5 Baking Tips

I’m just going to say it, I love to bake. So I regularly tune into some of the old school chefs, Jacques Pepin, Julia Childs, Martha Stewart, all courtesy of my local PBS Station. Throughout the years I’ve picked up some handy tips and tricks that I use regularly. I’d like to share a few of them with you.

1.  Buttermilk please! Who keeps buttermilk on hand? I defiantly don’t. An easy way to make it your own is by putting 1 tablespoon of vinegar into 1 cup of milk. Allow to stand for 5 minutes and it will curdle giving you buttermilk. The fattier the milk the richer your buttermilk will be.

2.  Shaved Chocolate- If you take chocolate serious you have to use the block like cheese. Use a serrated bread knife to flake off pieces or for a more whimsical curl use a potato peeler. Be sure your chocolate is cold! Otherwise it could start melting in your hand (unless that was your plan all along). 

3.  Separating Egg Yolks- I use a clean plastic water bottle and position the top over the yolk. Press the air out of the bottle then release while touching the yolk to suck it into your bottle.

4.  Filling pastry bags is a pain. Instead use a drinking glass as a frame to hold the bag folding the edges over the sides of the glass. Easy and clean way to fill them up.

5.  Cling Wrap forever coming loose from the box when you try to get it out? I’ve found that all the boxes are fitted with helpful side tabs to press into the roll to hold it into place.

Were these helpful? What other tricks do you have for my list? Happy Baking!