I often get asked how long should you beat butter and sugar when creaming it. There is no actual time that you need to aim for as there are a few variables that can affect how long it will take, including how soft your butter is, the proportion of butter to sugar, and the type of sugar you are using.

The best thing to watch out for is for how the mixture transforms as it is beaten. The more you beat it the paler in colour and lighter in texture it will become, but it will get to a point that it won’t change any more and this is the stage that you will know you have creamed it ‘enough’. If you are unsure of what you are looking for it is a good idea to take a small sample of the mixture at intervals as you beat and it will soon become clear.

This image shows a creamed butter and sugar mixture at five stages (from bottom to top): the first one is just combined, with the following samples taken at intervals of beating every 1-2 minutes. The final two samples (at the top), with no difference between them, indicate that the mixture has been creamed enough.

So remember, when creaming, it isn’t a matter of time, just a matter of transformation.

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Do your scones rise unevenly? If so, it could well be because you are twisting the cutter when cutting them out… just push straight down in one clean action for evenly-risen (good-looking) scones! read less

Roasting vegetables tonight? Throw in some extras to ensure you have leftovers to make frittata tomorrow. It will make for a very quick and easy lunch – either at home or to take with you if you are on the go!

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When using eggs always break each one into a separate small bowl or ramekin before adding to a mixture so if there is a problem with a single egg, the whole mixture won't be ruined. It's also easier to remove any broken egg shell this way.

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When making pastry, such as a shortcrust, by hand make sure you only use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour.

Avoid using the whole of your hands as the palm is the warmest part and can melt the butter which, in turn, may cause your finished pastry to be heavy and tough. Rub the butter chunks briefly between your fingertips, breaking it into smaller, flake-like pieces while coating with the flour rather than rubbing them together.

Also remember to keep the palms of your hands facing upwards, to help with the action of breaking up the butter chunks, and lift the mixture high out of the bowl as this will aerate the mixture and help give it a light texture when baked.

This is a great technique to keep in mind when making scones and pastry.  

 

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We all know a little dusting of icing sugar can be the perfect finishing touch for our sweet baking… and when you colour it, well that’s just pure fun! To colour your icing sugar, put it in a resealable bag, add a drop of colouring gel, seal and then rub and shake with your hands until it is evenly coloured, adding more colouring if you want a stronger colour. The more colouring you add the wetter the icing sugar will become, forming lumps – but don’t worry these won’t matter once you sift the icing sugar over your baking. Coloured icing sugar is particularly good for decorating meringue-based treats like these macarons. read less

When sifting wholemeal flour don’t throw away the husks caught in the sieve. The sifting is to remove any lumps not this valuable bran fibre so make sure you return it to the flour before continuing with your recipe.

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Most stand mixers are now sold with a range of attachments made for specific mixing jobs, including a 'paddle' one. This is what you need to use to get the best results if a recipe asks you to beat, mix, cream or combine your ingredients 'using an electric mixer'. It's not meant for 'whisking' (when you are making meringue for example) or for 'kneading' bread doughs - use the whisk or dough hook attachments for these jobs.

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Cracks are a common problem when making meringue but they are easy to avoid when you know what is causing them. There are two main reasons why meringues crack when baked:

1. The first and most common reason (and what happened to the meringues in the front of this pic) is that the oven temperature is too high. The intense heat will cause the air bubbles in the mixture to expand efficiently, causing it to rise, spread and crack. The meringues behind them were from a second batch that were baked in an oven preheated to 10°C lower (yep, sometimes that’s all it takes!) and resulted in perfect, smooth-crusted meringues without cracks.
2. The second reason is that the mixture has been whisked on high speed with an electric mixer. The furious and quick incorporation of air into the egg whites will form an airy foam with lots of large air bubbles. When baked these large masses of air have a greater ability to expand than smaller air bubbles, causing the mixture to rise, spread and crack unevenly. If this is the case, the best solution is to whisk the egg whites and sugar mixture on medium or medium-high speed which will form a denser foam made up of lots of tiny, even bubbles that, when heated, will only expand slightly, if at all, minimizing any rising, spreading and cracking.

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Some like ‘em crisp, some like ‘em chewy. If you fall into the chewy camp with your meringues it is easy to make sure they have this hard-to-resist texture by taking them from the oven as soon as they have finished baking and cooling them at room temperature. For crisp meringues, turn off the oven, leave the door slightly ajar and leave them in the oven to cool.

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When making a tart or pie there is no need to grease the tin/dish before you line it with pastry – the high butter content in the pastry will naturally stop it from sticking.

If you grease your tin/dish, when blind baking, the pastry is more likely to slip down the sides/shrink during baking leaving you with a tart/pie case that with very short sides and not much room for your filling.

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As soon as your cake mixture is ready, bake it straight away. If a finished cake mixture sits for too long before going into the oven you won’t get the best results –especially cakes with egg whites (they will lose volume and won’t rise as much) and those with bicarbonate of soda and/or an acidic ingredient, such as lemon juice or buttermilk (they will end up with a ‘holey’ texture).

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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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