THE 7 life-saving ingredients you absolutely need in your pantry!
Have you ever spent a lot of hours on your computer, looking for nothing, just wandering? When you find the perfect recipe, then you immediately become hungry and decide to go for it.
So you go to your kitchen, begin to prepare everything, and unfortunately, you miss this essential pastry ingredient you absolutely need for this recipe… So frustrating!
Of course, you could go to the shop near your house, but it’s probably closed! Trust me; it always happens when you can’t go.
To avoid this situation, you will find below my 7 essential ingredients you always need to have in your pantry.
Here we start !
The first one of the essential pastry ingredients is the basic you need whether, when cooking or baking : Eggs.
You need to always have at least 6 eggs in your fridge. The most important thing (which is used for each ingredient) is the quality of your product.
So please, use the best quality: Free-range hens’ eggs.
Concerning the size, I always use medium UK size and large US size.
I know that some of you will be completely sick with some recipes when you realize the amount of butter we use in France. Please don’t worry !
First, because you won’t eat the entire cake on your own (normally you don’t, and even if you do, who cares ?). Second, because “fat is life”, as we say in French. It is what brings the amazing flavors of our pastries.
I will use butter in most of my recipes and I love it. Sorry but not sorry! If you are only looking for “healthy pastry”, this is not my thing. My mantra is “If you really enjoy it, you won’t gain weight,”.
In fact, if you want this slice of chocolate cake, go for it because, in any case, you will finally eat it (and maybe the 3 or 4 things before, because you thought it was healthier).
Now you understand why “butter is life”, so please always keep 250g (2 sticks) at least of butter in your fridge. Most of the time we will use it unsalted, so it is the one I recommend you to buy.
I know that some of you will be completely sick with some recipes when you realize the amount of butter we use in France. Please don’t worry !
First, because you won’t eat the entire cake on your own (normally you don’t, and even if you do, who cares ?). Second, because “fat is life”, as we say in French. It is what brings the amazing flavors of our pastries.
I will use butter in most of my recipes and I love it. Sorry but not sorry! If you are only looking for “healthy pastry”, this is not my thing. My mantra is “If you really enjoy it, you won’t gain weight,”.
In fact, if you want this slice of chocolate cake, go for it because, in any case, you will finally eat it (and maybe the 3 or 4 things before, because you thought it was healthier).
Now you understand why “butter is life”, so please always keep 250g (2 sticks) at least of butter in your fridge. Most of the time we will use it unsalted, so it is the one I recommend you to buy.
If you eat “gluten-free”, I’m sorry, but in most of my recipes, you will find flour! Of course, some recipes are naturally gluten-free, and I will be more than happy to share them with you!
I recommend you to have at least one bag of flour in your pantry. It is also great to have some corn flour which we will use for some recipes.
Concerning other kinds of flours like rice, chestnut, … I only buy them if I need them for a specific recipe.
This sweet little heart will bring joy in your mouth and your body: SUGAR! I am the first one who doesn’t love when a recipe is too sweet, so don’t worry, I won’t put a lot of it without any reason in my recipes. I try to do my best to find the right balance in my recipes 😉
The most common is regular sugar, the white one. It is the one I will use the most. However, I think it could be great to also have some brown sugar as some basic recipes use it (like for baking cookies).
So, if you have to choose, these 2 are the most basic ones. If you have some additional space in your pantry, I also advise you to have some icing sugar.
For the other types of sugar, as they’re not as commonly used as regular sugar, I only buy them when I need them for a specific recipe. For example, I am not a big fan of honey. So, I don’t have some in my pantry, but you could, according to your habits, if you like to add some honey for breakfast, for example.
This sweet little heart will bring joy in your mouth and your body: SUGAR! I am the first one who doesn’t love when a recipe is too sweet, so don’t worry, I won’t put a lot of it without any reason in my recipes. I try to do my best to find the right balance in my recipes 😉
The most common is regular sugar, the white one. It is the one I will use the most. However, I think it could be great to also have some brown sugar as some basic recipes use it (like for baking cookies).
So, if you have to choose, these 2 are the most basic ones. If you have some additional space in your pantry, I also advise you to have some icing sugar.
For the other types of sugar, as they’re not as commonly used as regular sugar, I only buy them when I need them for a specific recipe. For example, I am not a big fan of honey. So, I don’t have some in my pantry, but you could, according to your habits, if you like to add some honey for breakfast, for example.
The fifth ingredient (but the number one of the essential pastry ingredients for me): Chocolate! How could you not have it in your pantry? Please be honest with me.
For baking, the one I use the most is dark chocolate with 60% of cocoa minimum. You absolutely need to have at least one bar of dark chocolate. Do you need me to convince you? Let me tell you 3 words: Fondant au chocolat. If you don’t know the best recipe ever, please click here for your own sake.
For the other kind of chocolates, to be honest, I don’t always have them in my pantry as I do not use them frequently. But if you want to, you could also have one bar of milk chocolate and white chocolate.
Finally, you will ask me, “Charlotte, do I need chocolate chips ?” if you have some, fine. If you don’t, no problem, you have regular chocolate you can chop with a knife. For me, it’s not an essential ingredient, and I rarely buy it. Chopped chocolate gives a “homemade style” to a recipe which I like a lot.
You have 2 different types of baking powder:
The dry one is named “baking powder”. You should always have it in your pantry as it can be stored for a long time.
The “yeast”, which is the fresh one and need to be stored in your fridge. The storage time is shorter as it’s a living organism, so only buy it when you plan to bake a specific recipe like croissants or brioches.
You have 2 different types of baking powder:
The dry one is named “baking powder”. You should always have it in your pantry as it can be stored for a long time.
The “yeast”, which is the fresh one and need to be stored in your fridge. The storage time is shorter as it’s a living organism, so only buy it when you plan to bake a specific recipe like croissants or brioches.
I’m not used to drinking milk in my daily life. But as I sometimes need some for my recipes, I try to always have at least a bottle of milk.
Most of the time, my recipes will include cow milk. I always choose semi-skimmed milk, except if I need a different one in the recipe. For example, in the rice pudding, in which I prefer to use skimmed milk to have a creamy texture.
With all these ingredients in your pantry, you are now more than ready to begin baking! You will just need to choose your first recipe and start 😉
If you find this post useful, don’t hesitate to save this pin below to your Pastry Tips board to check this post later. You will probably need it next time you will plan to refill your pantry, so always be sure to have these essential pastry ingredients at home like a real Chef!
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