Baking basics: flour, sugar and spices
Whether it's a cookie exchange at work, a gift for your neighbour or an afternoon open house, you're bound to do some baking this holiday season.
Dufflet Rosenberg, CEO of Dufflet Pastries in Toronto, shares her list of necessities for a well-stocked pantry and offers a few tips on how to tell if last year's baking staples are still useable.
Flour
Instead of relying on just one kind of flour, Rosenberg suggests buying both all-purpose flour and cake and pastry flour, which has a fine texture and a high starch content.
"Store flour in a tightly closed container, not exposed to light," she says. And while it might seem like a great deal at the time, don't buy the extra large bag just because it's on sale because Rosenberg warns that after the bag has been unsealed, flour only keeps for six to eight months.
Sugar
Fill your grocery cart with a trio of sweeteners when you're prepping for baking day.
"White, brown and icing sugar should be on hand at all times," says Rosenberg.
And while you can keep white sugar for two years, brown sugar will only last for one. But Rosenberg offers a word of caution about storing brown sugar: "It must be kept in an air-tight container or else it dries out."
Spices
There's a reason why holiday baking has a distinct aroma and that's because of holiday spices. Rosenberg declares ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, anise, cardamom and nutmeg essential spices for this time of year. But if you're pulling out a package that was buried in your pantry since last December, give it a whiff before using it.
"It's time to replace spices when they no longer have any flavour or aromatic smell," says Rosenberg. She adds, "For the cost, it's better to play it safe and replace them if you have any doubts."
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Instead of relying on just one kind of flour, Rosenberg suggests buying both all-purpose flour and cake and pastry flour, which has a fine texture and a high starch content.
"Store flour in a tightly closed container, not exposed to light," she says. And while it might seem like a great deal at the time, don't buy the extra large bag just because it's on sale because Rosenberg warns that after the bag has been unsealed, flour only keeps for six to eight months.
Sugar
Fill your grocery cart with a trio of sweeteners when you're prepping for baking day.
"White, brown and icing sugar should be on hand at all times," says Rosenberg.
And while you can keep white sugar for two years, brown sugar will only last for one. But Rosenberg offers a word of caution about storing brown sugar: "It must be kept in an air-tight container or else it dries out."
Spices
There's a reason why holiday baking has a distinct aroma and that's because of holiday spices. Rosenberg declares ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, anise, cardamom and nutmeg essential spices for this time of year. But if you're pulling out a package that was buried in your pantry since last December, give it a whiff before using it.
"It's time to replace spices when they no longer have any flavour or aromatic smell," says Rosenberg. She adds, "For the cost, it's better to play it safe and replace them if you have any doubts."
Click to continue...
Page 1 of 2
