heavy cream (hev-ee kreem) noun

Also heavy whipping cream. The richest of the readily available creams called for in baking and dessert-making, with fat content between 36% and 40%.

It is the level of fat that distinguishes one cream from another – such as light cream vs. heavy cream – and also how rich that cream is. The higher the butterfat content, the richer the cream. Heavy cream whips well due to its high fat content, which is why you cannot whip light cream or half and half.

Bakepedia Tips

Manufacturing cream is actually the heaviest cream with over 40% fat, but it is usually only available through commercial food-service channels. If you see it and want a very stable whipped cream, by all means try it out.

Most heavy cream that you will find in the supermarket dairy case will be ultra-pasteurized. This means that it has been exposed to high heat very briefly, which kills off microorganisms and therefore extends shelf-life. To some palates, it can taste “cooked” and it can also affect its ability to whip. If you have ever had trouble whipping heavy cream, this could be the culprit. Try to find heavy cream labeled simply as pasteurized (not ultra-) and see if it whips more easily for you and if you prefer its flavor. It is getting easier and easier to find pasteurized cream, often locally produced, at markets such as Whole Foods and farmer’s markets.

_{Image: Dédé Wilson}

hermit [hur-mit] noun

Soft, chewy, spicy cookies that contain raisins or currants. Sometimes baked as a round drop cookie, they are also occasionally baked in large flat pieces and then cut into rectangular shapes.

They can be unadorned or sometimes iced with a simple confectioners’ sugar glaze. Some old-fashioned recipes feature shortening or lard for the fat; others, especially more modern versions, recommend butter. The first printed recipe for a hermit cookie appeared in 1880 in cookbooks originating in New England and upstate New York. The rectangular shape seems to have originated with commercially prepared hermits. There is also debate as to whether the original cookies used white sugar or brown, molasses makes appearances in some versions as well. As for spices, cinnamon is almost always included, but many recipes add cloves, nutmeg and/or mace as well.

hand-formed cookie [hand fawrmd koo k-ee] noun

A cookie that has been formed by hand as opposed to being formed with a scoop or spoon. Squares, balls, and crescents are some common hand-formed cookie shapes and are typically produced by rolling the cookie dough between the palms and/or fingertips.

Bakepedia Tips

No tools are needed, so even very young children can help make hand-formed cookies. Dough can become sticky when it warms up and since hands radiate heat, it is a good idea to chill dough before working with it and to rinse your hands (or the little ones’ hands) in cold water every so often.