1. Read the recipe and then reread it again from the end

Baking is an exact science in which all the ingredients are important, so you should read the recipe before you begin. This will help refresh your memory of the order of steps and make sure you have all the right ingredients. After that, the recipe is reread from the end, starting to perform the algorithm in the opposite direction: turn on the oven for preheating, get all the necessary utensils, prepare baking forms. Then gather all the ingredients and measure out the right amount. Only when the culinary mise-en-scene is completely ready, you can start cooking.

2. Cracking eggs confidently

A piece of eggshell caught on the tooth is not dangerous, but it can slightly spoil the impression of a delicious baking. Fearing that this will not happen, people often try to break an egg with weak taps. This is wrong and will lead to the opposite result. You must break it with precise, sure movements, and then the shell will crack accurately without falling apart into small pieces. If the trouble happened, however, it will be easier to remove the shards if you moisten your finger with water.

If the recipe calls for an egg to be added to the flour, it is better to break it over a bowl and then pour it into the dough. That way it will be easier to spot and remove the splinters, and they may get lost in the flour.

3. Grease a spoon for sticky ingredients

When you measure out honey, molasses, and other sticky ingredients, there is a lot of product left in the spoon and therefore less goes into the dough. A little trick will solve the problem. Before using the measuring spoon, it should be lubricated with olive oil. After that, it will be easier to retrieve sticky ingredients. The measuring cups can also be wiped with oil using a paper towel.

4. Use unsalted oil

The kind of butter to be used is also important for perfect baking. It must be unsalted. This is especially important when making a cake. Excess salt will upset the harmony of the recipe and may impair the taste of the cakes or cream.

5. Use ingredients at room temperature.

Recipe writers rarely specify such a nuance as the temperature of the products. However, this, too, affects the quality of the baked goods. Room temperature ingredients are better mixed into a homogeneous mass and after baking you get crusts with an even texture. Therefore, ingredients that are stored in the refrigerator – milk, sour cream, etc., take out in advance so that they warm up a little. The same applies to eggs. Before adding them to the dough, they should get to room temperature, then the dough will be more fluffy.

6. Salt the cookies from underneath.

There are recipes for salted cookies that require a sprinkling of large salt crystals before baking them in the oven. Traditionally this is done on top, but you should try the opposite – salt the bottom of the cookie. Then the crystals enter well into the dough and will not crumble. And such cookies are more interesting to try – at first the tongue feels salty taste, which then passes into sweet.

7. Use baking strips

When assembling the cake, the cakes have to be flattened because they usually take a domed shape when baked. But there is a way to make the dough rise evenly as it cooks. To do this, a strip of cloth is moistened with water, wrung out and wrapped around the outside of the mold, and then put the container in the oven. If the idea of sending the cloth into the oven is not to your liking, you can buy special strips for baking.

8. Place a towel under the bowl

To evenly mix the dough or whip the cream, you need to keep the bowl in place. If it slides on the countertop, you can put a slightly damp towel underneath. Or roll it up into a tube and then into a circle, forming a “nest” for the bowl.

9. Frosting the dough.

When baking the next batch of cookies, the remaining portions of dough are not stored on the table, but placed in the freezer. The cooled mass is firmer and much easier to work with, forming balls or other shapes. In addition, cooling the dough improves the taste of the cookies.

10. Use a thermometer

At first glance, you could do without a thermometer by checking baked goods with a traditional method – a toothpick or a match. But this method is deceptive, and why play guessing games with the risk of overbaking or overcooking? For example, when baking cheesecake, you have to catch the moment so you don’t overbake it. When baking bread, it’s also important to know if all the crumb is baked or not. It’s easier to monitor the temperature with a temperature probe.

11. Use breadcrumbs

If you do not have parchment paper, it will be easier to remove the cakes from the mold if you grease the mold with butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. This tastes better than using flour to coat the mold. The breadcrumbs are nicer in texture and taste, and the crusts are also much easier to separate from the walls.

12. Use a scale.

It is important to keep the proportions of the ingredients in order to have a perfect bake. If the recipe calls for quantities in grams, the products should be weighed, not measured by eye. Any ingredient has the same gram weight, but the density and volume of the products are different, so you can’t measure the same with a glass.

The post 12 tricks on how to make a puffy pastry instead of a dry cake appeared first on Meringue Bakeshop.

To make a biscuit with a diameter of twenty centimeters, you will need: 4 eggs, 100 grams of flour, 150 grams of sugar.

For cooking, first of all, you should prepare a mold. This can be any special mold available in the house. The ring designed for baking will also work. In the first case, parchment is placed on the bottom, and in the second case, the ring at the bottom is wrapped with foil.

How to prepare biscuit dough correctly

In different containers, ordinary bowls will do, separate the yolks from the whites, most importantly, so that there is not a drop of yolk in the whites. In a bowl with the yolks pour half of the sugar, then thoroughly mix the mixture. You can do it by hand or with a blender. It depends on how you want it. We put this mixture separately and start whites. They need to be whipped. In doing so, it is important that the working part of the mixer (blades) is dry and not greasy.

The whipping process is carried out on a medium speed mode. The foam should be puffy as a result. At this stage, add sugar little by little in several steps, but do not stop beating the whites. Once all the sugar is in the whites, keep beating them. The mass should be soft and not friable, and if the container with it is turned over, the whipped whites should not fall out. It should be noted that it is the whipped whites in this case act as a substitute for the leavening agent. Provided they are well and properly whipped, there is no need to add more leavening agent to the dough.

When everything is ready, separate 1/3 of the whites and add it to the yolks. Stir the contents and add the flour, sifted, necessarily, as this factor also affects the puffiness and airiness of the finished product, and again mix thoroughly. The resulting mass is transferred to a container with the remaining whipped egg whites and mix it all gently from bottom to top. The process of mixing should not be delayed, the main thing is to combine the ingredients.

The biscuit dough is ready. It remains to transfer it to the form and bake. The sides of the form do not need to grease with oil, so that the biscuit does not stick to them. The fact is that in the oven, the volume of dough increases. In connection with this and the form is not filled completely, but 50 percent or 2/3 of the total height.

The cooking process

Another responsible step is baking. The oven must be preheated to 165-170 degrees, and the heat must be the same at the top and bottom. We put the form with the dough inside for about fifty minutes.

During baking, the dough should rise quickly and brown gradually. If the ruddy crust appears very quickly, it is necessary to reduce the temperature a little, but if it rises unevenly, sagging in the middle, then the temperature should be added.

If baking in convection mode, the temperature should be put 10-20 degrees less and the first time to observe the process and adjust it to find the best option. After the biscuit is ready, the oven is turned off, but not opened. It is required to take out the biscuit after ten minutes at the earliest.

After removing from the oven, the biscuit should be released from the mold, walking around the edges with a knife. We get a perfectly puffy, tall and very tasty product. After that, the biscuit cools and is wrapped in ordinary clingfilm for eight to twelve hours. From there, it can already be divided into cakes.

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Strawberry and banana bread

Easy to make and delicious bread, perfect for breakfast or snacks.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 mashed overripe bananas
• 4 tablespoons butter, melt, cool
• 2 eggs, beat beat up
• 150 g yoghurt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 cup diced strawberries

Preparation Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with butter.
• In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed banana, melted butter, eggs, vanilla sugar and yogurt.
• Mix all the dry ingredients together with the banana, yogurt, eggs and other ingredients.
• Add the strawberries.
• Transfer the dough to a bread mold and bake until ready to serve, about one hour.

Banana-Chocolate Cookies

Cooking time: 18 minutes

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup room temperature butter
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed banana (2 bananas)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• 150g chocolate

Cooking steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Mix the butter and sugar.
• Add the egg and continue mixing.
• In a separate bowl mix the banana puree and baking soda. Set the mixture aside for 2 minutes.
• Mix banana and oil mixture.
• Add flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir to combine.
• Add chocolate. Shape cookies and bake for 11-13 minutes.

Banana cake with strawberries and nuts

Cooking time: 1 hour and 8 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1+3/4 cups flour.
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 overripe bananas
• 8 tablespoons melted and chilled butter
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 120 g fresh strawberries
• ¼ cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons chopped chocolate

Preparation Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Grease a muffin tin with butter.
• Heat bananas in the microwave for 5 minutes in a covered container.
• We transfer bananas to a bowl and let them cool for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain and get ½ or ¾ cup of juice.
• While waiting for the banana juice, mix flour, baking soda, salt.
• Boil the resulting juice over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
• We add sugar, butter, eggs and vanillin to the juice.
• Mix everything with flour.
• Add the strawberries and shape the muffin.
• Sprinkle the top with chopped pecans and chocolate.
• Bake for 35 minutes, turn the tray and bake for another 15 minutes or until tender.
• Let the cake cool for 15 minutes. Then take it out of the mold. It can be stored for 4 days.

Banana nut cake

Cooking time: 38 minutes.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter (8 tablespoons)
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• ½ cup mashed bananas (1 medium banana)
• 1 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Cooking Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Cover the bottom of a baking tray with baking paper.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and add sugar, eggs, vanilla and banana. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Add the nuts.
• Transfer the dough to a baking tray and bake for 20-23 minutes. Cut the cooled pie into 16 pieces. The pie can be stored for 1 week.

Banana buns

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 1 cup mashed banana

For the frosting:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water

Cooking steps:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• Grease a baking pan with oil.
• In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
• Add the chopped butter to the mixture and grind with the flour.
• Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the egg yolk and add the vanilla sugar. Add mashed banana and mix.
• The resulting dough is transferred to a surface sprinkled with flour. Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Form 8 rolls from the dough. Place them on a baking tray at a distance of 0.5 cm from each other and bake for 15-18 minutes.
• Let cool for a few minutes and then take them out of the baking tray.
• Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Mix powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons of water, if necessary add 1 tablespoon more water.
• While the buns are warm let’s smear each one with icing.
• We serve.

However, we must recognize that bananas are not only good for cooking. They can be used safely in cosmetology. Banana masks will help to return hair shine and lushness.

The post Saving the food: 5 best recipes for overripe bananas appeared first on Meringue Bakeshop.

With cheese and tomatoes

Cupcakes come not only with berries and nuts, but also with tomatoes and cheese. What do you think of this unusual combination of ingredients? Does it intrigue you and make you want to try it? Then go ahead, it’s time to cook!

Ingredients:

• Flour – incomplete by the toe cup;
• Baking powder – 2 tsp;
• Salt – to taste;
• Ground pepper mixture – to taste;
• Milk – 1-1,5 cup;
• Eggs – 1 egg;
• Butter – 2,5 tbsp;
• Hard cheese – 50-75 gr;
• Cheese – 100 gr;
• Dijon mustard – 0,5 tsp;
• Small tomatoes (can be cherry) – 5-6 pcs;
• Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds (peeled) – 2 tbsp.

Method of preparation:

• Wash the tomatoes well;
• Dry them and take off their skin if necessary;
• Cut the flesh into even slices (cubes, slices, blocks);
• In a deep bowl, mix eggs with cottage cheese, milk, flour, melted butter and baking powder;
• Then salt, pepper, season with mustard;
• Mix well and add the cheese grated on a fine grater;
• Stir again;
• In muffin tins, place a layer of dough on the bottom, then a layer of tomatoes and another layer of dough on top;
• Then sprinkle with grated cheese and seeds;
• Set in a heated to 200 degrees oven for 40-45 minutes;
• Serve as a dish on its own.

Chocolate with Cherries

The sweetness of vanilla, the pleasant bitterness of chocolate, and the slight sourness of cherries are something that is impossible to resist when it comes to chocolate-cherry muffins with a cup of aromatic strong coffee or tea.

Ingredients:

• Sugar – 1-1.5 cups;
• Flour – 1-1,5 cup;
• Eggs – 2 pcs;
• Butter – 3-4 tbsp;
• Soda – 1 tsp;
• Pitted cherries – 1,5 cup;
• Bitter chocolate – 1 bar;
• Vanilla sugar – 0.5 tsp;
• Cacao – 3 tablespoons;
• Cognac – 1 tbsp.

Method of preparation:

• In a deep bowl, mix eggs and sugar;
• Beat until homogeneous;
• Sift the flour through a sieve and add to the sugar and egg mixture;
• Then add the baking soda, cocoa and melted butter;
• Mix thoroughly and knead the dough;
• Melt the chocolate in a water bath and add to the dough together with the cherries and cognac;
• Mix gently;
• Spread the batter in muffin tins;
• Send to a preheated 190 degrees oven for 35-45 minutes.

With pecans and maple syrup

Not only can you serve pancakes and pancakes with maple syrup, but you’ll never want to part with a pecan muffin once you try it. After all, they’ll be your secret weapon, both on the holiday table and on any given day.

Ingredients:

• Flour – 80 g;
• Corn starch – 1 tsp;
• Baking powder – 0,5 tbsp;
• Salt – to taste;
• Cinnamon ground – 1 tbsp;
• Nutmeg ground – on the tip of a knife;
• Butter – 100 gr;
• Vanilla sugar – to taste;
• Milk – 150 ml;
• Walnuts – 50 gr.

For cream and decoration:

• Butter – 4-5 tbsp;
• Cream cheese – 4 tbsp;
• Powdered sugar – 4 tbsp;
• Salt – to taste;
• Maple syrup – 1 tbsp;
• Walnuts kernels – 4 tbsp.

Method of preparation:

• In a bowl, mix all the loose ingredients together;
• Grind walnut kernels into coarse crumbs and add to the bowl with the flour and other ingredients;
• Stir;
• Beat the sugar with the eggs and butter;
• Then gently transfer to a bowl with the loose ingredients;
• Season with vanilla sugar and maple syrup;
• Mix well;
• Add warm milk and mix until smooth;
• Spread the batter into the muffin tins;
• And send it to the oven heated to 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes;
• After baking, cool the cupcakes well.

For the cream:

• Using a mixer, beat the butter and cheese until smooth;
• Mix the salt with the maple syrup and add to the butter and cheese mixture;
• Beat again with a mixer;
• Transfer the cream to a piping bag and use it to decorate the muffins;
• Sprinkle crushed nuts on top;
• If you prefer, if you don’t like cream, you can pour just maple syrup over the cupcakes, garnishing them with nuts.

With spinach and cheese

If you’re not a big fan of sweets, spinach and cheese muffins are the perfect solution. Tender, light and incredibly tasty, they literally melt on your tongue so you can enjoy their unobtrusive flavor all day long whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

• Flour – 1 cup;
• Eggs – 1 egg;
• Kefir – an incomplete two finger glass;
• Spinach – medium sized bundle;
• Butter – 1 tbsp;
• Hard cheese – 50-75 gr;
• Baking powder – 1 tbsp;
• Sunflower oil – 2 tbsp;
• Salt – to taste;
• Ground nutmeg – to taste.

Method of preparation:

• Sift the flour through a fine sieve several times;
• Mix salt and nutmeg and add to the sifted flour;
• In a bowl beat the kefir with the eggs and sunflower oil;
• Pour the resulting mass into a bowl with the flour and mix gently;
• Wash the spinach under cold running water;
• Dry thoroughly;
• Chop and fry in butter for 6-7 minutes;
• Cool and add to the batter;
• Mix well;
• Grate cheese on a medium grater;
• Add to the dough and mix again;
• Fill the muffin tins with the batter;
• Send in heated to 200 degrees in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Custard with orange zest

Flavorful, airy, and so delicious you can’t stop until the last curd-orange muffin goes into your mouth!

Ingredients:

• Oranges – 1 pc;
• Baking powder – 1.5 tsp;
• Salt – to taste;
• Soda – 0,5 tsp;
• Cottage cheese – 200 gr;
• Eggs – 3 pcs;
• Sugar – 1,5-2 cups;
• Vanilla sugar – 0,5 tsp;
• Butter – 100 gr;
• Flour – 3 cups;
• Milk – 1 cup incomplete for two fingers.

Method of preparation:

• Orange zest grate on a fine grater;
• In a bowl, mix cottage cheese with eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla sugar, melted butter, baking powder, baking soda and milk;
• Beat with a mixer until smooth and add orange zest;
• Sift the flour through a fine sieve several times;
• Add to the bowl with the ingredients;
• Stir and knead the dough;
• Fill muffin tins with batter;
• Send in a preheated 180 degrees oven for 30-35 minutes;
• Before serving, if desired, you can sprinkle with powdered sugar or grated chocolate.

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General recommendations

For this purpose it is necessary to take a container of glass, ceramic, stainless steel or copper. Plastic is not suitable because it is porous and it can retain an oil film, and squirrels do not like grease. Before the procedure, wash the dish under running water and dry it well, since the whites will not be able to whip well in a humid environment. You should also degrease the bowl. Lemon will do an excellent job with this.

There are many nuances with the eggs themselves. Separating the whites from the yolks is much easier if the eggs are cold. At the same time, room temperature whites are easier to whip. The best option is to take the product out of the fridge, beat it and leave it at room temperature for at least an hour. If you don’t have that much time, simply heat the whites by placing them in a bowl of warm water (not boiling water). Note that the eggs must be fresh – those that have been in the refrigerator for a week will not do.

Don’t forget about additives. “Pure” whites will never whip up to the thick and dense consistency that you need. So, at the beginning of the work it is worth to salt the mass. This will help stabilize it. At the end it is worth putting a pinch of citric acid – it has the same function as salt, so it is used to consolidate the result. If you are making meringue, don’t forget to add sugar. However, do it gradually, not all at once. First, whisk the whites until they foam, then put a little sugar or powdered sugar, mix the mass well, and so on in a circle, until the powdered sugar runs out. The sugar will give the whites not only sweetness, but also a dense structure and a glossy surface.

How to whip whites with a mixer?

This is the easiest way, because the mixer will do everything for you – you just need to choose the right speed and add the ingredients in the right sequence. In the first stage the whites should be whipped at the lowest speed. To make the process go faster, salt the mass. The stage will be considered over when a light foam appears. The next stage is citric acid. This will “lock in” the foam, and when you switch the mixer to medium speed, it will produce soft peaks. How do you know when it’s there? Turn the container with the whites – they should not pour out, and the mass on the whisk should sink, because at this stage it is not yet able to hold its shape.

If you’re making dessert, it’s time to add the powdered sugar. Two spoonfuls at a time will be enough. At the fourth stage, using medium speed, the peaks should become stiff, that is, not fall from the mixer whisk and hold their shape. The mass should become dense and glossy. This consistency is considered excellent for all dishes except meringues, which are whipped whites with sugar. For its preparation, the fifth stage is important – after you have put all the powdered sugar, whip the whites for about five more minutes.

How to whip by hand?

We have already talked about the whisk container, the whisk or fork, depending on what you plan to use, must also be dry and clean. Be prepared for the procedure to take much longer than if you were using a mixer. If you do not adhere to the rule that the whites must be beaten in one direction, they will constantly fall off and you will not get a dense foam. Add additional ingredients in the same order as with the mixer. We advise you to use powdered sugar instead of sugar, which does not dissolve well when beating with a whisk, as it is much easier to work with it.

The post How to whip egg whites properly to get solid peaks in a couple of minutes appeared first on Meringue Bakeshop.

Ingredients needed:

• Flour – 60 gr;
• Sugar – 120 gr;
• Cream (10-12% fat content) – 200 gr;
• Milk – 100 gr;
• Eggs – 2 pcs;
• Pitted cherries – 400 gr;
• Vanilla 0.5 teaspoon;

Mix the flour, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Then add milk and cream. Separate the yolks from the whites and add the yolks to the batter. Mix the dough thoroughly. Then send the dough to the fridge for 1-1.5 hours.

It is advisable to take a baking dish with a diameter of 24 cm. Grease it with butter and then dust it with flour. Put it in the fridge for a few minutes.

After that, take out the dough and pour half of it into a container. Bake in a preheated 180 degrees oven for 5-7 minutes. Then take it back out, put cherries and pour the rest of the batter. Put the pie in the oven for another 50 minutes. Bon appetit!

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