Lorraine Pascale - Baking Made Easy

• There is no need to sift flour, unless it has really clumped together or the recipe specifically states it.

• Icing sugar is normally best sifted as it does tend to clump together and may leave lumps in your buttercream.

• If possible, invest in some proper measuring spoons – a teaspoon and tablespoon are most commonly needed. These are available in most bigger supermarkets, from cookshops or online.

• When folding ingredients together, the best tool is a plastic spatula rather than a metal spoon (although this will do). Always fold the mixture slowly to retain as much air as possible.

• For safe and effective chopping, put a damp kitchen cloth underneath your chopping board to stop it sliding around.

• If attempting a pastry recipe, be aware that they aren’t the fastest recipes in the world and due to their precise nature should not be hurried. Leave yourself plenty of time.

• When flouring a board or surface for rolling pastry, make sure there’s enough flour to prevent the pastry sticking, but don’t use so much that it changes the quantities of the recipe!

• For best results, do use the size of tin or dish recommended in the recipe.

• The best way to grease tins and pans is with the vegetable oil spray often used for low-fat frying.

• Bake cakes on the middle shelf of the oven at 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4 unless the recipe states otherwise. Bread should be baked in the top third of the oven, while meringues need to be put near the bottom. (For meringues, you can also leave the oven door open just a fraction, which allows moisture to escape.)

• Every oven is different, so cooking times can often vary. If opening the oven to check something’s cooked, open the door, take out the item and then close the oven again quickly so that the heat does not get lost.

• To test if a cake is cooked, insert a skewer or cocktail stick into the centre of the cake – it should come out clean.

Tips for great bread-making

• If you do it right, bread-making can be the easiest thing in the world. For the very best loaves, fresh yeast is the way forward. But after it proved a challenge to buy in central London, I thought it prudent to suggest fast-action dried yeast for the recipes in this book. I know many people might have a bread maker – indeed, I was the owner of one for a spell – but I missed the tactile and magical experience that comes with being able to see every stage of the bread-making process, and I’m now a firm believer in making it by hand.

• Be brave with the water: the wetter the dough, the fluffier and lighter the loaf will be.

• Always measure out the salt precisely, as this one ingredient makes all the difference between a good-tasting loaf and a bad one. And be warned that lo-salt, whilst brilliant for other dishes, does not work well when making bread, because it doesn’t impart enough flavour and the bread will end up tasting bland.

• Accurately time the kneading process and knead the dough for the full time stated in the recipe. It really does make a difference.

• When leaving the bread to rise, it likes to be in a warm but not hot place. Most airing cupboards and tops of radiators are too warm. A warm, cosy kitchen is usually just fine.

• To test if the bread has risen enough, flour your finger and gently prod the side of the loaf. When ready, the dough should spring halfway back up.

• Once a loaf is ready to bake, there are a number of ways to ‘glaze’ it. Milk will give it a soft, matt look; eggwash will give a shiny, crunchy look; and sieving a little flour over the top will give it an authentic rustic ‘French bread’ look.

• Try to create a steamy environment inside the oven – this will give the bread plenty of time to rise up before the hard crust starts to develop. Throw some ice cubes into the bottom of the oven, use a water spray to create a mist, or put a roasting tin, half filled with water, on the bottom shelf.

• If the top of your loaf is done but the bottom is not (to check, turn it over and tap it. If ready, it will sound hollow), cover the loaf loosely with some foil to prevent it from colouring further while it finishes cooking.

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