When glazing your bread there are a whole variety of ingredients you can choose depending on the finish you are after once the bread is baked.

Breads brushed with an egg yolk, whole egg, or yolk and milk glaze will have a shiny, deep-golden crust (thanks to the fat in the yolk) which will be slightly soft. Egg white glaze (one that is not commonly used but is well worth considering) also gives a lovely shiny golden finish that is not as dark as those using the yolk. Those brush with water will have a crisp crust, with a matt, light golden colour. And milk and cream glazes will give bread a soft crust with a matt finish – cream will give a slightly darker colour than milk due to its higher fat content.

So next time you are glazing your bread loaves or rolls, first think about the crust finish you would like and then choose your glaze ingredient/s. And for extra impact, double-glaze your bread dough – brush the just-shaped dough with the glaze, leave to prove and then glaze again before baking.

Did you know you can buy egg whites in a carton? When making anything egg white-based, like meringue or pavolva, macarons, royal icing, or Swiss meringue buttercream it is a fabulous alternative to fresh eggs especially when using them in large quantities.

You'll find them in the refrigerated section of your supermarket (often near the vegetarian and vegan options), and they can be used as a direct replacement for fresh egg whites and completely solves the problem of what to do with all those leftover egg yolks!

Here are a few useful things to note when using pasteurised egg whites:

• Use 30g/2oz to replace a fresh egg white from a 60g/2oz egg.
• Pasteurised egg whites are thinner in consistency than fresh egg whites (almost water-like when poured from the carton) but don’t let this put you off using them – they will still whisk up well.
• They take longer to whisk than fresh eggs so you will need to extend the whisking time if it is stated in the recipe – use your patience and you will get the same results.
• Any leftovers can be frozen for later use, either in weighed-out portions (which is what I prefer to do so they are pre-measured and ready to go) or as a whole portion left in the carton. Freeze them for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the fridge and then use as you would fresh egg whites.
• Because they are pasteurised, they are a safer option if serving to people with a compromised immune system when using them in recipes that won’t be cooked through (like Swiss meringue buttercream or a lemon meringue pie topping) or not cooked at all (like royal icing).

One of my favourite things to do with plums at this time of year (late Summer and early Autumn) is to roast them. It's really simple and quick to cook them this way but, best of all, it not only preserves their full flavour but actually enhances it. Along with plums, any sort of stone fruit will work (think peaches, nectarines, cherries, apricots etc.) but I also love rhubarb and strawberries prepared this way.⁠

For every 750g fruit (halved and stones removed) toss with 110g/½ cup caster sugar (raw, demerara and brown are also delicious, adding a slight caramel flavour and making the syrup a little darker) and 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste. Spread in an ovenproof dish, just large enough to hold the fruit in a single layer, and then cover with foil. Roast in an oven preheated to 200°C/180°C fan-forced for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until the fruit is just tender when pierced with a skewer or sharp knife, but is still holding its shape. The time will depend on the size of the fruit pieces and their ripeness. Remember the fruit will continue to soften slightly on cooling so be careful not to overcook or it will collapse and lose its shape.⁠

Once done just serve warm, or cool in the dish and then keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days to be served chilled or at room temperature. It’s wonderful served simply over generous scoops of vanilla ice cream (possibly with a side of almond cake), on granola with thick natural yoghurt for breakfast, or even to top waffles or pancakes…oh and any of the leftover syrup is perfect to add to soda water as a cordial or even used to flavour a cheeky cocktail! Enjoy!⁠

Getting the right consistency for your glacé icing so that it coats your cake, biscuits or slice with a elegant, yet substantial, coating without it being heavy or so thin it can't be fully appreciated, can be tricky!⁠

Glacé icings can go from super thick to almost water-like very quickly so the trick is that once you have a thick pouring consistency only add extra water, juice or other liquid in very small amounts (no more than a quarter of a teaspoon at a time), and test the thickness regularly, until you've reached the desired consistency. An easy way to test how it will coat the surface of your bake is to spoon a little onto the rim of a bowl and see how quickly it flows down and how thickly it coats it. You can then adjust it accordingly before you drizzle or spread it.⁠

Remember, if you want your icing to set you should use pure icing sugar as glacé icing made with icing sugar mixture (or soft icing sugar) won't set as firmly. Also, spooning your icing over a warm bake will form a thinner glaze that will soak in slightly and help to infuse your cake, biscuits or slice with the flavour of the icing.⁠

Puff pastry, also known as mille feuilles (which translates to 'a thousand leaves'), is a classic French pastry belonging to the laminated (roll-and-fold) pastry family along with leavened puff pastry (also known as croissant dough), flaky pastry and rough puff pastry. The characteristic 'lamination' of alternate layers of butter and pastry dough (as you can see here in this raw pastry) is what gives puff pastry its many light, crisp layers when baked and it is the consistency of both these elements that will help determine how even these layers will form and how successful your pastry will be. The butter needs to be firm but pliable and a similar consistency to the dough. It shouldn’t look oily or be too soft and you should always be able to feel a little 'chill' in it while still being able to roll it out without too much pressure.

It does take practise to recognise, by feel, what the 'right' consistency is for your butter, but if you use the dough to compare it to, you will soon be well on your way to a successful pastry.

Bundt cakes, and those made in ring tins, are often prone to doming slightly, causing them to look a little like flying saucers, slightly elevated off the serving plate once you turn them out. To help prevent this, once you’ve put the batter into the tin and smoothed the surface with the back of a spoon, use the spoon to then make a shallow indent in the middle (kind of like a moat or ditch). This will mean there is slightly less batter in this area and will counter-balance the extra rising that the cake will naturally do here and will help the final cake have a flat bottom!

If you have ever prepared quinces for baking or poaching before you’ll understand how horribly difficult they are to peel, core and cut neatly due to their rock-hard nature. I spent years struggling with them until I discovered if you place them on a lined baking tray (still whole and washed) and roast them in an oven preheated to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) for about 20 minutes they soften enough to make peeling and cutting so much easier... and then you can get on with your recipe!

They will lose their gorgeous yellow hue and turn a mid-brown colour, but this won’t affect the inside flesh at all. So, before the short quince season comes to an end, make sure you give this hack a try!

Have you ever had fresh or dried fruit sink to the bottom of a cake or loaf? Don’t worry, it’s a common problem and generally happens when the cake batter isn’t heavy or thick enough to hold the weight of the fruit as it bakes.

The best way to avoid sinking fruit is to toss the fruit in a couple of tablespoons of the flour (just use some from the measured amount for the recipe) to coat it lightly. Once added to the cake mixture the flour coating will thicken the batter immediately surrounding the fruit and help suspend the fruit.

Keep in mind though, large pieces of fruit like whole raisins will be far too heavy even if coated with flour and you will need to cut these into smaller portions to have success. This will be the same with large chunks of chocolate and are also best cut into smaller pieces.

There are three main types of pastry: crumbly, flaky and laminated (or puff). ⁠The texture of each (which is indicated by their names) is mainly determined by two things – the consistency of the fat used and how it is incorporated into the pastry dough.

Flaky pastry, like the one pictured here, is made by incorporating small chunks of solid butter or fat through flour (either but 'rubbing in' using your fingertips or 'cutting through' using the cutting blade of a food processor) then binding the dough with moisture from other ingredients such as water and/or eggs. Shortcrust pastry is a great example of this type of pastry.

I always say that a good flaky pastry dough is ugly – the chunks of fat should remain identifiable, and the dough will be uneven in texture and have a streaky appearance. It shouldn't be smooth or even if you want a lovely flaky texture when it is baked.⁠ It's these pockets of fat that melt during baking, releasing steam and pushing apart the structure around them, creating the flakiness.⁠

It is important to use well chilled butter, so it not only remains in distinct pieces during mixing and rolling, but also doesn’t begin to melt during baking until the dough structure around the butter pieces has started to set so that crisp flaky texture can form.⁠

It is good to note that a high temperature is required during baking for the steam created by the melting butter to be effectively evaporated – if not, the pastry won't form a crust, and you will be left with a soggy pastry. ⁠

Generally liquids are best measured in a measuring jug. One exception to this is 'thick' liquids such as honey and golden syrup which are more accurately measured by weighing – it is also easier to measure this way!

Place your bowl or saucepan directly onto your scales, zero or tare the measurement and then pour the thick liquid directly the bowl or saucepan. Both 1 cup (250ml/9fl oz) honey and golden syrup equals 350g (12oz).

Swiss meringue buttercream can be highly temperamental, and it’s not uncommon for it to go 'off track'. But, it can ALWAYS be saved!

One of the common 'issues' when making Swiss meringue buttercream is that it’s prone to curdling (as in this pic). This happens if you add cold butter (or even butter that still holds a chill) to your room temperature meringue mixture. The more butter you add the more 'split' it will look with the butter forming small lumps throughout the mixture. It will also lose all its initial volume and become quite 'wet'.

To fix it, you want to slowly, and carefully, bring up the overall temperature of the buttercream. There are two easy ways to do this:

1. Place one or two tablespoons of the buttercream mixture into a separate microwave proof bowl and microwave on High for 1-3 seconds, depending on how cold the buttercream is, then stir. When it returns to a smooth consistency (don’t worry if it is quite thin) add it back into the curdled buttercream and continue to beat or whisk (depending on your recipe). If the mixture doesn’t come back together, and become silky smooth in texture, after a minute of whisking/beating then repeat this process again until it does. You can then continue to add any remaining butter.
2. Alternatively, place the bowl of buttercream in a sink of warm water so the water reaches about a quarter of the way up the side of the bowl. Stir frequently for 5-10 minutes to gently increase the temperature of the buttercream before beating/whisking. Again, if the buttercream doesn’t come back together after beating/whisking for a minute or so, repeat the warming process before trying again. If using this technique, make sure the water isn't too warm or the butter will start to melt which can cause your buttercream to then become 'soupy'… more on the solution for that problem another time!

There are endless ways to decorate pastry tops for pies and this one, for fruit mince pies, is dead-easy, effective and festive!

Simply press the end of a #11 (11mm) star piping tube into the pastry lids to imprint a star pattern before placing over the pies and baking.

Chilling the pastry lids for 20-30 minutes before stamping them will mean that the pattern will be more defined once baked.

Bundt cakes benefit greatly from tapping the tin on the bench top a few times before baking. This will settle the cake batter into the tin (especially when they have intricate designs), removing any large air pockets and/or gaps between the tin and the batter which can appear as small holes on the surface of the cake once baked.

This Bundt cake wasn’t tapped before baking and you can clearly see the holes the air pockets have left.

When making pastry for a pie or tart think about the shape of your dish or tin before you shaping it ready to be rested in the fridge ready for rolling.

For example, if you’re going to make a round pie, shape your pastry it into a disc. But if your tart tin is rectangular, like this one, it’s a good idea to shape you pastry into a flat rectangle. This way you’re not trying to roll your pastry into a different shape than you have started with and you’ve given yourself a bit of a head start ) – the pastry not only will be easier to roll but you also won’t have to handle the pastry as much to get it to the right shape for your dish or tin, resulting in better pastry (because, as we all know, pastry isn’t great when you handle it too much!)

Jam swirls can make a very easy, effective, and of course yummy decoration that gives an almost 'painted' look for your cakes, cupcakes and pavlovas. First warm 1-2 tablespoons jam of your choice (here I have used raspberry for its vibrant colour and slight tartness to contrast with the sweetness of the white chocolate buttercream on this cake), pass it through a sieve to remove any seeds and then let it cool. Use the back of a tablespoon or teaspoon to give a swirl texture to your buttercream, ganache or cream. Use a clean teaspoon or tablespoon to dot the cooled jam (sparingly) into the hollows and then use the spoon again to gently spread the jam, following the swirls.

Less is more with this technique – always use less jam than you think you will need and don’t overdo the swirling as the more you ‘play’ with it the more likely the pattern will become less striking and somewhat messy.

There are a number of good reasons why you would preserve your sourdough starter by drying it, including if you can’t (or don’t) want to use and/or feed it for a long period of time; you’d like to put some aside for ‘insurance’ just in case your sourdough starter dies (oops!); or you simply want to send it to someone in the post.

Drying sourdough starter is super simple to do:

1. Start with a well-fed, active starter and use a palette knife to spread it in a thin layer over an oven tray that has been lined with baking paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Allow it to stand at room temperature (the warmer and less humid it is the quicker it will dry) until it is crisp and completely dried through.
3. Then break the starter into small pieces (you can also coarsely crush it), place in an airtight jar (or seal in plastic bags if you are going to send it in the post) and label.
4. It will store in a cool dry, dark place for up to 1 year.⁠

1. Add the same amount of water and unbleached plain flour by weight to the crushed starter (30g/1oz is a perfect amount to start with).
2. Stand for 12 hours in a warm place (about 23°C/73.5°F is good).
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 two more times.
4. On the fourth feed, first discard half the starter mixture and then add the water and flour and continue to repeat this discarding and feeding every 12 hours until it doubles in size in under 8 hours. Your reactivated starter will then be ready to use!⁠