Bernice Baran - Frosted: Take Your Baked Goods to the Next Level with Decadent Buttercreams, Meringues, Ganaches and More

Frosted

TAKE YOUR BAKED GOODS TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH DECADENT BUTTERCREAMS, MERINGUES, GANACHES AND MORE

BERNICE BARAN, founder of Baran Bakery

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TO MY FAMILY, WHO INSPIRED IT, BUT WILL PROBABLY NEVER READ IT.

Welcome to Frosted, my friends, Im so glad youre here! I think its safe to assume that youre a fellow frosting lover, and youre here to literally put the icing on the cake or cupcakes, cookies, donuts and pies! If you are like me, you believe that to elevate any recipe, you frost it.

Growing up, I always had a major sweet tooth. Having a mom as a baker only encouraged my baking habits. But it wasnt until I graduated college and started my nursing career that I actually learned how to bake. I started baking and posting on my blog, Baran Bakery, as a creative outlet on my off days, but I quickly realized that I wanted to do it every day. Learning about the science of baking drove me, it got me through my shifts and made me work harder and smarter to make that dream of baking full-time my reality.

I spent every free second learning about all things baking: what makes cakes grow, how to make cupcakes dome perfectly, why there are so many types of buttercream, why a frosting recipe isnt coming out correctly, how to salvage a broken buttercream and so much more. I wanted to know everything and, over the last few years, Ive learned more than I could even imagine existed in the baking world. My blog went from a hobby to a business that I love: I teach others all Ive learned and, hopefully, share my love of bakingand eating!desserts. There are many ways to put a smile on peoples faces, but serving a delicately frosted homemade dessert has got to be one of the best.

Frosting is a topic that can be intimidating, because there are so many types to learn about, each with its specific rules and challenges. Some frostings are similar and can be used interchangeably, but some are completely unique and only work under certain conditions. For example, a frosting like needs to be refrigerated and cant sit out at room temperature for long, whereas most of the buttercreams can sit out for long periods of time.

Fueled by my curiosity and a desire to learn how to successfully make and use the most popular kinds of frostings, I experimented with each kind. In the process, I discovered the nuances of whipping up buttercreams, meringues, ganaches, creams and cream cheese frostings.

With this book, Im happy to share all Ive learned about these magical combinations of butter and sugar and to make you more confident with putting the icing on the cake!

Frosted contains 60 recipes for baked goods, all of which use one of my thirteen frosting recipes. This means that there will be at least two parts to every recipe. Whether its a cake, cookie, tart or bar, there will be a main recipe and one for frosting. Guys, theres a three-layer brownie cake frosted with caramel and a dark chocolate ganache ! Think chocolate chip cookie crust, dark chocolate ganache filling and a toasted espresso meringue frosting: its quite literally a frosted cookie coffee heaven.

Before you get started making these incredible desserts, its important to learn the basics of each of the thirteen types of frosting that I include in the book. They are:

For each frosting, Ive included a breakdown of the flavor, texture and characteristics of that frosting, what it is best used for, which desserts it goes best with and a base recipe.

The base frosting recipes are what I find to be the simplest, most stable versions. Theyre delicious as is, and I left them unflavored so that theyre easily customized to individual recipes. If, in your later baking, you ever need a basic frosting recipe, you can refer to this section and flavor it to your desire. Be sure to read through each frosting description and refer to some of my recipes when customizing your own.

As a part of each baked good recipe, you will see a reference to which base frosting it uses. I also tell you how to customize the base frosting to enhance the recipe. For example, for my , to which youll add vanilla bean paste and cookie butter.

When a dessert recipe calls for a double or triple batch of a base frosting, you can prepare the batches all together.

Many of the frostings are interchangeable in my recipes. For example, almost any buttercream frosting can be swapped out for another type of buttercream. I suggest how to swap in other frostings throughout the book as well.

I use a stand mixer for most of my recipes, but if you dont have one, fear not. You can use an electric hand mixer instead, just keep in mind that it will require more time and patience. I include time recommendations and visual cues in my recipe directions. If youre using a hand mixer to mix batters and frostings, make sure to refer more to the visual cues as opposed to the time suggestions.

I provide standard and metric measurements for all of the ingredients. Keep in mind that its very easy to overmeasure dry ingredients, such as flour, cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Instead of scooping a cup of flour, spoon and level it. Use a spoon to fluff up the flour, then spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Allow it to overflow a little, then use the back of a knife to level off the flour.

TIP: MELTING CHOCOLATE

Im all about chocolate of all kindsdark, milk and whiteand youll find it used in many recipes in this book. Im also all about convenience and ease, so I melt my chocolate in the microwave and give you instructions for doing so in my recipes.

An alternative is to use a double boiler. Bring cup (120 ml) of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler over medium-low heat. Add the chocolate to the top of the double boiler and cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring, until the mixture is smooth. For most recipes, youll need to remove the melted chocolate from the heat to cool it to room temperature.

American Buttercream is one of the simplest frostings to make and possibly the most popular. It requires only an electric mixer, and both hand and stand mixers work well. This frosting is very sweet and doesnt require a lot of additives: just 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) of extract goes a long way.

Depending on how American Buttercream is whipped, the texture can be light and fluffy or dense and thick. The longer its whipped, the more air is incorporated, producing a fluffier frosting. Using a paddle attachment at low speed or pressing down on the buttercream with a rubber spatula will remove the excess air, making it easier to smooth this frosting over the outside of a layer cake. The consistency can easily be adjusted by adding more powdered sugar or more heavy whipping cream.