Terminology Every Baking Enthusiast Should Know

Angel Food Cake: As the name suggests, this cake is exceptionally light and fluffy. The batter is made using just flour and sugar with well beaten egg whites.

Buttercream: This is a mixture of sugar, eggs and butter that is whipped until light and fluffy and used to fill and frost cakes.

Caramel: Used for glazing, making praline paste and giving decorative touches to several desserts, caramel is basically sugar cooked to about 320-350 degrees.

Cookie Types: As versatile as they are scrumptious, cookies are categorized by the way they are formed. Molded cookies are usually cut with a cookie cutter or shaped by hand; drop cookies are dropped from a spoon directly onto the baking sheet; piped cookies are formed with a cookie gun or a pastry bad and bar cookies are baked in sheets before cutting into bars or squares.

Custard Sauce (Crème Anglaise): Also called pouring custard, this is a mixture of milk, sugar and egg yolks that is simmered until the yolks coagulate enough to thicken the custard. It is often served as an accompaniment to certain cakes and puddings as well as fruit desserts.

Dacquoise: Comprising of buttercream layered between baked nut meringues, this is a classic French cake.

Docking: This is the process of piercing pastry dough with a fork to allow the steam to escape. This prevents the dough from becoming misshapen because of internal bubbling.

Flaky Pastry: This standard American dough for pies is made by rubbing a combination of butter and shortening into flour, which is moistened with water to form the dough. Rubbing the fat in more finely results in a dough that is more mealy and less flaky.

Gateau: Gateau is French for cake

Glaze: Used to give desserts a smooth, shiny finish, glazes are made from different ingredients depending on whether they are being used for cakes, tarts or fruit pastries.

Ladyfingers: Small sponge cakes, typically 3 ½" long, lady fingers are mostly used for making Charlottes.

Lemon Curd: A rich, tart spreading cream, lemon curd is basically a cooked mixture of lemon juice with egg yolks, butter and sugar.

Meringue: This is a mixture of egg whites and sugar beaten till it forms stiff, shiny peaks.

Pastry Dough: Made with butter and shortening, this is the standard American dough for pies.

Petits Fours Secs: These are thin, delicate cookies sandwiched with praline paste or preserves.

Petit Fours Frais: These are miniature pastries that are filled with buttercream or pastry cream.

Petits Fours Glacés: These are petite iced cakes, daintily decorated and sandwiched with ganache, buttercream or preserves.

Royal Icing: A classic English icing, this is made with a mixture of egg whites and confectioner's sugar. It hardens when it dries and is often used to create filigree designs and to ice traditional English wedding cakes.

Tarts: Shallow, with straight sides, tarts are usually baked in flan forms or in pans with removable bottom and typically have only a bottom crust.

Torte: This is the Eastern European name for cake.

Anya created her daughter's amazing cupcakes herself - and she had never produced any party cake in the past! Being an ordinary cook, she had to have a recipe she could actually make, so she chose a coconut cupcake recipe which was simple and straightforward.

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