How do I blind bake a pie crust so that the top edge of the pastry does not overcook? J. Schillier

For those of you who are not up to speed on blind baking it's the process of baking the bottom of a pie, tart or flan in the oven prior to filling it. Once cooked it can then be filled with either a cold filling or a delicate egg-based custard that would otherwise become rubbery if it were baked until the pastry becomes crisp and golden. When I was working on the Phillippa's Home Baking cookbook with baker Phillippa Grogan we went through many 20 kilogram bags of flour, seemingly endlessly testing recipes. We would make pastry, then ease it into the appropriate tin, give the bottom a gentle pricking to avoid trapped air forming a bubble, then line the raw dough with baking paper. We then poured in weights to stop the pastry from rising. We found that using beans or chickpeas insulated the bottom part of the pastry, giving a firm but not golden finish. We tried weighing down the pastry with metal weights or handfuls of coins, and these conducted heat, causing the bottom of the pastry to become well cooked and golden, perfect for cold fruit flans. If you find the edges of the crust cooking too quickly then cover it with long strip of aluminium foil, just wide enough to cover the affected part of the crust, and press the foil tightly over the pastry. This will slow the cooking process.

What's the best way to measure out 300 grams of golden syrup? B. Dickson

Honey and syrup are mongrels to measure because it takes forever for the viscous liquid to drain off the spoon or measuring cup into your mix. You can lightly grease the said measuring cup or spoon with some cooking spray. Or what you could do is, when it comes time to add the golden syrup, take the bowl, saucepan or whatever receptacle it is going to end up in and place this on your scales. Now tare your scales, or in other words, set your scales back to zero. Now pour in the liquid until it reaches the desired weight. Remember that a cup of honey or golden syrup weighs considerably more than a cup of water because of all the sugar dissolved in the liquid.

I have some weisswurst that need German mustard. Where do I find it? J. Barrett

To be respectful to the sausages and their German heritage only German mustard would be correct. Head to your European grocer or butcher and look on the shelves for jars labelled senf, German for mustard as in the brand Löwensenf, pronounced loer-ven-senff. The Thomy brand of mustard is ubiquitous, now owned by Nestle, and although enjoyed by many Germans, is in fact made in Switzerland. If this fails head to thegermanshop.com.au, in Pomona, Queensland. It has a range of German foods, from gherkins to sour cherry jam for sale online.

Letters

Recently I wrote in response to a query about cooking in copper pans. I said don't, unless they are lined with stainless steel, for risk of copper overload. Mr. D. Lay, who imports the Falk brand of copper saucepans from Belgium, suggested that I had the message the wrong way around. He said that as almost all copper pans sold today are lined with high quality stainless steel, that I should have emphasised more the pleasures of cooking with copper than the risks. That's F.A.L.K. copper saucepans. Thanks D. Lay.

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