Have you ever experienced when you have all the ingredients ready to bake and you just realised that you haven’t got the right pan? Or when you just don’t have that 1 ingredient needed for the recipe?
Then these are some basic baking hacks that you may be interested to know.
1. Save burnt cookies
Don’t throw your burnt cookies into the bin! You can still save it if it is not too burnt. You use a cheese grater or microplane to shave off the burnt bits at the bottom of your cookies.
2. DIY piping bag
Don’t have a piping or pastry bag at home? You can use a ziplock bag or any plastic bag instead. Just fill your frosting to the edge of your piping bag and cut a small hole at the edge. It might not be a perfect piping bag that you get from the bakery store but it could be a good help and get the job done.
3. Use oil to measure sticky ingredients
For sticky ingredients, it is hard to measure and it is a waste that you have got the amount you wanted and the balance gets stuck onto your spoon or spatula.
What you can do is lightly oil your measuring tool before scooping honey, glucose, maple syrup, corn syrup or molasses or any other sticky ingredients and this will allow the sticky ingredients to slide right out without creating a mess and less wastage.
You can remove the oil from the ingredients by using a paper towel to lightly dap on it for it to absorb the oil.
4. Use a damp kitchen towel under your bowl while mixing batter
To keep your mixing bowl from moving all over the table while you are mixing your batter, just get a damp kitchen towel and fold it half by half and place it under your bowl. It should be like a nest for the bowl to sit snugly.
5. No rolling pin?
Fret not. Substitute with a wine bottle or a straight tall bottle. Make sure the label on the bottle is removed and residues are scraped off before using. It works just the same and you know what? You get to save your money as well.
6. Smoothen out cake frosting
Have you ever sometimes wondered how to have a smooth frosting once you have done masking your cake? After you have straightened out the frosting on the top and sides, place your offset spatula into hot water and wipe it off. While the heat is still in your offset spatula, just gently press it on the frosting to smoothen it out.
7. Converting your regular pan into a bundt pan
Use any unwanted tin cans from your kitchen and place it in the middle of your cake pan. Weigh it down by filling it with some baking beans or uncooked rice. Then pour in your cake batter and bake it as usual. This will nicely come out just like the Bundt cake pan.
8. Make homemade brown sugar
Always run out of brown sugar whenever you need to use it. But never fear, just process some sugar with molasses and you’ve got DIY brown sugar! Brown sugar is a wonderful ingredient in baking that shouldn’t be neglected. It gives a caramelised flavour and depth into recipes.
Light Brown Sugar
240g Castor Sugar
1 tsp Molasses (Treacle)
Dark Brown Sugar
240g Castor Sugar
2tsp Molasses (Treacle)
9. Fishing out eggshells from cracked eggs
Before you start working on your batter, be sure to leave your butter to room temperature beforehand to The ideal tool to remove the eggshell shards is the broken halves of the eggshell itself. The jagged edges cut through the vicious egg white, allowing you to scoop up the eggshell shards effortlessly.
10. Bringing butter to room temperature quicker
This is a quick fix to soften butter. Grate cold butter using a cheese grater. Leave it in a bowl for 10-15 mins. When butter is soft enough, you should be able to easily press it with your finger and create a dent.
11. Avoiding pie dough sticking to counter top
Ice countertop before starting to roll out pie dough. Fill up ziplock bags with ice and a little cold water and lay them on the counter for 10 – 15 mins. This is to prevent dough from sticking to counter tops. A more conventional way is to dust some flour on counter tops. There is a risk to this method of adding more gluten to the dough and hence altering the texture of the finished pie.
Did you love this information
We hope this useful information will be helpful in your baking journey.
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