Cake Flour

It is best to use cake flour. Cake flour is a low protein flour that is made from soft winter wheat. It has a protein content of about 8% (opposed to 10% in AP or All Pourpose flour), which gives it a very fine texture and a very light color. Because it has such a fine texture, cake flour should be sifted before incorporating it into a recipe to prevent clumping. In a pinch, here is a cake flour substitue: All-Purpose flour (just under one cup) 2 Tbsp. cornstarch Preparation: 1. Place two tablespoons of cornstarch in a one-cup measure. 2. Fill the rest of the cup with all-purpose flour. 3. Use in place of the cake flour in any recipe. One cup of substitute is equal to one cup of cake flour.

The recipe yields 12 cups, therefore if you were making a 2 layer 8 in. cake, you would use half of this batter. If you want to make a different sized cake, it helps if you look at Wilton's guide on batter amounts in the cake making section. They also include things like baking temperature, cake pan size, baking time etc. Hope this helps :)

Link:  http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-serving-guide.cfm

Measurement Cheat Sheet 2

Measurement Cheat Sheet

Beach Sand Tip

At the end of the day the sand was EVERYWHERE! If you’ve been to the beach you know that sand is practically impossible to get off.

Well here’s the secret: Pack a travel size bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. Then at the end of the day, all you have to do is rub the baby powder on the skin. Simple as that! The sand will rub right off. AMAZING stuff! It leaves my babies nice and soft! AND most importantly… sand-free!

Do you want to know what else I love using baby powder for? Day old beach hair! It acts as a dry shampoo and is perfect for the beach…because let’s be honest… who wants to get ready at the beach?! I love to just relax, have fun and not have to worry about my hair or makeup!

So have you tried either of these tricks?!

Avacados

Via: http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2011/04/kitchen-quick-tips-avocados.html

Something we might not know about avocados is that they are in fact a fruit, not a vegetable. They are also full of vitamin K, vitamin C, folate and fibre. Avocados are a good source of the "healthy fat" we need in our diet, and they taste delicious in a variety of different recipes. They are great in salads, sandwiches and of course the much-loved guacamole!

Shopping for Avocados
If you want to make something with avocados but all of the avocados in the grocery store are either too ripe, or completely unripe, don't worry about changing your menu. Steven is here with some great tips on how to save your dinner party AND your rock-hard avocados! When you get home from the store just take your unripe avocados and place them in a paper bag with a couple of bananas. Bananas produce a type of gas called ethylene, which actually helps to speed up the ripening process. You might notice that bananas and avocados are often stored together in the produce area of the grocery store, which is a simple and effective solution you can use at home! Just leave your avocados in the paper bag with the bananas until they're ready to eat!!!

Slicing Avocados:
We all have a great trip for cutting and slicing an avocado, but what you might not know is how to slice one without smashing or smushing any of the fruit. Halve your avocado lengthwise, and place the half on a cutting board with the cut side facing up. Then, using a sharp knife, slice the avocado into slices width-wise. You can then peel the skin off of each slice, and your avocado will remain completely intact. You can slice them into chunks and pop them on your salads, or for use as a garnish.

How to Keep Avocados from Going Brown:
Lemon and lime juice are the tried and true tools for keeping your avocados from going brown, however, even citrus begins to lose its effectiveness eventually. A great new trick for keeping your avocados fresh and green-looking for longer is to store them in water. Place the unused half of your avocado, preferably the piece with the pit still in it, into a bowl or container of water. Adding a little bit of lemon or lime juice to the water extends the life of your avocado even more, but it is not required for this to work. Just make sure that your avocado is completely submerged. The water will prevent air from hitting the flesh and turning it brown.

Vileda Viewer's Kitchen Tip # 3
When I make egg salad sandwiches, I like to use my pastry blender to cut my eggs. It finely chops the eggs and it's quicker and easier than using a fork!"
This is also a great way to get your kids to help in the kitchen!

Scoring the Avacado

Quick Tips For Cheese

via:http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/2011/04/kitchen-quick-tips-cheese.html

Cheese, cheese, cheese. What do we love about cheese? EVERYTHING! That is to say everything except when cheese gets messy and smooshy and makes a mess on our cute little decorative cheese knives. Well, pay close attention because today Steven has some great tips to help you enjoy your favourite soft cheeses to the fullest!!

Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is a great cheese to have on hand, especially when it comes to baking. The biggest problem with cream cheese straight out of the fridge is that it's as hard as concrete, and almost impossible to stir. Normally we just don't have the time to leave it out so that it can get to room temperature. A great trick for getting cream cheese ready in an instant is to place the cream cheese (in the foil wrapper) in a plastic bag and remove all of the air from the bag. Immerse the block in a bowl of warm/hot water for about 5 minutes. If the cream cheese starts to float you might need to weigh it down so that it stays under the water. Remove the bag, take the cream cheese out and believe it or not, your cream cheese is ready for a bagel, for dips or for making your favourite cheese cake!

Grating Soft Cheeses

If you have made a lasagna or nachos or anything that requires grated cheese (specifically softer cheeses) you know what a pain it is to grate. Your grater ends up covered, and your block often crumbles apart before you have had a chance to grate it all. Well, a great tip for this problem is to freeze your cheese. If you pop your mozzarella, or your havarti, or whatever cheese you need to grate in the freezer for 15-30 minutes, it firms up enough that grating is a breeze!

King of the Soft Cheeses

Soft cheeses are heavenly. We all love a nice big cheese and cracker platter, and Steven is here to show you a trick that will make slicing the tricky little cheeses easier and without the mess. When slicing a soft cheese, first rinse your knife with warm water. The water creates a little barrier so that your knife cuts clean through the cheese with ease.

Vileda Viewer's Kitchen Tip # 1

"My quick tip is using my apple or potato peeler to grate cheese for onion soup or grilled cheese."

How Do I Fix It?

I put too much hot sauce in ... How can I fix this so my kids tongues won't fall off?

•  Just a little bit of the sweet combats the heat from too much cayenne, too much red pepper, too much hot sauce. A little bit of honey goes a long way and won’t compromise the integrity of your dish.

Too much salt in a soup or stew?

•  Add in a few thick slices of peeled potato, potatoes absorb salt. Just add the potato slices and slowly simmer until the potatoes become translucent

Cookies with Volume

For cookies with volume, refrigerate your dough.

The best results come from refrigerating cookie dough over night, or at a minimum 2 hours. Otherwise, your cookies will bake up and then flatten when they cool.

Converting cups/tbls: white flour to whole-wheat flour in recipes?

According to Martha Stewart the conversion of white flour to whole wheat is approximately 1 cup white to 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole-wheat.OK easy enough.

What about converting 1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour to whole wheat?

ASK MARTHA: A whole, new ballgame
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/food/x39…

“Whole-wheat flour produces denser baked goods than white, so you'll need to use less of it: 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons, instead of 1 cup of white flour. Breads made with whole wheat flour do not rise as high because the bran tears the elastic strands of gluten in the dough.”

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
1 cup is 16 tablespoons; so 3/4 c + 2 TBLS = 14 TBLS or 7/8 of a cup (14 is 7/8 of 16)
1 3/4 cup = 28 TBLS; you want 7/8 of that or 24.5 TBLS
24.5 TBLS = 1 1/2 + 1 1/2 teaspoon


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Instructions
Step 1
Substitute an equal part of whole wheat flour for white flour as long as it's the same type of flour. In other words, 1 cup of whole wheat bread flour can replace 1 cup of white bread flour, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute for 1/2 cup of white all-purpose flour.

Step 2
Sift whole wheat flour more than white. The problem cooks tend to run into is that because whole wheat flour is more dense, the end product can often seem heavy or solid. No one wants to eat bread that has no air in it, so if you're using whole wheat flour, lessen the density by sifting the flour a couple of times. This helps incorporate more air into the dough.

Step 3
Adjust your recipe to keep your baked goods from drying out. If you do a complete substitution and there is no white flour in your recipe, you'll end up with a baked item that is a bit drier than normal. There are two ways to avoid this: you can adjust your baking time and take the bread or muffins out of the oven sooner, or you can increase your wet ingredients ever so slightly. For example, if you're making an applesauce muffin with whole wheat flour, add just a bit more applesauce to compensate for the dryness of the whole wheat.

Step 4
Avoid over mixing when you use whole-wheat all-purpose flour in baked goods such as cookies or muffins. Too much mixing will cause the flour to form glutens, which gives you a tougher, chewier end product. Some cooks choose to use a combination of whole wheat and white flour for a slightly fluffier end result. Depending on what you're cooking, you may want to

Don't Have Cake Flour?

If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute ¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch.

Coffee Substitute in Baking

Q: If a recipe calls for espresso powder or freshly brewed coffee and I don’t like coffee, can I leave it out?


A: Yes, you can omit espresso powder. Coffee typically enhances the flavor of chocolate, which is why you see it included in some brownie and chocolate cake recipes. It usually is not prominent, but if you don’t want to use it, you can omit it. Substituting for freshly brewed coffee depends on the amount called for. If it’s a tablespoon or two, you can omit or substitute vanilla extract. If it’s any more than that, I would recommend substituting hot water so that the final texture isn’t affected.

Convection Oven

Q: How do I need to alter a recipe if I am using a convection oven?


A: The general rule of thumb for converting a recipe from a conventional oven to a convection oven is to either use the same temperature and bake for 75% of the stated time (i.e. if a recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, bake for only 15 if using a convection oven), or you can reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and bake for the same time or use a combination of reduced time and temperature. You can check out this Convection Oven Temperature Conversion Calculator as a starting point. Also, open the oven door as little as possible during baking.

Fresh Baking Powder/Soda??

Q: How do I know if my baking powder and baking soda are still fresh?


A: To test if baking powder is still good, combine 1 teaspoon baking powder with 1/3 cup hot water. If it bubbles, it’s still good! To test baking soda, put 2 tablespoons of white vinegar into a small bowl and add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. If it fizzes immediately, it’s still good!

Flat Cookies??

Q: Why do my cookies always turn out flat?


A: There are a few things that can cause cookies to turn out flat. A few of the most common reasons are: The butter is too warm when you add it to the batter; try refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes before baking. The baking powder or baking soda is old. The oven temperature may be off (again, I recommend an oven thermometer). Too much extra butter or shortening from greasing a baking sheet; instead of greasing, use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Q: Most of your recipes call for lining a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Can I just grease the sheet instead?

A: Well, you could, but here’s the thing. Depending on how heavy you are with the greasing (using either butter or shortening), it could affect the final product. Especially when baking cookies, once that butter or shortening starts to melt in the oven, it gets into the dough, and if too much is there, it can cause cookies to turn out flat. If you do a lot of baking, I would recommend investing in one or two silicone baking mats, or you could purchase pre-cut parchment sheets from a baking supply store or even on Amazon.

How To Make Buttermilk

Q: A recipe calls for buttermilk but I don’t want to go to the store just for that. Can I make my own?


A: Yes! To make buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the 1-cup line. Let stand for 5 minutes, and then use as much as the recipe calls for.

Soft Butter

How soft is too soft when talking about softening butter to room temperature for baking?

If butter is to be "softened" or "at room temperature" prior to baking, you need to make sure it doesn't get TOO soft or it could result in some flat cookies. So, how to tell?

 If you press your finger onto the top of the stick of butter, it should leave an indentation, but the butter should hold its shape. If you press on it and the butter squishes and oozes and your finger sinks into it, it's too soft.

What on earth is a stick of butter?

What on earth is a stick of butter?

Many recipes online call for a stick of butter - in Canada we measure butter by the pound, the cup, the spoon - so it is confusing when a recipe calls for a stick.  The conversion equivalent is:

2 sticks of butter = 1 cup of butter

1 stick of butter = 1/2 cup of butter

1/2 stick of butter = 1/4 cup of butter

1 stick of butter = 1/4 pound

1 stick of butter = 8 tablespoons

1 stick of butter = 4 ounces

1 stick of butter = 113 grams

Can you even believe this one ???

I had no idea such a thing existed!!!

But very handy and quite brilliant just the same!!!

Link to a great chart for measuring butter   Brown Eyed Baker Butter Chart

Make your own cake flour

So if a recipe calls for cake flour you may likely be in a pickle. Probably not worth a trip to the store and buying more flour that you may not use up. The solution? Make your own cake flour! Here's how:

For 1 cup of cake flour called for, sift 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and add 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk together, and there you have it - cake flour!