ZoëBakes Academy Archives

Essential Baking Ingredients: Uses, Tips, Substitutions & More

November 27, 2023November 27, 2023 Zoë François 9 Comments

Zoë François reaching into her kitchen pantry

There are so many magical moments in baking, it’s one of the things I love about being a pastry chef. I went to culinary school to learn the techniques of baking, but I also wanted a better understanding of why cakes rise, what makes cookies spread and how to fix a failed recipe. As a cookbook author and teacher, I want to bring out the joy, love, and art of making food with fun recipes that are delicious and beautiful. There is also some basic food science at the heart of these recipes. The reason baking ingredients and measurements matter so much is that slight changes in either can affect the outcome of a recipe. The results are dependent on the quality and types of baking ingredients and the chemistry of mixing them together.

FAQ: Baking Equipment

January 19, 2022January 31, 2022 Zoë François 77 Comments

Host Zoe Francois introducing her quick breads and muffins as seen on Magnolia Workshop: Quick breads & Muffins with Zoe Francois.

For National Baking Month I asked on Instagram for your baking questions. When I got hundreds of responses, I decided to make this a series of posts on my site. So far we’ve discussed Pies + Pie Crust, Cakes + Decorating, Meringue, Bread Baking, vegan desserts and now Baking Equipment. If you have any questions I haven’t answered, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to get to every comment that I can!

FAQ: Pie & Pie Crust

January 19, 2022November 19, 2023 Zoë François 3 Comments

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie | ZoeBakes by Zoe Francois — Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Thank you to everyone to who sent me baking questions on Instagram. There were hundreds of questions, so I’ve compiled a few posts to answer as much of them as I can. This one focuses on questions about pie and crust and there are also posts answering FAQs about Baking Homemade Bread, Cake Baking and Decorating, Meringue, vegan desserts, Pies and Pie Crust and Equipment. If you have additional questions about pie or pie crust, please leave me a comment and I’ll get to as many of them as I can!

I also have a guide to making pie crust for you to check out! And get all my favorite pie making equipment here. There are also three episodes of my TV show on pie. Check them out on discovery+, HBO Max and Magnolia Network!

Now to the pies…

FAQ: Meringue

January 16, 2022January 31, 2022 Zoë François 7 Comments

Spiky Lemon Meringue Pie — Lemon-Honey Meringue Pie

Thank you to everyone to sent me baking questions on Instagram this week. There were hundreds of questions, so I’m compiling a few posts to answer as much of them as I can. This one focuses on questions about meringue and there are also posts about Baking Homemade Bread, Cake Baking and Decorating and Pies and Pie Crust, Vegan Desserts, Equipment, and more.

Find my answers and related recipes below:

FAQ: Cake Baking & Decorating 101

January 15, 2022July 24, 2023 Zoë François 9 Comments

Devil's food cake with peanut butter buttercream filling being coated in Swiss meringue buttercream — Devil’s Food Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream Filling

Thank you to everyone who sent me baking questions on Instagram! I received hundreds of questions, so I decided to compile them into a few blog posts to cover the various topics. In addition to this cake baking 101, you’ll find a post with FAQs about baking homemade bread, FAQs about meringue, vegan desserts, pie and pie crust, and baking equipment.

FAQ: Baking Homemade Bread

January 12, 2022March 27, 2022 Zoë François 36 Comments

No-knead homemade bread using the Bread in Five Method

Thank you to everyone to sent me baking questions on Instagram this week. There were hundreds of questions, so I’m compiling a few posts to answer as much of them as I can. This one focuses on questions about baking homemade bread and there are also posts about Cake Baking and Decorating, Meringue, Pie + Pie Crust, Vegan Desserts, Equipment and more.