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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Don't throw really ripe bananas in the bin if you aren't going to use them straight away - throw them in the freezer instead, skin and all, so they are ready to use when you next want to make a banana cake or banana bread. Remove the skin with a knife while still frozen, slice and then mash. If you are a little more organised you can of course mash them and pop into an airtight container before you freeze them.

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When making a flourless roulade (such as a chocolate one) it is a good idea to cover it with a damp tea towel straight as soon as it comes out of the oven. The tea towel will help stop the cake loosing valuable steam and therefor keeping it nice and moist. The benefit of this is that moist cake is less likely to crack when you roll it.

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When whisking eggs for your baking it is always best to use the freshest eggs possible.
Here’s why:

Eggs, when fresh, are acidic and this acidity means that the egg proteins are tightly knit. You can see this egg is fresh because the yolk is plump and round and the inner white is clearly defined and is holding onto the yolk tightly – an indication that those protein bonds are keeping it from spreading on the plate.

As an egg ages, it becomes more alkaline and the proteins start to pull away from each other, causing the yolk to lose it's form and the white to become thinner and more likely to spread on a plate when cracked. 

So why is this important when whisking eggs? Less fresh eggs will whisk to a foam more quickly than fresher ones, and you’ll achieve a slightly greater volume, but the resulting foam will be less stable than one made with fresh eggs. A fresh-egg foam will be more stable thanks to the strong protein bonds and therefore more likely to holds its shape and retain the air you have incorporated through whisking.

Pic: @neelashearer 

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More a BakeGiftTip than a BakeTip…There’s no better gift than one baked by you and inexpensive jars from the supermarket or two dollar shop make great airtight containers for your biscuits, biscotti and shortbread. An effective but simple way to decorate them is with a small doily attached with twine and a gift tag. This is the perfect gift for Christmas – thoughtful and delicious!

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When decorating your biscuits or other baked goodies with icing don’t think you need a special piping bag – a resealable or ‘zip lock’ bag will do the trick. Simply spoon your icing in, seal and then cut a very small hole (you can always make it bigger) in one corner to create the ‘nozzle’. Twist the bag at the sealed end to contain the icing and then pipe away! Simple, convenient and no washing up! read less

A lot of cake recipes ask for ‘softened’ or ‘room temperature’ butter. This is so the butter is soft enough that it can be easily and evenly combined with other ingredients and/or beaten to incorporate air. ‘Softened’ butter should be soft enough that it can be spread on bread without tearing it! You will need to take your butter from the fridge at least an hour or so before you need to use it to reach this consistency; I often leave mine out overnight, depending on the weather. Cutting the butter into small cubes or coarsely grating it will help it soften more quickly and evenly. Don’t be tempted to soften butter in the microwave, you are likely to end up with partially melted butter that is unsuitable to use. read less