People are mostly intimidated by baking simply because it needs to be precise. If you go under or over with measurements, it could go wrong. Thankfully, there are baking hacks out there ready to help any beginner to bake goods like a pro. Here are 9 baking basics you need to learn:
Make any cake into cookie dough
Now you can just buy one cake mix and use it for both cookies and cakes. If you have a cake mix, just add 1/2 cup of oil and a couple eggs for a nice cookie dough.
This will allow you to make all sorts of cookies that you wouldn’t have been able to create before.
Vegetable peelers get the best-looking results
All you need is a vegetable or potato peeler and you can make cute little chocolate spirals. These curls will make the perfect finishing touch on any dessert you concoct.
Store bought frosting hacks: Whip it up
Homemade frosting can be a tough endeavor just because of the time and effort it takes. This is one of the store bought frosting hacks that you should have up your sleeve.
Buy some regular frosting from your local grocery store, and then whip it up with an electric mixer. The frosting will puff up and it will add air to the icing. It will make it fluffy and softer. It might even seem like it’s homemade!
Use sliced bread to keep your cakes and cookies moist
Our amazing baked goods often get stale way too quickly! We don’t have time to eat it all. If you toss a few slices of bread on top of your cakes or in the cookie jar, the desserts will soak up the moisture trapped in the bread.
Voila, moist cake, and cookies! We bet you didn’t expect this to be on your list of tips for cookie baking!
Heat up the ganache to absolutely perfect it
Glossy ganache just looks clean, aesthetic, and beautiful. If you look into the definition of ganache, you might think it’s hard to do, but the truth is, it’s not.
Grab your hairdryer and heat it up on a low setting. It will melt the chocolate and you can smooth it into place. Boy, it looks great, doesn’t it?
Use a cold bowl and beaters for great whipped cream
Ooooh, whipped cream, yummy! It’s a delicious thing, but if it gets too warm, it will quickly become thin. If you keep your beaters and bowl in the fridge and then pull them out to whip your cream you will have a much better experience!
If you’re confident enough, level it up by making sweetened whipped cream.
Softening the butter is one of the most basic baking hacks
What does butter do in baking? The better question is, what doesn’t it do! Butter adds richness and moisture to your baked goods — but only if it’s used the right way.
That’s why softening your butter properly can make or break your bake.
You want to soften the butter but you don’t want to melt it all the way right? Try this- microwave a glass of water until the water is hot. Dump the water, and place your stick of butter in the warm glass to gently soften it. This does take time, so be sure to prepare for that adequately.
The best cake is made in the perfect pan
Darker-colored pans will heat up faster than light-colored pans. If you keep burning the bottom of your cakes you need to do one of two things.
Either lower your oven temperature or simply try a lighter-colored pan. If you are lowering your temperature be sure to lower it by 25 degrees for adequate change to be noticeable.
Smooth that frosting with a paper towel
Smooth out the topcoat of icing as much as possible. Afterward, pat the outside of the cake with a paper towel. It helps if you buy the extra-fine layered paper towel for this technique.
Takeaway
These baking hacks would help ease your way into baking delicious desserts. Once you get the hang of it, one baking hack can improve your baking skills by a mile. Enjoy and see your progress through time!