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Twenty baking tips from a blogger

July 1, 2015 by Babs 16 Comments

Whenever I’m thinking of recipes to share here on Patchwork, I always go to my recipe notebook first, it’s missing a cover, the writing in it is illegible to anyone but me and the pages are decorated with butter stains and crumbs. Not just any recipe gets to join its pages, they are tested and tweaked and tasted and tinkered with. They are rock solid family favourites.

The first two pages are full of little baking tips that I have picked up along the way and yesterday, when I grabbed my book to see what I would share with you guys this week, I realised that the first two pages were the most important. So here they are, I hope they help in your baking journeys.

Enjoy, and please feel free to share any of your tips below in the comments section.

20 Baking tips from a blogger - by patchwork Cactus

  1. If your butter is in the fridge and the recipe calls for it to be soft, just grate it like cheese.
  2. Always preheat your oven to 20 degrees above what the recipe says then turn it down after you pop your stuff in, this way it allows for the heat that escapes when you open it.
  3. When you’re making biscuits, double the recipe then freeze half of it in a zip lock bag. Dough freezes perfectly and it means there is no mess the next time you want to make a batch.
  4. Everything looks pretty with sprinkles or shaved chocolate on it.
  5. When you’re piping a butter cream swirl (like a soft serve) always start with a dollup in the middle then do a spiral starting from the outside. Like in this video.
  6. Biscuits will harden after they cool so never think that they are too soft to come out of the oven.
  7. When you put cupcake batter in the pans, always tap them on the counter to get the air out.
  8. If you don’t have enough batter to fill each cupcake pan, half fill the empty ones with water so the rest cook evenly.
  9. Just use a cheap packet mix if you’re cooking cupcakes for toddlers, they are only going to eat the icing anyway.
  10. Always add some good quality vanilla extract to said packet mixes.
  11.  Nothing can go wrong when you combine cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and lemon rind.
  12. For cakes, totally ignore cooking times and go by smell and sight. If in doubt, always pull it out, you can put it back in but you can’t un-cook it.Baking Tips by Patchwork Cactus
  13. You can inject chocolate sauce, lemon curd or strawberry topping into a cooked cupcake with a medicine syringe.
  14. You can make the world’s best lemon curd in the microwave. This recipe is my favourite.
  15. When you are baking for an event, un-iced cakes and cupcakes can be cooked up to three weeks early and frozen (so long as they are wrapped well to avoid freezer burn) they actually taste better after being frozen a lot of the time.
  16. You can put the icing on cakes while they are defrosting, especially in Summer, that way the icing won’t melt off.
  17. This is the best buttercream icing recipe ever.
  18. You can make donut holes in a cake pop maker.
  19. Butter can be substituted directly for coconut oil, gram for gram.
  20. Before you start every recipe, unload the dishwasher.  

Twenty baking tips from a blogger - By Patchwork Cactus

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid

    July 1, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    Cracking cake tips – the grated butter is my favourite!

    Reply
  2. Laura - Paper & Pin

    July 2, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    WOA. These are amazing tips! Holy mac!

    Reply
  3. Fleur | Our Urban Box

    July 2, 2015 at 5:05 pm

    Awesome! How good is the tip about grating your butter?? Mind blown! x

    Reply
  4. Shannon @ Oh Creative Day

    July 2, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    This is amazing!
    #20 brings me unstuck. Every. Time!
    And #8- but of course! I had never thought of it.

    Reply
  5. Jessica @ Sweetest Menu

    July 3, 2015 at 1:42 pm

    Great baking tips! I especially like the piping trick!

    Reply
  6. Belinda McBride

    July 4, 2015 at 7:56 am

    wow, i’ve been coming up with tricks for 30 years but some of these will certainly change things for me! Can i add one of my top 5? whenever the prep work starts, pop a medium sized bowl on the bench for all the waste… saves about 50 trips to the bin and contains all the leakage!

    Reply
  7. [email protected] my2morrows

    July 4, 2015 at 11:39 pm

    Wow. These are life changing! Thanks Babs! Printing these out and popping into my baking book! Xx

    Reply
  8. Jenni from Styling Curvy

    July 5, 2015 at 11:07 am

    Great tips, your book sounds like mine. I always do double budcuit recipes and freeze half, my boys eat whatever is there so keeping some for a fresh (warm) batch is aleays appreciated.

    Reply
  9. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    I only just learned this one and it is a total game changer! So glad you liked them!

    Reply
  10. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    Oh thanks luv! xox

    Reply
  11. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    That one has been super popular, so good to be able to share it!

    Reply
  12. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    If only I could take my own advice. Lol.

    Reply
  13. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    It makes so much sense once you know right?!

    Reply
  14. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    YES! You can give me as many tips as you want! That is a cracker, I will be adding that to my next one! Thanks xoxo

    Reply
  15. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    Oh I think I could make a coffee table book all about baking books. I would love to paw through EVERYONES! You’re so so welcome.

    Reply
  16. Patchwork Cactus

    July 7, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    I am so looking forward to having teenage eaters, right now I have two toddlers on a hunger strike!

    Reply

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