Baking and Desserts
- Whipped cream is not readily available. What can I substitute for whipped cream?
One option is to whip up your own cream, which has more than 35% fat. Add any white granulated sugar and whip it up on a high speed for 2-3 minutes. When you start seeing ripples in the cream, slow down the speed to one, and whip till you see peaks. It should resemble a soft serve ice-cream.
Whipped cream can be frozen in a piping bag, and when you need to use, leave it on the countertop for about 10 minutes to use it later.
- How can I make whipped cream out of evaporated milk?
Whipped cream can be made the same way you would make normal cream. The only difference is that you would need to add icing sugar instead of granulated sugar. The icing sugar has cornstarch in it, which helps to bind the cream.
- Do you have any tips to flour a pan before baking?
Grease the pan with any neutral oil, at the bottom, as well as the sides. Depending upon what you are baking, you can choose between cocoa powder and plain flour. For e.g., if you make a chocolate cake, dust with cocoa powder, for a vanilla cake, dust with plain flour.
- I am a vegetarian. What can I use instead of eggs while baking, and what will be the proportion to one egg?
You can use any of the following:
Egg replacer – use according to directions on the box
Flax seeds – soak them overnight and grind them in the morning. For one egg use 1tbsp flaxseeds
Applesauce – Steam the apples, puree them and reduce the puree to a thick liquid on medium heat. For one egg, use 1/3 cup of apple puree.
Banana – Mash the banana and drizzle with 1tsp of lemon juice, so that the banana doesn’t brown. For one egg, use half a mashed banana.
Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda – Mix them together and add to the batter in the end. Bake immediately. For one egg, use 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 1tsp of baking soda.
Note: If the batter has fruits, you need to reduce the mixture according to the recipe.
- Do you have any tips on baking a cake?
A simple ratio for any cake is, for 1 cup of flour, the fat content should be ½ cup, sugar should be ¾ cup, and the liquid should be ½ cup.
- Can I substitute regular flour for wheat flour while baking?
Yes. But if the whole cake is made with wheat flour, the cake will be very dense, fudgy and chewy. To improve the texture, you can add xanthum gum or any stabilizers which are sold in specialty baking stores.
- How can I sift dry ingredients without a sifter?
You can use a tea strainer or a muslin cloth. But this will take a lot of time. Alternatively, you can air the dry ingredients with a fork.
- How do I fill a pastry bag for piping?
Put the pastry into a tall glass on a flat surface, and tuck the ends over the rim of the glass. Open the mouth of the piping bag with your fingers, and pour the batter into a piping bags.
- How can I get a shiny pie crust without using egg wash?
In a cup, add ¼ cup milk with 1 tbsp of white sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves completely. Brush lightly on top of the pastry. Try avoiding brown sugar, since the sugar will caramelize and give the crust a darker shade.
- Do I always need to sift the flour before baking?
Ideally yes. The idea of sifting the flour is to get air or volume into the flour, so that your end product is lighter and rises well. If you do not have a sifter, fork up your flour to introduce air, or use your fingertips to get out any lumps. While trying to break the lumps, massage the flour gently and drop it from a height, which will also help to introduce the air in the mixture.
Note: to make a lighter cake batter, for 1 cup of flour, remove 1tbsp of plain flour and replace with 1tbsp corn flour.
- How can I remove a cake that’s stuck to the pan?
Before you remove the cake, let it come down to room temperature. But if the cake still sticks to the pan, use a flat knife to go around the edges of the pan, which will help loosen it up. Then turn the pan upside down on a flat surface, and tap gently from the top.
Take the cake pan, with the cake, and keep it on a burner for 10-20 seconds, switch off the burner and invert it on a flat plate.
- I do not want to use cans. How can I make sweet condensed milk at home?
In a thick bottomed pan, take 1litre of milk and heat it on a slow/medium flame for about 45 minutes. When it has reduced by ¼ of its original volume, add 250gms of white sugar and keep stirring it till you achieve a desired consistency. This will take another 30-45 minutes.
- Your recipe calls for self raising flour and I have plain flour. Can I make self raising flour on my own?
Yes. For every cup of plain flour, add 2 ½tsp of baking powder.
- I made ice cream and stored it in my freezer. How can I stop ice from forming on top of it?
When you make ice cream and store it in the freezer, make sure you use an air tight container. Once the ice cream solidifies (which should take about 4 hours), take it out of the container, whip it again, put in back in the container and cover the top with the Clingfilm so that it touches the top of the ice cream completely. Cover it with the lid, and store it back inside the freezer.
- I do not have a baking sheet. Can I use anything else instead?
Yes. You can use a brown paper bag, grease it with butter and bake. Alternatively, grease your pan very well with any neutral oil and plain flour/cocoa powder.
- How much whipped cream does one cup of cream make when its whipped?
Whenever the cream is whipped, it almost doubles in volume. So 1 cup of cream will give you 1 ½ – 2 cups of whipped cream.
- I need to bake, but I forgot to leave the butter out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Is there a quicker way to do this without melting it?
To bring the butter to room temperature quickly, it can be done with indirect heat. You can do this in 2 ways.
Take your butter and put it on a plate. In a glass, add water and heat it in the microwave for about a minute. Throw out the water and invert the glass on top of the butter. Leave it on for a couple of minutes. The hot steam will help the butter come down to room temperature.
Take a pan of water and bring it to a boil. Place the butter in another pan and place the pan on the boiling water for about 2 minutes. This method is called double boiler.
- I want to avoid sugar. Can I substitute honey or maple syrup for sugar in a recipe?
Yes, you can use honey, maple syrup or agave as a replacement for sugar. The quantity you need to use will depend upon their thickness. The thicker the syrup, the lesser the amount used. For 1tbsp sugar, use 1tbsp honey, agave or maple syrup for a rough estimation.
Note: Make sure that the syrups are pure and there should be no other additives in them.
Microwave and Oven
- I do not have an oven. Can I use my microwave instead, and how will cooking in the microwave differ from cooking in the oven?
Cooking in the oven will be faster than cooking in a conventional oven, but the time will differ depending upon which microwave you use. Also, the food will have to be covered with a microwave safe lid, so that the moisture is not lost from the food.
- Can you explain the various settings of an oven?
An oven has normally 5 settings.
Fan setting – for the temperature that has been set, the heat is being circulated in the entire oven
Upper and Lower heating – a single horizontal line at the bottom means that the heat will come from the bottom of the oven. This setting is mostly used for making pizzas or slow cooking a casserole. A single horizontal line at the top means that the heat will come from the top of the oven. This setting is mostly used for making breads or cooking minced meats. The moisture is retained, along with crisping the meats. Two horizontal lines at the top and bottom means that the heat will come from the top as well as the bottom. This setting is mostly used for baking.
- While baking, which shelf should I place my pan in the oven?
This differs for different dishes. But normally, the middle of the oven is the safest place to keep the dish, if it requires cooking on a moderate heat or requires browning on the top.
The dishes that have a quick cooking time are placed high up on the oven rack, which prevents complete loss of moisture from them, yet gives them a nice browning effect.
- Is there a standard temperature I can use in the oven or microwave?
170 – 180 degrees Celsius, with top and bottom heat, is the most standard temperature and setting that can be used for all oven recipes.
- What is a Dutch oven?
A Dutch oven is a covered earthenware or cast-iron container mostly used for cooking casseroles. They are usually made of cast iron, but they can also be made of cast aluminum or ceramic.
Dutch oven are most popularly used to make biscuits, cakes, breads, pizzas and pies.
Food Terminology
- What does caramelize mean?
Caramelize is the browning of sugar, which results in a nutty flavor. It occurs when carbohydrates like sugar are heated to temperatures of 300-degree F or higher, causing them to turn brown.
The most popular use of Caramelization in food is the making of caramel sauce.
- What does Julienne mean?
Julienne is a culinary knife cut, wherein fruits and vegetables are cut into long thin stripes. They are almost as thin as matchsticks.
A few examples of food that are cut julienne are carrots, cucumber, pepper, celery, onions etc.
- What does poach mean?
Poach is to cook an egg over boiling water, without its skin. Poach is derived from the old French word Pochier, which means to enclose in a bag.
The most common food to be poached is eggs. But you can also poach any poultry, fish or fruit.
Hence, poaching means submerging any of the above foods in a liquid to cook at a low temperature.
You can poach food in water, milk, stock or wine.