Mahy Elamin - How to Bake for Beginners: An Easy Cookbook for Baking the Basics

Copyright 2020 by Rockridge Press, Emeryville, California

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Interior and Designer: Heather Krakora

Art Producer: Sue Bischofberger

Editor: Lauren Ladoceour

Production Editor: Mia Moran

Illustration Tom Bingham

Photography Helene Dujardin,

courtesy of Maha Kalache

ISBN: Print 978-1-64611-007-0 | eBook 978-1-64611-008-7

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To my girls, Dania and Jana, who took my baking joy to a whole other level.

Contents

I lived in Paris when I was a kid, and I remember feeling mesmerized by the beautiful pastry shops there. My mind was interested, inspired, and intrigued. But I grew up in a busy diplomatic home where I wasnt allowed in the kitchen.

Still, Id sneak in and watch the chefs and bakers prepare elegant seated dinners and extravagant baked goods. I would watch, feeling like I somehow belonged there, but I would get called away to study. So it wasnt until I left my parents house that I started cooking and baking.

Going into college I was lostI couldnt find a single major that interested me. I let a few family friends guide me toward a pharmacy degree. I still dont know how those five years in school (and then another two working in the field) passed by.

All I know is, one day I quit my joband went into the kitchen to bake some peanut butter cookies. I sat down with a cup of coffee and my cookies, and I broke the news to my husband. Ive never felt freer than in that moment.

Those stunning French pastry shop displays had created in me a passion for baking. And, so, with time on my hands, I started baking from scratch. Although Id read books on baking and tried to understand the fundamentals, I basically just dove right in. I laugh now because I naively believed I could instantly create whatever fancy dessert I desired. It was definitely fun trying to bake, but it was no fun having failure after failure. My first tiramisu, for example, was a total disaster because I didnt even know how to separate eggs properly.

The tiramisu came out nothing like what I had in mind, but that was when I realized I needed to start simply. I began with a classic white cake. I wanted to achieve fluffy white cake perfection before moving on. I then learned to whip cream, and once I honed that skill, I added espresso. Eventually, I layered my perfect white cake with espresso whipped cream and dusted it with cocoa powder. It was not exactly tiramisu, but it was the best thing I ever had.

Finally, I turned to my science background for help. I wanted to understand why certain recipes worked but others didnt. Even more, I wanted to understand why certain recipes are good, but others are terrific! I dove deep into understanding the structure, chemical reactions, composition, and formulation of every recipe. The more I understood the baking process, the more I experimented, the more success I had, the more joy it brought to my lifeand the more addicted to it I became. I couldnt stop. I was baking something new every single day.

About 10 years ago, I turned my baking obsession into a career. I now teach other people who are brand-new to the kitchen, the way I once was. Baking can be so mystifying when youre experimenting on your own at home, as I did when I first quit my life as a pharmacist. Thats why Ive put together this book of essential tools and techniques, along with easy foolproof recipes, to get you started on your own baking pathone youll quickly come to love.

All of the recipes here are forgiving in their technique, which means youll be hard-pressed to mess them up. My hope is that as you get more experience, youll gain more confidence and, in the process, discover the joy and satisfaction of creating a delicious, decadent masterpiece out of simple ingredients.

Throughout this book, Ill teach you the basics that are often assumedthings such as why its important to use specific ingredients, like baking powder, and how to perform foundational baking techniques, like creaming. Youll learn how to make a perfectly flaky piecrust without a food processor, a delicious breakfast cookie, your friends favorite birthday cake, the pie you crave every holiday season, a hearty bread to go with your soupand even how to re-create that muffin you used to buy every morning at the coffee shop. As you read this book and try the recipes, things will connect and your baking skills will grow.

Baking has brightened my life, and I hope this book brings you the joy, happiness, and love baking offers.

You might have heard that baking is an exact science and not to be taken lightly. The truth is that baking is a joy like no other. To begin, lets discuss basic ingredients and tools, then move on to fundamental culinary definitions and troubleshooting.

Baking Versus Cooking

Both baking and cooking involve heat (direct, indirect, or both) to transform ingredients into a finished dish or treat.

Each has room for creativity, but on a very different scale. When cooking, you can swap types of proteins or veggies, increase salt, and add flavor enhancers, such as lemon juice, even if its not in the recipe, and your results will not suffer.