A rustic American dessert consisting of warmed marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers. Traditionally, the marshmallow is toasted on a skewer over a campfire before being sandwiched with the chocolate, although variations of the dessert are found on many restaurant dessert menus. The heat from the marshmallow melts the chocolate.
A classic French cookie that has a delicate, crumbly texture. Sablés can be variously flavored with additions such as almonds or lemon or orange zest. They can also be dipped in chocolate or two cookies may be sandwiched together with jam.
An artificial sweetener, thought to be 300 times sweeter than sugar. Since it contains only 1/8 calorie per teaspoon, saccharin has become popular as a sugar substitute in low-fat and diet foods, despite its somewhat bitter aftertaste. It has been connected to cancer in some laboratory tests although medical testing is still ongoing.
The most common family of yeast. See yeast.
Created in 1832 by Franz Sacher, a hotelier and restaurateur, Sachertorte remains a popular Viennese dessert. It is a layered chocolate cake, filled with apricot jam and glazed with chocolate.
A long twisted cookie made of puff pastry dough coated with nuts and sugar.
Safflower is sometimes sold as saffron. It has the same color as saffron but lacks the same flavor. The oil that is pressed from safflower seeds is colorless, odorless, and has a high smoke point that makes it ideal for deep-frying.
The dried, orange-yellow stigmas of the saffron crocus. Each flower yields only three stigmas, which must be hand-picked then carefully dried. For this reason, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. It is used to flavor and color and variety of European baked products.
An ingredient prevalent in South Pacific cooking, sago is used by some American cooks as a thickener. It is a starch made from the sago palm and processed into flour, meal, and pearl sago.
Named for the patron saint of bakers, a traditional French dessert made from a pastry base topped with a ring of caramel-dipped choux puffs. The traditional chiboust filling, made with pastry cream and uncooked beaten egg whites, has been replaced by varying combinations of whipped cream, Bavarian cream, pastry cream, and meringue in today’s renditions of the gâteau.
According to legend, Sally Lunn of Bath, England, created a slightly sweet, delicate yeast bread to be enjoyed as a tea-time snack. Sally Lunn bread migrated to United States, where it became particularly popular in the South.
From the outside, the Santa Claus melon resembles a small watermelon, but the appearance and taste of its flesh is similar to honeydew. The melon comes into season in December.
Native to Mexico and Central America, the sapote is a small fruit with a golden orange to light green color. Its creamy flesh is sweet and is described as having a taste that blends banana, peach, vanilla, and avocado flavors.
A popular dessert wine, Sauterne is made in western France from a combination of Semillon and sauvignon blanc grapes. Winemakers add a special mold to the grapes prior to the fermentation process to concentrate the grapeâs sweet flavor.
Sweet yeast cakes that are baked in ring molds, then soaked in rum syrup, and filled with pastry cream or whipped cream. They are very similar to babas but do not contain raisins.
The classic campfire dessert. Sâmores are made by toasting marshmallows over an open flame, then sandwiching them with a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers.
A traditional Austrian dessert made by alternating layers of meringue with fruit. The dessert is topped with sweetened whipped cream.
German for âwhipped cream.â “Mit schlag”âwith whipped creamâis a phrase used most commonly in Austria, where whipped cream is often used to top fruit, desserts, and coffee.
The original Scottish scone was a triangular-shaped oat bread that was cooked on a griddle. Todayâs version of the quick bread comes in various shapes and is made from a flour-based dough that is baked in the oven.
To make very small cuts on the surface of foods before baking. This is done on some breads for decorative purposes.
A small, very crunchy pear with a spicy flavor that is commonly used for baking, poaching, or canning.
A meat substitute made from gluten flour.
The manner in which melted chocolate will congeal and clump when brought into contact with even the smallest amount of moisture. The only way to correct seized chocolate is to stir a small amount of vegetable oil, cocoa butter, or clarified butter into the mixture (note that the additional fat may change the consistency of the chocolate).
An all-purpose flour to which baking powder and salt have been added. It is a convenience item that is used for biscuits and pancakes. It can be substituted for all-purpose flour in yeast breads by omitting the salt and in quick breads by omitting both baking powder and salt.
Refers to any of various chilled or partially frozen desserts including cake, ice cream, fruit and custard, or whipped cream
Chocolate to which sugar, lecithin, and vanilla has been added. By law it contains at least 15 to 35 percent chocolate liquor.
A coarsely-ground flour milled from durum wheat. It is most often used to make pasta but is also found in puddings, confections, and bread.
A fluffy cake frosting similar in taste and consistency to meringue. Egg whites, sugar, water, and vanilla are beaten steadily over hot water until stiff peaks form, usually in about seven minutes.
An extremely bitter, seedy orange that is often used to make marmalade and orange-flavored liqueurs (such as Grand Marnier, Triple Sec, and Curaçao).
The process of working yeast dough to give it its final shape and appearance before baking.
A frozen dessert made from sweetened fruit juice, flavorings, and water, sometimes with the addition of milk, egg whites, or gelatin for texture. It is descended from charbet, a sweet Middle Eastern fruit drink.
An extremely sweet pie filled with a mixture of molasses, brown sugar, water, and butter. It is thought to be a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert.
Referring to a pastry or cookie that is extremely crumbly due to its recipeâs high ratio of fat to flour.
A crisp butter cookie that was traditionally baked in decorative molds during the Christmas season. Today, shortbread is consumed year-round and is generally baked without the use of special equipment.
An American dessert consisting of a sweet biscuit layered with whipped cream and fruit. Strawberries are the traditional shortcake fruit.
To force dry ingredients through a fine mesh in order to aerate the mixture and remove large clumps from the mix.
A solution of sugar and water which has been cooked together. Heavy, medium, and light sugar syrups follow different sugar-to-water ratios and are used in dessert making for many different purposes, for instance glazing and soaking cakes, poaching fruit, and making candy.
The process when a paton of dough is rolled out and then folded in thirds.
A plum brandy from central Europe. It is slightly yellow from being aged in wooden barrels.
A European fruit commonly used in making jams and preserves and as a flavoring for liqueurs.
A traditional American dessert made by baking fruit topped with biscuit dough in the oven.
A classic early-American sugar cookie that is dusted with cinnamon sugar before baking. Snickerdoodles may also contain nutmeg, raisins, or nuts.
A foamy chilled dessert of beaten egg whites, sugar, gelatin, and flavorings.
A non-yeast bread leavened by the chemical reaction that occurs when baking soda comes into contact with an acid ingredient (for instance, and as in many recipes, buttermilk). Irish soda bread is the classic example of this type of quick bread.
A test for sugar syrup describing the point at which a drop of boiling syrup dropped in cold water separates into hard though pliable threads. This stage corresponds to between 270Ë and 290Ë F on a candy thermometer.
This crisp, puffy, deep-fried pastry resembles an air-filled pillow. The sopaipilla is thought to have originated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, more than 200 years ago. It’s a favorite Southwestern U.S. dessert, usually served with honey or syrup flavored with anise or cinnamon.
A frozen dessert made from sugar syrup and flavoring. Unlike sherbets, sorbets never contain dairy and are generally of a somewhat softer consistency.
A frozen or baked dessert famous for its lofty, towering appearance. Soufflés derive their airy consistency from the stiffly beaten egg which are added to a fruit puree base or flavored egg-based sauce. Hot soufflés are cooked in deep straight-sided dishes that allow the soufflé base to expand dramatically during baking. For a cold soufflé, a parchment collar is attached to the perimeter of the dish, so it can be filled one or two inches above the rim. The collars are removed after the dessert has set.
A tangy bread made using a fermented yeast starter.
French for “under vacuum,” this is a cooking method where food is vacuum-sealed in plastic food bags and cooked in a water bath maintained at a low steady temperature for a long time.
Two types of flour are made from soybeans. Soy flour is made from ground raw beans, and soya flour is made from ground roasted beans. They are very high in protein and low in carbohydrates.
A large melon with a green ribbed rind and sweet green flesh similar in flavor to the Crenshaw.
A fruity gelatin dessert made airy by the addition of stiffly beaten egg whites. Sponges sometimes contain whipped cream.
In breadbaking, the technique in which an initial batter made with yeast, a small amount of liquid, and some flour is mixed and left to ferment. After the sponge has risen, the rest of the ingredients are added and the dough is mixed according to the recipe. Doughs made using the sponge method tend to be more supple and dense.
A sherbet made from sugar syrup, French meringue, and fruit juice or wine. Known as spuma in Italian.
A traditional German Christmas cookie flavored with anise. A specially carved rolling pin is used to stamp designs on the doughâs surface.
A round pan with high, straight sides that expand by way of a spring or clamp and a removable bottom which allows cakes, tortes, or cheesecakes to be extricated easily from pan.
A Scandinavian butter cookie formed into various shapes using a cookie press.
An Italian dessert made by sandwiching whipped cream that has been flavored with rum, nuts, and candied fruit between two layers of ice cream. The dessert is frozen solid then sliced into individual pieces for service.
A decoration made by dipping a fork into hard-crack sugar syrup and waving it around to make a cluster of fine threads.
See carambola.
A stirred custard that uses starch, in addition to eggs, as a thickener, resulting in a more dense and stable product. Pastry cream is a common example of a starch bound custard.
A bread which is cooked in the oven over a rack of steaming water. Coffee cans, topped with tin foil, are often used to bake steamed bread although any sort of covered container will do. Boston Brown Bread is a popular example of a steamed bread.
A traditional English dessert that is cooked in the oven over a rack of steaming water. The puddings, which are often baked in a special decoratively-shaped container, are unmolded and served with a dessert sauce.
According to legend, the dish was created by the great French chef Carême for the Russian czar Alexander the First. Strawberries which have been soaked in a solution of orange juice and cointreau or curaçao are served with whipped cream.
German for âsprinkle.â A crispy topping of flour, sugar, butter, spices, and sometimes nuts, which is used to top coffeecakes, muffins, and other sweets.
A popular dessert in Germany and Austria, strudel are most often filled with fruit, though various sweet fillings may be used. The dough, which is similar to phyllo, is layered, filled, rolled, and baked until golden.
Made by layering baked meringue discs with a filling, usually ganache or buttercream. The classic succes combines a nut meringue with a praline filling.
An artificial sweetener thought to be 600 times sweeter than sugar that can be found in a variety of low-calorie baked goods.
An Israeli dessert traditionally eaten during Hanukkah, sufganiyah is a fried doughnut filled with jelly or custard and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Modern day sugar is derived mainly from sugar beets or sugar cane. In addition to adding sweetness to foods, sugar also stabilizes meringues, lends a tender consistency to cookie and tart doughs, and helps baked goods turn golden-brown in the oven. White, or granulated, sugar is the most highly refined form of sugar. See also, brown sugar, confectionerâs sugar, decorating sugar, Demerara sugar, molasses, turbinado sugar, and superfine sugar.
A sweet made by coating a small fruit, such as a candied cherry, in a layer of fondant.
A small green grape, native to Turkey, which is mainly used to make raisins.
An old-fashioned English dessert of berries and currants that are sandwiched between layers of bread. The dessert is weighted and allowed to chill for several hours before being unmolded.
A decadent frozen dessert consisting of any number of scoops of ice cream garnished with a combination of sauces, nuts, fruits, and whipped cream.
A finely granulated form of white sugar. Because it dissolves more readily, superfine is often used to make meringue. Also known in Britain as castor sugar.
A rich Swedish cake served for dessert with butter and lingonberries.
A mixture of milk and approximately 40% sugar, which is heated until 60% of the moisture evaporates. The resulting thick, sweet liquid is used mainly for confections and baked goods. See evaporated milk.
A tropical fruit, similar to the cherimoya, with a yellow-green peel and yellow, flesh. The sweet flesh has a delicate flavor but tends to be riddled with many large black seeds.
An old-fashioned English dessert made by beating milk, wine, sugar, spices, and sometimes egg whites, together until thick and airy.
Hungarian sweets that are traditionally hung on Christmas trees, “Szaloncukor” is Hungarian for “salon sugar,” or sweets for the Christmas room (szalon).