BAKING
TIPS
110 AWW FOOD • ISSUE TWENTY THREE
CARAMEL ICING
Melt butter in a small saucepan
over low heat. Add brown sugar
and milk; cook, stirring, without
boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring
to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer,
uncovered, for 1 minute. Remove
from heat; cool for 10 minutes.
Whisk in sifted icing sugar.Using a serrated knife, cut eclairs in
half; remove any soft centres. Return
to trays; bake for a further 5 minutes
or until eclairs are dry. Cool on trays.
6 Meanwhile,make caramel icing.
7 Spoon cream into pastry bases; top
with caramel. Position eclair tops on
bases; spread with icing.CARAMEL ECLAIRS
PREP + COOK TIME 2 HOURS (+ COOLING)
MAKES 18
395g can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup (125ml) water
60g butter, chopped finely
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
½ cup (75g) strongbaker’s flour
3eggs
2 cups (500ml) thickened cream,
whipped
CARAMEL ICING
30g butter, chopped coarsely
¼ cup (55g) firmly packed
dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon milk
⅓ cup (55g) icing sugar
1 Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan.
2 Pour the condensed milk into a
medium shallow baking dish; cover
with foil. Place dish in a large baking
dish; add enough boiling water to
large dish so it comes halfway up the
sides of the dish. Bake, uncovered, for
1¼ hours or until condensed milk is
golden brown and caramel. Cool to
room temperature. Whisk caramel
until smooth.
3 Meanwhile, tomake chouxpastry,
combine the water, butter and sugar
in a medium saucepan; bring to the
boil. Add flour; beat with a wooden
spoon over medium heat until mixture
comes away from the base of the pan.
Transfer pastry to a medium bowl;
beat in two of the eggs, one at a time.
Whisk remaining egg in a small bowl
with a fork; beat enough of the
whisked egg into the pastry until it
becomes smooth and glossy but still
holds its shape.
4 Spoon pastry into a piping bag
with a 1.5cm plain tube; pipe 8cm
lengths, about 5cm apart, onto
greased oven trays.
5 Bake eclairs for 10 minutes. Reduce
oven temperature to 180°C/160°C
fan; bake for a further 15 minutes.
1) SEPARATING EGGS
Crack the egg on the sharp edge of
the rim of a glass bowl or saucepan
over a dry, clean bowl. Holding egg
shell in hands, carefully drain egg
white into one shell, leaving yolk in
remaining shell. Tip egg white into
bowl; transfer egg yolk to another
bowl. Make sure egg white is free
of any traces of egg yolk or shell
(especially if making meringue, as
egg yolk will prevent egg white from
whisking into peaks). Alternatively,
you can crack egg into the palm of
your hand over a bowl, allowing egg
white to run through fingers, leaving
yolk in palm of hand.2) FILLING MUFFIN TRAY WITH BATTER
For easy measuring, scoop batter
with a large, clean, dry spoon, then
use a second spoon to slide it off and
into muffin cases. Only fill two-thirds
full with batter; level surfaces with
a spatula before baking.3) BEATING EGG WHITES
Always have egg whites at room
temperature. Place egg whites
(free from egg yolk and egg shell)
in a large, clean, dry bowl. For a
faster result, it’s easier to use a
stand-alone electric mixer thana hand mixer. Whisk egg whites
until they are foamy with soft
peaks, before adding sugar. Beat to
stiff peaks, and test that sugar is
completely dissolved, before baking.
This is done by pinching meringue
between index finger and thumb; if
you can feel sugar crystals, continue
to beat until mixture feels smooth.4) LINING A LAMINGTON PAN
Mark pan width on baking paper,
then cut a strip of paper long enough
to line pan, end-to end, and extend
over long edges for handles. Grease
pan, then line with paper; smooth
surface of paper with your hand.5) MELTING CHOCOLATE
Place chocolate in a heatproof
bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan of
simmering water, making sure base
of bowl doesn’t touch water. Stir with
a spoon until chocolate is melted
and smooth. Remove pan from heat.
Remove bowl from pan.6) MAKING A PIPING BAG OUT OF
BAKING PAPER
Cut a square from baking paper.
Fold in half, diagonally. Use a small,
sharp knife to cut along fold of
paper, creating two triangle-shaped
pieces of paper (step 6A). Hold apex
of triangle towards you; wrap one
point of triangle around to form a
cone. Wrap remaining point around
to form a bag (step 6B), then wriggle
points together and staple to secure
and create a piping bag (step C).
Fill with mixture; use kitchen
scissors to cut end.