The Baking Answer Book (2 page)

The Intermediate Baker’s Pantry

Adding the following to your store of pantry items will allow you to expand your repertoire to include fruit pies (provided you have some fresh or frozen fruit), oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, corn muffins, and a variety of quick breads.

In the pantry:
confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, rolled oats (not quick-cooking), cornmeal, unsweetened cocoa powder, vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, raisins, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg

In the refrigerator:
cream cheese, natural peanut butter

In the freezer:
whole and sliced almonds

The Serious Baker’s Pantry

To make tender cakes, yeast-risen breads, and pastries, and to add to your flavor palette when baking, keep the following ingredients on hand.

In the pantry:
cake flour, whole-wheat flour, light and dark corn syrup, dark (not blackstrap) molasses, honey, dried apricots, dried figs, dried dates, instant espresso powder, almond extract, ground cloves, allspice, mace

In the refrigerator:
buttermilk, yogurt

In the freezer:
active dry yeast, hazelnuts, pine nuts

STORAGE AND SHELF LIFE OF PANTRY ITEMS

Fresh ingredients are essential for great-tasting baked goods. Storing ingredients properly and discarding them when they are no longer fresh is the first step to successful baking. Use an indelible pen to mark boxes, bags, and jars of seldom-used items with the purchase date to keep track of how long you’ve had them. Items stored in the pantry should be kept in airtight containers.

The following guide will help you keep your ingredients in optimum baking condition.

Scottish Shortbread

With only four ingredients — butter, flour, sugar, and salt — this is the ultimate minimalist cookie recipe. Buttery, crumbly, and perfectly sweet, these cookies are the distilled essence of what we love about baking.

MAKES 16 COOKIES

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1.
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

2.
Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat on low with an electric mixer until combined. Add the butter and continue to beat until the dough is sandy and holds together when pinched between your fingers.

3.
Transfer the dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press it into an even layer with your fingertips. Work quickly so as not to soften and melt the butter.

4.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and, using a pizza wheel or the tip of a sharp paring knife, lightly score the dough into 16 wedges. Pierce the dough all over with the point of a skewer. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the shortbread is dry, firm, and very pale golden, 40 to 50 minutes longer.

5.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove the bottom from the pan, and cut the shortbread with a sharp knife along the scored lines. Shortbread will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 1 week.

Q
What is the difference between cake flour, all-purpose flour, and bread flour? Is all-purpose flour really “all-purpose”?

A
Different types of flour have different amounts of protein. Protein provides strength and structure to baked goods. While percentages differ from brand to brand and from region to region, in general, cake flour is between 7.5% and 9% protein, all-purpose flour has a protein content of about 12%, and bread flour ranges from 13% to 14% protein. Low-protein cake flour will give white cake and other delicate cakes and biscuits a soft, tender crumb. All-purpose flour will give cookies a nice shape without adding so much protein that they become tough. The additional protein in bread flour will give strength to bread dough so it won’t collapse as gases created by yeast expand inside the dough as it bakes.

SEE ALSO:
Self-rising flour,
page 128
; cake flour,
page 199
.

Q
How do I substitute all-purpose flour for other flours?

A
With a few adjustments, all-purpose flour can be used in place of cake or bread flour. To approximate 1 cup of cake flour, use ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour sifted with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Cornstarch has no protein, so adding it to the flour will add volume without adding protein.

A relatively strong all-purpose flour (a national brand like Gold Medal or a northern brand like King Arthur have more
protein than Southern brands) may be substituted for bread flour, but expect a slightly less chewy and crusty product. Bread flour is able to absorb more water per cup than all-purpose flour, so use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for every cup of bread flour called for in a recipe.

Q
What is the difference between white flour and whole-wheat flour?

A
Flour is milled from wheat kernels, each one consisting of three parts: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. The bran is the tough outer layer made up mostly of fiber. The germ is the core, packed with protein, healthy oil, and vitamins and minerals. The endosperm is the largest part of the kernel, made up mostly of starch and proteins. Flour that retains the bran and germ during milling, giving it a speckled brown and off-white color, is called whole wheat. When the bran and germ are removed during milling, the resulting flour is white.

Color isn’t the only difference between the two. The bran and germ in whole-wheat flour add nutritional value. And then there’s flavor. Whole-wheat flour lends a nutty, toasted flavor and fragrance to baked goods while white flour is milder and more neutral.