HOW TO: A GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY PICTURE TUTORIAL…

Since launching the gluten-free rough puff pastry mix, I’ve had quite a few requests from people purchasing it asking me if I do lessons on how to make it. Unfortunately I am not in a position to run classes at the moment. So I have put together this short pictorial guide on how to make rough puff pastry using the mix.

The pictures are a little rough and ready, but they should give you enough of an idea of each of the steps involved.

You may also find my simple six stage process to becoming the best baker you can be (Prep like a boss: bake like a pro) helpful to read.

A PICTURE TUTORIAL ON MAKING GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY WITH OUR MAGICAL MIX…

STEP ONE: MAKE THE DOUGH

Tip the mix into a bowl and add the Stork. Rub it into the flour with your fingers. You can use a stand mixer for this if you wish (I do!).

Next, add the iced water and mix until the flour is hydrated and you can bring everything together to form a pliable dough.

STEP TWO: ROLL THE DOUGH

If you have a silicone rolling mat, place this on your work surface and lightly flour it. If not, lay a piece of clingfilm on your work surface and sprinkle lightly with flour.

Place the ball of dough on the work surface, cover with another layer of clingfilm and gently roll the dough out to a rectangle measuring roughly 45cm x 15cm.

STEP three: KEEP THE PASTRY MOVING

After every few strokes of the rolling pin, check to ensure that your pastry isn’t sticking to the work surface. If it is, sprinkle a little more flour on your worktop underneath the dough.

Keeping the pastry moving will also help stop it from sticking – so after every few strokes, gently lift the pastry just off the worktop and put it back down again.

STEP FOUR: NEATEN THE EDGES

Once your dough is rolled out, you can fix any cracks that might have appeared at the edges of the pastry by gently massaging the dough with your fingertips.

You can also push a ruler up to the sides of the dough to neaten the edges.

STEP FIVE: SCATTER THE BUTTER

You are now ready to add the butter to your dough. Remove the first portion of grated butter from the freezer and scatter over the bottom two thirds of the pastry.

Aim for a nice, even coverage but don’t spend too much time trying to get it perfect or the warmth from your fingers will melt the butter!

STEP SIX: FOLD THE DOUGH

You are now going to make a ‘letter fold’ with the pastry.

To make this easier, you can make two little indentations along the length of the pastry at the 15cm and 30cm mark so that you know where to make the folds.

The first step is to fold the top third of the pastry down towards you, as shown in the picture.

STEP SIX: FOLD THE DOUGH

Now fold the bottom third up to the top.

Do this carefully but with determination and with one swift motion. This will help the butter stay in place and not make a bid for freedom across your worktop!

STEP SEVEN: NEATEN THE PASTRY PARCEL

You have now completed your first letter fold of the pastry. You now need to neaten the parcel you have created so that it is ready for the second fold.

Use your fingertips to seal the edges of the pastry and to close up any cracks that may have appeared as you made the folds.

Then use your rolling pin to gently but firmly press down across the width of the parcel to further seal the contents.

STEP EIGHT: REPEAT STEPS TWO – SEVEN

Turn your pastry parcel through 90 degrees so that the long edge is vertical.

Repeat the steps outlined above of rolling the pastry into a rectangle, adding the butter, folding the dough like a letter, sealing the butter in and neatening the packet.

STEP NINE: your gluten-free rough puff pastry is ready!

Your gluten-free rough puff pastry is now ready! Wrap it in clingfilm / food safe wrap and chill it until you are ready to bake.

You can also freeze the dough at this point.

Follow the instructions on your recipe and enjoy the fruits of your labour

A NOTE ON DOUGH TEMPERATURE

It is very important that your ingredients (water and butter) are very cold when you start to work with them. So keep them in the fridge/freezer right up until the moment you are ready to use them.

If your kitchen is warm, you may need to chill the dough after the first fold before starting the second fold to stop the butter from melting.

When you are ready to use your gluten-free rough puff pastry to make something delicious, don’t use the dough straight from the fridge. If it is too cold, it may crack as you roll it. So allow it to warm up by a few degrees before starting to work with it.

HAPPY BAKING

The post HOW TO: A GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY PICTURE TUTORIAL appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

PREP LIKE A BOSS: BAKE LIKE A PRO! MY SIX-STEP PROCESS…

I’m next level Geeky McGeekFace when it comes to the ins and outs of gluten-free baking. I just love all the science-y stuff behind it. But I realise that not everybody is!

Which is why I put together this simple six-step process to help you be the best baker you can be. Yes, even if you’re not interested in learning the whys and what-fors of baking science.

Always choose a recipe from a trusted source and follow it to the letter. Then apply my six-step approach every time you bake

HOW TO PREP LIKE A BOSS: BAKE LIKE A PRO

READ.

Take the time to read the recipe all the way through and make sure it makes sense to you. If it doesn’t, consider using a different recipe (unless you can contact the author to ask questions).

REPEAT.

Read the recipe through again to ensure you didn’t miss anything the first time round (easily done, particularly if, like me, you have a wandering mind!)

PREP.

Gather together all the ingredients and equipment you will need to bake the recipe (the fancy name for this is mis en place).

PAUSE.

Take a moment to check you have everything required and the time needed to bake the recipe. If in doubt, don’t!

RE-READ.

With your preparation done, and satisfied that you have everything you need to get baking, have one last read-through of the recipe from start to finish.

BAKE!

You are now fully prepped and ready to bake like a pro! Go Bake Yourself Happy at Home

I hope this helps you and will encourage you to bake if you have been hesitant to give it a go. But you know where I am if you have any questions

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SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR AND ITS ROLE IN GLUTEN-FREE BAKING

Sugar. Loved by some, loathed by others. And like so many other food groups, certainly not great if consumed to excess. There, that’s the elephant in the room dealt with

I’m not here to debate, celebrate or demonise sugar in this post. This article is about helping you to understand the role of sugar in baking, the different types of sugar available and the characteristics each one imparts on your baked goods.

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: SO WHAT IS SUGAR?

Sugar is one of the four staple ingredients used in conventional cake baking (along with egg, flour and fat).  And sugar is sugar, right? Well, kind of. Refined, unrefined, brown, white, coarse, powdered, liquid, substitutes…So yeah, sugar is just sugar. Hmm.

As you can see, there are lots of different sugars available to the home baker, each of which will bring something different to your baked goods. The primary aim of sugar in baking, however, is to:

• Add sweetness and flavour
• Create a tender crumb in cakes
• Create air pockets when creamed together with fat
• Contribute to the colour of baked goods (through browning processes such as caramelisation and the Maillard reaction)
• Stabilise beaten egg whites (e.g. in meringues)
• Help baked goods last longer as they hold on to moisture (they are hygroscopic)

The hygroscopic nature of sugar is both a blessing and a curse. It is useful to us as bakers because of its ability to hold on to moisture and keep our cakes and bakes moist.  But this ability to retain moisture can also be rather unhelpful if we are working with things like sugarpaste, brittles and spun sugar.  Moisture from the air will be drawn to our sugar work, making it sticky. This is the reason you shouldn’t store cakes covered in sugarpaste in the fridge. It is also why you should always keep your bags of sugar sealed and stored in a cool, dry place. 

REFINED AND UNREFINED SUGARS

Sugar can be either refined or unrefined. Refined sugar is the one most of us will be familiar with and that we will use most at home. Refined sugar is processed to remove the naturally dark colour, resulting in (for example) the white ‘table (granulated) sugar’ we know and love.

Unrefined sugar, on the other hand, has not been put through a refining process. Typically, unrefined sugars have more flavour than their refined counterparts. Maple syrup, treacle (molasses) and raw honey are all forms of unrefined sugar. It is also possible to buy unrefined golden granulated and golden caster sugar.

THREE TYPES OF SUGAR: EVERYDAY, NICHE AND DECORATIVE

I like to think of sugars as falling into one of three categories: everyday sugars, niche sugars and decorative sugars. I have grouped them this way based on how they are most commonly used in baking. Let’s now take a look at each of these in turn…

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: EVERYDAY SUGARS

WHITE SUGARS

GRANULATED SUGAR

Granulated sugar is a coarse, refined sugar. You may sometimes hear it referred to as table sugar and it is the stuff that most of us typically have in the sugar canister in our kitchens for adding to hot drinks.  

It is great for adding a crunchy texture to toppings (like jammy doughnuts and drizzle cakes) but for baking, you are better off using caster sugar.

The main brands of granulated sugar available in UK supermarkets are Tate and Lyle and Silver Spoon. Some of the major supermarkets in the UK also sell their own brand of granulated sugar.

CASTER SUGAR

Caster sugar has a finer texture and the grains are smaller than those in granulated sugar.  This makes it better for use in cakes and cookies as it will produce a smoother, more even-textured cake batter or cookie dough. 

The main brand of caster sugar available in UK supermarkets is Silver Spoon. Some of the major supermarkets in the UK also sell own brand sugar.

BROWN SUGARS

LIGHT BROWN AND DARK BROWN SUGARS

Brown sugars are essentially refined white sugar with varying degrees of molasses added back in.

They have a higher moisture content than white sugars and impart a caramel-like flavour. And, by their very nature of being brown, they add more colour to baked goods. Brown sugars are also slightly acidic, which means they work well with the leavening agent bicarbonate of soda. (For more on leaveners, see my article on baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, the difference between the two and when to use them).

Billington’s brown sugar is the brand you will see most frequently in UK supermarkets alongside own brand versions of both light and dark brown sugar. 

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: NICHE SUGARS

DEMERARA SUGAR

Demerara sugar is a less refined version of granulated sugar, with larger crystals. It is a form of brown sugar but has a lower moisture content than every day brown sugars as the molasses content is lower.

Demerara sugar straddles both the niche and decorative sugar categories. Its large, coarse grains make it great for finishing cakes with a sweet crunchy topping.  These large sugar crystals make it less suitable for use in cakes using the creaming method but can work well in cake recipes that follow the melting method, as demerara sugar dissolves well in warm liquids.

MUSCOVADO SUGAR

Available in both light and dark varieties, muscovado sugar is derived from raw cane sugar. It is less refined than brown sugar. Its colour is determined by the molasses content (the more molasses, the darker the sugar). It has a high moisture content and a good caramel (light) or toffee (dark) flavour.  

It is a great addition to classic autumnal and winter bakes like gingerbread, parkin and fruit cake.

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: DECORATIVE SUGARS

ICING SUGAR

Icing sugar has a super-fine texture and generally includes a small amount of starch (typically corn/maize), which acts as an anti-caking agent to stop the icing sugar from clumping. That said, you should *always* sift your icing sugar before adding it to your other ingredients (for example, beaten butter if you are making buttercream icing).

Icing sugar is not great in cake-making but is perfect for buttercreams, icing glazes and sweet sauces because it dissolves very easily. You can also use it to dust the top of your cakes and bakes (particularly effective on festive bakes). 

The main brands of icing sugar available in UK supermarkets are Tate and Lyle and Silver Spoon.

SUGAR PEARLS / NIBBED SUGAR

Sugar pearls – also known as nibbed sugar – are large, coarse crystals of sugar that hold their shape and texture and don’t melt when subjected to high heat. This makes them great as decorative sugar toppings that can be added to a bake *before* it is put in the oven. 

You will often see sugar pearls on top of bakery-style muffins and cinnamon / Belgian style buns. Sugar pearls are available from specialist bakery and cake decorating suppliers.

SUGARPASTE / READY-TO-ROLL FONDANT

Sugarpaste icing, which is sometimes called ready-to roll fondant, is a pliable, dough-like substance used to decorate cakes and cupcakes. It comes in all colours of the rainbow and shades thereof!

You can get white sugarpaste and some of the most popular colours (red, green, yellow, blue, pink) in many supermarkets in the UK. But for a wider choice of colours, you will need to visit a specialist cake decorating supplies shop or online store.

A NOTE ON SUGAR SUBSTITUTES

There are sugar substitutes/ replacers and artificial sweeteners available for people who need to reduce their sugar intake. These sweeteners are either low or zero calorie and can be derived from plant extracts or artificially produced through chemical synthesis.

This is not an area in which I have any knowledge or experience and so isn’t something I feel able to write about in this article on sugar in baking.

I hope you have found this spotlight on sugar helpful in understanding the role it plays in baking. The beedy-eyed of you will notice that I haven’t discussed liquid sweeteners (like honey, treacle, golden syrup, agave nectar and maple syrup) in this spotlight on sugar. That’s an article in its own right. And one for another day!

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BAKING EQUIPMENT BASICS: WHAT YOU NEED TO BUY…

You don’t need kitchen cupboards fit to bursting with all the newest, fanciest baking equipment to be a great home baker. But having a few good quality basics will set you well on your way to turning out great bakes, time after time. I have set out some of the key bits of kit you should consider buying to set yourself up well for baking yourself happy at home

BAKING TINS / PANS

There are baking tins out there for any and every size, shape and depth of cake. It can be mind-boggling! So my advice, if you are on a limited budget is to buy the best quality you can afford of an 8″ round, and 8″ square and an 8″x12″ brownie / traybake tin. There are soooooo many recipes written for these tin sizes, that you won’t be struggling for things to bake with just these three tins.

You will also need a 12-hole cupcake tray / muffin pan if you are going to be baking cupcakes (which are great fun to make with mini bakers and are a quick and simple way of getting a cake fix!)

And also a nice and solid and sturdy baking tray (if you are going to be big on cookie baking, buy at least one big one or two smaller ones that will fit side-by-side in your oven. Many cookie recipes require a lot of space between each cookie to allow for spreading while baking. If you only have one small tray, you are going to have to run your oven for a long time to get all your cookies baked).

Decide on your budget and then shop around to see what you can find. My recommendation would be to buy Alan Silverwood tins/pans if you can afford them. They are excellent quality and are made from anodised aluminium. Aluminium is a great bakeware material as it conducts/distributes heat evenly throughout the entire tin, leaving you with beautifully even bakes.

And they last. The Silverwood bakeware tins I use are easily 12 years old and still going as strong as they were on the day I bought them!

Aluminium bakeware, because it is light in colour, radiates heat more gently than dark coloured bakeware, which means your cakes won’t brown too quickly on the bottom and around the edges.

If you are reading this thinking ‘oh no, I already own some baking tins and they’re all dark’, don’t panic! They will still work. I am just sharing with you my preference and why I choose the tins I do.

ELECTRIC MIXER

If you are going to make baking a part of your life rather than just something you dabble in on a whim once or twice a year, then I would encourage you to think seriously about investing in a stand mixer.

I have more mixers than you could shake a stick at. But then I run a bakery so that’s perhaps not surprising!

I have a mahoosive commercial planetary mixer for large volume baking, but I also have three KitchenAid stand mixers. They’re not the cheapest bits of kit but they are really, really well made and will last and last.

I also have one of those old Kenwood mixers from circa 1960 something, which was handed down to me from my mother-in-law (it was originally her mother’s mixer!) And it still works a treat. Although let me tell you it’s loud. *Very* loud!

There are lots of other brands out there, including: Smeg, Cuisinart, Morphy Richards and more. Have a look at this useful guide to buying a stand mixer from BBC Good Food and check out its top recommendations.

Stand mixers have also been known to make an appearance in the ‘aisle of dreams’ at Aldi, so it’s always worth keeping an eye out there if you’re on a tight budget.

If a stand mixer is beyond your budget, then an electric hand mixer can still save you a lot of time and energy in the kitchen and will mean you can be sat down with a cup of tea and a slice of cake quicker than if you did absolutely everything by hand! It will also take up less space if you are struggling for worktop and/or storage space in your kitchen.

BALLOON WHISK

Balloon whisks are useful gadgets to have in your kitchen utensils drawer. You can use them to whisk your dry ingredients together, which will not only ensure even distribution of flours and raising agents, but will add air. And air helps to produce lighter cakes.

You can also use a balloon whisk to lightly beat/froth egg whites (quicker than using a fork) and to make lovely smooth sauces.

And if you don’t own an electric mixer, you will most definitely need a balloon whisk for making everything from meringues to whipped cream. And you will most likely develop rock solid arm muscles, for which I salute you!

I would strongly recommend buying a metal balloon whisk and not a silicone one. I find the silicone ones have too much ‘give’. When selecting your metal balloon whisk, gently squeeze the metal loops in your hand. If there’s a lot of give, put it back and seek out a more robust whisk. A better quality one will last much longer and will be quicker and easier to use as the metal loops won’t lose their shape and start to splay.

MICROWAVE-PROOF BOWLS / DISHES

Your microwave can be a very handy piece of equipment for melting butter and chocolate and warming up jams and sauces for drizzling.

Having a couple of microwave-safe bowls that you can use for these tasks saves your favourite home kitchenware from overuse/damage!

DIGITAL WEIGHING SCALES

Baking by weight is accurate. Baking by volume (cups) is not. Buying yourself a kitchen scale will, in this one small purchase, make you an instantly better baker.

You can pick one up for as little as £10. I would always recommend a digital kitchen scale for much better accuracy (which is critical when it comes to gluten-free bread baking!)

SPATULAS

My kitchen utensils trays are littered with spatulas. But then I bake every day, for hours at a time. For the avid homemaker, just a couple will suffice!

Get yourself a rubber / silicone spatula for scraping all the cake batter and buttercream out of your bowls and to get as much out of your ingredients as possible. They also make great mixing tools.

A metal offset spatula is also a really useful tool for spreading buttercream, jams, spreads and ganaches onto your cakes.

COOLING RACK

You will need a cooling rack to place your cakes and biscuits/cookies on once you have removed them from the tin/tray to allow them to properly cool (I know, I know, you just want to eat them *now*!)

Ideally, go for a fine mesh one as these are less likely to leave imprints on your cakes than the widely spaced ones. (I have a round one that leaves a spiral indent in the cakes I place on it. Very pretty but often not the look I am going for!)

FINE MESH SIEVE

You 100% need a sieve if you are baking anything that uses icing sugar. Icing sugar can easily clump and so you need to get rid of those pesky lumps before you add the sugar to your beaten butter if you want a silky smooth, lump-free buttercream.

Go for one of the fine mesh ones rather than a wide mesh or colander style sieve as they have a tendency to let some of the lumps through.

BAKING PAPER / PARCHMENT OR SILICONE LINERS

You will see that a lot of cake recipes call for you to grease and line your cake tins before adding the cake batter, so it’s good to have a roll of baking parchment in your kitchen cupboard. Make sure you use baking paper and NOT greaseproof paper. If you’re unsure of the difference, read my article on the difference between baking paper and greaseproof paper to make sure you are using the right stuff.

If you prefer to avoid single use materials, have a look for non-stick reusable cake tin / baking tray liners. Bake-O-Glide® is one such product and it is my go-to product to replace single-use baking paper at the bakery (and when I am baking at home). You can buy ready made strips and base liners to fit a range of cake tins and you can also buy it in sheets to cut down to the sizes you need.

ROLLING PIN AND SPACERS

If you are going to be working with pastry, biscuits or sugarpaste icing then you will need to have a rolling pin in your baking kit. At a push you can grab an old wine bottle (cleaned and minus any labels) but for a nice even roll-out a good quality pin is a must, I think.

Rolling pin spacers are an absolute game changer when it comes to achieving thin, evenly rolled pastry, biscuits and icing. They come in a range of different thicknesses so you can pick and choose which ones you use depending on what you are rolling out.

I sell both rolling pin spacers and a durable, non-stick rolling pin in my online shop, both of which I use at the bakery.

MEASURING SPOONS

For this, I mean a set of spoons that measure a tablespoon (1 tbsp), a dessert spoon (1 dsp), a teaspoon (1 tsp), a half teaspoon (1/2 tsp), a quarter teaspoon (1/4 tsp) and some, although not all, may have a ‘pinch’ spoon. I *do not* mean measuring cups. And please, for the love of all that is holy, if you have a set of measuring cups, relegate them to the cupboard of unwanted things (see my article on baking tips for why I say this!)

Ingredients that call for small quantities like a teaspoon are typically things like raising agents. And too much or too little of these can really knock a recipe out and turn a potential baking triumph into a bake fail. But if you have a set of accurately calibrated measuring spoons, you are much less likely to put too much or too little of an ingredient into your bake.

FRUIT ZESTER AND JUICER

If, like me, you’re a big fan of zesty cakes, cookies and desserts, then you’re going to need both a fruit zester and a fruit juicer for all those citrusy bakes you’re going to make!

One of my best kitchen gadgets is the Oxo Good Grips lemon zester. It’s a game changer! No more grated knuckles and leaving half the fruit zest on the grater. I urge you to get one

There is a goodly amount of choice when it comes to fruit juicers, from whizzy electrical ones to the most basic of manual squeezers. I have the latter…the two piece sort with the pointy top half that you press and twist your fruit onto to extract the juice and the tray underneath it to collect the juice.

PASTRY BRUSH

You will need a pastry brush for a whole host of baking tasks including: egg-washing pastry and scones, glazing pastries and greasing tins.

They are available as bristle brushes and silicone. I find the silicone ones worse than useless and would recommend you buy a bristle brush. Always wash thoroughly after use in hot soapy water.

ICING TIPS / NOZZLES

There are 100s of icing tips and piping nozzles out there and for every different shape there are probably several different sizes!

But unless you’re planning on going into business make cakes with piped icing, then you will be good to go with just one or two. The two I use most in the bakery are the 1M drop flower piping tip (which I sell in my online shop) and also a round baking tip.

The 1M tip is perfect for creating classic buttercream swirls for cupcakes and the round tip can be used for piping buttercream teardrops, meringue, choux pastry and more.

PIPING BAGS

If you’re going to be piping buttercream, ganache or cream (and some soft biscuit doughs), then you will need a piping bag.

You can buy both reusable / washable ones and disposable ones. You can also buy icing sets, which typically come with a reusable bag, several tips and a coupler. A coupler is a little attachment that enables you to switch your piping tip without having to switch to a new bag with fresh icing in. I sell 18″ disposable piping bags in my online shop.

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