About Baking Recipes When you are baking in a slow cooker, prepare the dough or batter as you would when cooking in conventional utensils; then pour the batter or place the dough in a container the right size to fit inside your slow cooker. The large cookers will take 1-, 1 1/2-, and 2- or 3-quart molds. The molds' high sides are important. The dough or batter needs space to rise under a cover. Since molds don't come equipped with covers or lids, use a plate or piece of foil to cover the mold and to keep steam from dampening the dough. A mold can sit on a Pyrex cup if you have no trivet. Some doughs and batters don't need to be protected from the steam - for instance, Plum Pudding is steamed rather than baked. Other batters are dense enough to take all the steam likely to fall on them without harm. But other batters, such as Pound Cake, should be kept away from steam. Moist cakes and tea breads come out very well in the slow cooker. And you'll find it is fun to experiment with making homemade breads of all sorts from scratch. Among the recipes that follow are some basic combinations. Use these to adapt your own favorite recipes for fruit breads, yeast breads, and buns.

Using the Timer for Baking While some baked goods turn out well cooked on Low, many of the recipes call for cooking on High for just a few hours (not 8 to 10 hours!). Mix your batter and use a timer to start the slow pot going in your absence. That lets you leave whenever you like and come back to the aroma of ready- to-eat muffins or cake. If you delay baking goods containing baking powder and baking soda, they may end up flatter than they should be. This may be because the baking powder or baking soda warmed up as soon as the ingredients were mixed and had lost its rising power by the time baking began. Keep all the ingredients cooled when you time your baking to start several hours after the batter has been mixed. If the recipes call for water in the slow cooker before baking starts, add an equivalent of ice cubes for timer-started baking. You won't get the kind of richly browned tops on goods baked in slow cookers that you get in an oven. Icing or glaze will mask that for party occasions. But in truth it's such a treat to have comfort foods without seeing the cook slaving over the stove for an hour before it is served that no one will mind much.

Don't Lift the Lid During Baking During the early part of the baking, don't lift the lid. You will let out heat and delay the baking process. When the baked goods are almost done, lift the lid and test quickly for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake or bread.

Puddings, Custards, and Compotes Some other breakfast foods from Grandmother's day are stewed dried fruits such as prunes, raisins, and apricots. These (as well as fresh fruits) can be cooked overnight in the cooker and be ready to eat when you get up. Or they can be cooked overnight and chilled all day, to provide economical and richly nutritious desserts for dinner. In many areas, electrical rates are lower at night than during the day. In these areas, overnight cooking has a double appeal: you rise to a delicious breakfast at half the price! Custards and puddings respond beautifully to the slow, gentle heat of the slow cooker. Some require covering to keep steam from the ingredients. I've included two basic rice pudding recipes that will give you an idea of what the cooker can do in this area. Caramel Custard - one of the world's favorite desserts - also turns out well in a slow cooker.

Grosset & Dunlap, Ny, c1975

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