Bakers Secrets

[ChesterV]

Hello!

I used to be a professional baker, although not Chef status.

Here are some bakers secrets I've learned through the years:

*When using butters, lards, or shortenings, it is better to have them at room temperature before using.

*If you are working with cake, freeze it first. Working with frozen cake makes things SO much easier.

*Cake trimmings can be dried out in the oven on a warm heat, and hand ground into a dusting powder, or crushed up by hand for trim decorating. Bad shaped cookies, cookies that are over done can be crushed up for the same....or can be used for sprinkles on cupcakes.

*If your buttercream frosting is too "loose", then instead of adding more and more sugar to thicken it, use a bit of meringue powder to stiffen it up, or just place the bowl of frosting in the fridge for a bit to cool down. The oil based product you use to make the buttercream can get heated up while working with it, or just sitting out for a long time. Cooling it off will help stiffen up the oil based product in the frosting.

*To "kill" a bit of the super sweet taste in buttercream frosting, use a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to the mix (about one tablespoon per half gallon of frosting).

*Adding a touch of chili powder to your chocolate or fudge will help bring out the chocolate flavor.

*No rolling pin? Place a sheet of plastic wrap over a cookie sheet, place your dough on top, place another sheet of plastic wrap over that, then place a stiff cookie sheet over that and start pressing down until you get to your desired thickness.

*No rolling pin? Take the label off of a canned item, such as soup, wash the can thoroughly, and use it as a rolling pin.

*Want evenly baked cakes? Use airbake pans or you can place your cake pan inside a larger cake pan that is filled about half way up with water. You can also cut up some old jeans into strips that will fit around the baking pan (you want to cut them wide so you can fold them over for three layers of fabric that will fit around the edges of the pan) soak them in water, but not super drippy wet. Use an all metal safety pin to fasten it around the outer edge of the baking pan.

*Don't want your cake filling to squish out the sides? Pipe a ring of your frosting around the outer edge of the cake first, then put in your filling, then place the other layer on top. The piped frosting on the edges should keep the filling from squishing out.

*Honey is the best sugar substitute there is.

*Making lots of small decorations for a cake? Place a sheet of plastic wrap over a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in the freezer while you make your frosting. Make your decorations on the frozen cookie sheet, then place the decorations back in the freezer for an hour. You should have your own "peel and stick" frosting decorations for your cake then. Use a small icing knife to place the decoration on the cake, as using your hands/fingers may melt the frosting decor.

*Want that "super fudgey" taste in your cakes or cookies? First, make your own fudge based additive:
One stick of butter or margarine.
1/4 cup of confectioners sugar.
1, 8 ounce can/jar of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Melt butter/margarine, salt, and water in pan. Add salt and sugar, stir till dissolved.
Slowly whisk in cocoa powder.
This will get very thick and very dark.
Cook till hot and all cocoa is dissolved and mixed in.

Cool off mixture, place into center of a plastic wrap sheet, wrap up and store in an airtight container in the freezer.
You can use this to make chocolate sauces, add to cake batter to make chocolate fudge tasting cake, or anything that will use chocolate in it.

*Cake was baked a little too long and turned out dry? Once baked and out of the pan, wrap cake in plastic wrap where it is sealed, place in freezer until needed. When putting cake together, score one side of the cake and use simple syrup mixture to soak the top of the cake, put cake together as usual and decorate.

Simple, Simple Syrup:
Use a ketchup bottle or similar bottle -
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ketchup-bottles.jpg
Fill bottle 1/4 way with Corn Syrup
Add one tablespoon of vanilla
Fill bottle with hot water
Shake well.
Use on cakes to moisten them up.
You can also add flavors to make flavored simple syrups - butter, almond, orange, strawberry, etc....
Simple syrup can be stored in fridge. When you want to use it next, sit it out until it gets to room temp.

 

[Becky]

What an awesome list, thank you so much! There are some excellent tips there.

I have one of my own to add - if your butter is too cold and you want to bring it up to room temperature quickly, then grate it.

 

[CherylTorrie]

Thank you ChesterV. These are all great Baker's Secrets. I would have never thought of adding simple syrup to a dry cake. Usually, if it's dry from over baking I don't serve it to guests. But now I know the secret, thanks to you. I will definitely try the apple cider vinegar too. I do find that my buttercreams tend to be just too sugary. I wonder if dried cake crumbs could be used as the edging on cut cookies? That would save a lot on pecans if they could and I bet they would taste yummy. Have you ever added them to something that has to be baked again like roll and slice cookies?

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Actually I am considering baking as a form of a hobby only but I have no intention of becoming a professional baker. And I only bake easy and simple baking recipes. But thank you for sharing your bakers secrets that you had learned all through the years of your baking career. It's nice knowing all this secrets and thanks again for sharing this additional knowledge of learning when it comes to baking. Great post!

 

[Winterybella]

I have to agree this is a wonderful post. I am still a newbie where baking from scratch is concerned but I like gather all the information I can going forward. Great tips for sure. I glad to let those secrets out of the bag ChesterV.

 

[ChesterV]

Thank you ChesterV. These are all great Baker's Secrets. I would have never thought of adding simple syrup to a dry cake. Usually, if it's dry from over baking I don't serve it to guests. But now I know the secret, thanks to you. I will definitely try the apple cider vinegar too. I do find that my buttercreams tend to be just too sugary. I wonder if dried cake crumbs could be used as the edging on cut cookies? That would save a lot on pecans if they could and I bet they would taste yummy. Have you ever added them to something that has to be baked again like roll and slice cookies?

You can also use sweet milks and sweet creams to moisten cakes as well, if you want it really rich tasting.
Instead of hot water, just use hot milk or cream. Of course don't make TOO much, this version doesn't keep well.
You can "soak" a cake by putting a room temp cake on a rack over a large bowl and soak it until wet, then put your cake together. Soaked cakes usually need to be eaten in one sitting, so if you make a cake, make sure its for enough people who will eat it all (unless you are going to keep the cake in the pan, then refrigerate it).

You can use cake crumbs in many different ways. If you want to make "speckled" white cake, then use some coarsely crushed (dried) red velvet or chocolate cake in your white cake batter. It should turn out speckled on the inside.

I have never made roll and slice cookies, so that would be a no. But cake crumbs can be used for a multitude of things.

 

[ChesterV]

Another tip for fancy cakes.


Instead of frosting, use melted chocolate as a ganache on your cake, but only melt the chocolate, don't add cream to it like in ganache.

First, you need to seal your cake with buttercream frosting (that means cover your cake with a fine coating of frosting, sealing up all the holes, cracks, and the spaces between layers).
Place the cake in the freezer while you melt your chocolate, or leave it in the freezer overnight.
Place frozen cake on a rack, over a cookie sheet with edges.
Melt the chocolate just enough, in a double boiler, where it is completely smooth and fluid.
Pour chocolate over your cake, starting on one side and moving back and forth slowly, till you get to the other end.
The goal is to NOT have to use a knife or spatula to cover any spots, you want a nice smooth layer of chocolate over the entire cake.
Transfer the cake while still ON the rack, from the used cookie sheet to a new one.
Place in fridge until chocolate is set.
When you are ready to transfer the cake to a plate, use a small sharp ended (pointy) knife to carefully trim the bottom edge of the cake, so the chocolate wont come off in chunks when you lift it off the rack.
Use a large, wide, stiff spatula (or two) to slide under the cake and transfer it to the plate.
Decorate the cake as you wish.

If you use white chocolate to do this, you can use food color to color the chocolate!

This method can be used for cookies, mini cakes, and petite-fores as well.

 

[CherylTorrie]

The chocolate frosted cake sounds very tasty and fairly simple. Can you use any type of chocolate? I do love the Ghardelli brand dark chocolate but I wonder if I don't add cream or sugar will it be sweet enough? I have used it as a fudge topping for angel food cake but never for a sheet or round cake. I'm also wondering if you use a particular knife to cut the cake so the chocolate doesn't chip and crack when you serve it.

 

[ChesterV]

The chocolate frosted cake sounds very tasty and fairly simple. Can you use any type of chocolate? I do love the Ghardelli brand dark chocolate but I wonder if I don't add cream or sugar will it be sweet enough? I have used it as a fudge topping for angel food cake but never for a sheet or round cake. I'm also wondering if you use a particular knife to cut the cake so the chocolate doesn't chip and crack when you serve it.

Well, its a talent....covering a cake with enough chocolate for the right thickness and covering the cake in one "swoop" before it starts to harden.

You can use dark chocolate, but milk chocolate works best because it already has other ingredients in it besides chocolate. If you use dark chocolate, then you might want to do two thin coats in stead of one thick one.

If you get a tall glass of hot water and stick your knife in it and let it heat up, then take it out of the glass, shake off the water and slice the cake, it should slice ok without cracking too much. A lot of people who use this method will dip the knife in hot water each time they make a slice, so each slice should be smooth.

Of course you can always add some edible wax to the dark chocolate instead of milk, to get it to stay soft when it hardens, to avoid cracking. (they add edible wax to most candy bars anyway). Some people, like me, add some real butter to the hard/dark chocolate...this too will soften it up enough to avoid cracking once its hardened. You only need about 2 Tablespoons of butter though. I've never used the wax, but I'm sure there are plenty of instructions for it online.

If you want dark chocolate and not have it crack, you can make mini cakes or petite-fores instead of a big cake.

As for sweetness, most chocolate already has sweetener or sugar in it. I like my dark chocolate just a hair on the bitter side. You can always taste it and add a bit of sugar or honey to it while melting it.

 

[CherylTorrie]

Oh my that sounds so good. I will definitely try a double dark chocolate frosted cake now. I am so glad I have the secret to cutting it correctly. Whenever I have tried it in the past the frosting was too hard and it cracked on cutting. I also like the somewhat bitter taste but I may add a little honey just so it pleases the masses not just me. Thanks ChesterV.

 

[ChesterV]

Do you like whipped cream instead of buttercream?

I have recently found out how to stabilize whipped cream so it doesn't degrade so badly at room temperature.

As always, use a metal bowl and metal beaters that have been in the freezer for at least an hour, to whip up whipped cream.

While whipping the cream to semi-stiff peaks, sprinkle in a tablespoon of vanilla instant pudding powder!

It will not alter the taste of the whipped cream, but it will give it a LOT of stability! Especially if you plan to using it for decorating the cake!

You can still add your other flavorings, nuts, or what nots to the whipped cream..........adding just a bit of the instant pudding powder will help keep its consistency for a while longer than it usually does!

You can also use this method for whipped cream based desserts such as Heavenly Hash or Cherry Whip.



Another "trick" for whipped cream for kids' desserts or cakes.......instead of adding instant pudding.........use flavored gelatin powder! If you use a couple of tablespoons of flavored gelatin powder, it will give it a bit of the gelatin flavor (of whatever flavor it is), as well as stabilize the whipped cream for whatever purpose you are using it for.

Be careful though, using too much will turn it hard and gummy. I would suggest one tablespoon per one pint of whipped cream. You can adjust it to your taste and use, but just be careful it doesn't turn to "rubber".

 

[Becky]

Excellent idea @ChesterV

 

[ChesterV]

Cobblers -

An easier way to make any cobbler, is to use premade pie dough or canned biscuits.

If you use the pie dough, you place one pie crust on the bottom of the baking dish, and bake it until its lightly brown, then take it out of the oven and then put the filling in it and make your lattice work top from another pie crust and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.

If you use biscuits, then roll them out flat, place them into the bottom of the baking dish, and bake that for 5 minutes. Take it out of the oven, put the filling in it. Roll out some more biscuits and place them over the top.
Brush melted butter over the top of the biscuits and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.


You don't need to use cinnamon sugar if you don't want to, you can use nutmeg sugar, allspice sugar, pumpkin spice sugar, or anything like that. Of course some spices go better with certain kinds of fruit.

If you don't want to use a dough top on your cobbler, then you can make a crumble top and put on your cobbler and bake it with a crumble top. Those are just as good (if not a bit better).

If you want to "up" your cobbler, splash a little amaretto into the fruit filling.
Or you can spread a thin layer of cream cheese on the bottom crust after baking it, but before you add the filling.

 

[ChesterV]

Graham Cracker Crust -

Here's a little secret to making a Graham Cracker Crust that makes your pie or cheesecake all that much better.

Add 1/4 cup ground pecans, walnuts, or cashews to your Graham Cracker mixture, along with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

 

[ChesterV]

Want a firmer cake?

Add less water. Depending on how firm you want the cake, you can remove up to 1/4 of a cup of water from the cake recipe. You might want to add a few tablespoons more oil though.

If the cake turns out too dry, you can always beef it up with simple syrup.

 

[ChesterV]

A trick for pies.

A lot of people don't like cake, but love pie.
And a lot of those pie lovers don't really like "heavy" pies (custard, pudding, pumpkin, etc...).

You can turn ANY "heavy" pie into a lighter pie by simply making it a chiffon type pie or mixing the filling with whipped cream or egg whites. (Whipped cream for non bake pies, egg whites for baked pies).

 

[ChesterV]

Runny Frostings???


Sometimes our frosting's just do NOT want to work with us! They won't set up, get stiff, or thicken up no matter WHAT we do!

Here is another bakers secret for firming up frostings that just don't want to get firm or stiffen up!!!

Meringue Powder!

Don't keep adding more sugar to your frosting to get it stiff or thicker, use some meringue powder!

Meringue powder can be added as an alternative to adding more sugar, corn starch, or flour to a frosting or icing to get it more stiff.

Meringue powder can be used for buttercreams, royals, and actual egg white meringues!

Of course, as with all other specialty additives.....this takes practice and know how, on how much to use, when to use it, and how long to mix it in the frosting or icing.

Using too much can make it hard. Using too little won't firm it up properly.

Luckily, if you get the Wilton brand, it comes with an instruction sheet. You can also find other uses for Meringue Powder on the internet.

 

[ChesterV]

Bitter Breads/Cornbreads

Sometimes when we make plain cornbreads or home made breads, even if they come out perfect, the taste is just not there. Especially using "cracked" grains or whole grains to make breads, sometimes they just don't taste as good as we hope for.

For a batch of cornbread, you can add one can of Cream of Corn. This will not only make it super moist, the sugar in the Cream of Corn will dissipate that funky "stale" or "cardboard" taste in your cornbread. If you like your cornbread on the sweeter side without it being sickly sweet, add 4 tablespoons to a batch of batter. This too will help dissipate that "stale" or "cardboard" taste.

For that funky taste with homemade breads, you can add a couple tablespoons of honey, apple cider, or even a bit of hard dried fruit ground up into a powder.....this should help with the "stale" or "cardboard" taste some grains tend to give off after baking.


If you don't want to mess with your bread or cornbread batter/recipe, try making homemade flavored butters for your breads!!!

Honey butter is my favorite! And you can use ANY kind of butter or margarine you like!

Some examples of homemade flavored butters:
(Use dried veggies if possible, or powdered ones)

Honey
Pepper
Garlic
Onion
Chive
Thyme
Rosemary
Basil
Chili Powder
Wine
Champagne
Ground/Powdered nuts

You can also mix them, like Honey and Garlic, or Wine and nuts.

 

[ChesterV]

To "loosen" up old, crusty, sort of dried up jams, jellies, honey, and even peanut butter.....

Run your hot tap water till it gets as hot as it will get.
Fill up a large bowl about 3/4 of the way full of the hot water.
Make sure the lid is on tight on the jar of honey, jam, jelly, or peanut butter you have.
Place the jar in the hot water.
Let it sit in there until the water is just warm.

Remove the jar, open it up, and stir the contents.
Replace lid on jar, let sit on counter until jar is completely cooled to room temperature.
Open up, stir again, and replace in the fridge (jams and jellies), cool cabinet or pantry for peanut butter and honey.

Be warned though, for the peanut butter and honey, you need to be sure to use them within a couple of days, as they may build up bacteria from being heated up. Although I have never had an issue of that myself....just be wary.

If the item is still "crusty" or "grainy" you can try the hot water bath again.

****************************

Use these types of jams, jellies, honey, and PB for use in baking batters and in frostings.
You can also mix them with cream cheese for the bottom layer of tarts and tortes, and even some fruit pies.

 

[ChesterV]

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Cheaters Method


Use strawberries that have very nice green tops on them.
Wash and dry the berries on a layer of paper towels or clean cloth towel on a cookie sheet.
Place berries in the fridge for at least an hour before using.

For the chocolate dip, use a hard shell ice cream topping.
This is the liquid chocolate that turns hard when it is poured on something cold.

I like this brand, it tastes the best to me....

Turn the bottle of liquid shell upside down and shake vigorously for 2 minutes.
(the ingredient in the liquid that allows it to get hard settles in the bottom sometimes)

Pour some liquid shell into a small, deep bowl.

Place some waxed paper on a cookie sheet.

Take each berry by the greens and dip it or rotate it in the chocolate.
Lay the berry on the waxed paper.

When done dipping all berries and the cookie sheet is full, place back into fridge for at least 10 minutes.



These berries are good for decorating cakes, gifts, treats, or just because.

Here is a pic of a cake I decorated with them.
(Yes, this is an actual cake I made)