When baking individual cakes, it’s a great idea to place them all on an oven tray rather than straight onto the oven rack. They will be so much easier to turn around and access during baking, if needed, and removing from the oven once they are done.

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Buttercream naturally has a yellow hue to it and will affect the final colour when tinting. Adding a very small amount of violet gel colour to the buttercream – a swipe of a toothpick dipped into the gel colour is usually enough – before adding the colour you wish to tint it will give a whiter base allowing a truer colour to be achieved.

The buttercream in the bottom right of this pic resulted when adding rose pink to the natural-coloured buttercream above it, while the one in the bottom left with a 'brighter' tone was based on the buttercream above it which had a little violet colour added first.

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When placing your cinnamon scrolls in the tin make sure that all the neat, cut sides are facing downwards and the untidy ends are pointing upwards (unlike as shown here where the untidy ends are hidden underneath and had to be turned upside down before baking!). This way, when turned out of the tin the best side of each scroll will be facing up and on show making for a very handsome loaf!

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When proving a bread dough for the final time once it has been shaped, and just before it is baked, it is important not to prove it for too long as it can have a noticeable effect on not only the texture, but also the size, colour, flavour and aroma of your final bread.

These two rolls were made from the same batch of dough, and were glazed with the same egg wash, but the one on the left was proved for 20 minutes longer than the one on the right.

When a dough has been over-proved the carbon dioxide bubbles produced by the yeast through fermentation within the dough become too large and the gluten structure that hold them become weak. When baked, an over-proved bread dough won’t rise as much (when compared with a dough that have been proved for the correct amount of time) as these large air pockets have already almost exhausted their potential to expand. As these over-expanded air pockets put extra pressure on the weakened gluten structure, they will often cause the dough to collapse giving it a misshaped and ‘wrinkled’ appearance (as you can see in the roll on the left).

As a result the final bread of an over-proved dough will be pale (due to the yeast consuming all of the available starches and sugars in the dough through the fermentation process), have a low-volume (usually about 20 to 40 per cent less than it would have been if proved for the right amount of time) and have a unpleasant yeasty flavour and aroma, similar to stale alcohol (due to the excessive fermentation of the  yeast) – eeekkkk! The texture will also be crumbly, more compressed and heavier than a correctly proved bread.

So how can you tell if a dough has been proved for long enough? A good way to tell if it is ready for the oven is that when you press your finger into the side of the dough it will leave a small indent which springs back slightly. If it springs back more fully it hasn’t been proved for long enough and needs a little longer. If it doesn’t spring back at all, or the dough collapses under the pressure, it has been over proved.

The best way to save an over-proved dough is to knead it together until it reaches its original size, reshape and then reprove, keeping a good eye on it so it doesn’t over-prove again. The flavour will be slightly yeastier than if it hadn’t had this extra proving, but the texture and colour will be similar.

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Syrups are a great way to not only keep your cakes lovely and moist but also to introduce extra flavour. I love infusing herbs in my cake syrups and rosemary, thyme and sage work particularly well.

To make a herb-infused syrup for a regular-sized 20cm cake, combine 60ml (1/4 cup) each of strained lemon or orange juice and water, 110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, and 4-8 sprigs of the herb of your choice (obviously the more you use the more flavour will be infused). Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely and then bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the syrup reduces by about a half. Remove the herb sprigs and pour the syrup over the hot cake as soon as it is turned out of the tin.

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‘Non-stick baking’ paper is not the same as ‘greaseproof’ paper and it’s good to know the differences so you can choose the best one for the type of baking you are doing.

Non-stick baking paper has a thin silicone coating to prevent your baking sticking to oven trays and cake tins without having to grease with butter or oil. Generally it is heat-resistant up to 220°C/200°C fan-forced (425°F/400°F fan-forced). You can still use it at temperatures above this but it will tend to brown around the edges.  It is also great to use two sheets either side of your pastry when rolling out – it does away for the need to use flour to stop it from sticking to the bench top or rolling pin. It can also be used to make paper icing bags and for wrapping food to cook ‘en papillote’. Some recipes refer to it as parchment paper.

Greaseproof paper doesn’t have the silicone coating but is, as its name suggests, grease-resistant and can also be used to line trays and tins when baking – BUT you will need to grease it on both sides, otherwise it will stick! Also allow your baking to cool before peeling it away to make it easier to remove and less likely to stick.

And then there is ‘waxed’ paper that can’t be used in your oven and therefore is unsuitable to use when baking. As it’s name suggests it has a thin coating of wax which is good for keeping things like sandwiches fresh and wrapping high-fat or moist foods but it is not good when heated….so don’t even try!

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Some recipes, like those for sponge cakes, ask you to whisk the egg and sugar mixture until it forms a ‘ribbon trail’. But what does this actually mean?
The best way to check if you have reached the point of a 'ribbon trail' is to stop whisking, lift the whisk out and wave it across the top of the mixture. If it leaves a ribbon trail that lasts for 2-3 seconds before it disappears into the mixture again, then it is ready. If not, just keep whisking until this point is reached.

Another way of checking is to slowly draw a figure eight over the surface – if the start of it is still visible by the time you finish it, then the mixture is ready!

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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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When making a multi-layered cake from one quantity of batter its often hard to make sure the layers will be even when just using your intuition to judge how much batter should go into each tin.

To ensure the batter is divided equally between the tins, weigh the tins with the mixture in them and then compare to make sure they are the same weight.

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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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One way to separate egg yolks from their whites is to use the halved egg shells. But when your eggs are super fresh (and the yolks are nice and plump) you can separate them by simply breaking the eggs into your hand with your fingers slightly apart. The whites will slip between your fingers into the bowl below while the yolk will stay sitting in your hand. Don’t try this with older eggs as the yolks will be too weak to hold their shape using this method and are more likely to break into the whites - these eggs are best separated using the halved shell of the egg.

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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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Icing cupcakes while they are still warm will lead to an inevitable #bakefail – think sliding icing! It’s important to make sure you give enough time for them to cool completely before icing, but sometimes you just don’t have the time… if this happens, pop your cupcakes on a wire rack and place it the in the freezer. To make the cooling even faster, you’ll notice that the wire rack becomes icy cold quickly and therefore the base/s will cool down faster as than the top/s. After 5-10 minutes, turn them upside down to cool the tops quickly as well.

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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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