For me, it’s like cooking and baking are from two completely different planets! Yes, both processes happen in the kitchen, both involve cooking with delicious ingredients, both require particular skills… but they couldn’t be more different.

I firmly believe that you need to know some basics of cooking, but once you’re in the kitchen, it’s more about your own interpretation of a recipe. You’re free to improvise, get creative and express yourself! Pinch of that, a handful of this, season to taste…

It’s a completely different story when it comes to baking. Baking is a science! You have to be extremely precise with ingredients and processes, and above all, you have to learn the rules and follow them to the letter.

I’m sure you’ve heard the words “I don’t bake” from an excellent cook, or “I don’t like to cook” from a talented baker. There’s a reason behind that!

I’ve spent many an hour trying to understand the science behind baking- it seemed like no matter how much I learned, there were always more questions! At some point, I finally realized: RATIOS and RULES! You have to learn them.

Today I yield the floor to a superb baker and beautiful girl, Anastasia. She will be kind enough to give us many useful tips for a successful baking, just make sure to follow the rules and a you’ll always have a perfect cake! Happy baking!

Tips to remember:

Ingredients

The freshest ingredients – they are the key to a successful and delicious cake. The ingredients should be at room temperature, otherwise the cake will not rise properly. Similarly, when using cream, a low temperature could cause curdling. Sift the flour for 2-3 times to allow as much air in as possible.

Whisking the eggs

If using a mixer, whisk the eggs on medium speed – in this way, the air bubbles will not burst and you’ll have a proper sponge. If the mixture is overwhisked, the cake will be hard; if mixture is under-whisked the cake will not rise properly.

Note: please check if “hard” is the right meaning. Taut is not the correct word in this context, as it is closer to stretched or tense. I can’t understand if the cake is tense, so I took a guess that you mean it was tough or hard.

Oven

Oven should be evenly warmed up for 10 minutes before use. Do not open the oven during baking for the first 20-30 minutes at least. Opening the door too early will cause the cake to collapse.
Typically, the cake is placed on the middle shelf of an oven (no convection), with the upper and lower heating in use. Never place the tin with batter in an unheated oven. Temperature is very important; if the oven is powerful, you can prevent the top of the cake from burning by covering it with foil (mirror up). The power of oven vary heavily between models and brands, so be aware of the strength of your oven.

Don’t leave the batter in the tin for even a short time, put it in the oven as quickly as possible.

Testing the cake for doneness

It’s best to check whether a cake is done while it’s still in the oven. Do it as quickly as possible! If removed from the oven before it’s done cooking, the cake will sink in the middle. A sponge cake is ready when the sides have shrunken slightly from the tin, and spring back into place when pressed; a skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.

Cooling the cake

When your cake is ready, turn the oven off, open the door and leave the cake inside for a couple of minutes to avoid changing the temperature too quickly. Leave the cake in the tin for a few minutes, but don’t leave for too long or it will become soggy. Run a knife around the edge of the cake, cover the tin with a flat plate and invert the cake, peel off the parchment and turn the cake out. Place your cake gently onto the cooling wire rack. When the cake has cooled completely, it can be wrapped up in plastic wrap and put in the fridge or freezer.

Storing

A sponge cake without frosting will keep up to week in the fridge (wrapped in plastic). A sponge cake with cream will last for three days.

Troubleshooting

The egg and sugar mixture don’t increase in volume – the mixture is under-whisked.

The cake is not rising properly – the eggs were under-whisked or overwhisked; the mixture is overworked when flour was added; the oven wasn’t hot enough; baking powder and flour were not mixed together well enough.

Bubbles on the surface of the cake – oven wasn’t hot enough

Decorating the cake

There are endless variations of decorating cakes: cream, chocolate, berries, flowers …

Cake should be cooled completely prior to decorating.

One of the easiest and most popular frosting recipes is made with cream cheese base. First, you whisk butter (at a room temperature) and icing sugar together on a high speed. Then, you add cream cheese and mix on a medium speed until smooth. To make the layers of cream more uniform, it is better to use a pastry bag when spreading on your cake, though a spatula is still useful for the edges. If the cream seems to be too soft, put it in the fridge for five minutes. The cream can be enriched with a flavours of your choice, or it can be coloured with food colouring.

Although many people would argue that clams cultivated by modern farmers do not need to be cleaned, I simply don’t agree with that. Always be wary about where you buy your shellfish from, as cleanliness can vary from one seller to another

As a rule, the clams that we buy are already cleaned with water, but they could still contain some remaining sand and dirt. If one does not take precautions to get rid of these little intrusions, it could mean a ruined dish (at least it would for me). It takes only one speck of grit grating on the teeth and that’s it… catastrophe!

To be honest, this is exactly why I order shellfish and clams cautiously in restaurants, and at home I never set cleaning process aside. And neither should you because it’s actually so easy!

However, before you start, you should know how to properly choose clams, as we certainly don’t want to eat dead shellfish.

How to choose clams

The clams should be alive at the moment of cooking, as it might be dangerous to eat them otherwise.

Let’s be honest: there’s no way that someone would let you mess around with clams while in the shop and examine them closely. That’s why I advise you to pay attention to a few key points while at home:

• when you clean your clams and they start hitting each other, you should hear a pleasant and “heavy” sound, a little bit like marbles. If you hear an empty sound instead, that means that your clams are dead or close to being dead.
• throw away those clams with broken shells (split or cracked)
• throw away any opened clams that don’t close down while pressing
• after cooking, throw away any clams that did not open up at all

When we’ve sorted all the clams out, it’s time to clean them.

How to purge the clams

First wash them thoroughly, changing the water frequently in order to remove any grit and sand on the shells.

Then, mix ½ cup of sea salt into a big bowl of cold water and place clams in the bowl. Leave them to purge for 30 minutes or 1 hour.

After the clams have been in the water for some time, you will see and hear how they spill out the sand. If there is a lot of sand coming out you can change the water and purge them a bit longer. However, if your clams are sitting quietly, it probably means that they are clean inside.

Finally, scoop the clams out of the bowl and wash them briefly one last time.

How to store them

Before you get started with any cleaning, put the clams in a container (without water) and cover with a damp towel. Keep in the bottom section of your fridge, but keep in mind that they do not last for long.

Stock is the foundation of everything when it comes to cooking, and that’s a fact. The ability to prepare delicious stocks is a ticket to the world rich of flavours. I strongly believe that when considering cooking at home, one should get used to cooking using exclusively a homemade stock.

I know it sounds complicated, but it’s quite easy to do and, obviously, it’s worth it! You should practice making your own stocks rather than buying them from grocery shops. Forget about stocks in cubes or granules! Aside from the fact that they’re artificial and full of concentrates, they lack the richness and taste of fresh ingredients in a homemade stock.

Stocks elevate your dishes to an entirely new level. Even the simplest risotto becomes a heavenly celebration if you substitute water with rich homemade stock.

I encourage you to freezing your stock, so that you always have some on hand. Even if you are not planning to make complicated sauces, you will find stocks are useful for a number of other dishes: risotto, pasta, stews, soups and braises.

I personally choose a day when I prepare my stocks in advance. I let them cool, strain them and place them in containers of different volumes to freeze. Therefore, I always have a base for any dish at my fingertips.

There are different types of stock: white stock, brown stock, stock glace and court bouillon.

Today I want to share some important steps and tips for the preparation of any successful stock. I will also provide you with a recipe for basic fish stock, which I use very often.

• The water you add to all you ingredients in the stock should always be COLD. Don’t use hot water as it will melt the fat and muddy up the stock.
• Salt should not be added while preparing the stock, especially if you are planning to boil it down. By adding salt at this stage, you risk ruining your dish with excessively saltiness.
• Bones. The best thing you can do is to use fresh bones for your stock. For the fish stock in particular choose skeletons of white low-fat fish, as bones of fatty fish will produce a very oily stock, which doesn’t taste good. When preparing beef stock, veal bones are usually used, as they provide a richer taste than that of the beef.
• Vegetables and herbs. Carrots, celery, bay leaves, parsley and thyme – a classical mix for stocks! Don’t use starchy vegetables such as potatoes, as they will make your stock muddy.
• Boiling. Always remove the froth from the surface of your stock, as otherwise it will have an unpleasant, oily flavour.
• Dépouiller. Not everyone knows about this little trick, but you should certainly remember it. Cold water is added to the stock when it starts boiling – this helps to make it dense and to keep the froth together. Using this method can allow your stock can reach certain clarity.
• Filtering. Don’t try to press the bones and vegetable when you are filtering your stock, this will make it muddier.
• Time. The preparation time varies from 20 minutes to a couple of hours.
  • For the fish stock no more than 20 minutes are needed – otherwise the stock can become bitter.
  • Seafood: 30-40 minutes
  • Vegetable stock: 30 minutes maximum
  • White stock (veal, chicken) – around 3 hours
  • Brown stock from the chicken – around 4-5 hours
  • Brown stock from veal or beef – around 6 hours
• Reducing /Glace. After filtering your stock, you can boil it until it has reduced to a glaze and use it in dishes to increase the taste and flavours.
• Storage. Freezing is a great way to store your stocks. What you need to do is allow your stock to cool, spoon into different containers, mark them with the date and place them in the freezer. Your homemade stock can keep for up to 3 months.