Baking Unplugged

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

The Basics

ONE SET OF MEASURING SPOONS: Look for a set with deep wells. Some of the flimsy metal spoons have shallow wells that are hard to level, making accurate measuring difficult. Since you'll be measuring potent ingredients such as salt, baking soda, and yeast with these, you'll want to be as precise as possible.

ONE SET OF DRY MEASURING CUPS: Look for sturdy, straight-sided cups that are easy to level and have heavy-duty handles that don't easily bend. I have an extra-large set that includes a 2/3-cup and 6-cup measure. You'll use these cups for measuring all dry ingredients, dried fruit, and even small amounts of frozen berries.

HEATPROOF GLASS (PYREX) LIQUID MEASURING CUPS: Have a good variety of these cups. I have 1-cup, 2-cup, 4-cup, and 8-cup measures. Sure, they're designed for measuring liquids, but the larger ones can also be used for mixing and pouring. I use the 8-cup for measuring fresh fruit for pies and for making simple batters and doughs.

Both liquid and dry measuring cups measure volume. Because they have different shapes, though, if you fill a 1-cup liquid measure and a 1-cup dry measure with flour, you will not have the same amount of flour by weight in each cup. It pays to use the right measuring tool for most dry ingredients, but especially for flour. Two tablespoons too much flour can make cakes or cookies tough and dry. Remember that 2 tablespoons of flour with 1 cup of liquid makes a thick gravy, so that's a lot of moisture-holding power! Milk will fit into the metal cups, of course, but without the markings on the clear glass liquid measure you can't make sure you've measured precisely.

BOWLS: You'll need at least three or four bowls ranging from 6" to 14" in diameter for mixing. Once upon a time, I had steel, ceramic, and glass bowls. Because the ceramic and glass bowls were so heavy, clunky, and breakable, I got rid of them. Now I only have lightweight, nonreactive stainless-steel bowls. I use the shallow bowls for tossing fruit and letting doughs rise, and for placing over a smaller pan of simmering water for a makeshift double boiler. Since metal conducts heat fast and does not suffer when exposed to temperature extremes, you can take a hot bowl and place it in an ice bath to rapidly cool a mixture down-custard, for example. I have a few bowls with high sides for whisking liquids together, beating egg whites, and whipping cream-much less splashing and sloshing that way.

KNIVES: There are only three essential knives you'll need, and you probably own all of them if you cook: a small paring knife, for splitting and scraping vanilla beans and other precise work; a 6" to 8" regular chef's knife, for chopping fruit, nuts, and chocolate; and a long serrated knife for neatly slicing breads and cakes.

SAUCEPANS: You'll need a small and medium saucepan for making custards, sauces, and fruit compotes. I have a heavy-duty stainless pan that heats evenly for making caramel. Sugar doesn't turn to caramel until you've exceeded 300F, at which point a lesser pan reveals its shortcomings with hotspots. A stainless interior is best for judging color, too-essential for knowing when to remove the caramel from the heat. Also in my collection is a cheap, lightweight pan with a nonstick interior. I am not ordinarily a fan of nonstick pans, but I've found that I love to make quick skillet jams, fruit sauces, and preserves in this pan, because the nonstick surface cleans up so beautifully, and less fruit sticks to the side and burns.

BOX GRATER: You'll need a box grater for shredding zucchini and carrots for cakes (the largest holes-not the long slats for slicing) and for grating fresh ginger (use the smallest holes).

VEGETABLE PEELER: You'll need one of these for peeling apples and carrots. A vegetable peeler is the perfect tool for making lovely chocolate curls, too.

MICROPLANE ZESTER: These sharp, long tools make fast work of zesting, leaving you with a fluffy mass of flavorful fruit peel and no bitter pith.

A ROTARY (HAND-CRANKED) CHEESE GRATER: This ingenious little cheese grater is perfect for grinding nuts into a fine, light powder. The friction of grinding nuts in a food processor makes the nut meal oily and heavy-it's better for making nut butters.

WOODEN SPOONS: I keep my wooden spoons (along with silicone spatulas and whisks) in a ceramic pitcher right next to the stove top, so I can grab the one I want without having to open a drawer and dig around. In addition to regular wooden spoons, I have a flat-edged one whose greater surface area and sharper edge make creaming butter and sugar together more efficient.

SILICONE SPATULAS: Invest in a few heat-resistant silicone spatulas and you'll never regret it. The big ones are great for gently folding ingredients into batters, and the small ones help you get every last bit of melted chocolate, honey, or sour cream out of a measuring cup. Some spatulas have a slightly concave interior, making them perfect for spooning batters into pans. You can even use them in place of wooden spoons for stirring.

WHISKS: Whisks are my favorite kitchen tools. I use them for mixing dry ingredients together, which lightens and aerates them before they will be incorporated into a batter. If your flour or cocoa has no lumps, whisking can take the place of sifting.

I also use a whisk to combine the liquid ingredients-after I've whisked the dry, naturally, so I don't have to wash and dry the whisk. And since I often leave my butter sitting out near the stove where it gets meltingly soft, sometimes I use the whisk to cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the eggs in cake batters. I also whisk the oil, sugar, and eggs together for oil-based cakes. Whisks are, of course, essential in the unplugged kitchen for whipping cream and beating egg whites. If you have a teardrop-shaped balloon whisk with flexible loops that are well-spaced, you can also use it to begin the folding process, when you want to take care not to deflate eggs or cream as they are incorporated into a mousse.

I buy very inexpensive balloon whisks (as opposed to French whisks with their straighter shape and firmer metal loops), made of lightweight steel, that are easy to hold onto.

Look for thin, widely spaced, flexible loops-they will be gentler on batters and will whip cream faster. The lightweight metal will be easier on your arms, too, if you aren't used to whipping cream by hand.

JUICER: The reamer-style juicer is adequate, but for juicing any quantity of lemons, limes, or oranges, I like the traditional dome-style juicer with the juice reservoir at the bottom.

MESH STRAINERS OR SIEVES: I don't own a sifter; a mesh strainer is the best, handiest tool for me. Get at least two strainers-one fine-mesh screen and one regular. If I need to strain lumps from cocoa or brown sugar, I use a strainer. Ditto for a custard that has tiny lumps of overcooked egg in it. I also use them as colanders to wash berries. When a recipe calls for a small amount of coffee, I often mix the fine grounds directly in boiling water, let them steep for 5 minutes for maximum flavor, then sieve the coffee through a very...