The Baking Answer Book by Lauren Chattman Read Free Book Online Page B

will hold at least 5 pounds, with a large digital display and an automatic shut-off to save batteries. Scales with a flat surface will allow you to place your own mixing bowl on top, rather than being limited to a bowl that comes with the scale. A scale with a switch that will allow you to weigh ingredients in both ounces and grams is nice for bread bakers, because so many bread recipes supply metric measurements in addition to English measurements for the sake of precision.
    Q What are dry and liquid measures and how should I use them?
    A Dry and liquid measures of less than a pint both hold the same quantities of ingredients by volume (a 1-cup dry measure will hold 1 cup of flour, as will a 1-cup liquid measure) but they are designed differently so as to measure either liquid or dry ingredients as precisely as possible. At the 1-pint point, a dry measure is larger than a liquid measure by a little over 16% (a liquid pint 473 milliliters and a dry pint is 551 milliliters).
Dry measuring cups are designed to be filled using the “dip and sweep” method. To accurately measure 1 cup of flour, dip a 1-cup dry measure into your flour canister and then use a knife to sweep any flour above the rim back into the canister. For an accurate measure, your cup should be filled to the brim.
Liquid measuring cups are made of clear glass or plastic, with pour spouts to neatly transfer measured liquids from cup to mixing bowl. Incremental measures are printed on the sides of the cup. To use one of these cups, pour your liquid into it and then look at the lines at eye level to be sure that you have filled it just to the right line.
By these descriptions, you can understand how difficult it would be to accurately measure a cup of flour in a 1-cup liquid measure (how would you smooth out the top surface evenly enough to know that you had exactly 1 cup?) or to measure 1 cup of milk in a dry measure (even if you dared to fill the measure to the brim, would you be able to transfer it to yourbowl without spilling?). Success in baking depends first of all on accurate measurements, so it is very important to have these two sets of measuring cups and to use them with care.
    Q How important is parchment paper for baking?
    A I personally could not bake without parchment, which is paper that has been impregnated with silicone to make it nonstick. Rolls of parchment are inexpensive and easy to find in any supermarket (look on the shelf next to the aluminum foil). Precut sheets can also be purchased in bulk from baking supply stores or online (see Resources). If you bake a lot, I highly recommend buying it this way so you don’t run out. Bleached parchment is better than unbleached, because it is more flexible and won’t become brittle at high temperatures and shatter when it comes out of the oven.
Primarily, parchment paper is used to line baking sheets and cake pans to prevent baked goods from sticking and to hasten cleanup. But there are dozens of other reasons to keep it handy in the kitchen.
    Parchment Paper Uses
To line a pizza peel before shaping bread or pizza; then you can just slide the dough, still on the parchment, right onto your preheated baking stone without fear that it will stick to the peel.
To cut a stencil for sifting confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder over the top of cakes, cupcakes, and cookies.
To trace fancy piping patterns for cake decorations.
To fold and roll into tiny cornets for piping chocolate or icing onto cakes and cookies.
To roll icebox cookie dough into logs ; keep the dough wrapped in the parchment in the refrigerator for up to 1 day until ready to use and it will unwrap beautifully without sticking.
To roll out sticky pie and pastry dough, gingerbread, and anything else that might stick to your countertop; place the dough between two sheets and then roll without fear.
To wrap around soufflé dishes and ramekins to create nonstick collars that will support your soufflés as they rise.
    Q Can I substitute wax