FOOD NEWS
Lessons The Great British Baking Show Taught Us All
BY Brianne Nemiroff
Soggy Bottom
One of the best ways to avoid a soggy bottom is to blind bake. This allows the pastry to partially cook before adding any filling.
You can also weigh the crust down with baking beads or uncooked rice on parchment paper and add reinforcements like starches or an egg white wash.
Losing Butter
When making pastries, you'll need to roll out the dough and fold it back together a few times. In between the roll outs, put the dough back in the fridge.
This ensures the butter doesn't melt while resting. When done correctly, when it reaches the oven, steam rises from the melting butter and lifts the layers apart.
Cooling And Decorating
While larger cakes can take a few hours to fully cool, you can speed up the process by putting your cake in the fridge.
Decorating before a cake has properly cooled can risk its final appearance. If you can't wait, use decorations like chocolate glaze or fresh fruit if they've been chilled.
Type Of Pastry
For an inexperienced baker, seeing how many types of pastry exist can be daunting; however, learning the correct one to use is vital.
Choux pastry is ideal for cream puffs, beignets, eclairs, and savory dishes, while short crust pastry is used for various dishes including sweet fruit pies and quiches.
Time And Heat
To cook a loaf or pastry on the same day, it needs to prove at a warm temperature between 75 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
Depending on the dough's size (and whether it has ingredients affecting its recipe), it can take between 1 1/2 hours to 3 hours when proving at warm temperatures.