Baking Radio: Chef Gail Sokol's Baking Podcast

Everyone wants to be a great baker. A continuation of Chef Gail’s season 1 show, Getting Organized on Your Journey to Baking, learn the five easiest yet crucial hacks to becoming the best baker that you can be.

After a quick review of the process of fermentation and how yeasted doughs rise, Chef Gail shares her favorite Cinnamon Roll recipe. Learn how to make this easy and satisfying yeast bread and never go back to store bought cinnamon rolls again!

Learn the origins of the Black and White cookie, what they are and what you are missing if you have never eaten one. Chef Gail trusts you with her most special recipe giving you tips for success to get the most outrageous Black and White yet!

After a quick review of the first 3 parts of her Sourdough Series, Chef Gail will walk you through one of her favorite sourdough recipes using the wild sourdough starter that you created from Part 3. Learn how to create one of her best recipes for Olive, Onion and Sweet Pepper Sourdough Focaccia.

Learn how to create your own homemade sourdough starter. Chef Gail will teach you how to be patient and with some tender loving care watch as you grow your starter to have for years to come to bake the most incredible bread.

Discover the difference between sourdoughs and other preferments. Chef Gail discusses the science behind the symbiotic relationship that wild yeast can have with the natural bacteria present in the starter. Learn what bacteria contributes to the entire process of sourdough starters, and how their presence contributes to the ultimate flavor of any bread made with them.

Delve into the world of preferments, and learn the difference between a sponge and a sourdough. Chef Gail discusses why sourdough breads taste so much more flavorful than straight doughs.  She explores why they are worth the trouble to create and nurture into a loaf of incredible bread.

With so many people these days following different diets and eliminating certain foods, creating delectable baked goods for all to enjoy can be a challenge for even the most talented baker. Following up from her season 1 show on How to Lighten Things Up, Chef Gail discusses her preference for a sugar substitute, erythritol, that works quite well in most baking recipes.

Learn how to make the proper substitutions in a favorite recipe to create a scrumptious baked good that even your friends that are on special diets can eat. Chef Gail shares a recipe from her book “Baking with Success” for her warm individual Molten Chocolate Cake recipe which she transforms into a gluten free and sugar free masterpiece for all to enjoy.

In season 1, Chef Gail did a show on the various types of Sponge Cakes that rely on the air that is beaten into eggs to leaven them. On today’s show she discusses a special type of sponge cake known as The Genoise. No need to separate eggs for this sponge cake, but you will learn what it means to form a “ribbon” as the batter is being prepared. Chef Gail shares her special Hazelnut Genoise recipe from her first book, “About Professional Baking”.

In part 6, the last of her cookie series, and the last show of season one, Chef Gail shares all of her best cookie making secrets to ensure that your cookies come out just the way you like them. From preparing your pans properly, to using the correct mixing tools, you can’t help but elevate your cookie baking game.            

In part 5 of her series, Chef Gail wraps up her discussion of the eight types of cookies with the final two types: the piped cookie and finally the wafer cookie. Piped cookie doughs are soft enough to be piped through a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip to form cookies of various shapes. A recipe for buttery, Vanilla Strip Cookies is given. The last type of cookie is the wafer cookie which has the special quality of being able to be shaped into anything you wish. This type of cookie comes out of the oven quite malleable, and then firm up as it cools, to become the thinnest and crispiest of all the cookie types. Chef Gail gives her special Polka-Dotted Pirouette Cookie recipe.

In part 4 of her series, Chef Gail delves into sheet cookies and the rolled cookie. Sheet cookies are one of the easiest to prepare in quantity with a simple, looser batter that is poured into a sheet pan. Sheet cookies can even be dressed up with frostings and glazes to elevate them to the next level. They are then cut out into squares or other shapes. Rolled cookie dough is chilled, and then rolled out with a rolling pin, and shaped into whatever you wish using cookie cutters or a knife. Another two yummy recipes are given that include: Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies and Chocolate Sugar Cookies

In part 3 of her series Chef Gail discusses the molded cookie and the bar cookie. These next two types of cookies are really hands-on, as the dough is rolled and shaped. These are great cookies to make with the kids as well or find your inner child. A Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookie recipe, and a nutty Almond Biscotti recipe are given.

In part 2 of her series Chef Gail delves head on into the cookie jar further exploring the first two types of cookies, the drop cookie and the refrigerator cookie! Cookies also follow one of three mixing methods. The mixing methods for cookies are not always clear cut as they are for cakes. Two fabulous cookie recipes are shared.

We all love cookies! There are millions of recipes for cookies of all types. There are so many varieties of cookies, so how do you get a handle on which is which? Cookies are categorized based on how they are placed onto a sheet pan. Chef Gail explores each of the eight categories in detail, giving away her favorite recipes throughout the series.

We all love baked goods, and when they are homemade they are that much more special. Homemade implies that someone cared enough to make them for us. There are times when we may wish to lighten up our homemade baked goods. Learn how to substitute key ingredients with healthier options to create a baked good that is just as delicious as the original.    

Mangos are one of the most flavorful and colorful tropical fruits you can find. Learn about the mangos’ origin and its’ healthy nutritional profile. Chef Gail will teach you how to choose the best mango for your needs, and how to cut it up safely. She shares a wonderful, fruity dessert using the mango.

So many people love brownies. Discover that Chef Gail is a diehard brownie lover as well, and always on the look-out for the perfect brownie recipe. She will give you one of her favorite fudge brownie recipes, and then give you four incredible variations. Learn how to change flavors and dress up the simple little brownie.  

After plating and decorating your beautiful dessert with sauces and/or powdered sugar, learn how to elevate your creation to a multi-dimensional experience using the thinnest of cookies known as wafer cookies or tuiles. Tuile is the French word for “roof tile”. Add texture and crunch to the plate by learning how to make a simple wafer cookie that is most versatile in how it can be shaped, and then placed on top of your dessert.