Author - Alice Arndell
Photographer - Murray Lloyd
Cover & internal design - Cheryl Rowe
My hat off to them all, and the publishing team at Harper Collins NZ
Hardback - $49.99
Here is the author's introduction which sums up the book and her aims in writing it:
Introduction
There is something
incredibly meaningful and touching about someone presenting you with something they’ve
made with their own hands. Whether it is a simple biscuit or the most elaborate
layer cake, everything about home baking and what it means comes down to us
showing others how much we care by putting time and effort into something that
exists only for a fleeting moment before it’s consumed by eager hands and
mouths.
These days bakers come
in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life — as television programmes like
Chelsea New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker show
us. Some live in cities with access to an amazing array of ingredients and
tools. Others, like me, live in small country towns where only basic supermarket
ingredients are to hand. Some are taught by their grandmothers or mothers,
others by recipe books and the internet.
With the recent
resurgence of home baking I want this book to celebrate what it means to be a
home baker. To show you that you don’t need fancy equipment or expensive
ingredients to make delicious food. Most of all, I want to show you that anyone
can do it, that being self-taught (like I am) isn’t an impediment to baking and
that all you need is a little time, patience, practice and the right recipe.
And once you’ve mastered the basics, the sky-high pavlova is the limit as you
begin to experiment with your own flavour combinations and recipe creations.
Each of the recipes in
this book has been developed by a home baker, in a home kitchen — the majority
using supermarket-sourced ingredients. No fancy equipment or specialty
ingredients in the cupboard; just good old-fashioned home baking at its best.
When I set out to
write this book I wanted it to be for someone like me. Someone who bakes for
their family and friends. Someone who bakes to fill the tins and satisfy a
sweet tooth. Someone who bakes to save a few pennies or make healthier choices.
Someone who bakes as a creative outlet or as an outlet for stress relief.
Someone who bakes for special occasions, bakes every day or bakes just for the fun
of it. Someone who bakes to spread a little happiness and joy. Someone who
bakes to share love. In other words, I set out to write this book for a home
baker.
I hope you relish
filling your home with the smells and tastes of delicious home baking as much
as I do.
Enjoy! Alice
The publishers have kindly let me publish a recipe from the book:
Profiteroles
with Chocolate Pastry Cream
These
are heaven on earth. Crisp choux pastry shells, amazing creamy chocolate
custard and rich
chocolate
ganache make them my favourite French pastry.
1 recipe choux pastry (see page
122)
1 recipe pastry cream (see page
114)
150 g dark chocolate, chopped
Ganache
250 g dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup cream
Makes about 30 profiteroles
1 Make choux buns
(see page 122) and set aside to cool.
2 Make pastry cream
(see page 114) and stir in chopped chocolate at the end of Step 5 (i.e. once cooked
but still in the pot). Stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to
cool.
3 Make ganache by
heating the chocolate and cream in a microwave in short bursts or in bowl over a
pot of simmering water.
4 To assemble,
place a 3 mm round piping tip in the bottom of a disposable piping bag and fill
with pastry cream. Use the piping tip to poke a small hole in the bottom of
each choux bun then fill with pastry cream. Top with ganache and serve.
Variations
Simple cream puffs can be made by
filling choux buns with sweetened whipped cream and dusting the tops with icing
sugar.
Éclairs
Make chocolate éclairs by piping
strips of choux pastry 10 cm long with a wide piping tip and baking as per the
recipe. Fill with chocolate pastry cream and top with ganache, or fill with
plain whipped cream and top with chocolate icing. Makes 20 éclairs.
© Alice in Bakingland by
Alice Arndell
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers
New Zealand - $49.99
Available from all good
bookshops.
Visit Alice online at www.aliceinbakingland.com
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