TAKING TEMPERATURES
Always keep in mind the temperatures –
not just of your ingredients but your room,
your utensils and bowls, and your hands.
A mixer bowl freshly run under hot water
will accelerate the softening of the butter
while creaming in it, while a cheesecake
filling made in advance and chilled will take
longer to bake than a mix freshly made from
room-temperature ingredients. Dough
rolled in a hot kitchen may need intermittent
resting in the fridge.
Ingredients stored at ambient temperature,
like f lour and sugar, will be hotter in your
summertime kitchen, so I use butter at a cooler
temperature (or chill the f lour) to balance the
overall batter or dough temperature.
Conversely in winter, use slightly warmer
butter and eggs when the f lour and sugar are
colder at room temperature.This feature is taken from
Beatrix Bakes by Natalie
Paull, published by Hardie
Grant Books (RRP £22).
Photography by Bec
Hudson & Emily Weaving.ESSENTIALSAPRIL baking heaven 97
Use your senses
If you sense the
cake or cookie is
colouring too fast,
listen to your inner
baking genius and
turn the oven
temperature down
a smidge. If you
feel the raw pastry
becoming sticky
and warm under
your rolling pin,
respond and get
the pastry in the
fridge to chill. You
will almost always
be right about the
perfect adjustment
that is needed.
WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM
If you are mixing in a bowl and it looks like
there’s not enough room to add all those
whipped egg whites, you are probably 100%
right and it’s time to upsize. It’s great to visualise
a recipe to determine which size is the right
one from the start, as it can be a pain to switch
bowls mid preparation.
Get to know your bowls and which work best
for which techniques, like mixing or dunking.Find the best bowl and saucepan combination
for a double boiler/bain marie in your kitchen and
stick to it. Make sure the bowl fits snugly on the
top of the pan, and that the bottom of the bowl
isn’t touching the water.Bowls