Ingredients and Basic Recipes

The supreme magic of cake baking is the metamorphosis of relatively ordinary ingredients into exquisitely textured and flavorful visions of delight. A well-crafted recipe is essential, following the instructions advisable, but the quality of the ingredients makes the difference between good and sublime.

This section has two purposes. The first is to introduce you to my favorite ingredients and guide you to their availability. The second is to share the information I have acquired through the years of researching and working with these ingredients for a better understanding of my choices and also to enable you to experiment on your own should you so choose. There are a few products because of their incomparable quality and they are available only through food service distributors. However, most of them can be purchased in reasonably small quantities for home use.