the heat. 2. Pop the chocolate in a plastic bowl
in the microwave and heat it in 60-second zaps
at 50 per cent power, stirring occasionally until
fully melted. Warning: chocolate can burn easily
this way, and the chocolate will be unsalvageable.

You will know by the charry, acrid smell.

If the melted chocolate will be used in the base
of a cake (like in the Flourless chocolate cake,
page 159) and I’m going to add other ingredients
to the bowl later on, I’ll melt it in a large bowl over
a saucepan of gently simmering water. If it’s for
dipping (like the Mocha glim glams, page 43), I’ll
use a smaller bowl to get a deep chocolate pond.

Coffee and tea
Before you come at me with coffee snobbery,
instant coffee gives you maximum coffee flavour
with less liquid (which can disrupt your liquid
ratios). Even if you think you are extracting the
most intense ristretto, instant will always add
more oomph. If you find supermarket instant
too unfathomable, there are some fancy instant
coffees available these days.

Buy loose-leaf tea for a better quality. Bag tea

is usually a step down in nice-ness. Grind to
a powder in a spice grinder.

Coconut – dry and wet

Dry I use unsweetened flaked or fine (desiccated)

coconut for baking.

Wet Coconut milk and cream have messy

nomenclature, so read the label to assess the
liquid coconut amount and opt for those with
no stabilising gums or other additives. Choose

coconut milk where the coconut amount stated

is around 60–70 per cent. For coconut cream,

the label will state that it’s 100 per cent coconut.
That’s it. And for the Toasted coconut + kaya

tres leches (page 169), I’ll use sweetened

coconut condensed milk because it is tropical

deliciousness.

Flour
Your baking success is tied to the gluten content
of your flour, so buy wisely! Super simply … gluten
happens when the dormant proteins (glutenin and
gliadin) in dry flour meet water. The protein duo form
gluten – lovely long strands and a framework for a
dough. I like to engineer my optimal gluten level by

using a mix of bakers’ (strong/bread) flour and plain

(all-purpose) flour (Stretchy dough, page 78, and

Croiss-ain’t/faux-ssaint dough, page 87) to get a
little chew AND a little tenderness.

For cakes and sponges that need a low-gluten flour,

a SOFT plain (all-purpose) flour with 8–9 per cent

gluten will create a tender crumb. The label may
state ‘best used for biscuits and cakes and pastry’.

I swear by self-raising (self-rising) flour for

a handful of recipes – it’s super low in protein
and always bakes softer than the equivalent
combination of plain (all-purpose) flour
(95 g/3¼ oz) and baking powder (5 g/⅛ oz).

For pastry crusts and cookies, choose a

plain (all-purpose) flour with gluten around

10 per cent. This will provide a little extra
structure for crusts that need to hold a filling or a
cookie that is profusely studded with chocolate.

For most yeasted doughs, choose a bakers’ (strong/

bread) flour with gluten around 12 per cent. This

will give a perfect framework for yeast to grow,
and will also give a lovely chew to the product.

Swapsies If you ever fall a little short with a bakers’

(strong/bread) flour for a recipe, make up the
difference with some plain (all-purpose). I tend not
to apply the reverse, however, as high-gluten flour
can make cakes and biscuits tough, but a smidge
is okay.

Other flours Use cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken

custards and pie fillings. If combining with plain
(all-purpose) flour, sift them together three times
so the flours really mingle. If they don’t enter
the batter as equals, you’ll get small lumps or
a separate strata of batter. In Australia, we have
a choice between cornflour with a wheat (wheat