Pascale - Baking made easy : 100 fabulous, easy to bake recipes

My earliest baking memory is one of me at primary school. I am five and carrying a battered old tin which contains the precious ingredients to make raspberry buns. My cookery teacher is an unexpectedly beautiful woman who looks like Marilyn Monroe. In those days, we had to provide all the ingredients and we loved to mix and whisk vigorously just like grown ups. Wed end up with these little rock-hard balls of dough that wed artfully filled with raspberry jam. What an amazing feat to bake something all by yourself and then to eat it and share it proudly with your family. This was the first time I remember really appreciating food and it was all down to baking. These classes only came round once a term but I looked forward to them more than anything else. So it was inevitable that my first cookery book would have an emphasis on baking. Writing this book really is a dream come true for me.

My heroes have always been the great female food writers Elizabeth David, Fanny Cradock, Isabella Beeton and Marguerite Patten all extraordinary culinary visionaries whose influences are still prevalent today. Just like them, I have always wanted to find that work thing I could feel passionate about. I enjoyed my modelling days, but I knew that it wasnt the thing I was destined to do for ever. I was briefly a secretary, then a mechanic, an interior designer I even wrote a book about footballs offside rule! But nothing held my attention for long. And then, by chance, I enrolled on a diploma cookery course at Leiths School and I knew at once I was home.

I had fallen head over heels. Friends readied themselves to tease me yet again about another failed venture but this time I surprised them all. I just kept on going with the course and I ended up studying cookery, specialising in patisserie, for over a decade. I cut my teeth working in some of the countrys most respected kitchens and I worked alongside chefs who were completely committed to the pursuit of culinary perfection.

Looking back at my life, with its inevitable highs and lows, I now realise that I have always found a sense of purpose and a strength of mind when I am in the kitchen. The phone will ring and dramas will unfold outside, but cooking is where I find my peace and quiet. Time feels like its standing still when actually it is flying by. I believe this is called being in the flow when you are so passionately and happily engaged in an activity that you lose all track of time.

In my first book I wanted to offer a series of recipes to showcase the magical chemistry of baking. Recipes that would stimulate the most sophisticated of palates, but also inspire those of less-experienced bakers. My book contains a hundred of my favourites and includes both sweet and savoury, from Fig, Cream Cheese & Mint Tart and White Chocolate Pannacotta, to Trout en Papillote with Sauterne and Almonds. Theres my take on the Doris Grant Loaf, a delicious Gorgonzola & Pear Souffl, my famous Stout & Stilton Bread Rolls, and a very wicked I just dont give a damn Chocolate Cake. There are simpler ideas too, like my Glam Mac & Cheese and some Totally Lazy Sausage Rolls.

I have included a whole chapter of bread recipes, because I love making bread. It must be the physical process of rhythmically kneading a compliant dough that makes it one of the most therapeutic of activities. There is an almost religious experience to be had from thoughtfully crafting a loaf and then eating it warm from the oven. Think of delightfully aromatic foccacia from Italy salty, oily and fragrant, or a sophisticated and discerning French fougasse that is mature enough to support the flavours of molten cheese and piquant ham. Crumbly and cake-like Irish soda bread, slapped with really good butter: I dream about this. With bread, the possibilities are limitless and Ive included new twists on many favourites.

My book would not be complete without plenty of recipes devoted to a very special ingredient chocolate. A product so universally adored, debated and eaten deserves special attention. I wanted to give you recipes that were delightful to prepare, beautiful to gaze at, dreamy to eat. Chocolate Melting Puddings and the Chocolate & Hazelnut Tart tick all the boxes, and theres my glorious I cant believe you made that cake, a mountain of chocolate cigarillos and strawberries. For all true chocolate brownie aficionados, I believe I have formulated the perfect recipe a brownie that is light in texture, high in taste and substantial in the eating.

I hope I have written a book that will stand the test of time. A book that you will not only look at and admire, but will use, again and again and again. A book that comprehensively covers all the classics, but dares to give them a twist, that sits between practical and inspiring. These recipes will take you comfortably from Monday to Friday with enough treats besides for special occasions and those precious weekends.

Have I inspired you? I sincerely hope so. Shake out your apron, switch off that phone, shut the kitchen door firmly and ramp up the musicbecause now is all about baking!

Choosing your ingredients

Medium-sized eggs are used in all my recipes. A whole medium-sized egg weighs approximately 55g (2oz). A medium egg white weighs approx. 30g (1oz). So if you only have eggs of a different size in your kitchen, crack them into a jug and mix well, then measure out 55g for each whole egg required.

Most of my recipes use unsalted butter. However, a good-quality salted butter is okay to use (beware the cheaper the butter, the more salt it contains). If using salted butter in cakes, omit any extra pinches of salt that are requested in the recipes.

I rarely use self-raising flour. Instead, I use plain flour and baking powder, which gives you more control over how much the cake will rise.

A good vanilla extract can make all the difference to a recipe, but for the best taste, use the seeds from actual vanilla pods. These are extremely expensive in the supermarkets, so if you do lots of baking, vanilla pods can be purchased in bulk on the internet. Instead of paying 3 for just two pods, buying in bulk can work out at as little as 12p per pod!

I never buy unwaxed lemons as they are so expensive, and not always readily available. For zest, buy ordinary lemons and wash them well in hot, soapy water. Give them a good rinse, rub them dry and the waxy coating will come off.

Tips for better baking

Preheat your oven prior to weighing out any ingredients.

Have all ingredients at room temperature for the best results, apart from when you need egg whites. Warm eggs are much harder to separate than cold ones, so cold, fresh eggs are best.

Take your butter out of the fridge as soon as you get an urge to bake, as so many of my recipes call for soft butter. Ive tried all sorts of not-so-clever quick melting solutions for too-hard butter, such as sitting it on a radiator, or placing it near the stove, but the one I fell in love with was grating it with a cheese grater into a bowl. The butter becomes instantly soft and ready to use. Genius!

There is no need to sift flour, unless it has really clumped together or the recipe specifically states it.

Icing sugar is normally best sifted as it does tend to clump together and may leave lumps in your buttercream.

If possible, invest in some proper measuring spoons a teaspoon and tablespoon are most commonly needed. These are available in most bigger supermarkets, from cookshops or online.

When folding ingredients together, the best tool is a plastic spatula rather than a metal spoon (although this will do). Always fold the mixture slowly to retain as much air as possible.