Before you start to bake, it is good to know the difference between all-purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour and self- raising flour. To make it easier you should start this by knowing a little bit about GLUTEN.

Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten helps to make bread elastic and provides it with the chewy texture when eaten, but mainly gluten keeps the gases that are realesed during fermentation in the dough so the bread is able to rise before it is baked. Gluten also firms up when it is cooked and with the help of starch, its ensure the bread maintains its proper shape.

In USA :

All-purpose flour comes in two basic forms-bleached and unbleached-that can be used interchangeably. Flour can be bleached either naturally, as it ages, or chemically.

Cake or pastry flour is a fine-textured, soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It makes particularly tender cakes and pastries.

Self-raising flour is an all-purpose flour to which baking powder and salt have been added.

Cornstarch
This is a refined starch that comes from corn. It is mostly used as a clear thickening agent for puddings, fruit sauces and Asian cooking. It is also used in combination with other flours for baking.

The choice of flours for home cooking and baking in UK

Plain Flour - also known as all-purpose. Use for shortcrust pastry, sauces and gravies where a raising agent is not required.
Self-raising - Flour to which a raising agent has been evenly mixed. Use for cakes, scones and puddings.
Soft Flour - a soft white flour which has been milled very finely to give sponges, cake and scones a higher rise and finer texture.
Strong Flour - a flour with a high protein content providing a high volume and open texture. Ideal for bread and all types of yeast cookery, Yorkshire puddings and puff pastry
Wholemeal - 100% extraction, made from the wholewheat grain with nothing added or taken away.
Brown - usually contains about 85% of the original grain. Some bran and germ have been removed.
White - usually 75% of the wheatgrain. Most of the bran and wheatgerm have been removed before milling.
Wheatgerm - white or brown flour with at least 10% added wheatgerm.
Malted wheatgrain - brown or wholemeal flour with added malted grains.
Stoneground - wholemeal flour ground in traditional way, between 2 stones. (This info is taking from "fab" Flour Advisery Bureau)http://www.fabflour.co.uk/content/1/25/types-of-flour.htm

Do you know your chocolate?

Cocoa beans are the fruit of the topical tree called Theobroma Cacao."The traditional way of manufacturing chocolate is to take the beans [from the cacao pod] and ferment them after harvesting to remove the bitterness. They are then thoroughly dried. Next they are roasted to expose the inside, which is called the nib. Various bean nibs are blended together to obtain the flavor desired and then ground up. The resulting paste, called cocoa mass is the heart and soul of chocolate's flavor. The cocoa mass is enhanced with sugar, butter, flavorings and then blended thoroughly. Today some chocolate is made [of inferior quality] where the cocoa butter is replaced with a synthetic substitute, and "conching" replaced with the addition of soy lecithin [for smoothness]. The good news is that by law, a product that is made without cocoa butter, cannot be labeled as chocolate." tells candycraft.com

Milk Chocolates contains dry milk solids or condense milk, addition to containing cocoa solids. They are much sweeter in taste.

Dark chocolates are often distinguished by the percentage of cocoa solids in the bar. It could be anywhere between the %30 to %90.It has a bitter aftertaste and they are chalky in the texture. Great for baking and melting.

White chocolate does not contain any cocoa solids, they are a confection made of milk, cocoa butter and sugar. Hard to work with when it comes to baking, and pay extra attention to not over heating during melting.
Note on storing chocolate : Chocolates can be store for up to a year if the conditions are favorable. this means a dry place with temperature 20C/68C. Place your chocolate inside an airtight container away from strong smelling foods.If your chocolate has white streaks, it means the fat comes to the surface due to higher temperature, it doesn't spoil the flavor but the appearance wont be suitable for use as a decoration.

You should check your kitchen and see what do you have to start with. I thought this list might help. XOXO

1. Cake pans, muffin pans as 12-hole standard, 12-hole mini or silicone ones.


2. Piping bag and tips.


3. Rolling pins, spatulas, brushes and palette knives.


4. Measuring tools in Cups, Tbsp, tsp and heat proof glass liquid measurer.


5. Paper and foil cupcake cases, doilies, parchment paper and zip lock bags.


6. Colorings, in liquid, gel or powder.


7. Mixing bowl & a whisk.


8. Hand blender.


9. Scale, candy thermometer and timer.


10. Cooling rack.


11. Few different size of food saver containers.


12. Cake tins, I do prefer airtight ones.


13. A good bake book, preferably with lots of pictures and step by step instructions.


14. If you going to do sugar paste work, then you might want to get few thing like cutters, leaf vernier, laces, rubber stamps and templates.


15. And of course your imagination and creativity.