Dominique Ansel - Everyone Can Bake: Simple Recipes to Master and Mix

ALSO BY DOMINIQUE ANSEL

Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes

Simon & Schuster

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Copyright 2020 by Dominique Ansel

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition April 2020

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Interior design by Suet Yee Chong

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-5011-9471-9

ISBN 978-1-5011-9472-6 (ebook)

To A, because no one does it alone

When I was growing up, I loved to play with building blocks. With the blocks scattered across the floor of my parents living room, I saw endless possibilities: each cube could become something new and different when joined with another.

I never got tired of playing that game. These days, in the kitchen, I still play the role of builder and architect. A chef, unlike a home cook, doesnt follow a recipe for a cake, with a prescribed base, filling, and finishing. We share basic recipes for components, and build those into cookies, cakes, tarts, and other showstoppers.

These components are the building blocks of baking. And with them, there are endless dessert possibilities.

This is the way I want to teach you how to bake.

The book is split into three sections:

• BASES: cakes, tarts, cookies, brownies, and more
• FILLINGS: mousses, jams, curds, pastry creams, and more
• FINISHINGS: meringues, chocolate glazes, and more

Each recipe starts off with a reliable go-tothis is your baseline. Perfect these first, then explore their variations. A vanilla cake with a bit of clove, ginger, and cinnamon turns into a wonderful gingerbread for the holidays. A pastry cream can be mixed with fruit or chocolate or even hazelnut paste.

Select from each of the three sections to create your showstopper. Choose a base, a filling, and a finishing, then combine them. And dont worryIll show you how to do that in the Techniques section where you assemble everything together. Perhaps youre in the mood for a decadent cake with a brownie base, a rich mascarpone mousse filling, and a caramel glaze. Or maybe a light lemon tart with a vanilla meringue.

Many of these components can be enjoyed on their own, and Ill show you how to do that, too. A ganache can be chilled and rolled into chocolate truffles. A pastry cream can become a makeshift flan. A tart shell can be broken and sandwiched together with jam to make a cookie.

Youll learn to bake, but more important, to create. The possibilities really are endless.

Theres a precision to baking thats always appealed to me. I love that there were exact metrics and temperatures; nothing is left up to chance. But its that precision that is perhaps the biggest hurdle for a lot of home cooks to overcome. Investing in the right tools is a big help here. In baking, a pinch of this and a dash of that could throw off the entire recipe. (Have you ever mistakenly measured a tablespoon of baking powder instead of a teaspoon? Im sure it was a disaster you wont forget.) Each ingredient is precisely measured on a scale. And theres the right set of equipment for each task.

Here are the tools I recommend for cooking your way through this book, from the Bare Necessities that you need for making a simple cookie or brownie to the Standard Additions for making cakes and tarts to the Upgrades I recommend for making even more advanced recipes.

BARE NECESSITIES

Bowls (various sizes)

Cutting board

Digital scale

Knives (small paring knife, large chefs knife, and large serrated knife)

Parchment paper

Rolling pin

Saucepans (various sizes)

Sheet pan

Spatula (heatproof)

Whisk

Wire rack

STANDARD ADDITIONS

Bowl scraper

Cake pan and cake ring (8-inch or 20 cm round)

Loaf pan (8 x 4 inch or 21 x 11 cm)

Hand mixer

Offset spatulas (large and small)