Dessert recipes can be a great way to introduce kids and first-time cooks to the joys of preparing food. The gratification of being able to create an original dish or successfully follow a recipe boosts the morale especially if you see family and friends smacking their lips with gusto after finishing off your sweet masterpiece.

1. Dessert recipes can be a great way to
introduce kids and first-time cooks to the
joys of preparing food. The gratification of
being able to create an original dish or
successfully follow a recipe boosts the
morale especially if you see family and
friends smacking their lips with gusto after
finishing off your sweet masterpiece.
Just a tip for aspiring dessert chefs, baked products like cakes, pies and pastries
are precise and have to be followed to a tee compared to those that involved
poaching, simmering or boiling which can be adjusted and corrected. This is
because cake batters and pastry doughs involve the interaction of dry
ingredients usually flour or another starch, leavening agents, eggs and other
liquids to form a specific texture and outcome. Pound and chiffon cakes differ
in density due to varying proportions of ingredients. Danish and phyllo pastries
are characterized by a fine flaky crust due to many layers of dough rolled out
very thinly with butter.
A small mistake in the leavening agent; using salted butter instead of unsalted;
or using a different kind of flour can lead to a
pastry disaster which cannot be remedied.
Other mistakes to avoid include over- and
under baking; too high or too low oven and not
using a preheated oven. These will also cause
the product to fail even if your batter or dough
has been mixed well.
All these dos and don’ts shouldn’t deter
anyone to attempt a baked dessert recipe. It
would be recommended however to start with a simple dessert like brownies
and cookies rather than aspiring to make a soufflé, Danish pastry or crème
brulee. And for those who still do not want to fuss over a lot of ingredients,
there’s always instant ready to mix and bake packaged products readily
available in the supermarket. You can make it extra special by adding other
ingredients like nuts, fresh and dried fruit to make it your own creation.
For those without an oven, there’s so many recipes for non-bake cookies and
cakes that instead require a refrigerator or freezer. Gelatin and custard desserts
are easy to make as well. Fresh fruit plates which are a popular and healthy
end to any meal don’t even need a recipe.
Regardless of the complexity of the dessert recipe you want to try out,
determine first your guests’ preferences and
if all the ingredients are available. Though
substitutions are allowed, it is better to
consult an expert to find out if it will work for
a particular recipe especially a baked
product.
Making healthy desserts is a challenge for a
lot of pastry chefs and homemakers who

2. want to serve wholesome food for their customers and families. Sometimes a
simple replacement of the refined sugar with natural sweeteners is enough to
make a dessert suitable for diabetics.