When making cheesecakes or frostings using cream cheese it’s a good idea bring the cream cheese to room temperature before you start. If you use it straight from the fridge it will be far more difficult, and take a lot more beating or processing, for it to become lump-free, smooth and creamy. Also make sure you scrape the sides and base of the bowl often and add any liquid ingredients gradually to ensure it remains really smooth.

 

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There is no need to fuss when lining the base of a springform tin with baking paper. Simply grease the tin then tear off a square of non-stick baking paper about 8cm (3¼in) larger than the tin. Release the outside of the tin and turn the base upside-down (this will create a base without a lip, which makes removing the cake or cheesecake from the tin so much easier.) Place the paper over the base of the tin and then clamp the side of the tin around the base, to hold the paper in place.

The paper will stick out the sides but this won’t matter and the extra paper hanging out the sides will not only give you something to help lift the cake off the base once it is baked but will also make removing of the paper from the base of the cake so much easier.

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It can be tricky to create an even crust made from a biscuit crumb mixture for a cheesecake or slice. An easy way to ensure you get the most even crust is to first sprinkle the crumb mixture as evenly as possible over the entire base of the pan and then use the flat base of a glass to press firmly, and evenly, down to compress it. To finish slide the glass across the base in a circular motion to even the surface.

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When using frozen berries in your baking always add them to the mixture straight from the freezer.

Frozen berries won't 'bleed' their colour while if you thaw them before using they will streak your cakes and muffin mixtures and make them an ugly purple colour.

Also, if the berries are added while still frozen, they will remain as nice whole berries once baked rather than collapsing.

Keep in mind too, the coolness of the berries will cause the batter to become quite thick as you combine the ingredients, but don’t worry about this, it will still bake well.

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Tinting buttercream so that it becomes a ‘true’ black colour can be a little difficult but here are a few tricks to make it not only achievable, but also easy:

1. Use a gel colour. Gel colours are more concentrated than liquid colours and therefore you don’t need to use as much to achieve the same intensity of colour – too much added liquid (in the form of food colouring) can make your buttercream curdled in appearance and sloppy in consistency, making it hard to pipe and spread.
2. I have found that American buttercream (the type based on beating butter and icing sugar) takes on a black colour more quickly than a meringue-based buttercream (like a Swiss meringue buttercream) and therefore you don’t have to use as much gel colour to achieve the same colour intensity. So American buttercream, like the one in this recipe, is my pick when wanting a black buttercream.
3. Start with a chocolate buttercream. This will give you a head start with the tinting and will mean you won’t need to use as much gel colour.
4. Tint the buttercream the day before you want to use it. When first tinted your buttercream will likely have a murky dark grey colour but will deepen and intensify on standing.

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When dipping profiteroles or choux puffs in toffee (when making desserts like a Gateau St Honore) they often end up with flat tops due to being turned toffee-side-down on baking paper for it to set... unfortunately, to some, this can look a little unrefined for such an impressive dessert. So, if you would like to retain the rounded tops of the profiteroles the best way of doing this to place them, straight after dipping, into (very) lightly oiled, half-dome silicone moulds and then leave them to set. There will be no flat tops here!

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When making a glacé or royal icing with pure icing sugar, don’t let it sit around uncovered as it will start to set on the top and add lumps to your icing when you stir it (as this one has!). If you aren’t going to use your icing straight away, remember to cover the surface closely with plastic wrap and/or the bowl with a damp cloth to prevent a hard layer developing on the top. This way, it will stand around very happily waiting for you for at least a couple of hours. read less

Some recipes will ask you to grease and dust your tin with flour if you are baking a delicate cake that is prone to sticking to the tin (like sponge cakes), when the tin is one that you can’t line (like a fluted ring tin), or one with an intricate design (such as a Bundt tin). The flour adds an extra barrier between the mixture and the tin to help stop the mixture from sticking. This butter and flour combination will give a cake a nice crust if done with restraint. You need to coat the pan thoroughly but not thickly - too much butter/oil or flour will leave a patchy coating on the crust of your cake. With ring and Bundt tins, just make sure you also coat the centre tube and pay special attention to any elaborate designs.

The traditional way to do this is to first grease the tin with melted butter or oil. Then add a tablespoon or two of flour to the tin and turn the tin, tapping it as you go, until the whole surface has a light, even coating of flour. Any excess flour should then be removed by sharply tapping the tin on a surface.

Alternately, you can combine both the butter or oil and flour and then apply it. For an average sized tin, combine 15g (½ oz) butter, melted (or 3 teaspoons oil) and 1 teaspoon of plain flour and then brush the tin with this mixture. This method is easier than the traditional method mentioned above, and is particularly good for Bundt tins with intricate designs that can be tricky to coat.

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Toffee is often used to embellish or complement bakes (think praline, spun toffee and toffee shards). But there is nothing more frustrating than when it crystalises and becomes a horrid grainy mass making it unusable.

The crystalisation of toffee starts when it contains a ‘seed’ which can be either an undissolved sugar crystal (like those that form as the syrup splatters on the side of the pan during boiling) or something foreign in the mixture like a small crumb. As the toffee cools and the molten sugar crystals become solid again, they are attracted to the ‘seed’ forming new lumps of tiny crystals – hence the grainy texture.

This can also happen if the toffee is stirred, or agitated, after it has begun to boil or on cooling (as happened with this pink-tinted toffee). This agitation not only helps in the formation of the ‘seed’ crystals but also encourages the cooling syrup to be attracted to them and hence the development of crystal clusters and a grainy mass.

So how do you stop crystalisation? There are three main rules to follow for smooth, glass-like toffee:

1. Stir the combined sugar and water over a low or medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely before it comes to the boil.
2. Once the syrup begins to boil, don’t stir it again while it cooks (although gently tilting the pan from side to side occasionally will be fine) or while it is coolsing.
3. Use a pastry brush that has been dipped in clean water to brush down the sides of the pan occasionally during cooking. This will dissolve any sugar crystals that have formed from splattered syrup.

 

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When making bread dough or biscuit mixtures, an easy way to ensure that your rolls or biscuits are all a similar size, so that they not only look even but will bake in the same amount of time, is to use your scales.

Firstly, weight the total amount, divide this by the number of rolls or biscuits you are making and then weigh individual portions before shaping and placing on the tray. It will take a little longer, but I promise your uniformity will be admired!

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Tweezers are not your typical baking utensil, but you’ll find them incredibly useful for delicate and intricate decorating work. Keep a dedicated pair of tweezers in your top drawer for all those times when your fingers are feeling a little awkward!

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It is sometimes hard to flatten a biscuit or pastry base of a slice. Fingertips often create an uneven surface and a roll pin is completely impractical once the mixture is in the tin. A straight-sided glass, however, is the perfect size and can be easily rolled over the surface to make it not only smooth but also very even.

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When folding two mixtures together it’s important to always add the lighter mixture (like whisked egg whites) to the heavier mixture (like a chocolate cake base) rather than the other way around. This will not only make the folding action more efficient it will also minimising the air lost when combining. Also, remember that if the heavier mixture is also thick, it’s always a good idea to fold a large spoonful of the lighter mixture through it first to ‘loosen’ to make it easier to incorporate the remaining mixture.

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When whisking egg whites and sugar to make meringue mixtures it is best to whisk on medium or medium-high speed, NOT high. It will take a couple of minutes extra for you to create your meringue but the final mixture will be made up of tiny, even air bubbles – which is exactly what you are after! It will be smooth, thick, and glossy and have a shaving cream-like consistency which will give you a crisp meringue that won’t crack when baked. Meanwhile, a meringue whisked on high speed will end up with large, uneven air bubbles and a frothy consistency which will often rise and crack when baked. So, remember to whisk on medium, or if you are a little impatient, no higher than medium-high when making meringue.

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Yeast doughs need to be left in a warm, draught-free place to prove after kneading, and usually again after shaping. Proving is important as it ‘exercises’ the strands of gluten, making them stronger and helping to develop the structure of the bread. It also develops flavour. Yeast is at its happiest between 24–28°C/75-82.5°F. This means, depending on the weather and the temperature of your kitchen, you may need to create a warm micro-environment to prove your dough, particularly on very cold days. There are a number of ways you can do this:

1. Pour some hot tap water into a saucepan and place the dough in a covered heatproof bowl over it, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bowl and replacing the hot water as it cools.
2. Place the dough in a covered bowl in the microwave oven with the door closed (or in a sealed Styrofoam box) with a small jug of boiling water. Replace the water when it cools.
3. Turn just your pilot light on in your oven to
 heat your oven very gently. Place the dough in a covered heatproof bowl on the middle rack, close the door and leave to prove.
4. Place the dough in a covered heatproof bowl on a wooden board on top of a preheated oven.
5. Place the dough in a covered heatproof bowl in a sunny windowsill or a spot outside in dappled sunlight (as long there is no draught).

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To make sure you get equal amounts of different ingredients in each frittata when making individual ones it's a good idea to keep your ‘wet’ ingredients separate from the other ingredients. Firstly, combine all your vegetables, cheese, herbs and other ‘solid’ ingredients and then divide this mixture evenly among muffin holes. Then whisk together your ‘wet’ ingredients such as eggs and milk and pour this into the muffin holes, dividing evenly. This way you won’t have a frittata that is all egg or all vegetables – basically they will be a more ‘balanced’ frittatas.

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When baking individual tarts place them on an oven tray before putting them in the oven, especially when using tins with a removable base. It will make it a whole lot easier and more efficient (and far less fiddly) when you need to take them from the oven to remove the blind baking beads and to add the filling.

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Bread and butter pudding is such a wonderfully comforting dessert, perfect for cooler weather. When making yours don't forget to let it stand before baking. This will allow the bread to soak up as much of the custard as possible giving your final dessert a luscious texture and ensuring that a separate layer of custard doesn't form below the bread. Depending on the bread you use, this can take from 30 minutes to a couple of hours – the longer the better!

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