Nonstick parchment paper is a great tool to have in the kitchen. Perfect for lining cookie sheets and cake pans, parchment paper makes cleanup easy and prevents your baked goods from sticking to your pans. Parchment paper is best used on flat surfaces (such as the bottom of pans), but there are things that I bake that I like to be able to lift out of the pan for cooling, slicing and serving. These include coffee cakes, brownies and bar cookies, and when making these types of baked goods, I typically line my pans with aluminum foil and lightly grease it. I can lift the foil right out of the pan (I wrap it up, over the sides) and my baked goods don’t stick.
Reynolds Wrap has managed to combine aluminum foil and parchment paper into one product, their new Nonstick Pan Lining Paper. This paper has foil on one side and parchment on the other. The idea is that the foil allows the paper to conform to the shape of the pan – sides and all – but the parchment paper gives it a nonstick finish with no extra greasing required. This product is a little more expensive than both foil and parchment are, but I picked up a roll recently to see how it performed.
The paper feels heavy, much thicker than either plain aluminum foil or parchment paper. It pressed easily into my pans (sheet pans with shallow sides and deeper, rectangular baking dishes), wrapping into the corners and up the sides easily and staying exactly where I contoured it to my pan, although I noticed that it didn’t have quite as much flexibility as plain aluminum foil. The parchment side of the paper worked just like regular parchment, so it definitely didn’t need to be greased. Overall, I was happy with the performance, but lightly greased aluminum foil works just as well for most baking applications. I would choose this for more heavy duty baking (like lasagna, which Reynolds Wrap actually recommends) where I would think that foil alone might not hold up to the job.
Cooling racks are an important tool in a baker’s kitchen because they allow you to cool down baked goods quickly when the come out of the oven. Wire cooling racks with a grid pattern are my go-to style of cooling rack because they offer support for everything from big cakes to small cookies as they cool. The only problem with sheet-style cooling racks is that they take up a lot of counter space and when you’re making multiple batches of cookies (or have a small kitchen) that loss of counter space can be a real problem. This is where a gadget like the Baker’s 4-Tier Cooling Rack from Linden Sweden. This four tiered rack allows you to stack your sheet pans and cooling racks vertically, quadrupling your cooling space and leaving you with a wide open counter to work on.
The rack is made from powder-coated steel and it is both strong and durable. Each of the racks is more than strong enough to handle a full-sized pizza stone, so handling light aluminum cookie sheets and baking trays is no problem. The racks also adjust to different heights to accommodate pans of different sizes. In addition to saving you counter space, this rack folds up flat (stands 13 inches high when open, and folds flat to 22 x10 x 1 inch) when it is not in use, so it doesn’t take up much cabinet space, either.
When it comes to indulgence, it’s hard to beat a molten-center chocolate cake. Also known as a chocolate lava cake, these individually sized desserts typically have a liquid chocolate center that oozes out of the warm cake like hot fudge when you dig into one with a fork.
These Chocolate Cherry Lava Cakes were inspired by those cherry cordial chocolates that used to be so common in chocolate assortments. I used to love those for the burst of cherry that you would get when you bit into one and the experience is similar here – although I have to say that these are much more delicious than most of those cherry candies were!
Some molten-center chocolate cakes call for underbaking your cake batter to create a soft center. In my version of Molten Center Chocolate Cakes, I make a small ball of chocolate ganache and place it in the center of the unbaked cake. As the cake bakes, that ganache center liquifies and you end up with a completely baked cake with a soft, fudgy center. For this cherry variation, I added a splash of Kirsch (cherry brandy) to the cake batter and added some cherry preserves to the centers of the cake on top of those balls of ganache. The result is a warm cake with a slight cherry aroma and a burst of chocolate and cherry inside. Choose good quality preserves (I used Bonne Maman) that have chunks of fruit in them for the best results.
The finished cakes have a light cherry scent and a burst of chocolate and cherry inside. The Kirsch contributes to the cherry aroma, but you can easily omit it from the recipe without making any other changes if you prefer not to use it (or don’t have it). You can also make variations on this using different types of preserves, so long as you choose a fruit that goes well with chocolate!
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Marshmallows are not a treat for just everybody. The soft, fluffy pillows of sweetness are a delicious treat for those who love them, though, and nothing is more satisfying for a marshmallow-lover than to make a homemade batch of marshmallows. The first time you try homemade marshmallows, there is definitely an element of magic to it because they don’t seem like something that you’d be able to recreate easily at home! The new book Marshmallow Madness!: Dozens of Puffalicious Recipes is dedicated to the art of making homemade marshmallows. It contains dozens of recipes for dozens of different flavors – and quite a few ideas for putting all that marshmallow to good use, as well.
The fun starts when you pick up the book, because this book has a soft, puffy cover that really suits its subject matter. Once you open it, you’re greeted with bright colors and, of course, plenty of recipes. The introduction covers all of the basic ingredients you need for ‘mallow making and the basic techniques that are used in the recipes in the book. The recipes themselves are divided into several chapters: Classics (Chocolate & Vanilla), Fruity, Happy Hour (Cocktail-Inspired), Connoisseur (Gourmet Flavors, such as Maple-Bacon) and Kids Flavors. The final chapter of the book features recipes that use the marshmallows, both as drink toppings and as elements in more complex desserts, such as cupcakes and whoopie pies.
All of the recipes are very clearly written and easy to follow along with. Generally, they’re very similar, so once you are confident with one recipe, you’ll easily be able to branch out into making the others. Just about every recipe is accompanied by an inviting picture of the finished product that will definitely make you want to start “mallowing” yourself.
Once you have mastered the process of tempering chocolate, you are going to want to be able to do something with all of it. One of the simplest options for your tempered chocolate is using it to dip strawberries, homemade marshmallows or other goodies that you already have around the house that could use a layer of chocolate. The next simplest option is to make Chocolate Mendiants. Mendiants are a traditional French confection made with a disc of chocolate topped with dried fruits and nuts. They’re typically very colorful and they are so versatile that they never get boring.
Mendiants can be made with white, milk or dark chocolate and any combination of topping elements. Whole nuts, such as almonds and hazelnuts, are traditionally the “anchor” of a mendiant and other nuts and dried fruits are added for color and flavor. The key to a good mendiant is to experiment with flavors that you like, but to try to chose combinations that look as good as they taste so that the candies are visually appealing, too. Whole
You can customize the treats to your own tastes, but you’ll get the best results by mixing up a variety of colors, flavors and textures. For a little inspiration, a few of my favorite combinations include:
- Almonds, pistachios and dried apricots
- Almonds, pistachios and cacao nibs (pictured)
- Walnuts, pistachios and cranberries
- Pecans, cherries and gingersnap cookie pieces
- Macadamia nuts, dried pineapple and coconut shreds
You will want to line your work surface with parchment paper so that it is easy to move your mendiants after they have set up. I prefer to put my parchment on baking sheets, so that the mendiants are easy to move around if I need more space, but you can just as easily place the parchment sheets on a table or countertop. Make sure that your toppings are close by; the chocolate sets up quickly once it is piped and you want those toppings to be easy to reach for! I recommend piping a few circles of chocolate at a time, then adding the toppings before piping another row. The chocolate will spread slightly, but you can put these fairly close together and fit a lot of chocolates onto one sheet of parchment.
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