the world of desserts

Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts of China, there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.

The term dessert can apply to many confections, such as biscuits, cakes, cookies, custards, gelatins, ice creams, pastries, pies, puddings, macaroons, sweet soups, tarts, and fruit salad. Fruit is also commonly found in dessert courses because of its naturally occurring sweetness. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts.

sponge cake

Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first of the non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615).

early sponge cake history

The earliest recorded mention of sponge cakes was from a Renaissance age Italian baked product. Italian cooks baked “biscuits,” which spread through Italy, England and France. However, it was not until 1615 when the first sponge cake recipe was recorded by the English poet and author Gervase Markham.

Although sponge cake is usually made without butter, its flavor is often enhanced with buttercream, pastry cream or other types of fillings and frostings. Sponge soaks up flavors from fresh fruits, fillings and custard sauces. Sponge cake covered in boiled icing was very popular in American cuisine during the 1920s and 1930s. The delicate texture of sponge and angel food cakes, and the difficulty of their preparation, meant these cakes were more expensive than daily staple pies. The historic Frances Virginia Tea Room in Atlanta served sponge cake with lemon filling and boiled icing. New York City's Crumperie served not only crumpets but toasted sponge cake as well.

crostata

A crostata is an Italian baked tart or pie, also known as coppi in Naples and sfogliata in Lombardy. The earliest known use of crostata in its modern sense can be traced to the cookbooks Libro de Arte Coquinaria (Book of the Art of Cooking) by Martino da Como, published circa 1465, and Cuoco napolitano (Neapolitan Cook), published in the late 15th century containing a recipe (number 94) titled Crostata de Caso, Pane, etc..

A crostata is a "rustic free-form version of an open fruit tart" that may also be baked in a pie plate. Historically, it also referred to an "open-faced sandwich or canapé" because of its crusted appearance, or a chewet, a type of meat pie.

Traditionally, a crostata consisted of a base, usually three layers, of friable dough "flavoured with clarified fat and butter". Today, shortcrust pastry is used instead. It is differentiated from a torta by its filling: a crostata has an inconsistent chunky filling, whereas a torta has a consistent filling made of blended ingredients. There are "endless variations" of both sweet and savoury crostata, the sweet ones usually being served as a dessert.

La crostata is a baked fruit pie and is a flagship of Italian dessert tradition. It has a nice light and crumbly texture, featuring different fruit fillings according to the region and season. In Italy it is usually eaten as a dessert or with a coffee in the morning.

The most popular variety of crostata in the south of Italy is crostata di ricotta, while northern Italy favors the creamy, fruity crostata that originated in Rome. There are other varieties of crostata as well, such as crostata al limone (with lemon) and crostata di marmelata (with fruit jam).

Crostata can be served without toppings, with a dollop of whipped cream, or even with a scoop of ice cream.

Apple Galette (Easier and BETTER than Apple Pie)

Apple Galette really is easier and better than apple pie. And can we talk about the crust to filling ratio

Blueberry Galette

This super easy blueberry galette is full of summer fresh blueberries and is surrounded by a flaky and delicious pastry crust. Add a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream to take it to the next level!

cinnamon rolls

A cinnamon roll consists of a rolled sheet of yeast-leavened dough onto which a cinnamon and sugar mixture (and raisins or other ingredients in some cases) is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions and baked. The deep fried version is cinnamon roll or cinnamon bun doughnut. Its main ingredients are flour, cinnamon, sugar, and butter, which provide a robust and sweet flavor.

origins of the cinnamon roll

Roman spice traders introduced the Sri Lankan cinnamon spice to Europe.

Much later, Sweden began using it in its pastries, developing the kanelbulle (lit. ''cinnamon bun''). Since 1999, October 4 has been promoted as Cinnamon Roll Day (Kanelbullens dag). Swedish kanelbulle dough typically also contains cardamom (powder or buds), giving it a distinctive flavour.

The size of a cinnamon roll varies from place to place, but many vendors supply a smaller size about 5 centimeters (2.0 in) in diameter and a larger size about 10 cm (3.9 in) to a side. The larger variety can be found in Finland, called korvapuusti (lit. 'a 'cuff on the ear'', fig. "pulling someone's ear for disciplining"), where it can be up to 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter and weigh up to 200 g (7.1 oz).

Haga, a district in Gothenburg, Sweden, is well known for its very large cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls are called hagabullar or 'Queen of the kitchen'. Hagabullar are usually 30 centimeters (12 in) or more in diameter and are, despite their size, not considered a communal roll. Each person usually orders one each.

bread pudding

Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines. It is made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked.

Savory puddings like breakfast strata may be served as main courses, while sweet puddings are typically eaten as desserts.

In other languages, its name is a translation of "bread pudding" or even just "pudding", for example "pudín" or "budín". In the Philippines, banana bread pudding is popular. In Mexico, there is a similar dish eaten during Lent called capirotada. In the United Kingdom, a moist version of Nelson cake, itself a bread pudding, is nicknamed "Wet Nelly".

history of bread pudding

The 18th-century English cookbook The Compleat Housewife contains two recipes for baked bread pudding. The first is identified as "A Bread and Butter Pudding for Fasting Days".

To make the pudding a baking dish is lined with puff pastry, and slices of penny loaf with butter, raisins and currants, and pieces of butter are added in alternating layers.

Over this is poured thickened, spiced cream and orange blossom water, and the dish is baked in the oven. There is another version of the dish that is simpler, omitting the spices and dried fruits.

The original concept for the dessert evolved out of necessity as a way to prevent food waste. Rather than throwing out stale bread that was hard to chew, cooks and homemakers soaked the bread in a sweet liquid, baked the dish in the oven until it was golden and then served it warm. While it was initially called “poor man’s pudding,” as it was popular with the lower class in England, it has now shed its frugal stigma, and you can readily find it in trendy eateries.

chocolate brownies

A chocolate brownie, or simply a brownie, is a chocolate baked confection. Brownies come in a variety of forms and may be either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density. Brownies often, but not always, have a glossy "skin" on their upper crust. They may also include nuts, frosting, cream cheese, chocolate chips, or other ingredients. A variation made with brown sugar and vanilla rather than chocolate in the batter is called a blond brownie or blondie. The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized there during the first half of the 20th century.

Brownies are typically eaten by hand, often accompanied by a glass of milk, served warm with ice cream (a la mode), topped with whipped cream, or sprinkled with powdered sugar and fudge. In North America, they are common homemade treats and they are also popular in restaurants, ice cream parlors and coffeehouses.

history of the brownie

One legend about the creation of brownies is that of Bertha Palmer, a prominent Chicago socialite whose husband owned the Palmer House Hotel. In 1893, Palmer asked a pastry chef for a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. She requested a cake-like confection smaller than a piece of cake that could be included in boxed lunches.

The result was the Palmer House Brownie, made of chocolate with walnuts and an apricot glaze. The modern Palmer House Hotel serves a dessert to patrons made from the same recipe. The name was given to the dessert sometime after 1893, but was not used by cook books or journals at the time.

Mixing melted butter with chocolate to make a chocolate brownie

The first-known printed use of the word "brownie" to describe a dessert appeared in the 1896 version of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Farmer, in reference to molasses cakes baked individually in tin molds. However, Farmer's brownies did not contain chocolate.

its all in the name

In 1899, the first-known recipe was published in Machias Cookbook. They were called "Brownie's Food". The recipe appears on page 23 in the cake section of the book. Marie Kelley from Whitewater, Wisconsin, created the recipe.

The earliest-known published recipes for a modern style chocolate brownie appeared in the Home Cookery (1904, Laconia, NH), Service Club Cook Book (1904, Chicago, IL), The Boston Globe (April 2, 1905 p. 34), and the 1906 edition of Fannie Farmer's cookbook. These recipes produced a relatively mild and cake-like brownie.

By 1907, the brownie was well established in a recognizable form, appearing in Lowney's Cook Book by Maria Willet Howard (published by Walter M. Lowney Company, Boston) as an adaptation of the Boston Cooking School recipe for a "Bangor Brownie". It added an extra egg and an additional square of chocolate, creating a richer, fudgier dessert.

The name "Bangor Brownie" appears to have been derived from the town of Bangor, Maine, which an apocryphal story states was the hometown of a housewife who created the original brownie recipe. Maine food educator and columnist Mildred Brown Schrumpf was the main proponent of the theory that brownies were invented in Bangor.

While The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink (2007) refuted Schrumpf's premise that "Bangor housewives" had created the brownie, citing the publication of a brownie recipe in a 1905 Fannie Farmer cookbook, in its second edition, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2013) said it had discovered evidence to support Schrumpf's claim, in the form of several 1904 cookbooks that included a recipe for "Bangor Brownies".

food science and brownies

In 2021, the food science journalist and home cookery YouTuber Adam Ragusea conducted a series of experiments to discover why modern brownies tend to form a desirably glossy "skin" on their upper crust. In a video reporting his findings, Ragusea asserted that the "skin" was the result of making a batter of high viscosity, with low levels of moisture and sugar well-dissolved into the mix.

chocolate chip cookies

A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe.

Generally, the recipe starts with a dough composed of flour, butter, both brown and white sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, eggs, and vanilla. Variations on the recipe may add other types of chocolate, as well as additional ingredients such as nuts or oatmeal.

There are also vegan versions with the necessary ingredient substitutions, such as vegan chocolate chips, vegan margarine, and egg substitutes. A chocolate chocolate chip cookie uses a dough flavored with chocolate or cocoa powder, before chocolate chips are mixed in.

These variations of the recipe are also referred to as ‘double’ or ‘triple’ chocolate chip cookies, depending on the combination of dough and chocolate types.

history of chocolate chip cookies

The chocolate chip cookie was invented by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1938. She invented the recipe during the period when she owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts. In this era, the Toll House Inn was a popular restaurant that featured home cooking. A myth holds that she accidentally developed the cookie, and that she expected the chocolate chunks would melt, making chocolate cookies.

That is not the case; Wakefield stated that she deliberately invented the cookie. She said, "We had been serving a thin butterscotch nut cookie with ice cream. Everybody seemed to love it, but I was trying to give them something different. So I came up with Toll House cookie." She added chopped up bits from a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar into a cookie. The original recipe in Toll House Tried and True Recipes is called "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies". Wakefield gave Nestle the recipe for her cookies and was paid with a lifetime supply of chocolate from the company.

Wakefield's cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was first published in 1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. The 1938 edition of the cookbook was the first to include the recipe "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie" which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes. During World War II, soldiers from Massachusetts who were stationed overseas shared the cookies they received in care packages from home with soldiers from other parts of the United States. Hundreds of soldiers wrote home asking their families to send them Toll House cookies, and Wakefield received letters from around the world requesting her recipe, helping spread their popularity beyond the east coast. Chocolate chip cookies were first sold in the UK in 1956 by Maryland Cookies.

making whipped cream

Whipped cream is heavy cream that is whipped by a whisk or mixer until it is light and fluffy and holds its shape, or by the expansion of dissolved gas, forming a firm colloid. It is often sweetened, typically with white sugar, and sometimes flavored with vanilla. Whipped cream is also called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly.

Homemade whipped cream is one of the easiest and most made recipes in my kitchen! It is one of the essential recipes that I turn to time and again and could practically make with my eyes closed.

A basic recipe, yet it’s the best, and it only takes a few minutes to make. It has just three ingredients, but yet there is one essential step for getting the perfect whipped cream recipe every single time. Once you try it, you will turn to this easy recipe instead of store-bought whipped cream in a can!

To make it, you’ll need just three ingredients. You’ll need the following:

heavy whipping cream – I prefer to use heavy whipping cream vs. whipping cream as I find that it holds its shape longer and produces a creamier result. It also works well if you plan to pipe your whipped cream or use it to fill pastries. I explain the differences between heavy cream, whipping cream, and heavy whipping cream below.
sweetener – you are able to choose your favorite sweetener to use. I generally use confectioner’s sugar or honey, or maple syrup. Confectioner’s sugar provides the most classic and flavor-neutral sweetener on this list.
flavorings – the options for flavoring are endless! My go-to for classic whipped cream is to use vanilla extract. You can also flavor with liquors, other extracts, and spices.

tips on making good whipped cream

Start Cold
Chill your mixing bowl and whisk (yes, even those to your electric mixer) in the freezer for about 20 minutes to get as cold as possible. You’ll also want to make sure that your heavy whipping cream is as cold as possible, too.

Go High
Add all of your ingredients into your super chilled mixing bowl and whisk together on high speed for about a minute until stiff peaks form. And you are done!

stabilizing your whipped cream

To make stabilized whipped cream, you will want to use an additional ingredient to help it last longer in the refrigerator. I like to use cream of tartar if I know that I will be making mine well in advance of serving. While it is best served immediately by adding a little cream of tartar to your heavy whipping cream, it will generally last much longer in the refrigerator.

history of whipped cream

whipped cream or milk snow?

Whipped cream has been around since the 16th century. It was included in recipes that date back to 1549 in Italy and 1604 in France. It was first called whipped cream in 1673, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Though, there is a record of crème fouettée—whipped cream in French—in a recipe book from 1629.

In very old texts, it was referred to as neige de lait in French and neve di latte in Italian. Both translate to milk snow. A 1545 English recipe for "A Dyschefull of Snowe" is a variation on whipped cream. It includes egg whites and rosewater.

early versions of the whisk

Up until the 19th century, recipes for whipped cream called for whipping the cream with a willow or rush branch in place of the modern whisk. As cool as it sounds, we don't recommend it as a practical whisk (or cocktail tin) alternative—it takes over an hour to make a batch.

macerating fruit with sugar

In many recipes, sprinkling fruit with sugar is referred to as macerating. Even though there is no liquid being applied, the open-minded among us will accept that, and here's why: A sprinkling of sugar draws moisture out of fruit, which ends up combining with the sugar in the bowl to create a syrup. The effect is similar to the liquid experience, although the end result will likely have less moisture than those steeped in added liquid from the start. Not a bad thing, this can actually be more desirable for some dishes, like fruit pastries or a fruit salad.

Still, from a strict flavor perspective, ain't nothin' like the real thing. Fruit can be macerated in liquids from spicy dark liquors to tart juice or vinegar, citrus juice, strong wine, or liqueurs, and will take on much of the flavor of its neighbors. Since some of these liquids can be harsh on their own, the taste can be balanced by adding seasonings like chopped herbs, spices, or sweeteners like sugar, honey or vanilla.

Maceration starts instantly, and in some cases you'll notice change in fruit texture or flavor within minutes of contact. But the best results require more time, anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight. Some say heat has no hastening effect on the process, but I've found that slightly heating but not boiling the soaking liquid speeds up the plumping and moistening of dried fruits like raisins, cherries or currants. (In some cases, it also seems to lessen the sharpness and acidity of seasonings like citrus, vinegar or liquors since some of the intensity is cooked away.)

When macerating several fruits together, you may want to give a head start to tougher, skinned fruits (grapes, blueberries and ripe apples come to mind), eventually adding softer, fleshier fruits (bananas or mangoes) in order to prevent mushiness or too much discoloration.

When it comes to prepping in advance for a dish, time is on your side. If you're dealing with fresh fruits, you can usually start macerating up to 48 hours in advance of serving. Dried fruit maceration can be done up to a few weeks in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator.

making pie dough

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie), brown sugar (sugar pie), sweetened vegetables (rhubarb pie), or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy (as in custard pie and cream pie). Savoury pies may be filled with meat (as in a steak pie or a Jamaican patty), eggs and cheese (quiche) or a mixture of meat and vegetables (pot pie).

Pies are defined by their crusts. A filled pie (also single-crust or bottom-crust), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry but left open.

A top-crust pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell.

Shortcrust pastry is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes, and crumbs.

Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to those designed for multiple servings.

cut the fat into the flour

If you’ve made biscuits, scones, or quick breads, you know that the method for combining ingredients can significantly affect the end result. Over-mixing frequently leads to a tough product. Pie dough is no different—the less you handle it, the better the result. Recipes for pie dough use the “rubbing” mixing method to combine the fat into the dry ingredients. Whether you use a food processor, a pastry blender, or two table knives, the goal is to cut the chilled fats—butter or shortening—into small bits and disperse them throughout the flour, rather than blending the fat and flour into a smooth mixture.

add cold ice water

After the fat is added to the dry ingredients, the next step is adding water. Like the fat, the water should be ice cold. Before you start making the dough, fill a glass with ice and water. Add the ice water gradually to the dough, about one tablespoon or so at a time, and stop when the dough is just moist enough to hold together when a handful is squeezed. Instead of stirring the dough, use a table fork to push and smear the dough, rubbing it against the side of the bowl—this keeps it tender.

roll out the dough

Before rolling the dough, place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour to rest. This allows the dough enough time for the fat to firm up slightly and the gluten to relax. Chilled dough is also easier to roll out and is less likely to stick when rolling. To keep the dough extra cool and easy to handle, you can use marble pastry boards and rolling pins. Be sure to dust the work surface, rolling pin, and top of the dough very lightly with flour before rolling the dough. Roll in all directions with even, steady pressure to make a large circle. Periodically give the dough a quarter turn to keep it even and prevent sticking.

transfer dough to the pan

When moving rolled-out dough to a pie pan, avoid stretching or tearing it. One way to do this is to fold the dough loosely in half. Lift the folded dough with both hands, position it over one side of the pan, and then carefully unfold the dough. An alternative method is to roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin. Position the loose edge of the dough at the edge of the pan and unroll the dough directly into the pan.

fitting dough to the pan

Gently lift the edges of the dough just enough to ease it into the corners of the pan. Adjust the position of the dough if you need to so that the overhang extends evenly around the rim. Use the pads of your fingertips or a small ball of scrap dough to gently push the dough into position. For a single-crust pie, trim away any excess dough, leaving a one-inch overhang around the pie and tuck the overhang back under the crust. Place the lined pan in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes for one more rest before baking or topping with filling. Whenever you work with pie dough, always give the gluten time to relax before moving to the next step.

finishing the dough

Pinching or pressing a decorative border into the rim of a single-crust pie keeps the dough from slipping down into the pan as it bakes. A classic way to “flute” the pie is to press the dough between the index finger and thumb of one hand on the inside rim and the index finger of the other hand on the outer edge to make a scalloped edge.

When making a double crust pie, it’s important to seal the edge to keep the top and bottom crusts from separating as the pie bakes. Simply brush the edge of the bottom crust with water, milk, or egg wash before setting the top crust in place. Trim the excess dough from the top and bottom layers and seal the crusts together by pressing the dough with the tines of a fork or flute the edges together using your fingertips. The final step for a double-crust pie is to brush the dough with egg wash for a deep golden color and shine. You can also sprinkle a washed crust with sugar before baking. The sugar will caramelize as the pies bakes, making the crust shiny and crunchy.

Remember to always check the dough’s temperature before you put it into the oven. If it doesn’t feel cool to the touch, refrigerate the pie 10 to 15 minutes.

tempering chocolate

Tempered chocolate is wonderful to use when making homemade candy, such as truffles or peanut butter cups or peppermint bark, because it maintains a nice smooth, shiny, and hard texture even at room temperature. It gives your candy a professional quality and makes it much easier to serve and transport, not to mention it just tastes better because you get that wonderful snappy texture. Stay tuned for some recipes utilizing tempered chocolate.

what does it mean to "temper" chocolate?

The process of tempering creates chocolate coatings that are ultra smooth, glossy, and have a crisp satisfying snap when eaten. Tempering allows us to manipulate the fat molecules in the cocoa butter of the chocolate to arrange its crystalline structure in a way that creates that snappy chocolate texture.

This same process, along with proper storage, also helps to prevent the chocolate from blooming, which is when a white coating forms on the surface of the chocolate.

When using tempered chocolate to coat, say, Oreo cookies, the coated cookies won’t require refrigeration to stay hard and snappy.

why temper chocolate?

If you just use melted chocolate to dip, you won’t get a coating that stays snappy. It’ll be dull and soft and will need to be refrigerated just to avoid melting.

Tempered chocolate products stay hard at cool room temperature. Avoid storing at warm temperatures and at high humidity to protect the tempered chocolate’s structure.

Tempering chocolate is perfect for making chocolate candies, truffles, dipped confections, or chocolate cake decorations.

how does tempered chocolate work?

The process involves controlling the melting, cooling, and reheating of chocolate within specified temperature ranges depending on the kind of chocolate. The goal of tempering chocolate is to ensure the development and longevity of Form V crystals, one of the six types of cocoa butter crystals. This type of fat crystal is stable and contributes to the coveted textural properties of a delicious chocolate treat!

Maintaining and controlling the development of Form V crystals is also crucial to avoid the unpleasant white, chalky appearance that can form on chocolate when recrystallization occurs.

Simply put, it’s the best way to get that beautiful professional chocolate coating (without any additional ingredients or refrigeration) while maintaining a delightful chocolate flavor.

Tempering can be an extra step that feels tedious. There are ‘chocolate’ candy melt products available at many stores that produce a similar crunchy coating when dipped. Unfortunately, many of these chocolate compound products aren’t actual chocolate because the cocoa butter has been replaced by hydrogenated industrial oils. They taste artificial and don’t provide the same satisfaction.

what is the best chocolate to use?

Only use high quality bars of chocolate for baking (such as Ghirardelli baking bars or even Trader Joe’s Pound Plus chocolate) or couverture chocolate wafers (such as Guittard or Valrhona). If using bars, finely chop the chocolate with a serrated knife. Finely chopped chocolate will melt more evenly.

DO NOT use chocolate chips. These have added ingredients that help them to maintain their chip shape when exposed to heat and will not melt down smoothly for tempering.

should you use a thermometer?

In my opinion, a thermometer truly is essential to tempering chocolate because it takes the guesswork out and ensures your temper will set up beautifully. Chocolate is expensive so I like to make sure I have the proper tools for success!

You can use a chocolate thermometer to register the temperature stages of tempering chocolate, or simply a high quality digital thermometer.

what is a double boiler?

A double boiler is simply a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with about an inch of simmering water. You just want to make sure the bowl on top doesn’t touch the water. This allows the chocolate to be melted gently by the heat.

making mousse

A mousse (/ˈmuːs/; French: [mus]; "foam") is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savoury.

Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla. In the case of some chocolate mousses, egg yolks are often stirred into melted chocolate to give the final product a richer mouthfeel. Mousses are also typically chilled before being served, which gives them a denser texture. Additionally, mousses are often frozen into silicone molds and unmolded to give the mousse a defined shape. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin.

Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.

dessert videos

How to Make Pie Dough & Crust | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

Welcome to part one of our four-part "Bake It Up a Notch" pie spectacular—celebrating the release of Erin’s new cookbook, The Book on Pie. This baking tutorial is all about pie dough and crust: the equipment, ingredients, techniques, and where things could go wrong. Be sure to share what you bake from this episode using #bakeitupanotch. Happy baking!

How to Master Fruit Pies | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

It's time for part three of our four-part "Bake It Up a Notch" pie spectacular—celebrating the release of Erin’s new cookbook, The Book on Pie. This #bakingtutorial is all about one of Erin's favorite pies: Fruit pies! As usual we'll run through all the equipment, ingredients, techniques, and where things could go wrong. Share your beautiful fruit pies with #bakeitupanotch. And let us know what else you want to know about pie in the comments. Happy baking!

How to Make Cold Set Pies | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

We saved the most colorful, fun, and (above all) creamy pies ever for the final episode in our four-part "Bake It Up a Notch" pie spectacular. This #bakingtutorial is all about cold set pies! As usual we'll run through all the equipment, ingredients, techniques, and where things could go wrong. Share your beautiful custard, cream, chiffon and other cold set pies with #bakeitupanotch. Happy baking!

How to Make a Custard Pie | Bake It Up a Notch with Erin McDowell

Here’s part two of our four-part “Bake It Up a Notch” pie spectacular—celebrating the release of Erin’s new cookbook, The Book on Pie. In this #bakingtutorial, Erin is going through everything you need to know about custard pies: different styles of custard, how to prepare your crust, determining doneness, where things could go wrong, how to store your pie, and some tips for decorating. Share your slices of custard pies with #bakeitupanotch. And let us know what else you want to know about pie in the comments. Happy baking!

I Baked 144 Brownies To Create The Perfect Recipe | Bon Appétit

48 hours of baking. A pound and a half of chocolate chips, another pound of cocoa powder, 5 pounds of chocolate, $30 worth of vanilla extract and many, many tastings. Join Chris Morocco in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as he takes you through the journey of creating his perfect recipe - one that took 144 brownies to achieve perfection.

Claire Saffitz Makes Malted "Forever" Brownies

Brownie recipes can be cakey, chewy, light, dense, fudgy, tender, shiny, matte, bitter, sweet, thin, thick -- and yet, they’re all brownies. Claire's favorite brownie is chocolatey but not too intense brownies with multiple textures, but chewiness above all. Enter, Claire's recipe for Malted Forever Brownies -- so good, it’s pretty much the only one she plans on making until the end of time. Check out the video for all Claire's tips on making the best brownies, which, unfortunately, includes chilling at the end! You won’t regret the extra step.

Chris Makes Chocolate Chip Cookies

Join Chris Morocco in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as he makes chocolate chip cookies. The addition of browned butter really puts these cookies over the top. It makes them crispy-edged, chewy-centered, yet still rooted in classic cookie flavor. Oh, and no mixer required, so there’s no excuse not to make them.

Rick Makes Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

Join Rick in the Test Kitchen as he makes toffee cookies! Using chocolate wafers instead of chips is a cookie game-changer. They spread as they melt, creating thin pockets of chocolate in each layer, and stay much softer at room temperature.

Claire Saffitz Makes CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

What makes the best chocolate chip cookies? In Claire’s opinion, it’s a chewy edge, soft and chewy center, puddles of chocolate (in this case, dark and milk), a healthy amount of salt, and, crucially, lots of butterscotch-y flavor from the interplay of vanilla, brown sugar, and brown butter. That might sound like a lot, but it all comes together easily in a couple of bowls, no stand mixer required. The hardest part is definitely waiting for the dough to chill in the fridge before baking.

what is an egg wash?

An egg wash is beaten eggs, sometimes mixed with another liquid such as water or milk, which is sometimes brushed onto the surface of a pastry before baking. Egg washes are also used as a step in the process of breading foods, providing a substrate for the breading to stick to. Egg washes can also be used on calzones or on fish.

An egg wash is often used to make pastries shiny and golden or brown in color, and it also is used to help toppings or coatings stick to the surface of the pastry, or to bind pastry parts together, such as empanadas or other en croute recipes. Egg wash can usually be made with 30 ml or two tablespoons of liquid, such as milk or water, for every egg. Less liquid makes for a darker wash. The part of the egg used and liquid added determines the finished look of the crust.

"Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table." ---William Powell

books on making desserts

in conclusion

The market for desserts has grown over the last few decades, which was greatly increased by the commercialism of baking desserts and the rise of food productions. Desserts are present in most restaurants as the popularity has increased. Many commercial stores have been established as solely desserts stores. Ice cream parlors have been around since before 1800.

Many businesses started advertising campaigns focusing solely on desserts. The tactics used to market desserts are very different depending on the audience for example desserts can be advertised with popular movie characters to target children. The rise of companies like Food Network has marketed many shows which feature dessert and their creation. Shows like these have displayed extreme desserts and made a game show atmosphere which made desserts a more competitive field.

Dessert foods often contain relatively high amounts of sugar and fats and, as a result, higher calorie counts per gram than other foods. Fresh or cooked fruit with minimal added sugar or fat is an exception.

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