A-Z

     This DICTIONARY is based mostly on book: 'The Pastry Chef's Companion' G.Rinsky, L.Halpin Rinsky and several others, Wikipedia and a little bit on my personal experience. Its purpose is to explain difficult and unusual terms you might not be familiar with. It is also a place where you can find all sorts of information about pastry, baking, desserts etc. But it will be gradually completed while I will be baking my way through a world of pastry.

A

• Acetate - A clear, flexible plastic often used in chocolate work and mousse cakes. Usually in a form of strips or sheets.
• Almond flour - Finely ground blanched almonds. I use ground almonds instead.
• Almond paste - a soft paste made from ground almonds, sugar and glycerin. It is used in frangipane, macaroons, marzipan. In Britain almond paste is known as marzipan.
•  Amaretto - an almond - flavored liqueur from Italy. 
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 B

• Bain Marie - French name for double boiler use to promote slow, even indirect heat to prevent overcooking or a metal container that holds food over hot water. Known also as water bath.
• Bavarois - The French word for Bavarian cream. It is a chilled custard dessert of crème anglaise, flavouring, whipped cream and gelatine. Usually filled into the mould, chilled until firm and then turned out onto the serving plate.
• Blanching - cooking in a boiling water for very short period of time. In pastry blanching is mostly used to remove skin from nuts.
• Blind bake - baking a tart shell before filling it. 'Blind baking beans' are used to put weight on a dough to prevent it from rising. First dough, then parchment paper then the beans.

C

• Cake pan - A metal or silicone baking pan designed for baking cakes. They come in various sizes and shapes.
• Cake ring - A stainless steel, bottomless ring used to bake and mold cakes. I use it majority of times for mousse cakes, it enables me to assemble cake in sections and also leaves the edges very smooth and even. It ranges in diameter and height.
• Cremeux - French for creamy - is a soft, dense, classic pudding.  Something like custard pudding. Usually creme anglaise is used to make it. It can be made in various of flavors, usung chocolate or fruit purees.
• Caramel - A stage of cooked sugar that ranges in color from golden to deep brown as temperature increases (160C - 175C). There are 2 methods to make caramel: wet - mixes water with sugar and sometimes little bit of acid, dry method - uses no sugar and cooks sugar directly in a pan. Caramel hardens as it cools down and it's widely used in pastry for coating, flavoring, making praline, brittle, decorations and of course as a base for caramel sauce.
• Cocoa butter - the natural fat present in the cacao bean. It is extracted during chocolate manufacturing process. It may be used to thin melted chocolate or after adding color to paint decorations. 
• Compote - fruits slowly cooked in sugar syrup which helps to retain their shape. A liqueur, zest or spice can be added. Used as a filling or topping in desserts.

D
E

• Entremet - a classic French composed dessert. It has several components like mousse, cremeux, cake and most likely something crunchy. It can be hot, cold or frozen.

F

• Fold in - to gentle combine light, airy ingredients into heavier ingredients with intention of loosing as little air as possible.

• Frangipane - an almond cream used as a filling for pastries or baked as a cake.

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G 

• Genoise - a French sponge cake made with whole eggs and sugar that are warmed and whipped before the flour and melted butter being added. What gives volume to a cake is a incorporation of air. It is used as a base for many classic cakes or example Buche De Noel or roulades. Unlike the other sponge cakes , whole eggs are used instead of egg whites and yolks separately.

• Gold leafa micro thin sheet of 22-karat edible gold. It is very expensive and difficult to work with because its sticky. You have to use tweezers or brush to leave it on a product. It makes a really nice garnish though.

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L

• Ladyfingers A delicate individual sponge cake that resembles a fat finger. They are also known as biscuit de savoie and are used in the preparation of trifles, tiramisu and charlottes.

M 

• Mousseline cream - a silky combination of pastry cream and butter

N
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P

• Parfait - An American dessert of ice cream layered with syrup or fruits and topped with whipped cream, nuts. Traditionally served in parfait glass (tall and narrow). From French though it means 'perfect' and  referes to a still-frozen dessert made by folding whipped cream into flavoured pate-a-bombe mixture. It has a light, airy texture, typically it is molded.

• Pastry bag - a cone shaped bag, wide at the top and a small opening at the bottom. A huge variety of tips can be inserted into the bottom of the bag and used to pipe creams, light doughs etc. onto surface. The bags are available in different sizes and materials. I use plastic disposable ones.
• Pastry flour -  it is milled from soft winter wheat and has protein content of 8 to 9%. Protein content  related to how much gluten can be formed. Gluten helps creating structure and determine texture in baked goods. Flour with low protein content will generate less gluten and flours with high protein will create more. To get light and airy structure of cakes, you want a flour with very little protein content.

• Praline - a mixture of caramelized almonds or hazelnuts is poured onto the flat non sticky surface or a caramelized sugar is poured over the nuts also on the flat surface. After cooling it down its blended to the desired consistency.

Q
R
S 

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• Silicon mat aka Silpat - non stick baking sheet made of food grade silicon and fibreglass. It is a must have for every baker. It is great for working with sticky materials such as caramel or gooey batters. Nothing sticks to it!
• Soft peak - is a consistency of a whipped cream or eggs. When beaters of the mixers are lifted up, the product should form soft peaks.
• Stock syrup - also known as sugar syrups, simple syrups. It is a basic sugar and water solution made by stirring granulated sugar into hot water until dissolved.

T    

• Terrine - A sweet or savoury food prepared in a mold, also called terrine. Sweet terrines may be made from Bavarian creams, mousses or ice creams.

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W  

• Whipped cream - cream that has been whipped to incorporate air and change the consistency from a liquid to a solid or semi-solid state. The cream must contain minimum 30% butterfat. Use immediately.

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