Top tips to become a baking whizz
If you’re missing some of the essentials for a planned baking session don’t fear, there’s an array of tricks to be learnt to keep you in the kitchen, writes Katrina Meynink.
Though it is true that baking is a science and that you should follow your cake recipes to to the letter, sometimes you just don’t have every ingredient in the pantry when you set out to bake. But this doesn’t always mean you have to give up those fresh-out-of-the-oven cake dreams.
Here are a few baking lifelines – the tricks you need – from easy ingredient substitutes to equipment hacks and handy techniques to make your baking better.
No buttermilk: Combine 250ml (1 cup) of milk with 11⁄2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar. Set it aside for five minutes, or until it looks like it is curdling and has that background acidic taste. Alternatively, replace with one cup greek yoghurt.
No brown sugar: Mix white sugar and molasses. For light brown sugar, add 1 tablespoon molasses to 1 cup caster sugar. For dark brown sugar, add 2 tablespoons molasses to 1 cup of caster sugar. Use a fork to mix until thoroughly combined.
No baking powder: To replace 1 teaspoon baking powder, substitute teaspoon cream of tartar and teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda).
No eggs: Replace with 25ml cup) vegetable oil per egg in recipes where egg is used as a leavening agent.
DIY self-raising flour: Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for each 150g (1 cup) plain flour. mention that the amount of salt and the water content will vary greatly between salted butters, making it harder to be precise. Unsalted butter is likely to be fresher, as it’s not destined for the long shelf life of salted butter.
Fool-proof frozen fruit
Baking with frozen fruit can turn the best recipes into a soggy mess. The trick is to toss the fruit in flour until just coated. The flour will absorb some of the liquid and prevent a sodden mess. Alternatively, use a small amount of tapioca flour.
If using the fruit in a clafoutis-style dish, put half of the batter into the pan and partly cook before adding the remainder of the batter and fruit. This will prevent all of it sinking to the bottom. Keep frozen cakes moist
If you are baking a cake for later use and need to freeze it, leftover warmth is your friend. When the cake is still quite warm to the touch, wrap it in plastic wrap – the sweating of the cake in the wrap actually adds to the moisture in the cake and helps prevent it from drying out when you bring it back to room temperature to use.
Black beans can be a vegan substitute
The fibre, oil and liquid in black beans can replace any need for oil, egg or water that, say, a brownie mix may call for. Blending the beans creates a puree that stands in for the necessary moisture those ingredients would have otherwise provided.
Make your lemon zest, well, more zesty Save your knuckles and your wallet from expensive microplanes. Next time a recipe calls for sugar and citrus zest, don’t just zest the citrus. Instead, strip the zest with a vegetable peeler, then combine those pieces with the sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the zest is minced and the sugar is colourful.
This quickly process the zest and releases all those good citrus oils. In other words, brighter, zingier flavour.
No baking weights?
If you’re making a pie and want to pre-cook your pastry, place a second pie tin into the one lined with dough, creating a tin-dough-tin sandwich.
Trim excess dough, then invert on to a baking tray and bake for the first 15 minutes. Gravity and the weight of the pie plate work in your favour to prevent puffing or shrinking.
Perfectly round cookies
Cut along the length of an old paper towel roll, then roll your cookie dough into a tube that’s roughly the diameter of the paper towel roll. Put the dough on a piece of plastic wrap, roll it up, and put it into the paper towel roll, squeezing it until it fits just right. Tighten it down with a couple of rubber bands – and you’re all set. Put it in the fridge to firm up, or freeze for longer storage, and when you’re ready to bake, slice it up in even pieces, put the individual cookie discs on to a baking sheet and pop them in the oven.
Use the right tools for the job
If you’re baking anything with fruit, stay away from metal pans and stick to glass and ceramic bakeware instead.
Whip eggs in glass or copper bowls to help them stay glossy and firm without as much risk of becoming over-whipped or grainy. The copper binds the egg white proteins/sulphur groups, while clean glass and copper ensure minimal transfer of any residue to your egg whites.
Bring your hairdryer to the table
Use it to melt chocolate; bring sheen back to the top of iced cakes and ganaches; warm the sides of a bowl; or soften butter. – Sydney Morning Herald
Australian food writer and recipe developer Katrina Meynink has published two cookbooks, Bistronomy French Food Unbound, Kitchen Coquette, and picture book Lulu Le Baby Chef.