Baking & Desserts: Fresh Breads, Cakes, Cookies and More
Whether it's cake, pastry or fresh bread, a home filled with the delicious aroma of baking is one of life's great joys. We'll also venture into the world of creams, custards, puddings and frozen desserts. What could be sweeter?
Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
This basic flaky pie crust recipe is perfect for making all kinds of baked pies. You can double this recipe for pies with top and bottom crusts.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is formed from the proteins in wheat flour. Gluten is developed by adding water to flour and kneading, and it's what permits baked goods to rise.
How to Make Pizza
Making your own pizza isn't hard — you just need a few basic tools like a wooden pizza peel and a pizza stone. But once you start making your own pizzas, you may find that you want to make pizzas all the time.
Basic Pizza Dough Recipe
This basic pizza dough recipe is enough to make three small pizzas, and you can prepare it using a food processor or stand mixer. It's an easy pizza dough recipe.
Flour Basics: All-Purpose Flour, Bread Flour & Cake Flour
Wheat flour is the most common flour used in baking. Learn about the difference between bread flour, cake flour and all-purpose flour.
Graham Cracker Pie Crust
This graham cracker pie crust is perfect for all kinds of unbaked pies. You can substitute chocolate graham crackers, vanilla wafers or gingersnap crumbs as a variation.
How To Make Your Own Baking Powder
You can make your own baking powder by combining baking soda with cream of tartar. Find out the exact formula for making your own baking powder.
Brown Sugar Recipe
Here's a simple recipe for making your own brown sugar. You can really taste the molasses in the brown sugar when you make it yourself this way.
Cinnamon Sugar Recipe
Cinnamon sugar is used all the time in baking, and mixing up a batch is as easy as stirring. This recipe makes 2 cups of cinnamon sugar.
How to Cut Shortening or Butter Into Flour
What does it mean when a recipe says to "cut in shortening" or "cut in butter?" This illustrated tutorial explains, and shows you exactly how to do it.
How To Make Creme Brulee
Creme Brulee is one of the most elegant desserts around and also one of the simplest recipes. This tutorial will show you how to make Creme Brulee.
How To Caramelize Crème Brûlée - Part 2
It's the marvelous caramelized sugar on top of the crème brûlée that makes it such a classic. In part two of this tutorial, you'll learn how to caramelize a crème brûlée.
Pastry Dough Recipe
Pastry dough, also called "short dough," is a light, sweet, crumbly dough used for making tarts and pies.
Simple Syrup Recipe
Simple syrup is a solution of equal parts (by weight) sugar and water. It can be used to sweeten and add moisture to cakes and other desserts. It's easy to make — they don't call it "simple" for nothing!
Easy Banana Bread
Banana bread lets you put overripe bananas, that would otherwise be destined for the garbage, to good use.
Buttermilk Corn Bread
For a delicious variation on the basic corn bread, try this buttermilk cornbread recipe.
Basic Corn Bread
This basic corn bread recipe is sweetened with honey and is a perfect accompaniment for soup or chili.
All About Butter
Butter is the most prized cooking fat because of its delicious flavor and rich, creamy mouth-feel. Learn all about butter and how to cook with it.
All About Cream
Check out this overview of several different types of cream, including my personal favorite, clotted cream.
Creme Anglaise Recipe
This creme anglaise recipe is simple to make, with only eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. Creme anglaise is a classic vanilla custard sauce.
Creme Brulee Recipe
This classic creme brulee recipe is simple to make, with only eggs, cream and sugar. Try this easy creme brulee recipe.
Baking Soda and Baking Powder: What's the Difference?
Are baking soda and baking powder the same thing? Find out what happens when you try to substitute baking soda for baking powder.
How to Make Frosting
Buttercream frosting is one of the most simple kinds of frosting for cakes or cupcakes, and it's surprisingly easy to make.