Basic Baking and Cake Decorating (1 Viewer)

 

Baking Essentials – Getting Started

After speaking with a few relatives and friends recently, I realised that I need to get back to basics in order to help you the next generation of bakers on your merry way. There are lots of things around the site to help you with your venture, but I thought I would do a mini guide if you are starting from scratch. I've found that if you have a few essentials in your cupboard, then you can pick the rest up along the way, however, if you've never so much as picked up a spatula, then please...

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Custom Cakes - What am I worth?

If you're in the business of making custom cakes or you're starting out, then you may have come across people who want the earth but aren't willing to pay for it. Just remember, if you have the talent and people constantly come back for your amazing cakes, it's worth keeping in mind a few key details. As in life, you get what you pay for and sometimes, let's face it, in this industry, it isn't always the case. How many times have you done that extra few hours or made a mistake and...

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Putting 'Feet' on your Cake Boards

When making cakes, especially larger ones, you may have found it difficult to pick the cake and board up from the work surface due to the following reasons:- The size and weight of it. The cake board sits flat against the worktop. You're unable to get your fingertips underneath the board. An excellent trick to combat this is adding 'feet' to it. By this, I mean adding clear door stoppers to the base of your board before you add your cake to it. To do this, you simply peel the...

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Cake packaging and delivery survey

Hello everyone! My name is Emily and I am currently helping to develop packaging for the delivery of cakes. I am trying to find people to take part in a super quick survey which will help me to find out the main problems with packaging that is currently available. From this research we will be able to shape our designs to avoid these issues, in turn offering a more suitable, eco friendly and affordable packaging solution for bakeries and home bakers alike! Here is the link to the survey...

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What is a Tray Bake or Traybake?

A traybake in the UK is a cake or sweet treat that is baked/made in a square or rectangular tin/pan and then cut into squares or slices. Examples of traybakes are Blondies, Brownies, Tiffin, Millionaire's Shortbread and Lemon Squares etc. If you'd like the chance to have a go at making your own, then here are a few recipes and guides below to help you. Chocolate Tiffin Tutorial Rich Chocolate Brownie Cake Squares Millionaire's Shortbread

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What is a cake belt or strip?

A cake belt, cake strip, baking belt or magic strip, as it's also known, is a damp strip placed around the exterior of your tin before being placed in the oven. What do Cake Strips, Cake Belts, Baking Belts or Magic Strips do? They are used to help cakes rise evenly. How do they help with the baking process? They are used to reflect the heat, which prevents the outer edge of the cake from baking faster (thus preventing crusty edges) and help give a more even bake preventing peaks. In...

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What is a Cake Ring?

A cake ring is a tin that is made without a base. What is a cake ring used for? The cake ring is a multi-functional tin that allows you to shape, refrigerate, or bake perfectly circular desserts. They are particularly great for holding soft ingredients and can be used when making desserts, tarts, mousse cakes and ice cream cakes.

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What is Ingenious Edibles Safety Seal?

Ingenious Edibles Safety Seal is a food-safe barrier that creates a protective layer between your cakes, bakes and decorations. What is the safety seal used for? Fresh Flowers that need to be inserted or placed on top of your cake. Wires, picks and sugar flowers. It's great for the internal wired structure of cake models and toppers. It can also be used as a protective layer between different types of boards and structures. How do I use the safety seal on my cake decorations? To use...

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What is Muslin Cloth?

Muslin cloth is an ideal piece of fabric/cloth that can be used for many purposes around the home; however, when it comes to food, it can be used for straining, steaming and preserving foods. What is muslin cloth used for in food? The muslin cloth can be used to remove the whey from cheese, draining buttermilk when making homemade butter, and straining fruit and pips from jam. It is food grade safe and can be washed after use.

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What does scaling in baking mean?

What does scaling mean? Scaling in baking is when you increase or decrease a recipe to produce a different sized version of what you wish to make. Can a recipe be scaled up or down? Yes. Some recipes can be scaled up or down. What does scaling ingredients mean? Scaling ingredients is when you increase or decrease (adjust the original quantities by multiplying or dividing to calculate your new figures); thus enabling you to produce the number of servings/portion sizes you require. Can...

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What is Cream of Tartar used for?

Cream of tartar, what is it, I hear you ask? Well, although it's probably something that's been shoved to the back of your cupboard, it's worth knowing it has many uses for baking right through to cleaning. So just to give you a little insight, here are a few facts about what it is and what you can use it for. Even though its name in part is cream, it doesn't actually contain any and is, in fact, a dry powdery ingredient. Cream of tartar is an 'acid powder', so if you don't have any in...

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What is a crumb coat or dirty icing?

Have you ever heard the term crumb coat or dirty icing and wondered what earth somebody was going on about. Well, not to worry, I have you covered. And literally, that's all it is. What is a crumb coat? A crumb coat, or 'dirty icing' as it's also known, is the first thin layer of buttercream/frosting applied to your cake. This layer is used to trap all the crumbs in place, thus preventing them from spilling over into the decoration part of your cake. It is also another way of locking...

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What is the Muffin Method?

The muffin method is often used to make quick breads, some cakes and obviously, as the name suggests, muffins too! How do I use the Muffin Method? The Muffin Method is when you do the following process before baking: Method Mix all your wet ingredients together, including any melted butter, eggs, oil etc., into a bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients, i.e. sugar, salt, baking powder/soda (sifted), flour (sifted) etc., together in another bowl. Then make a 'well' in the middle of the dry...

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What is the creaming method?

The creaming method is essentially blending butter and granulated or caster sugar together and then adding additional ingredients to your mix one at a time in stages. This is an excellent baking method as it allows you to methodically go through a recipe and create your cake in stages. 1. Firstly, and most importantly, you would cream together your butter and sugar; you would do this by using a wooden spoon, a hand whisk or a kitchen aid. By mixing the butter and sugar together, you...

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