Baking bad

Baking is science, not guesswork. The lockdown has given us wings, and we've picked up the apron to rise to the challenge. En route, we've also realised it brings some bruises and burns. But before you bin those fiascos, some of Mumbai's baking gurus share their mantras on how you can be alchemists to turn ore into culinary gold.

"It's tricky to tell when white chocolate crosses the threshold and turns yellow or brown," shares Prateek Baktiani of Ether Chocolates. "I take burnt white chocolate and heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds, remove it and give it a stir and repeat this for up to eight minutes. What you get is a beautiful caramelised blonde chocolate that tastes like dulce de leche or mawa," he adds.

Resurrect the expired

When yeast expires, mix it in milk and butter and bring it to boil. "Make sure the yeast is dead and leave it aside for one to two hours. Strain this milk and use it to make bread-flavoured ice cream," he says, adding another tip, this time for expired butter. "Butter goes bad due to the water content. Heat it in a pan and let the water evaporate. The brown butter can then be used for a couple of months," says Baktiani.

Prateek Baktiani

Chuck me not

Rachel Goenka, restaurateur-chef of The Chocolate Spoon Company, suggests not discarding anything immediately. "We often get disheartened when something goes wrong and our first instinct is to chuck it. I was experimenting with a cake recipe where I used fresh instead of desiccated coconut. It sank to the bottom and the semolina developed a crusty layer on top. The result was a baked coconut custard layer and a crunchy semolina layer in one cake. I cut off the top layer, crumbled it and made a streusel with some cinnamon," she reveals.

Cookie or cake

If your cake becomes too gooey, beat it in a mixer, add a little milk and melted butter till you get a cookie batter consistency, Goenka suggests. "Chill the batter and roll into balls and bake. The end result will be a cakey-like cookie. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on top for some crunch. If you have a semi-burnt base, which is slightly smoky, try a smoky cake batter ice cream."

Toast becomes pasta

Artisanal baker and sourdough expert Parin Mehta says, "When you begin to bake your own bread, disasters are bound to happen. Most people ask me about what to do when the bread gets burnt. If it is not as black as coal, you can salvage and repurpose a burnt boule or toast. Use the fine side of a box grater or a microplane grater to grate off the upper burnt layer," he says. If the crust turns out too crispy, turn it into a breadcrumb seasoning, also referred to as poor man's Parmesan seasoning in Italy. "Cut the crust out from your boule with a bread knife and put it into a food processor along with dried herbs and garlic powder; have this bread seasoning ready to be sprinkled over baked dishes or pasta," says Mehta.

Walnut-bread pasta sauce

Ingredients

• 250g - Spaghetti or pasta of your choice
• 40g - Salvaged bread or toast
• 100g - Walnuts
• 250 ml - Milk
• 8g - Garlic
• 40g - Olive oil
• 20g - Grated smoked cheese
• 70g - Grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for garnish
• Salt to taste

Method

Toast the walnuts on a slow flame and keep aside to cool. (Do not step away from the stove so as to make sure that the walnuts do not burn). Soak the bread in the milk for 15 minutes. Blend together the walnuts and soaked bread along with all the milk, garlic, olive oil and grated cheeses into a paste. Add pasta to boiling water with salt and cook until al dente. Keep aside 50 grams of the pasta liquid. Drain the pasta. Add the pasta and the walnut-bread paste into a pan over a low flame, quickly mix and add the pasta cooking liquid. Plate the pasta, and garnish with Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Macaron marzipan cake

Trying a macaron and failed with the batter? Goenka has a way out.

Ingredients

• 200g - Ground failed macaron shells
• 1/2 cup - Cream
• 2 - Eggs
• 1/3 cup - Vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup - Milk
• 1 cup - Flour + 2 tbsp flour
• 1.25 tsp - Baking powder
• 3 tbsp - Castor sugar
• 3-4 drops - of Rose extract

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and ents and blend till incorporated. Sieve the flour and baking powder. Add the castor sugar. In a big bowl, add tgrease a cake tin with a little oil or butter. In a blender, add the ground macaron shells and all the wet ingredihe wet ingredients and the rose extract. Add the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Transfer batter to the cake tin. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or till a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake sit in the oven for another five to 10 minutes. The middle has to cook and not be raw. Although the batter is set it may need a little more time, hence the 10-minute buffer. Cool your cake in the tin for 10 minutes before de-moulding.

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