Basic Baking and Cake Decorating (5 Viewers)

If you find yourself looking at a recipe and you're not quite sure what the UK or US equivalent is then please find listed below a good helping of ingredients, utensils and products on both sides of the pond for each of you. UK Ingredients US Ingredients Baking Tray Baking Sheet Bicarbonate of Soda Baking Soda Bread Flour Strong Flour Caster Sugar Superfine Sugar Clingfilm Plastic/Saran Wrap Cornflour Cornstarch Coarse Salt Sea Salt Double Cream Heavy Cream Digestive Biscuits Graham Crackers Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa Solid Bitter Sweet Chocolate Golden Syrup Corn Syrup Granulated Sugar White Sugar Jam Jelly Pine Nuts Pine Kernels Plain Flour All-Purpose Flour Plain Chocolate 50% Solid Semi-Sweet...

To check if your cake has fully baked, try these. Skewer - Insert a skewer or a cocktail stick into the centre of your baked goods if it comes out clean with no gooey cake mix on it then it's done. Visually - Sponge cakes will go a golden brown colour when they are baked. Touch - If a cake has fully baked it will spring back. Test this by lightly pushing your finger against the sponge, the indent you have made will spring back and disappear, confirming that the cake is done. For a cracked top cake such as a Madeira, you will be able to hear a soft sizzling noise if you push against the top this can also be another indicator that the cake is done. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

A great way to ensure that you bake a good cake is to do the following: Oven Always always, always yes, that's three times always pre-heat your oven before baking. Thus ensuring that your creations will bake in a tempered environment, giving you the best results. Tins or Pans Only use quality tins, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for, and with tins, this is a must. To create the perfect cake, you will need to invest in at least one good tin as cheap tins can warp in the oven causing odd shapes of cake, and degraded tins can start to shed their coating and cause havoc with your bakes. Lining or Greasing Line or grease your cake tin/pan - To prevent your cake from welding to the tin while baking, there are a few things you...

The one great thing that we all know and love is that when we eat cake we want it to be mouth-wateringly good, fluffy but most of all moist. A cake can look out of this world, but if you cut into it and it's dry, then it's like all your hard-earned efforts have gone done the pan. So to combat this problem I've decided to put together a few things to help ensure that your cakes turn out divine. First things first... Ingredients Always make sure that your scales are working correctly, your ingredients are fresh, and you are using the correct quantities. Baking is not like the Chef from the Muppets; you can't just ersh de birsh your way through it. There is an exact science to it, and if you start faffing about with the measurements...

Sometimes when you are trying to cover a cake they can have a tendency to slide, this may be why. Reasons Answers By putting too much filling in the centre of your cake. To prevent this place a good amount of jam/jelly on the cake but not to the edges. Press down on the top layer, and the jam will then spread out to the sides of the cake. This should prevent the use of too much filling and stop the sliding. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Here are a few reasons as to why cakes peak in the oven. Reasons Answers Oven temp is too high. Invest in an oven thermometer to ensure the correct temp is used. Too much raising agent has been added to the mixture. Use measuring spoons to ensure correct quantities. Cakes placed too near the top of the oven. Place cakes/bakes on the middle shelf for even baking. Tin too small. Ensure the tin is sufficient to hold all the batter and will rise properly. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Cakes can often become heavy and dense for some of the following reasons. Reasons Solutions This can occur if there is insufficient creaming. Always whisk butter and sugar until it goes pale in colour. Overbeating your batter/mixture Mix little and often in quick bursts. Out of date raising agent. Check the date and the quantities used. Folding in flour too quickly. Lightly and softly fold the flour into the mix using a spoon. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and Tools Recipes and Guides Tutorials

To help you understand why your cake has sunk in the middle, please see some of the below options. Reasons: Out-of-date/wet ingredients such as flour or incorrect quantities. Opening the oven door too soon. Oven temperature is incorrect. Overbeating your mixture, adds too much air and can also cause your cake to sink or collapse. Answers: Check ingredients fully, ensuring your flour isn't wet, your products appear fresh, and your scales are fine. Never open the oven door as soon as you have put the cake in; always leave it in for a good deal of time before checking on it. Invest in an oven thermometer so you can ensure correct temperatures. Mix little and often in quick spurts. Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Hints, Tips and...

When we are baking, we're sometimes unsure whether there is too much or too little flavour in our bakes, so in order to combat that here is a quick method showing you how to check your baking flavours before the big bake! Method: 1 Prepare your batter and add the amount of flavouring you require. 2 Stir into your batter. 3 Take a teaspoon and scoop out some of the batter and place it into a baking/cupcake case. 4 You only require a small amount, like so. 5 Place the case into the microwave. 6 Cook on full power for approximately 30 seconds. 7 Once this has done, remove the case from the microwave and see if the batter has baked. (If it is still gooey, bake for another 10 seconds if required). 8 Ensuring that the...

If you're not into sifting or sugar shaking, then try making your very own cornflour pouch. They're so quick and easy anyone can do it! Here's the mini-tutorial version:- Firstly you will need the following items to start:- A pack of disposable nappy (diaper) liners. Rubber Bands Icing Sugar/Confectioners Sugar Cornflour/Cornstarch Take two nappy/diaper liners. Place them on a mat. Unfold them and lay them in a cross position one on top of the other. Place some cornflour/cornstarch in the centre of the liners. Scoop up the liners. Gather them in the centre and place the rubber band around them to hold them in place. Fix the rubber band tightly around the liners. Then dab it onto the silicone mat which gives a...

The 'rubbing in' method is where you mix fats (such as butter, margarine or trex/lard) into flour using the tips of your fingers. This technique is used for making scones, crumbles and shortcrust pastry. 1. Take the butter and flour from the bowl using your fingertips and lightly rub them together and sprinkle the ingredients back into the bowl. 2. The higher you sprinkle the ingredients, the more air you will incorporate into the mix. 3. Once you have thoroughly combined the two ingredients, it should then resemble breadcrumbs. Related Posts All In One Method Creaming Method Reverse Creaming Method Melting Method

When baking you will find that some recipes call for softened butter to be used in their ingredients. Please be aware that softened butter and melted butter are entirely different things and should not be confused as one of the same. Softened butter, is butter that has been taken directly from the fridge and left to rise to room temperature on its own, this type of ingredient can be used in buttercream as the icing sugar absorbs straight into the butter and milk giving you a creamy filling for your cakes. Melted butter, on the other hand, is either melted in the microwave or a pan and usually mixed with other ingredients to give a coating or used as an adhesive to bind mixtures together. As melted butter is warm and liquid, it...

The melting method is weighed out ingredients such as fats and sugars that are melted together in a saucepan (hence the name melting method), once melted or dissolved they are then mixed together with dry ingredients such as flours or oats etc. to make your required cake or bake. Recipes such as Ginger Cake or Flapjacks call for the melting method to be used. These general types of cakes or bakes are made from high quantities of treacle, golden syrup or honey etc. Always measure very carefully with these types of bakes as they can end up being dense or sink in the middle if wrongly measured. A good rule of thumb is always use warmed measuring spoons if you require tablespoons of ingredients as the liquid will roll off the spoon much...