Glossary of Terms

Bulking is a method to bloom powdered gelatin by whisking the gelatin together with sugar (or another dry ingredient) before mixing it into the liquid. The sugar helps separate the gelatin granules so that they remain independent while they disperse throughout the watery liquid and can hydrate thoroughly and evenly. The mixture is heated to dissolve the gelatin and then poured into dishes and chilled.

The goal of folding is to incorporate delicate, airy ingredients such as whipped cream or beaten egg whites into heavy, dense ingredients such as egg yolks, custard, or chocolate without causing deflation. The gear required for folding are a balloon whisk and a large, flexible silicone spatula.

"Soft peaks" is a stage of whipping cream or egg whites. When whipped, both egg whites and cream will steadily become more voluminous and stiffer the longer they are whipped. You can tell when soft peaks have been achieved when the beater is turned upside down and the tip of the cream droops downward back into itself.

Maceration is the act of tossing fruit with sugar and allowing it to sit in order to draw out moisture. Sugar pulls water out of cells through osmosis: it creates a higher concentration of dissolved molecules at the surface of the fruit, which in turn causes water from inside of the fruit’s cell walls to be drawn out, since water has a tendency to move from a more dilute solution to a more concentrated one. The result is fruit with less water and more concentrated flavor in a flavorful syrup.

Caramelization is the process of heating sugar at high temperatures until the water is removed and the liquid turns from clear to light or dark caramel brown color, depending on the length of cooking. Once the sugar is hot enough to begin browning, it will rapidly darken in color.

An infusion involves the steeping or soaking in water (or other liquid substance such as cream) in order to extract the flavor of what is being soaked. Custards often use an infusion of citrus zest, spices, or vanilla to take on additional flavor. In the panna cotta recipe in this class, we steep Thai basil in heavy cream to create a slightly savory infusion to flavor the dessert.