Hints, Tips and Tools (6 Viewers)

Store eggs point side DOWN! Eggs on the bottom of a bowl of water are FAB to use! Eggs that stand up on the bottom of a jug of water are good. Eggs that are floating are rubbish and should not be used.

Frozen or Cold Ingredients - Frozen butter, cold ingredients and cold bowls are a key factor in making the perfect pastry. People often place their mixing bowl in the freezer prior to making pastry to ensure that it is created in the coldest environment possible. (That's if it will fit).:D Others have been known to chill the flour and freeze the butter before use. Mixing by Hand - If you are mixing by hand then ensure your hands are cold before rubbing the ingredients together. Run them under cold water and pat them dry before beginning. Always use your fingertips when 'rubbing in' as your palms are the warmest part of your hands and can cause sticking. Try to limit the amount of handling you do when binding the ingredients together...

Do you find that your butter sticks to the knife when you are cutting it into cubes? If so, there is a little trick you can do to prevent this, simply sprinkle a little flour onto the butter, and this will prevent it from sticking to the knife, thus making your cubing process much easier. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

How do you stop your freshly baked cake from sticking to your plate or serving platter? Simple....all you need to do is lightly dust the plate or serving platter with icing or confectioners sugar before you place your cake on the plate. This acts as a buffer between the cake and the plate and prevents your cake from sticky and making a sticky cake mess. 1. Lightly dust the plate with icing sugar (confectioners sugar USA). 2. Place your cake on the plate, slice into pieces, the cake will not stick to the plate as the icing or confectioners sugar will act as a buffer between the plate and cake. 3. This is what the plate looks like after all the slices have been taken. There maybe a few crumbs but no stuck cake. Hints, Tips...

If you fancy having a go at airbrushing and you're not quite sure of your skillset, then there is a helpful way of mastering your skills before touching a cake. To help you work out how far you need to spray from and to learn how good you are at controlling the airbrush, all you have to do is practice using a colouring book. By airbrushing the pictures, you can master the skills and learn to stay inside the lines. In turn, this will help build your confidence before trying it out on an actual cake. At least with the book, if you do it wrong, you can always start again until you get it right. This golden nugget of information was courtesy of Dawn from Dinky Doodle, she is a master with the airbrush and has created some...

Some people think the best way to remove excess icing sugar is to wet it; it will disappear; however, it will leave you with a sticky finish. The easiest ways to get rid of it is by doing one of the following, here are my two top tips of removing the dreaded icing sugar dust! The first way is by using a cake steamer; this gadget lightly steams your creations removing excess icing sugar effortlessly, it will also give your cake creations a lovely shiny finish. You can buy these cake steamers from cake shops and also online at Amazon UK and Amazon US. The cheaper option is to use a dry paintbrush, simply dust over the excess icing as you go and it will vanish in seconds. Soft paint brushes can be purchased from any craft store or...

If you wish to make a loaf cake last longer (well, depending on who's eating it) and stay fresher and moist, then try out this neat trick. If you slice your cake from the centre outwards, you can push both ends of the cake back to the middle, thus allowing you to keep in all the freshness and moisture. If you slice the cake from the ends, you expose the cake to the elements, and it will dry out faster, whereas when you slice from the centre, it won't. https://www.helpmebake.com/threads/how-to-make-a-banana-loaf-tutorial.575/#post-8234 Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If your recipe requires you to measure out sticky ingredients such as syrup, honey, treacle (molasses) then remember this neat little trick. To help you remove your ingredients easily, simply spray your tub, jug or scales with a non-stick spray prior to weighing, and all your gooey ingredients will slide out easily. No scraping, tapping or banging, just easy pour liquid! Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Help I've left my eggs in the fridge and I need them for my cake in a minute! Now we've all done it and we all know that eggs work much better at room temperature, this is because at room temperature the egg helps bind your mixture together more effectively and produces better baking results when in the oven. So if you have just realised your eggs are nicely chilling in the fridge there are two things you can do about it. 1. Remove them from the fridge and leave them out on the side for approximately 30-60 minutes to allow them to warm naturally to room temperature. or.... 2. Another way is to speed up the warming process. This can be done by placing the eggs into a bowl of very warm water (not boiling or scalding) and let them...

In order to achieve perfect slices of brownies, biscuits or tray bakes, you will need to do the following.... 1. Place a large knife under your hot water tap and allow the water to warm the blade. 2. Once the water has heated the blade turn off the tap and then dry the blade carefully using kitchen towel. 3. Now fully dried and heated the knife can then be used to slice your traybakes, biscuits and brownies easily. Tip: Please be very careful when slicing. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If you are looking for a great place to store your cake at room temperature then look no further than your own kitchen. So in the summer or spring months when you’ve made the lovely dessert and you want to keep it safe from dust and flies and little fingers then simply place your cake in the microwave until you require it for eating. It is clean, cool airtight and will leave your cake wonderfully fresh until you need it! Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If you are making rainbow cupcakes and use white muffin/cupcake cases for your batter your colour will bleed through slightly and be visible through the cases. In order to prevent this from happening or to keep the rainbow cupcake as an added surprise either bake your rainbow cupcakes in silver or gold foil cases or place your pre-baked cupcakes with the white cases into additional foil cases to hide the colour. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

When separating the yolks and whites of eggs for baking or cooking ensure you use chilled eggs. This is because chilled eggs are much easier to separate, as the yolk does not break as easily. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

To stop a boiling pan from spilling over, you can either lower the heat or if you wish the heat to remain the same, then place a wooden spoon across the diameter of the pan, and this will prevent it from boiling over. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Can you eat that egg? - By Scott Matthews If not sure you ought-ter, then place it in water. If it lies on its side, then it's fresh; eat with pride. After three or four days, at an angle it lays. But, it still is a treat, so go on and eat. Ten days, stands on end, in your baking 'twill blend. 'Cause it's definitely edible, in your baking, incredible. But, if it floats on the surface, that egg serves no purpose. 'Cause a floater's a stinker! Out the back door best fling 'er! Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

This double ended ball tool has multiple uses, the large ball tool can be used for flower petals, thinning out icing, making ruffles and frilling edges etc. Whereas the small end can be used to add indentations, eye sockets and details to shapes and models. These are a must-have for your cake decorating tool kit. Hints, Tips and Tools Easy Cupcake Toppers Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

Once you have devoured your lovely bottle of wine, simply rinse it out with hot soapy water, let it dry out fully and then this can be used as an alternative to a rolling pin if you do not have one. Please ensure you lightly dust your wine bottle with icing or confectioners sugar before rolling. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

In the event, you have ground in mixture in your tin simply soak the tin in warm soapy water and then run a cocktail stick around the rim or edges to remove the excess ground in cake mixture. Once removed, re-wash and then rinse. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If you are storing cookies in a sealed container, remember to add a sliced piece of apple or an apple wedge in with the cookies in order for them to remain moist. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If you have forgotten to pull your butter out of the fridge and wish to soften it quickly for baking simply place the butter on a plate and then cover it with a warmed glass or bowl. This will surround the butter with warm air and will make it soften quicker due to the heat radiating from the glass/bowl. Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials

If you lightly brush your swiss roll sponge with stock syrup before you roll it, it will moisten the cake and prevent cracks from forming when rolling up. https://www.helpmebake.com/threads/stock-syrup-recipe-and-guide.403/ Picture courtesy of our lovely member Kari and his Swiss Roll Recipe Hints, Tips and Tools Basic Baking and Cake Decorating Recipes and Guides Tutorials