Preparation Style
Preparation Style
Take your base ingredient, whether it's fruit, milk, or chocolate; add sugar; mix well; and chill or cook briefly as needed. Most simple desserts require only a few steps.
For quick desserts, leave the stove and oven behind with no-cook, no-bake prep that involves mixing, layering, and chilling ingredients until firm.
Baking, steaming, no-bake chilling, frying, or stovetop simmering are popular methods. Each is appropriate to different kinds of desserts depending on texture, richness, and time or equipment available.
Whipped cream for mousses and frostings, cream folded into batters for moisture, and cream as a base for ganache: cream adds richness, airiness and a smooth mouthfeel to desserts.
Homemade desserts are particularly suited to no-bake, no-cook preparation because it requires the least amount of equipment and skill and is most accessible to beginning cooks working in a typical home kitchen.
For beginners, no-bake desserts such as fudge, truffles, or easy puddings are generally the best choice, as they are more forgiving of minor timing mistakes than more delicate baked goods that need precision.
You will need the basic kitchen tools: mixing bowls, a whisk, a heavy-bottomed pan or hand mixer, measuring cups, a heavy-bottomed pan, and either a refrigerator or oven, depending on what method of preparation you choose.
In general, no-bake, no-cook preparation is the fastest. Desserts like truffles or fudge only need to be melted, mixed, and chilled instead of being baked or steamed for a long time.
Not really. Many desserts—fudge, truffles, and no-bake cheesecakes—only require a mixing bowl, hob, and refrigerator.
Frying and baking are generally best for the crispiest textures, as dry heat will draw out the moisture efficiently, while no-bake or steamed methods tend to yield softer, moister dessert textures.