Baking Favorites. Williams Sonoma
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baked goods. The
recipes in this book use whole milk and full-fat sour cream
for the best flavor. If you don’t have buttermilk or sour
cream, use plain whole-milk yogurt.
BAKING SODA & BAKING POWDER
Leavening is the result of gas bubbles expanding in batters
and doughs as they bake, causing the baked good to rise and
lightening the texture and crumb. While some cake and cookie
recipes are leavened purely with whipped egg whites, other
recipes include chemical leaveners, such as baking soda and
baking powder. Baking soda must be used with another acidic
ingredient in the batter, such as sour cream or lemon juice; it
is activated when mixed with wet ingredients. Baking powder
is a mixture of baking soda and a dry acid, like cream of tartar,
and a little cornstarch. It’s usually “double acting,” meaning it
is activated by both moisture and heat. You can substitute
baking powder for baking soda but not vice versa.
FLAVORINGS
Chocolate and cocoa powder, vanilla extract or vanilla
beans, citrus zest, liqueurs and other extracts, and countless
spices like cinnamon and nutmeg can help shape the
personality of your finished creation.
Most recipes use a similar stockpile of ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, eggs, and vanilla or other
flavorings. Using the highest quality of each yields the best results. Unless otherwise directed,
use room-temperature ingredients, as they blend easily and result in a fluffier texture.
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baking equipment & tools
Using the right tools ensures the best results and gives your baked goods a polished appearance.
Here are the indispensable tools that help you beat batters and doughs easily, whip up the
fluffiest frostings, and create professional-style decorations.
ELECTRIC MIXER
An electric stand mixer will help you make batters, doughs,
fillings, and frostings with ease. While some batters can be
prepared with just a bowl and a wooden spoon or a
handheld whisk, you’ll find it far easier to whip egg whites
and whole eggs and to cream butter and sugar with a sturdy
tabletop mixer. There are two commonly used attachments
for a stand mixer: the paddle, also called the flat beater,
which is ideal for creaming butter and sugar and beating
batters and doughs, and the whisk, or whip, attachment,
which aerates egg whites, whole eggs, and cream. Handheld
mixers will also work, although they lack the power of a
stand mixer and often cannot beat thick or sturdy mixtures.
FOOD PROCESSOR
We recommend making pie dough in a food processor using a
standard blade or a dough blade. The dough comes together
quickly, and you don’t risk warming up the dough with your
hands. A food processor is also handy for finely grinding
ingredients such as nuts, pretzels, and graham crackers.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can make pie dough
by hand using a pastry blender or two table knives. For
crushing or grinding ingredients, place them in a resealable
plastic bag, lock the top while letting out the air, and crush
the ingredients to their desired size using a rolling pin.
ROLLING PINS
A wooden pin with a heavy cylinder that rolls independently
of its two handles works well with sturdy pie and cookie
doughs, but there are numerous types available. A rolling pin
is also used when working with marzipan for cake decorating.
SIFTER
Sifting dry ingredients, such as flour, baking powder or
baking soda, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar, lightens
them so that they don’t deflate the whipped ingredients
they're being folded into. Sifting also removes any lumps,
particularly in fine dry ingredients that tend to clump,
including cake flour, cocoa, and confectioners’ sugar.
Choose a fine-mesh sifter or sieve for best results.
SPATULAS
A heatproof silicone rubber spatula is great for stirring batter,
scraping it out of the bowl and into the pan, and spreading it
evenly before baking. An offset spatula, which features a stiff
metal blade that is bent near the handle, facilitates moving
cake layers from wire cooling racks to a cake stand or platter,
and is useful for spreading fillings, frostings, and glazes. An
icing spatula has a long, straight blade and is also excellent
for spreading fillings, frostings, and glazes.
CUTTERS
A paring knife, pizza wheel, and/or kitchen shears are all
helpful when trimming excess dough from a lined pie dish
or cutting out strips of dough (with the help of a ruler) for a
lattice top.
DOUGH SCRAPER
When rolling out the dough, it’s important that it doesn’t
stick to the work surface. A dusting of flour helps, but to
easily move the dough around and to loosen it when it does
stick, a scraper works wonders.
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COOKIE PRESS
You’ll need a cookie press for our Spritz Cookies (page 25)
and a special madeleine pan for Chuck Williams’ own
recipe for madeleines (page 38).
PARCHMENT PAPER
Use parchment paper or silicone baking mats to line baking
sheets to prevent dough from sticking.
BAKING SHEETS
Baking sheets are used for baking cookies, focaccia, and
sheet cakes. Cookies can be baked on either rimmed or
rimless baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone
baking mats to prevent dough from