Sponge cake - Sponge cake is a light cake made with eggs, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with

baking powder. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance. It’s a soft,
light cake, especially one made from a batter containing eggs which have been beaten into a foamy
consistency.

Method

STEP 1 Sift the flour and baking powder three times.

STEP 2 Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Let cool.

STEP 3 Separate the egg whites and yolks. Beat egg whites until they become white and frothy. Add
sugar little by little and continue beating until sugar dissolves.

STEP 4 Next add the egg yolks and beat about 5 minutes. After that, add in the dry ingredients, melted
butter, and vanilla. Mix well using a rubber spatula.

STEP 5 Pour the sponge cake batter into an 11-inch round pan that has been greased with butter and
floured.

STEP 6 Preheat oven to 180 C degrees and bake the cake for 30 minutes.

STEP 7 The cake is ready when you can lightly press on it with your finger and it bounces back. (and also
when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.)

STEP 8 Remove the cake from the oven and let cool.

STEP 9 Serve and enjoy.

Shortbread- a crisp, rich, crumbly type of cookie made with butter, flour, and sugar.

Method

STEP 1 Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

STEP 2 Mix together the butter and sugar, either by hand or using an electric hand whisk, until pale and
smooth. Gently mix in the flour until completely incorporated (try not to work the flour too much or the
biscuits will not be so crumbly). Using your hands, squeeze the mixture together into a ball of dough.
(See tip for additional fillings.)
STEP 3 Gently roll the dough out to about 5mm/¼in thick (dust the work surface with a little flour if the
dough sticks). Cut into shapes using a biscuit cutter . Transfer the biscuits onto the baking tray and chill
in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest. (See tip for alternative method.)

STEP 4 Sprinkle each biscuit with a pinch of sugar. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until pale golden brown.

STEP 5 Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool and serve.

Meringue- an item of sweet food made by baking a mixture of stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar until
crisp.

Method

STEP 1 Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

STEP 2 Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or foil. On each, draw 10 4-inch circles.

STEP 3 Mix the sugars and set aside.

STEP 4 In a bowl or electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt.
Continue to beat, adding 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time and beating well after each addition. This will
take about 10 minutes.

STEP 5 Add the vanilla and beat at high speed until stiff and glossy.

STEP 6 Using a pastry tube fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the meringue in coils starting at the center
and continuing to the outside of each circle.

STEP 7 Bake about 1 hour, until cream colored and firm. Leave the meringues in the turned-off oven for
several hours or overnight without opening the oven door.

STEP 8 When ready to serve, carefully peel away the paper or foil.

Marzipan- a sweet, yellowish paste of ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, often colored and used to
make small cakes or confections or as an icing for larger cakes.
Method

STEP 1 Mix together the ground almonds, icing sugar and caster sugar

STEP 2 Add the egg yolk and mix well until fully combined in a smooth dough

STEP 3 Wrap in cling film and reserve in the fridge until needed, it can then be rolled or shaped as
required. The wrapped marzipan will keep for a week in the fridge, or can be frozen until ready to use

Japonaise- Japonaise is a classic pastry used in almost every pastry shop's dessert menu in central
Europe. It is basically a thin, baked nut meringue disc, most beautifully represented in the daquais. The
daquais is made up of multiple layers of the meringue, covered and filled with buttercream between the
layers.

METHOD

Step 1 Preheat oven to 120C. Line 6 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Draw an 18cm-diameter
disc on each piece of non-stick baking paper.

Step 2 Use an electric beater to whisk half the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form.
Gradually add half the caster sugar and continue beating for 2-3 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Fold in
half the almond meal until just combined. Spoon the meringue mixture among 3 prepared discs and use
the back of the spoon to smooth the surfaces. Bake in oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking,
for 1 hour or until dry and crisp. Turn oven off. Leave meringues in the oven to cool to room
temperature.

Step 3 Repeat with the remaining egg white, caster sugar and almond meal to make 3 more meringue
discs.

Step 4 Meanwhile, combine the water, brown sugar, milk and coffee in a small saucepan and stir over
low heat for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Step 5 Use an electric beater to beat butter in a medium bowl until very pale. With the motor running,
gradually pour in the coffee mixture in a thin steady stream and beat until well combined.
Step 6 Cook flaked almonds in a frying pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until toasted. Set aside
to cool.

Step 7 Reserve one-quarter of butter mixture. Place 1 meringue disc on a cake stand or serving plate.
Spread with one-fifth of the remaining butter mixture. Continue layering with the remaining meringue
discs and butter mixture, finishing with a meringue disc. Spread reserved butter mixture around the side
of the meringue stack. Arrange the flaked almonds on the side of the cake. Dust with icing sugar and top
with raspberries to serve.

Chocolate cake- Chocolate cake or chocolate gâteau is a cake flavored with melted chocolate, cocoa
powder, or both.

Method

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 in. round baking pans with vegetable pan spray.

STEP 2 In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In large microwavable bowl, melt
chocolate and butter for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. (Mixture can also be melted on top of stove
in heavy saucepan over low heat.) Stir until smooth. Transfer to large bowl; add sugar and beat with
electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture
alternately with milk; beat until well blended and smooth. Pour into prepared pans.

STEP 3 Bake 32-36 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15
minutes. Remove to cooling grid; cool completely before decorating.
Choux Pastry- Choux pastry, or pâte à choux, is a delicate pastry dough used in many pastries. It contains
only butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, it employs high moisture content to create
steam during cooking to puff the pastry.

Method

STEP 1 Gather the ingredients. Preheat your oven to 425 F (but not for beignets).

STEP 2 In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, water, sugar, salt, and butter. Heat to a boil.

STEP 3 When the mixture boils, take it off the heat and add all the flour at one time, stirring hard with a
wooden spoon to incorporate.

STEP 4 Put the pan back on, over medium heat, and keep stirring quickly. In a minute or two, the dough
will form a smooth ball and pull away from the sides of the pan and you'll see a thin film on the bottom
of the pan.

STEP 5 Now scoop the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix on low with the paddle attachment
for about a minute. This step is important because it releases some of the heat from the dough so that it
doesn't cook the eggs when you add them in the next step.

STEP 6 Increase the speed to medium, and add the eggs a little bit at a time, making sure that the egg is
fully incorporated before you add more. It's best to add about a quarter of the eggs each time and beat
until the dough comes back together. Once all the eggs are incorporated, you're ready to continue. (If
you're making gougères, you would now beat in the cheese.)

STEP 7 Pipe or spoon the dough onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. If you're piping, use
the plain 1/2-inch tip. For cream puffs or gougères, go for a mound about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. For
éclairs, pipe out ribbons about 4 inches long. It's a good idea to leave two inches in between each one.

STEP 8 Bake for 10 minutes in your 425 F oven, then lower the heat to 375 F. Continue to bake for
another 25 to 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and has a crisp shell.

STEP 9 Now turn off the oven, open the oven door and let the pastries cool for 30 minutes in the oven
with the door halfway open

STEP 10 After that, remove the pan from the oven and let the pastries cool completely before slicing or
filling.