Basic recipes
Basic butter sponge cake
recipe
Makes 1 loaf tin (30 cm diameter)
250 g butter
250 g sugar
4 eggs
250 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
butter for greasing
flour for dusting
For the icing
150 g icing sugar
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
The secret to the success of a good butter sponge mixture lies in the stirring. To this end old German recipe books often used to give the instruction: "Mix for about 10 to 15 Lord's Prayers". Only then had you worked enough air into the mixture for it to then rise during baking. We have it easier in our modern kitchens. If it needs to be quick, you simply put all of the ingredients for a basic butter sponge cake in the bowl and mix for a few minutes with a hand mixer. It is the baking powder in particular that then ensures that the cake rises.
Place the softened butter in a bowl.
Using the dough hooks on your hand mixer beat until pale.
Add 2/3 of the sugar and beat until well mixed.
Separate the eggs. The bowls need to be clean and fat-free.
Stir the egg yolks into the butter mixture.
Combine the flour and the baking powder in a separate bowl.
Gradually fold the flour and baking powder into the butter mixture.
Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff. Stir 1/3 into the sponge mixture and fold in the rest.
Grease a loaf tin.
Dust the tin with flour.
Place the sponge mixture in the tin.
Smooth the surface with a spatula.
Shortly before the end of the baking time use a skewer to test whether the cake is cooked through.
Leave to cool on a cooling rack for approx. 20 minutes.
Remove the cake from the tin and leave to cool completely.
Mix together the icing sugar and the lemon juice until smooth and then pour over the cake as icing.
Basic shortcrust pastry
recipe
Makes 1 springform tin (26 cm diameter)
250 g flour
125 g butter
1 egg
65 g sugar
pinch of salt
fat for greasing the tin
if required
flour for dusting
Shortcrust pastry is quick and easy to make. The pastry's "shortness" is primarily the result of the high proportion of fat amongst the weighed ingredients as well as its quick preparation. Shortcrust pastry is ideal for thin gateau bases, for tartlets and, together with other ingredients, for both straight-forward and fancy biscuits of all kinds. Shortcrust pastry can also be made in advance. Wrapped up airtight in clingfilm it will keep for 8-10 days in the fridge.
Sieve the flour onto the working surface. Make a hollow in the centre.
Place the pieces of butter around the edge of the hollow.
Break the egg into a cup (tests whether it is fresh!)
Pour into the hollow.
Sprinkle the sugar and the salt over the edge of the flour.
Work everything through with a dough scraper until all of the flour has been worked in.
Now knead the dough together quickly and shape into a ball.
Wrap the pastry ball in clingfilm and cool for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the dough out thinly to make the base for a fruit tart.
Use the edge of the springform tin to cut out the base.
Wrap the base piece around a rolling pin.
Then roll it out onto the springform tin base.
Prick the pastry base all over to prevent bubbles forming during baking.
Fasten the rim of the tin back onto the base.
Shape the remains of the pastry into a long roll.
Line the edge of the tin with the roll and press it up the sides of the tin with your fingers.
Basic yeast dough
recipe
Makes 1 tray bake
250 ml milk
40 g yeast, 500 g flour
60 g sugar, pinch of salt
1 egg, 100 g soft butter
flour for the work surface
butter for greasing the tin
For a sugar topping
100 g butter
100 g sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Yeast dough is the basis for a great many great tasting sweet and spicy cakes. Making yeast dough is not nearly as difficult as is generally believed but it does take a little more time than other types of dough. This is mainly due to the yeast's microorganisms that need a certain amount of time to "ferment" and ultimately ensure that the dough rises. It is best to work at a temperature of about 25-30 °C.
Heat the milk gently. Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk and leave to dissolve.
Stir in a little flour to thicken and add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Cover the yeast mixture and leave to ferment for approx. 30 minutes.
Sieve the rest of the flour into a bowl.
Make a hollow in the middle with your hand.
Sprinkle the rest of the sugar and the salt over the edge of the hollow.
Break the egg into a cup and pour into the hollow.
Place the pieces of butter around the edge of the hollow.
Add the yeast mixture.
Knead all of the ingredients together by hand.
Dust the work surface with flour. Knead the dough well until bubbles form.
Shape the dough into a ball and cover with a kitchen towel or with clingfilm.
Leave the dough to rise until it has doubled in volume and then knead again.
Place the dough on a well greased baking tray and roll out flat.
For a sugar topping, brush with melted butter.
Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the surface and leave to rise again for another 10-20 minutes.
Basic whisked sponge
recipe
Makes 1 springform tin (24-26 cm diameter)
4 eggs
2 tbsp warm water
120 g sugar
pinch of salt
75 g flour
75 g cornflour
baking paper to line the tin
Whisked sponge is the finest combination of eggs, sugar and flour. It is the high proportion of eggs - the creamed egg yolks and the beaten egg whites - that make a whisked sponge so light and fluffy. One recipe dating back to 1805 called for the "yolks from 13 eggs to be beaten to a foam"! Today we are able to achieve the finest of whisked sponges using fewer eggs because, with this type of sponge in particular, it is really worth using a cake or hand mixer to beat the mixture until very light and fluffy.
Separate the eggs. Make sure that the bowl for the egg whites is clean and fat-free.
Add the warm water to the egg yolks. Beat until foamy using a hand mixer.
Gradually add 2/3 of the sugar.
Continue beating until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, gradually adding the rest of the sugar and the salt.
Carefully fold 1/3 of the whisked egg whites into the egg yolks, and then fold in the rest.
Combine the flour and the cornflour.
Sieve over the egg mixture.
Fold the flour into the egg mixture until well mixed.
For a gateau base, line the base of a springform tin with baking paper.
Place the sponge mixture in the lined tin. Smooth the surface with a spatula.
After baking place the sponge in the tin on a cooling rack to cool.
Use a sharp knife to loosen the sponge from the rim.
Open the tin and carefully lift off the springform rim.
Place a cooling rack on the still warm sponge base.
Turn the sponge upside down and remove the baking paper.
Basic puff pastry
recipe
Makes 700 g of puff pastry
250 g flour
25 g melted butter
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
125 ml water
250 g chilled butter
25 g flour
flour for the work surface
Strictly speaking, puff pastry is a kind of pasta dough with added butter. Making it is not quite as easy as the description, however. You do need a lot of time and also a bit of practice. Or else you can of course take the easy option and use ready-made puff pastry. The prerequisite for success with puff pastry is the consistency of the butter. It needs to be well-chilled before being worked into the pastry. The repeated rolling and folding results in a great many thin layers of butter between the layers of pastry. This produces the characteristic "puffing" when baked.
Place 250 g of flour in a bowl.
Add 25 g of melted butter to the flour. Mix in the butter to form crumbs.
Add the salt and the egg yolk. Gradually add the water, then mix all of the ingredients together well.
Shape the pastry into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and cool for approx. 30 minutes.
Cut the chilled butter into cubes. Sieve 25 g of flour over the cubes and knead together well.
Place the butter between two layers of clingfilm.
Roll...
