BakeTips
Clever and useful tips for your kitchen.

Filling Your Tart Case
When a tart or pie case needs blind baking (so that the base doesn't absorb the wet filling and become soggy) it's important you fill the pastry case completely with pastry weights (blind baking beads)...
read more

Bread Glazes
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...
read more

Pasteurised Egg Whites
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...
read more

Roasted Plums
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...
read more

Glacé Icing Consistency
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,...
read more

Butter Consistency
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),...
read more

Preventing Bundt Cakes from Doming
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...
read more

Easy-prepare Quinces
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...
read more

Pie Apples
Wondering which apples are the best to use for your Autumn and Winter pies? My favourites are Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Jonagold and Braeburn. What all these apples have in common is that...
read more

Sinking Fruit
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...
read more

What is Flaky Pastry?
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...
read more

Colouring Meringues
When colouring meringues always use gel colours. Because gel colours have a lower moisture content than conventional liquid food colours, you can achieve the same colour intensity by using much less. This is particularly important...
read more

Measuring 'Thick' Liquids
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...
read more

Saving Swiss Meringue Buttercream
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...
read more

Festive Pastry Decoration
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...
read more

Tapping Your Bundt Tin
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...
read more

Shape Your Pastry
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...
read more

Jam Swirls
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...
read more