From the refrigerator
Butter
The best butters are unsalted and lightly cultured;
they’ll make your cakes moister and ensure your
cookies keep their shape. Find a brand with a
bright, fresh aroma and that you can trust to bake
with over and over again. Old or rancid butter
tastes terrible, and once it’s in your baking, the
evil cannot be undone.

Salted butter is better ON pastry (it has a higher
water content too) than IN. The best butters
have a milkfat of 80 per cent or more. Check the
nutrition panel for the fat amount per 100 g
(3½ oz). If it is 83 g per 100 g (3 oz per 3½ oz),
then the fat is 83 per cent. ‘Butter-like’ spreads or
margarine won’t always behave like butter does,
and your cakes won’t be their best baked selves.

Press-ure test Press your finger with a moderate
push (like pushing a doorbell) into the butter to
gauge the right temperature for the recipe.

Cold 1–5°C (34–41°F) no indent
Cool and pliable 12–15°C
(54–59°F)
a little indent remains
Soft and squidgy
20°C (68°F)
a deep indent remains
To soften quickly, grate it and zap in the microwave,
or slice and leave in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Clarified butter is where the butter has been
cooked gently to separate into milk solids (white
and discarded) and sunshine yellow fat (it’s a
keeper). It bakes clean and crisp and is my fat of
choice for strudels and filo-like doughs. Ghee is
similar, except the milk solids are browned.

Brown butter is the step beyond clarified butter.

It behaves differently in baked goods, so take care
not to jump in and sub brown butter in gram for
gram. And FYI, you lose one-sixth of the butter
weight after browning.

Milk, cream, mascarpone, sour cream,
crème fraîche, cream cheese AND quark
Full-fat is friend, not foe. Lite/low-fat products

can affect baking outcomes. For cream,

look for products in the magical ballpark of
35–45 per cent milkfat (check the label for
supreme dairy knowledge). Ideally, I like to use
creams without gelatine. Some ‘thickened creams’
can be 35 per cent milkfat, but when whipped can
be loose and collapse quickly (a dairy disaster
in waiting if used to fill sponges, roulades or
in toppings that need to support a decorative
topping). If all I can find is a lower percentage
cream or a runnier 35 per cent, I whip the cream
with mascarpone (approximately three parts
cream to one part mascarpone), whose high fat
content will stabilise the cream and add an extra
delicious dimension.

Mascarpone Not just for Italian bakes, and with a

fat content of 50 per cent plus, this cream/cheese
is a most flexible friend. If it’s too soft, I can whip
it to hold firm. If it’s too firm, I can slacken it with
some cream. I like having it in my fridge whenever
I bake. And, happily, it never comes in a lower fat
version. Viva Italia and their dairy goodness! For
sour cream , go full-fat (35 per cent milkfat).

Crème fraîche is higher in fat than regular sour
cream, more heat stable and has a gentler tangy
quality. I’ll always let you know which one I prefer
for a recipe, but they are often interchangeable.

Cream cheese should be the classic full-fat type
in a block, and I do love Philadelphia™ brand.
Skip the spreadable or reduced-fat types in tubs.

Quark is a soft cheese with high protein, low fat

and the most beguiling taste. It’s available at
delicatessens and some fancy supermarkets.
If unavailable, spreadable cream cheese with
a squeeze of lemon juice can step in.