solutions

If you are using glacé cherries and they appear very sticky simply place them in a sieve, run a little warm water over them. Then tip them onto some kitchen towel and pat them dry. They will be much easier to cut and will be far less messy and sticky.

In order to keep your piping bag tightly wrapped and free from unravelling, simply place a clip over the end of the bag when you have filled it and twisted it. This allows you to pipe more freely, you can move the clip down in stages after piping to ensure the bag is tight at all times.

If your buttercream is too dry or stiff, add a teaspoon(s) of milk/boiled water to the mix and whisk in. Do this until you reach the required consistency. If your buttercream is too cold, this can also cause problems therefore use additional whisking to soften your batch or leave at room...

I followed the recipe as follows: 1. Creamed together 1 cup butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy 2. Sifter 1 cup of self raising flower, removed 1 tablespoon flour and added 1.5 tablespoon corn flour, sifted 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon baking powder 3. Add 2 beaten...

Always ensure that if you are melting chocolate using a bain-marie and, that no water or steam comes in to contact with chocolate whatsoever. If it does, it will cause the chocolate to 'seize' and will become a thick mass of clumps. In order to rescue 'seized' chocolate simply add a little...

In order to perfect your piping skills simply practice on the side of a cake tin until you’re confident enough piping onto the side of a cake. If you do it wrong (using buttercream) simply scrape it off the tin, place it back in your piping bag and try again! This tip was provided courtesy of...

If you have run out of self-raising flour and only have plain flour in your cupboard then you can make self-raising flour by adding plain flour and baking powder together. Method:- 1. For every 110 grams of Plain Flour (used) add 1 rounded teaspoon of Baking Powder. Either that or check the...

If you are adding spoonfuls of treacle or syrup to your mix then heat the spoon first. This enables the treacle/syrup to fall off the spoon quicker and easier.

When grating a Lemon ensure that you only lightly grate the peel (zest) which is the yellow bright colour of the citrus fruit. Do not grate down to the inner white layer which is called the PITH as this has a bitter taste and will affect the taste of your bake. The above picture shows how far...