1. ROBYN MARTIN’S TOP BAKING TIPS…
Robyn Martin shares her tips with you to make you bake with confidence.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Scones are the new muffins! They are easier to make and cheaper too. Light and quick are the scone catch words. Mix quickly and handle lightly.
- Self raising flour can be replaced with plain or standard flour. For 1 cup of self raising flour, replace with 1 cup of plain or standard flour, remove 1 teaspoon of flour and replace with 1 to 1½ teaspoons baking powder.
- Successful muffins are made by mixing ingredients until just combined. Over-mixing will produce tough, tunneled and unevenly risen muffins.
- Use egg poaching rings to make even-sized fritters or hotcakes. Grease them before putting in the pan and pouring in the mixture.
- Keep nuts and coconut in the freezer to prevent them going rancid.
- Cover cakes and muffins with a clean tea towel when they come out of the oven. Leave for 10 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack. This helps them come out of the tins more easily.
- Homemade biscuits look more professional if they are a similar size. Use a measuring spoon to make this happen.
- Essences and spices do not last forever. They lose their flavour intensity so always check the best before date on the pack or bottle if you know they have been around for a while.
- Egg whites will give a greater volume when whipped if they are at room temperature rather than straight from the fridge.
- Baking paper has taken away the need to grease tins before baking cakes. Line the bottom of the tin with baking paper. When the cake is cooked and ready to be turned from the cake tin, simply run a knife around the edge of the cake, pressing the knife against the tin edge so you don’t damage the sides of the cake then turn out onto a cooling rack.
- Sifting ingredients when baking is intended to make sure the dry ingredients are well distributed before mixing. If you don’t have a flour sifter, use a sieve or mix the dry ingredients with a fork in a separate bowl before adding to your mixture.
- Keep a ruler in your kitchen as part of your essential baking equipment. Use it to mark the cuts for slices and cakes and as an edge to cut along when trimming the outside edges from a slice to give a neater more professional end result. It is useful too when a recipe gives a measurement for cutting or a tin size.
- Dusting your baking with icing sugar is easier than icing it, is healthier and looks great too. Keep a fine sieve in your icing sugar container so it is always easy to do a quick dust to make a dessert, cake, muffins or slice look great.
- Using boiling or very hot water to mix icing gives an icing with a glossy finish.
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