5 Must-Have Baking Products

Having the best tools is important if you want to bake beautiful bread of pastries. We have compiled a list of excellent tools that are useful for both master bakers and home baking beginners.

1. Alfi Bread Scorer: The patented ALFI® Bread Scorer is an outstanding baker’s tool that effortlessly and consistently ensures the proper rising of dough in the oven. Unlike its predecessor (an inconsistent and relatively pricey tool called a “lame”), the Alfi bread scorer requires minimal training, guesswork or learning-curve, and eliminates costly, time-consuming errors. The Alfi bread scorer is NSF approved and used in artisan bakeries and large bakery chains all over the world for optimal baking efficiency. It is the most effective, economical and effortless scoring solution for baking. The Scorer is ergonomically designed with a drag-free blade that minimizes dragging or pulling. If you want to get the perfect score every time, the Alfi bread scorer is the tool for you.
2. Demarle Silpat® Non-Stick Baking Mat (Half-Size): Stop burning the bottom of your bread and cookies – try a Demarle Silpat® baking mat. This incredible, non-stick baking-mat can be found in the best kitchens in the world. The mat is used by both bakers and chefs alike. The durable Silpat® baking mat can be reused thousands of times. Use this baking mat and make the best cookies ever.
3. Long Lasting Pastry Bag by MartellatoA pastry bag is one of the most versatile tools known to bakers. This high quality pastry bag is a must-have for every serious home baker. Martellato’s innovative, reusable, and resistant pastry bag gives this product outstanding flexibility and softness that is second to none. This superflex pastry bag has a smooth internal surface that results in easy emission of creams, mousse, or even culinary uses (such as creamy whipped potatoes). Martellato also offers an external rough surface that allows the baker to get a better grip on the bag. This product is high quality and guarantees the highest hygienic safety. Try out Martellato long-lasting pastry bags today and see why everyone is raving about them!
4. Demarle Siltray® (Baguette Tray): These flexible Baguette Trays are especially effective for proofing and baking frozen dough. Their particular structure prevents the dough from sticking into the fibers during defrosting and proofing. Their flutes keep their shape over time, allowing for perfectly rounded baguettes. The Siltray® is coated with multiple layers of high quality red and black silicone. This ensures that the baguette tray lasts longer and creates better results.
5. Demarle Flexipan 4 oz Muffin Tray, 24 Molds: Who doesn’t love muffins? This Demarle Flexipan muffin tray has an elegant shape that produces an impeccably uniform muffin. Please even the pickiest muffin-critics out there with this perfect muffin pan. These molds are made with the highest quality and produce the best muffins. With 24 muffin molds, you will be able to make plenty of friends with your exquisite muffin-making abilities

Roasted Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Ravioli with sage brown-butter (from scratch)

Ingredients:

Pasta Dough:

4 Cups AP Flour

4 ea. Large Eggs + 1 extra egg yolk

½ Tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ Tsp. Water (if needed)

Filling:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 ea. Butternut squash, halved and seeded

2 ea. yellow onions, small dice

2 oz. amaretto cookie crumbs, fine

½ cup Parmigiano reggiano, finely grated

4 sprigs, fresh rosemary

Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to Taste

Sage Brown-Butter Sauce

1 stick unsalted butter, cubed

3 oz. Fresh sage leaves

¼ finely grated Parmigiano reggiano

Kosher Salt, to Taste

Egg Wash:

2 eggs, beaten

Methods:

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Filling:

1.    Brush insides of butternut squash halves with 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil.

2.   Season the insides of butternut squash halves liberally with kosher salt and sparingly with freshly ground black pepper. Place a sprig of rosemary on each butternut squash half.

3.   Place all halves on an oven sheet tray, flesh side up, and roast in a 375 Degree oven for 35-45 min, or until tender. Allow squash to cool and scoop out flesh.

4.   While squash is roasting, heat canola oil in a hot pan. add diced onions into the hot pan. Season with salt, and cook the onions until they are dark brown and caramelized.

5.   In a large bowl, combine scooped butternut squash, grated Parmigiano reggiano, caramelized onions, and amaretto cookie crumbs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Mix well.

Pasta Dough:

1.    Place Eggs, flour, and extra virgin olive oil into an electric mixing bowl and turn on low speed for 1 minute.

2.   Increase to medium speed and add water, if necessary, in order to allow flour and eggs to combine and form pasta dough. Continue to mix dough for an additional 4 min until pasta dough becomes somewhat elastic.

3.   Round the dough with your hands and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for 35 min. at room temperature.

Sage Brown-Butter Sauce:

1.    Add butter and sage to a small sauce pan.

2.   Turn heat to medium-low and allow butter to cook until lightly brown specks form at the bottom of the pan and the butter develops a strong nutty aroma.

3.   Immediately take off the heat as to prevent butter from burning. Discard sage.

Assembly:

1.    On a floured surface, roll the pasta dough out as thinly as possible (preferably with a pasta rolling machine).

2.   Cut the pasta sheet into two equal-sized pieces and brush one of the pieces fully with egg-wash.

3.   Using a tablespoon, scoop out equal amounts of filling onto the pasta sheet that has been brushed with egg-wash. Space filling-mounds roughly 2 inches apart from each other and fully cover this sheet with the second pasta sheet.

4.   Use your fingers to press the second pasta sheet over the egg-washed one to release any air bubble around the filling and to seal the sheets together.

5.   Cut into ravioli using a ravioli cutter and transfer to a floured sheet tray.

6.   Cook Ravioli’s in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes, and with a slotted spoon transfer them to the pan with the brown butter sauce on med-low heat just to reheat the sauce.

7.    Serve with flaky slices of Parmigiano reggiano and enjoy!

Tools for Recipe:

Alfi Sveico Cheese Slicer  (for garnishing with cheese)

All-Clad 3 Quart Colander (to drain ravioli)

All Clad 4 QT Stainless Steel Sauté Pan (for brown butter sauce)

How to Make Branzino

Whole Roasted Branzino with Lemon, Garlic and Fennel

An elegant, healthy and timeless dish fit for a Mediterranean emperor. Making roasted Loup de Mer or Branzino will surely make you feel as if you have traveled to Provence, France, or the Amalfi Coast of Italy for a day! This classic combination of fennel with the delicately sweet and flaky Loup de Mer makes for a glorious culinary experience. Enjoy this amazingly delicious dish with a glass of white wine from Santorini Greece, or a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley of France.

Ingredients:

2-3 Whole cleaned Branzino fish (about 1 pound each)

2 Lemons, Sliced 1/4 inch thick, horizontally.

1 Bulb of Fennel, Sliced 1/4 inch, horizontally

5 Sprigs of Thyme or Rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, sliced 1/8 inch

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Method:

1. Dry the Fish on both sides with a paper towel.

2. Season each side of the fish with salt and pepper. Season the inside as well.

3. Place 3-4 Lemon Slices, sprigs of thyme, garlic slices inside each Branzino

4. Drizzle a liberal amount of Extra Virgin Olive Oil on both sides of each Branzino

5. Place the Fish in an oiled Roasting Pan (again, preferably olive oil) and scatter the sliced fennel around the fish.

6.  Place Roasting Pan into a 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, or until cooked through.

Poached Pears in Riesling

Poaching Pears is a truly elegant preparation that is sure to impress any guest. Our favorite pear variety to poach is the Bosc pear, due to its remarkable aroma and ability to hold its shape after cooking. Spices such as cinnamon and vanilla complement the flavor of this wonderful dish. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

- 3 Bosc Pears, peeled and cored.

- 4 Cups of German Riesling Wine

- 1 Cup of Sugar

- 2 Sticks of Cinnamon

- 1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise

Method:

1.     In a 2 QT All-Clad Stainless Steel Sauce Pan with Lid, stir together Riesling, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla bean. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

2.      Place Pears in Liquid, cover the pan with lid, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer pears for about 20 minutes, or until a thinly-bladed knife inserted into the pears meets with little resistance.

3.     Allow the pears to cool in their poaching liquid for about 30 minutes.

4.     To serve, place 1 pear in each of 4 bowls, and spoon over some of the strained poaching liquid.

Caramelized Onion Curry Shrimp

This is a dish that has become a perennial favorite of ours as it is simply bursting with sweet, sour, and salty notes as well as a superbly refreshing aroma and complexity, stemming from the deeply caramelized onions, garlic, and ginger, to the chopped cilantro and lime juice that is added once the dish is complete. Basmati rice would perfectly complement this succulent shrimp dish as would a nice chilled glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or Alsatian Gewürztraminer. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. deveined shrimp

2 lb. Sliced Yellow Onion

6 ea. Garlic Cloves (Minced)

1 oz. Ginger (Minced)

1 cup, dry white wine

4 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

2 Tbsp. Curry Powder

2-3 each, Cardamom Pods.

3 each, Dried Cloves

2 oz. Cilantro (Roughly Chopped)

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Fresh Lime Juice, to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a hot pan on med-high heat. Once pan is hot, add onion until it starts to brown. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add minced ginger and garlic, cardamom, cloves, and curry powder, and cook this mixture on med-low heat until onions become fully caramelized with a deep brown color.

3.  Once onions are fully caramelized, add white wine, return heat to medium-high, and allow the wine to reduce by half.

4. Season shrimp with salt and pepper on both sides and then add to pan. Cover with lid and allow shrimp to simmer in the sauce until they are fully cooked.

5. Add lime juice to taste, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve!

Alfi launches the new Cal.Design initiative with local artists

Alfi International Inc. is a manufacturer and a distributor of cutlery, bakeware and fine household goods is proud to announce its new Cal.Design initiative. With the Cal.Design initiative, Alfi aims to collaborate with local Southern California artists on designing and creating new high-end baker’s blades and gadgets. Baker’s blade, also called “Lame” (pronounced lahm) is a great kitchen tool and a must-have for anyone who is into artisan baking. It is widely used by bakers for slashing the bread dough prior to baking. This slashing, also called scoring of the bread allows the bread to rise properly.  Just like the popular Alfi baker’s blades line, we believe that we will continue to create products of the highest performance, quality and value.

Alfi Bread Scorer

The idea behind collaborating with the Southern California artists came about due to the high number of talented individuals the company was encountering so close to its Conejo Valley headquarters. “We are lucky in Southern California to have a deep talent pool of the most creative minds in the world, with cutting edge design skills that are equally vital for digitally animating blockbuster films, sending lander missions to Mars, creating the next generation fighter jet, drafting the sleekest architecture in the world, or even the next high-performance artisan baker’s tool. Our proximity to these talent pools and industries is a priceless asset.” says Adam Alfi, a general manager at the company.