Learn useful methods and simple techniques to make desserts and baked goods in this free online cooking course.

Knowing how to bake and make desserts will open you to a vast category of dishes: hot and cold puddings, cakes, biscuits, breads and pastry are all covered in this course that has been specially designed for beginners who want a theoretical grounding the methods and techniques of baking and creating desserts. Learn how fruits, dairy, chocolate and sugar can be combined to make dishes that are traditionally eaten at the end of a main meal or between meals for celebrations or a snack. See how hot and cold desserts differ, and how setting agents are used. Different types of pastry, usually the responsibility of specialist pastry chefs in restaurants, are covered, including how to handle this delicate ingredient. A good knowledge of pastry will allow you to stretch your menus as they are used not only for desserts but also for canapes, starters and mains courses. Any competent cook must be familiar with core pastry recipes and techniques.

Biscuits, cakes and sponges encompass all things sweet and baked. They have many applications but are most commonly used as the basis for sweet desserts or as accompaniments to an afternoon tea. Learn what the word ‘biscuit’ is derived from and why they used to literally be baked twice – and why we only bake them once today. Find out which two categories most biscuits fall into, and what the exceptions are. Like desserts, cakes also form a huge category of their own. You will learn about everything from heavy fruit-based bakes to light, airy sponges. Next, you will find out why different methods of combining ingredients, like creaming, rubbing