and a bitter flavor, but when baked into brownies, cakes, and cookies, it imparts a deep chocolate flavor and fudgy texture. It is commonly sold in boxes of eight 1-ounce squares for easy measuring, although large blocks may be purchased at gourmet stores and online from baking supply purveyors, in which case you will have to chop and weigh it yourself.

Bittersweet (or dark) chocolate and semisweet chocolate
are made by combining unsweetened chocolate with sugar and refining it further. The difference between the two is in the percentage of sugar. Bittersweet chocolate averages about 46% sugar while semisweet is about 57% sugar. An equivalent amount of one of these will impart less chocolate flavor to a cake than unsweetened chocolate would. Sweeter and less bitter than unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate are used in recipes such as flourless chocolate cake that don’t contain a lot of sugar and that benefit from this type of chocolate’s complex flavors.

In addition to sugar, milk solids and vanilla are added to
milk chocolate
, giving it a very mild chocolate flavor. It isn’t often used in baking, because this flavor becomes diluted to the point of muteness when mixed with other ingredients. Reserve milk chocolate for chocolate chunk cookies and sweet chocolate frostings.

White chocolate
is not officially chocolate because it contains no chocolate solids. It gets its richness and muted chocolate flavor from cocoa butter. Delicate and subtle, it won’t have much impact when added to baked goods. It’s best reserved for mousselike cake fillings.

Chocolate chips
have less cocoa butter than blocks or bars of eating chocolate, so they won’t completely melt when baked into cakes and cookies. Of course, they can be melted in a microwave or on top of the stove, and come in handy when you need just a few ounces of chocolate to drizzle over a cake or cookies as a garnish. For richer ganache frostings and fillings, it’s best to stick with bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.

Cocoa powder
(see
page 37
for more information) is made by removing the cocoa butter from processed and ground cocoa beans and grinding what is left into a fine powder. This powder, when added to doughs and batters, adds intense chocolate flavor. Simple cakes and cookies made with cocoa powder, enriched with butter and sweetened with sugar, can be remarkably fudgy and delicious.

Q
I understand that specific types of chocolate are better in certain recipes than others. But is there a way to substitute, say, semisweet for unsweetened?

A
It’s best to use the type of chocolate specified in a recipe, but, in a pinch, a careful substitution will work. Use the following conversions: