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What are the main tools you need for baking? |
EMILY
LUCHETTI: |
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I'd say a Kitchen Aid mixer, a whisk, a spatula, a stainless steel bowl, and a work surface.
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What restaurant practices will work for the home baker? |
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EMILY
LUCHETTI:
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Make your tart dough ahead and roll it out and put it in the freezer for a couple of weeks. Whenever you do a recipe, break it down into organizational steps — this I can do ahead, this I have to do at the last minute. Like a chocolate sauce or caramel sauce, they'll last a week in the refrigerator as long as you hide them and don't eat them.
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What kind of desserts do you make at home? |
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EMILY
LUCHETTI:
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If I'm having a party at home I usually have a selection of two desserts. I often have something that is really chocolatey and rich and then something like a fruit-based dessert that is much lighter. So then people can have their pick — indulge themselves or not. I've also gotten in the habit of taking the whole dessert to the table to give people the choice (See light desserts for ideas for centerpiece desserts.)
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What's your favorite dessert for summer? |
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EMILY
LUCHETTI:
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Summer pudding is one of my favorite desserts. You cook down strawberries and raspberries until they're all liquidy and soft. Then you take bread and soak the juices in it and weight it down and let it sit overnight. The bread just gets totally soaked up with all the berry juices. It's like a berry explosion in your mouth.
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Any tips for making berry sauce? |
EMILY
LUCHETTI:
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I never make fresh berry sauces. I always use frozen berries because they work great and are also much more convenient. (Fresh) strawberries will make sauce well, but raspberries might not yield a lot of juice and they are pretty expensive.
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Can you use a low-fat option like angel food cake to make a trifle? |
EMILY
LUCHETTI: |
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Yeah, the only thing you have to be careful about when you use an angel food cake is that you don't want to soak it too long, because it's just going to get soggy and mushy and tasty pretty gross. What I would do is layer the berries and the sauce on each plate right before serving.
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Any light dessert recommendations? |
EMILY
LUCHETTI: |
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The brown sugar meringue is always a really good choice because there is no real fat in it. You do that with sorbet and strawberries. You can just about put anything you want in meringue, just because they're so neutral in flavor. Espresso, chopped orange zest, ginger, cinnamon. You can also put cocoa powder in because then that gives you some chocolate flavor without the fat.
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What's your dessert weakness? |
EMILY
LUCHETTI: |
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I would say chocolate cookies. A good chocolate cookie is just great, and ice cream, almost any kind of ice cream. |
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