Basic Baking and Cake Decorating (4 Viewers)

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 the cupboard (and it's required in your recipe), you can substitute a little lemon juice (which is also an acid) instead. If you use about an ⅛ of a teaspoon of it per egg white when foaming, it will hold the shape, keep the structure and prevent...

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 moisture into your cake, ready for covering with icing/fondant or additional coatings of buttercream/frosting. Tip: When you have applied your 'crumb coat' to your cake and remove the excess with your palette knife/offset spatula or cake scraper...

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 ingredients bowl, and pour the wet ingredients into it. Very lightly fold them together using a spatula until the batter is moistened all over, it will still be lumpy, and it's supposed to be. Then bake immediately. If you lightly mix the wet with the...

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 create air pockets; these pockets of air become trapped when the butter surrounds the sugar crystals and creates natural aeration in your mix without using a raising agent. The more you whisk at this stage, the more air you trap, the lighter your...

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 see below. Baking Essentials: What you'll need to get started. 1. Digital Scales or Manual Scales - You'll need a set of either one of these to weigh out all of your ingredients. 2. Electric Whisk - I still after many years of baking use an...

What is a baking phrase? A baking phrase is a word or prompt that will subtly sit in your recipe, guide or tutorial. It is a small instruction that is placed to help you achieve the best bakes. Some will be familiar to you, some will be self-explanatory and some of them you may not be too sure of. So to avoid any confusion, I have put together a list of words and phrases that can be found throughout a whole host of recipes. Using the checklist below, you should now be able to read your recipes with ease, decipher the jargon and just get on with the best bit, which is the baking! Baking Terms and Phrases Blitz Placing food/ingredients into a food processor and blitzing them until they are small pieces or crumbs. Bash This...

Confectioners glaze is an edible varnish that can be painted onto sugar flowers, models and decorations to give them a shiny, high gloss finish. Although the glaze appears brown in colour, it does actually dry clear. How to use: To get the best results always apply using a paintbrush and ensure that you have a protective cover on your work surface for any spillage. If you do use paintbrushes either use very cheap disposable ones or if not then please see the following tip: How to remove confectioners glaze from brushes? Rub some washing up liquid into the bristles before you try and wash out the glaze. If you don't, the glaze will not remove from the bristles properly, and this can potentially ruin your brushes. Warning Never...

How do you get rid of the big chunks of butter and flour in your scone mix? An easy way to remove the big chunks of butter and flour that have clumped together in your scone mix is to shake the bowl. The larger pieces rise to the top when you shake it making it easier for you to find. Once they appear, rub them between your thumb and fingertips to turn them back into smaller breadcrumb pieces. https://www.helpmebake.com/threads/english-cherry-scones-recipe-and-tutorial.90/ Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Biscuits can go soggy when storing for some of the following reasons. If your biscuits contain fruits such as apricots or glacé cherries, they will also contain moisture, once sealed in a tin the moisture from the fruit seeps into the biscuit causing it to go soft. Ensure cookies and biscuits are cold when placing in a tin if you put your biscuits away too soon after baking they may still contain heat, thus converting to moisture and making another soggy biscuit. Never mix cake and cookies in the same tin, the moisture from the cake transfers to the cookies/biscuits causing them to go soft so always keep them separate. Freshly baked biscuits are always best served on the day of baking, however, if you do have to store them at...

As you are aware straws, come in an array of shapes and sizes whether it be straight ones, whirly ones, clear ones, stripey ones and now even the environmentally friendly paper ones to choose from. So you'll be pleased to know that as well as being an excellent drinking tool, they also come in handy for lots of different cake decorating techniques too. Here are five easy cake decorating techniques using straws: 1. By using different sizes of straws, you can make scale impressions for dragons, frogs, fish and other creatures by lightly pressing them into the fondant icing. 2. If you push the straw directly into icing fondant, it becomes a mini circle cutter. 3. By holding the straw at an angle, you can make different kinds...

Knowing the difference between baking chocolate and regular chocolate. The difference is that baking chocolate is usually bitter in taste and does not have any additional sweeteners in it whereas regular/normal chocolate does. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Writing on Cakes Its not as hard as made out. There are rules of thumb ,which if you follow, will make it much easier. 1. First do it with a marker pen, a lack of good handwriting is irrelevant, my handwriting is terrible with a pen. Break the words into steps, theres no need to write the whole word in one go. Practice the most common word first ...HAPPY. Practice the H and only the H. Do 10 x H's before moving on, make sure you've got it down. Its the anchor that will encourage you to get the rest of the word right. 2. Its unproductive to go for the easy way out and use plastic bags and steel tips, the day you get a lump that clogs the tip you'll know why. If a paper cone gets clogged you can simply squeeze it clear and move on...

I couldn't post a pic so I made a 2 minute vid demonstrating the features. It came from an old french pastry chef who died, his son gave me his box of tools.