baking

Dissolve one package of dry yeast into 1/4 cup of water that is slightly cool to the touch, about 85 degrees F. Yeasti is killed at temperatures of more than 105 degrees F, so while cool water may slow proofing time, it will avoid killing the yeast.
Add one teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast. Yeast is a fungus that feeds on sugars and gluten in flour. It in turn multiplies and produces carbon dioxide as a by-product. Carbon dioxide bubbles cause dough to rise. Stiri to dissolve yeast and sugar. It will take about ten minutes until the yeast begins to bubble or foam. If it does not foam, it is not alive and should not be used.
Combine the entire proofed mixture with the liquid ingredients in your dough recipe. Remember that rich ingredients such as butter, oil, honey and even salt slow the rising action of the yeast, so be sure to allow for enough rising time when baking with these ingredients.

The flesh of spaghetti squash, when cooked, comes out like strands of cooked spaghetti and makes a great light stand-in for pasta lovers. Prepare squash by cutting in half lengthwise and removing seeds. Pierce skin several times with a fork and follow one of the cooking methods below. To bake, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a large baking pan. Bakei at 350 of for 45 minutes or until skin is tender and strands may be loosened easily with a fork. To microwave, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add ¼ cup water; cover with plastic wrap, folding back a small edge of wrap to allow steam to escape. Cook on high 7 to 10 minutes. To boil, prepare squash, and place, cut side down, in a dutch oven, add water to a depth of 2 inches.
Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until tender. Drain. Cool cooked squash. Using a fork, remove spaghetti-like strands of pulp. Discard shell.
Yield: 1 medium spaghetti squash equals about 4 cups cooked.

Steamed, microwaved or pressure-cooked pumpkin is tender and creamy. If you bake it, you will get a slightly sweet, roasted flavor as well. Baked pumpkin is best for baking because the other three methods yield a more moist puree.
After cooking, scoop the pumpkin flesh from the skin and puree in a food processor or food mill. Discard skin.
Baked Pumpkini
Cut pumpkin into chunks, or if small, cut in half. Clean out seeds and pulp. Place in a baking dish, flesh side down, with 1 inch water. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, depending on size of chunks, until tender when pierced with a knife.
Steamed Pumpkin
Cut seeded pumpkin into large chunks. Place in a steamer basket. Place over boiling water and cover. Steam about 20 to 25 minutes, until soft but not mushy when tested with a knife.
Microwaved Pumpkin
Cut seeded pumpkin into pieces that will fit in microwave. Cover each piece tightly with microwave safe plastic wrap. Place in microwave, skin side down, and cook on high until tender when tested with a knife, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on amount of pumpkin and size of microwave.
Pressure-cooked Pumpkin
Place a trivet or steamer basket in bottom of pressure cooker. Add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water and seeded pumpkin chunks. Close and lock the cooker. Bring it up to full pressure and cook about 4 minutes. Release pressure before opening cooker. If pumpkin is not tender, re-cover cooker and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.

Use a preheated pizza stone.
Don't pile on the sauce, because it makes the pizza soggy.
Add the fresh herbs, such as basil, after baking so they don't get scorched by the heat. Or put them on the pizza first, then add the cheese, so the cheese gives a layer of protection from the heat.

Spread them in a single layer in an ungreased pan. Bakei at 350ºF, stirring and checking until they are done. They are toasted when lightly browned. Bake almonds, pecans and walnuts for 7 to 12 minutes. Bake pine nuts for 5 to 7 minutes.

To substitute honey for sugar in recipes, start by substituting up to half of the sugar called for. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes.
When baking with honey, remember the following: Reducei any liquid called for by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used. Add l/2 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used. Reduce oven temperature by 25 F to prevent over-browning.
Because of its high fructose content, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. This means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.
When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding the honey. The honey will slide right out.
To retain honey's wonderfully luxuriant texture, always store it at room temperature; never in the refrigerator. If your honey becomes cloudy, don't worry. It's just crystallization, a natural process. Place your honey jar in warm water until the crystals disappear. If you're in a hurry, place it in a microwave-safe container and heat it in the microwave on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Remember, never boil or scorch honey.

When baking whole fish, wrap in aluminum foil. When fish is done, it can be lifted from the baking pan without the fish falling apart. To remove the foil, slip a spatula under the fish and slide foil out after fish is on the platter.

Dissolve one package of dry yeast into 1/4 cup of water that is slightly cool to the touch, about 85 degrees F. Yeasti is killed at temperatures of more than 105 degrees F, so while cool water may slow proofing time, it will avoid killing the yeast.
Add one teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast. Yeast is a fungus that feeds on sugars and gluten in flour. It in turn multiplies and produces carbon dioxide as a by-product. Carbon dioxide bubbles cause dough to rise. Stiri to dissolve yeast and sugar. It will take about ten minutes until the yeast begins to bubble or foam. If it does not foam, it is not alive and should not be used.
Combine the entire proofed mixture with the liquid ingredients in your dough recipe. Remember that rich ingredients such as butter, oil, honey and even salt slow the rising action of the yeast, so be sure to allow for enough rising time when baking with these ingredients.

Cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, and pizza are just a few of the things you can make with the frozen bread dough found in any supermarket. Thaw a loaf at room temperature, and when it has doubled in volume, it is ready. For cinnamon rolls, roll a loaf into a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle. Coat the dough with an even layer of cinnamon and sugar. Raisins and orange zest make a delicious addition. Roll up the dough, and cut it into 1-1/2 inch lengths. Place the rolls in a greased cake pan, and let them rise for 30 minutes. Bakei at 350 degrees until golden brown. For soft bread sticks, take a walnut-sized piece of dough and roll it with one hand until it forms a thick cord. Place both hands on the dough and roll it until the cord is 1/4 inch thick. Roll the number you need, place them on a sheet pan, and bake immediately until brown. For pizza, take a loaf and roll it out to a 1/8 inch thickness. Place it on a pan, brush with olive oil, and coat with tomato sauce and toppings. Bake at 425 degrees until done. Loaf your way through baking with frozen bread dough.

Creami puff dough, called 'choux paste,' has only four basic ingredients: water, butter, flour and eggs. Like all simple recipes, the trick is to get the preparation right. The water and butter should be cooked together fast, on moderately high heat, so that the butter melts quickly, before the water evaporates. It helps to cut the butter into pieces. The water is needed during baking — the oven heat changes it to steam that makes the pastries puff.
The next step is to add the flour and salt all at once and stir the ingredients until a cohesive mass forms and comes away from the sides of the pan. A sturdy wooden spoon is a big help because the dough will be stiff.
Some recipes suggest adding the eggs at this point, but it is better to wait a few minutes. Adding eggs to hot dough can cook them slightly and the dough won't rise well. Wait two to three minutes to let the paste cool down a bit. Then add the eggs quickly, one at a time. It might seem time-consuming, but it actually is easier to incorporate each egg than to mix them in all at once.
You can store the dough for a couple of hours. Rub the surface with butter, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. It is best to use the dough immediately, though; the pastries come out bigger, puffier and crispier.
You can make cream puffs in various sizes. Most typical are 3 inches when baked. One recipe of dough will yield about 12 to 15 pastries. As an alternative, you can form the pastry into tubes (for eclairs), or ovals (to make whimsical swans), or very small mounds of dough (that bake into profiteroles).
To puff properly, the dough needs immediate heat — preheat your oven.
Once they're baked, cream puffs sometimes deflate and soften because of uncooked dough inside. To prevent sogginess, pierce the baked puffs, then place them in the turned-off oven to dry out. Some small amount of moist, uncooked dough still might remain. It's important to slice the puffs when they're still warm and remove these portions.
After cream puffs cool, you can fill them with whipped cream, custard or ice cream. Because these fillings are moist and can soften the pastry, do not fill the puffs until you are ready to serve. You can be creative with the fillings by tucking in a few fresh raspberries or blueberries; sliced, sugared strawberries; or perhaps a bit of chopped, crystallized ginger, some crushed toasted almonds or shaved chocolate. Frostings are not needed. A sprinkle of confectioners' sugar is glamorous enough.
Changing the dough to make Gougeres is a cinch: simply add the grated cheese and herbs after you mix in the eggs. Gougeres usually are made profiterole-size. They are delightful served hot (you can reheat frozen ones in a 400-degree oven for a few minutes), but you can split them and stuff them with savory fillings such as shrimp salad or curried egg salad. These are wonderful for cocktail hors d'oeuvre.
Paris-Brest is no more than a large, continuous ring of choux pastry. The mounds bake together to form a ring cake. The top is brushed with some beaten egg to give it a shiny finish, and sprinkled with sliced almonds for extra flavor and crunchiness. When fully baked, the top of the cake is sliced off to open the inside for filling. Paris-Brest, like regular cream puffs, may be filled with pastry cream, whipped cream or ice cream, with or without the addition of fresh fruit.

Crockpot baking is very simple. The supplies needed are a crockpot (naturally) and a 1-, 2- or 3-pound coffee can. A double thickness of paper towels may be used as a cover for the can.
Most recipes require that the can or manufacturer's insert be greased with solid vegetable shortening. Cans should only be half full of batter. This will allow for rising. Heat needs to be well circulated. This is done by allowing a little space all the way around the can. If a metal rack is not available to put under the can in the crockpot, foil may be crushed to 1-inch thickness to allow for heat movement. High is the best setting for crockpot baking. Lifting the lid during baking is only allowed near end of baking time to check for doneness. Any earlier peeking will let necessary heat escape.
Use pot holders or folded paper towels to remove can or insert from crockpot. To more easily remove cake or bread from can, open bottom with can opener and push food out.

To open coconut, puncture eyes of coconut with ice pick; drain liquid. Bakei coconut at 375ºF for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Tap shell with hammer to open. Cut meat out of shell. Parei brown skin from coconut meat.

Make clean-up easy by spraying the kneading paddle of your machine with nonstick spray coating before adding ingredients and by soaking the paddle and pan in hot soapy water immediately after removing the baked bread. Use the end of the handle of a wooden spoon to remove the kneading paddle from the hot loaf of bread. When rolling out dough mixed in a machine, stop and let the bread rest about 5 minutes; then finish rolling it out. The dough is very elastic and letting it rest makes it easier to shape. To store baked bread, cool it completely; it will take several hours. Wrap it in foil or plastic wrap, or place it in a plastic bag. Store it in a cool, dry place up to 3 days. To freeze yeast bread, place bread in a freezer bag or container, or tightly wrap it in heavy foil. Freeze it up to 3 months. Breadi can be thawed in the package for 1 hour or wrapped in foil and reheated in a 300* oven about 20 minutes.