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Ovens and baking temperatures

Just as important as the correct preparation of the dough is the temperature of the oven. Today ovens can be electric or gas and usually have top and bottom heat, heated air circulation by a fan and a grill, with the ability to select various combinations of these.

The temperatures indicated in this book refer to electric ovens and gas ovens. The temperature settings in gas ovens vary depending on the manufacturer so that it is very important to check the manufacturer’s instructions so as to determine the correct temperature setting matching the temperature indicated in the recipe.

It is also helpful to have an oven thermometer so that you can check the oven temperature while the cake is baking.

When baking in a fan oven you can bake on several shelves at the same time. But make sure that the temperature is about 20 °C/25 °F below that used when baking with top and bottom heat.

For all cakes, the oven must be preheated and have reached the temperature indicated in the recipe before you put the cake in. Depending on the oven, the baking time indicated in the recipe may be slightly increased or decreased. It is therefore important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. It is also why you should check the cake towards the end of the baking time.

The height of the shelves

Any dough which is baked in a tin or mould must always be placed on a grid shelf and never on a baking sheet or directly on the bottom of the oven.

Tins or moulds with high sides or semi-high sides are usually put on the bottom shelf while shallower tins or moulds are usually baked in the middle of the oven. Flat cakes, small pastries, biscuits, cream puffs and meringues are also baked on the middle shelf in the oven. The indications in the recipe and the instructions of the oven manufacturer should also be taken into account.

Baking tins and moulds

There is a huge choice here: baking tins and moulds are made of white or black tinplate, enamel, ceramic, clay, silicone or glass. Different versions exist, such as those with an enamel or a non-stick coating. The material has an influence on the way a cake browns and the ease with which it can be loosened from the tin or mould. The most popular cake tins or moulds are the Bundt pans or kugelhopf moulds (diameter 22 cm/9 in and 24 cm/9 ½ in), rectangular cake tins (25 x 11 cm/10 x 4 ½ in and 30 x 11 cm/12 x 4 ½ in), fruit flan moulds (diameter 28 cm/11 in and 30 cm/12 in) and springform moulds (diameter 26 cm/10 ¼ in and 28 cm/11 in). Springform moulds are supplied with an interchangeable flat base and an additional base with a tube in the middle for making ring cakes. A pastry frame is suitable for baking tall-sided cakes and assembling/finalising square cakes and cream cakes. Make sure that you wash all baking tins and moulds with water and washing-up liquid directly after use.

Utensils for weighing, mixing and kneading

•The hand-mixer mixes, stirs and kneads. With the whisk and kneading hook attachments you can make dough, pastry, sauces, and cream- based mixtures. A stick mixer is also very useful.

•A stand mixer will make it easier to mix dough, whip cream and knead heavy bread dough. Because a stand mixer is more powerful, any type of dough will be mixed much more quickly. For this reason it is important that you should always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. In our recipes we recommend the use of a hand-mixer.

•A timer is invaluable for timing the mixing and baking times.

•Stirring spoons are used to stir all kinds of ingredients.

•A whisk is recommended for whisking eggs or sauces and to fold in light, delicate mixtures.

•Weighing scales are indispensable in every kitchen. They are available with analogue or digital indication. It is particularly useful if they also have a tare function, which enables the weight to be reset to zero after the container is placed on the balance.

Utensils for measuring, draining and sprinkling

•Measuring jugs are used to measure liquids accurately and should be clearly graduated.

•You need bowls and mixing bowls in several sizes. To mix dough or pastry, whip cream or egg whites, it is best to mixing jugs and bowls made of strong plastic with a rubber ring built into the underside. These are stable and will not slip. Stainless steel bowls are very good for melting chocolate in a bain-marie.

•A fine sieve is used for dusting cocoa powder or icing (confectioners’) sugar over cakes and also for rubbing jam through. A large sieve is useful for draining fruit.

Utensils for cutting out, spreading and transferring dough or pastry into a tin or mould

•Pastry cutters for biscuits, cookies and other small pastries must have sharp, clean edges so that they make clean cuts in the dough or pastry.

•Pastry brushes are used for greasing tins and moulds, for spreading dough and pastry and for applying glazes.

•A pastry frame is used when making tall-sided cakes and for square cakes and tarts. It can be adjusted to different sizes.

•A pastry press is used to make cookie-press biscuits and pastries.

•A pallet knife is made of metal and looks like a wide bladed knife with a rounded end but without a cutting edge. It is used to release dough if it sticks to the work surface while it is being rolled out. It is also used for spreading cream or glaze on dough, flans and cakes and to turn out small pastries and cakes.

•A tart ring can be used on its own and is also ideal for filling tarts.

•A pastry scraper made from a flexible plastic material is used to divide the dough, scrape bits of dough from the sides of the bowl and for cleaning the work surface. It is also ideal for smoothing pastry and making creamy fillings flat, as well as for decorating the sides of cakes.

•A dough scraper with a steel blade is useful for transferring dough and for spreading it out in baking tins.

Utensils for rolling out, cooling and garnishing

•With a cooking roller you can roll out the edges of the dough more thinly on the baking sheet.

•A cake rack is a metal grill on which you put the pastry cool. Unlike a normal cake platter, the grid structure prevents the pastry or cake sweating underneath and becoming soggy. Cake racks have feet so that the air can get to the pastry on all sides.

•Kitchen scissors are used to cut dough and baking parchment to the size required.

•A grater can be used to grate lemon rind and chocolate.

Utensils for weighing, mixing and kneading

Utensils for measuring, draining and sprinkling

Utensils for rolling out, cooling and garnishing

Utensils for cutting out, spreading and transferring dough or pastry into a tin or mould

•Piping bags with star-shaped or plain nozzles are available in several sizes and are used to decorate cakes and pipe pastry.

•A pastry wheel cuts rolled-out pastry, at the same time giving it a serrated or wavy edge.

•A cake divider is very useful for cut the top of a cake into slices of similar size.

•A cake decorating comb is the ideal tool for creating beautiful designs on glazed or iced cakes and for garnishing flans. It can also be used to transfer a flan onto a cake plate or to move layers of cake onto a plate or another cake layer.

•A rolling pin may be made of wood, stainless steel, plastic or glass. It is used for rolling out dough and for crushing solid ingredients, such as praline, biscuits and sponge biscuits.