Dessert.LifeTips.com
Category: Baking Subcategory: Food Safety Tip: Wash Your Hands! Whenever you handle raw eggs, please remember to wash your hands thoroughly! Use lots of soap, warm water, and keep on washing through a slow singing of "Happy Birthday To You". That's how to ensure you wash for a minimum of 10 seconds. Subcategory: Substitutions Tip: Brown Sugar Substitution To substitute for one cup of brown sugar, use one cup white sugar plus two tablespoons molasses. Tip: Put On the Mayo You can substitute mayonnaise for part of the shortening in your baking recipes. It adds moistness and makes for a tender texture. Be careful though. Try using half mayo and half shortening at first. Tip: Substituting Honey To substitute honey for sugar in a recipe, use 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of honey for each cup of sugar, and reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 2 tablespoons. If the recipe doesn't use sour cream or buttermilk, also add a pinch of baking soda to reduce acidity that honey adds to baked products. Subcategory: Techniques Tip: Organize Before Starting! Get organized before you start cooking. Read the recipe, gather your ingredients and arrange in order of use, set out the bowls and utensils that you will need. Everything will move much more smoothly this way. The French call this 'mise en place'. Tip: Warming Eggs Eggs beat better if they are room temperature. If you forget to take them out ahead of time, you can warm them up by placing uncracked eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for a few minutes. Take this time to gather the rest of your ingredients.
Category: Bars Subcategory: No Bake Tip: No Sticky Fingers When pressing no-bake bar mixtures into pans, use a wrapper from a stick of butter or margarine. The slightly greased paper makes the chore a breeze, and keeps your fingers clean too! Subcategory: One Crust Tip: Crisp Chocolate Caramel Bars 1-1/4 cups flour 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup butter, chilled 14-oz. pkg. caramels 1/3 cup milk 1/4 cup butter 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup milk chocolate chips 4 Tbsp. butter 1-3/4 cups crisp rice cereal Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and powdered sugar in large bowl and mix well. Cut in 1/2 cup chilled butter until particles are fine and butter is well distributed. Press into a 13x9" pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. In heavy skillet, melt caramels, milk, and 1/4 cup butter over low heat, stirring frequently until melted and smooth. Spread over baked crust. In another saucepan, melt chocolate chips and butter, stirring until smooth. Stir in cereal. Drop this mixture by spoonfuls over caramel and carefully spread to cover. Cool completely. 48 bars Category: Cakes Subcategory: Angel Food Tip: Cool Your Angel Food Cake When your angel food cake is done baking, invert the pan onto a glass bottle such as a wine bottle (preferably empty) to cool. It will cool more quickly, and the cake will not shrink, as the proteins and starches are stretched during cooling. Tip: Tube Pans Tube pans used for baking angel food cakes are almost never greased. The sides of the pan need to be clean so the cake batter can 'grasp' it when rising. Subcategory: Cupcakes
Tip: Fun Cupcakes For fun cupcakes, fill cake ice cream cones (the flat bottomed ones) half full with cake or brownie batter and bake. Decorate with icing and sprinkles. Subcategory: Sheet Tip: Doneness Test Sheet cakes are done when the top springs back when lightly touched with your finger, and the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Subcategory: Technique Tip: Cake Layer Cutting Make quick work out of slicing a cake into layers by using a long piece of unflavored dental floss or fishing line. Hold the string between both hands and use a sawing motion to cut through cakes, cookie doughs or even cheeses. Tip: Coconut Cake For the most intense coconut cake, use cream of coconut as the liquid in any recipe. Be sure to stir it well before using. Tip: Pineapple Upside Down Cake To prevent the brown sugar topping on an upside down cake from becoming too brown while baking, place the cake pan on top of a cookie sheet. This will insulate the bottom of the pan and decrease the browning of the topping. Category: Candy Subcategory: Coated Tip: Dipping Chocolates Melting candy for coatings is easier if you use the microwave. Place the chopped chocolate in a glass measuring cup and microwave on medium for 1-2 minutes, stirring halfway. Continue to melt for 1 minute intervals, checking frequently. The chocolate is much less likely to scorch in the microwave.
Subcategory: Fudge Tip: Soft Ball Stage When making cooked fudge, remove the fudge from the heat when your candy thermometer registers around 230 degrees. This is lower than the recommended 232 degrees, but your fudge will be softer and smoother when finished. Subcategory: Quick Tip: Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark 1 cup milk chocolate chips 1 cup peanut butter chips 1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts Line 13x9" pan with foil. In medium saucepan over low heat, melt both types of chips together, stirring until smooth. Stir in peanuts. Pour into prepared pan and spread. Refrigerate for 1 hour to firm. Break into pieces before serving. Category: Chocolate Subcategory: Techniques Tip: Milk Chocolate History Switzerland is the home to milk chocolate. In the 1800s, a man named Daniel Peter created milk chocolate when he added milk to a basic chocolate mixture. Category: Cookies Subcategory: Icebox/Pressed Tip: Pressed/Spritz Cookies If you are making cookies using a spritz press and the design is not crisp and clean, refrigerate the dough to firm it. Subcategory: Preparation Tip: Better Underbaked than Over... If you are not sure if cookies are done, pull them out ahead of time. Most cookies will taste fine if underdone, but will be dry and hard if overbaked.
Tip: Even Cooking Be sure to rotate baking sheets from back to front mid cycle to ensure even browning. Even the best ovens can build up hot spots in certain areas. Subcategory: Rolled/Shaped Tip: Confectionary Dusting When re-rolling scraps of cookie dough, dust the surface with equal parts flour and confectioner's sugar. This will help keep the dough from getting tough. Tip: Roll Out Butter Cookies These wonderful, tender cookies are classic, traditional Christmas fare. Look in the baking section of your supermarket for new decorating products. Edible glitter, wonderful colors of decorator icing, and different sprinkles will let you make your Christmas roll out cookies spectacular. By the way, paste food coloring comes in more vibrant colors than the typical liquid coloring. 2-1/2 cups flour 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. baking powder 2 Tbsp. orange juice 1 Tbsp. vanilla Combine all ingredients in large bowl and beat until well mixed. Cover and chill dough until firm, about 2-3 hours. Roll out dough, 1/2 at a time, on a well-floured surface, with stockinet covered rolling pin, to a 1/4" thickness. Cut with shaped cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 6-10 minutes until very lightly brown. Buttercream Frosting 4 cups powdered sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 3-4 Tbsp. milk 2 tsp. vanilla food coloring nonpariels edible glitter Combine powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and fluffy. Divide into 5-6 portions and tint each portion with different color. Frost cookies and decorate as desired. Category: Crockpot Subcategory: Cobblers and Crisps Tip: Mixed Berry Cobbler 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen blackberries, thawed 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen mixed unsweetened berries, thawed 1 16-oz. pkg. frozen unsweetened peach slices, thawed 3/4 cup sugar 1-1/3 cups flour 3 Tbsp. brown sugar 1-1/4 tsp. baking powder 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/8 tsp. salt 6 Tbsp. butter 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tsp. vanilla Do not drain fruits when thawed. In a 4 quart crockpot, combine thawed fruits with their juices, sugar and 1/3 cup flour and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then stir well. In medium bowl, combine 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking pwoder, nutmeg and salt and blend well. Cut
in butter until fine crumbs form. Add cream and vanilla and mix gently until a dough forms. Drop spoonfuls of dough on top of the hot fruit mixture. Cover crockpot and cook on high for 1-1/2 hours, until cobbler topping is cooked through. Serve warm. Subcategory: Tips and Hints Tip: Use a rack A rack placed under the pan inside your crockpot will allow heat to circulate evenly around the pan, resulting in an evenly cooked product. Category: Equipment Subcategory: Pans Tip: What pan to use? There are a variety of baking pans out there, including glass, tin, aluminum, and stainless steel. Stainless steel pans are usually the best choice. They are easy to keep clean and conduct heat well. They are easily distinguishable from aluminum by the heavier weight of the steel. The insulated aluminum pans come in a close second. Glass baking pans and dishes work best for casseroles and entrees. Category: Frosting and Toppings Subcategory: Fillings Tip: Filling Layer Cakes When you are using a filling other than frosting, it will stay in between the cake layers better if you form a ring of frosting just inside the edge of the bottom layer. Then fill in this space with the filling, and continue layering and frosting the cake. Tip: Fillling Amount I firmly believe that the amount of filling recipes say to put in between cake layers is just not enough. Some recipes actually say to use 1/2 cup of the frosting - which will just barely coat the cake surface! Make more frosting than you need, and use at least 1 cup for a filling. The cake will be wonderful.
Category: Frozen Subcategory: Frozen Yogurt Tip: Creamy Banana Frozen Yogurt 3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed 1/3 cup sugar 4 cups vanilla yogurt Mix together all ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves. Freeze in 2 quart ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's instructions. Subcategory: Smoothies Tip: Frozen Fruit Smoothies Use frozen fruit rather than ice cubes when making smoothies. This allows for a thicker texture without watering down the final product. Subcategory: Sorbets Tip: Liqueurs Adding liqueurs to sorbets will lower the freezing point, resulting in a softer mixture. Category: Fruit Subcategory: Baked Tip: Apples for Baking The best apples for baking include Golden Delicious, Baldwin, Cortland, Ida Red, and Northern Spy. Granny Smith apples can be dry, but can be used if the recipe contains additional liquid. Subcategory: Techniques Tip: Coring Pears To core a pear, cut it in half and use a melon baller to remove the core. Category: Holidays
Subcategory: Christmas Tip: Valentine's Day Candy Hearts Use your leftover candy canes to make festive hearts for Valentine's Day. Place same size candy canes on a baking sheet facing each other with ends touching to form a heart shape. Bake at 350 degrees for just a few minutes until they have fused together. Let cool. As seen in Woman's Day, January 2, 2001 Category: Low Fat Subcategory: Substitutions Tip: Cut Fat with Apple Juice Whenever a dessert calls for cooking with oil, use apple juice instead. Use twice the amount as most of it will evaporate. This should add a little extra taste to your recipe and it reduces the fat. Subcategory: Techniques Tip: Fruit Purees In Baked Goods Fruit purees can be used to replace 1/3 of the fat in a recipe. Just start slow, and you may find that your favorite recipe is just as good with less fat. Category: Meringues Subcategory: Hard Tip: Raspberry Meringues Raspberry Meringues 3 egg whites, at room temperature 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar dash salt 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup raspberry preserves 5 drops red food coloring, if desired Heat oven to 225 degrees. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners. In small bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until very, very stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Add preserves and food coloring, if using. Beat one minute longer at highest speed. Drop meringue from teaspoon into 1" mounds on lined cookie sheets. Bake at 225 degrees for 2 hours. Cool completely, then remove from paper or liner.
Subcategory: Preparation Tip: Do Not Whip Egg Whites in Plastic Bowls Avoid using plastic bowls for whipping egg whites as they can often harbor traces of grease, which prevents the whites from getting stiff. If you must use plastic, wash extra carefully with a grease dissolving dishwashing liquid first, and dry very thoroughly. Tip: Maximum Volume Use egg whites that are at room temperature for maximum volume. Tip: Three Types of Meringue Did you know there are three types of meringue? Swiss, Italian and French meringues are made using different methods. Subcategory: Soft Tip: Safe Meringue 6 egg whites 2 Tbsp. water 3/4 tsp. cream of tartar 3/4 cup sugar 1 Tbsp. cornstarch 1/3 cup cool water 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. vanilla In a medium size stainless steel bowl, stir the whites, 2 Tbsp. water, cream of tartar, and sugar together well to break up the whites. Don't create foam. Heat 1" of water to a simmer in a medium skillet and turn the heat off. Run a cup of hot tap water, place an instant-read thermometer in it, and place near the skillet. Place the metal bowl of egg whites in the skillet of hot water and stir, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl constantly with a rubber spatula to prevent the whites from overheating. After 1 minute of constant stirring, remove the bowl of egg whites from the hot water and test the temperature of the whites with the thermometer. If the temperature is up to 160 degrees F, beat until peaks form when the beater is lifted. If you have to, place the bowl of whites back into the hot water and stir and scrape constantly again until the temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Make sure to wash the thermometer in between temperature testings to kill any bacteria. Sprinkle the cornstarch into a small saucepan, add 1/3 cup of cool water and let stand 1 minute. Then stir well. Bring the water and cornstarch to a boil, stirring constantly. Let it cool for a few minutes, then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the meringue, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Beat in the salt and vanilla. This is a good meringue to use on top of pies, like custard or lemon meringue. Brown in the oven after piling the meringue on the hot filling. Category: Pies
Subcategory: Crusts Tip: Flaky Crust The secret to tender, flaky piecrust is to handle the dough as little as possible. Subcategory: Recipes Tip: Chocolate Silk Pecan Pie 1 pkg. refrigerated pie crust 1 tsp. flour 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup corn syrup 3 Tbsp. butter, melted 2 eggs 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1 cup hot milk 1/4 tsp. vanilla 1-1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips Prepare pie crust according to package directions for filled one crust pie using a 9" pie pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, beat sugar, corn syrup, butter and eggs at medium speed for 1 minute and stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 40-55 minutes until center of pie is puffed and golden brown. Cool for one hour. While filled crust is cooling, in blender or food processor, combine milk, vanilla and chocolate chips; blend 1 minute or until smooth. Refrigerate until mixture is slightly thickened, about 1-1/2 hours. Gently stir filling and pour into cooled filled crust. Refrigerate until firm, 1-2 hours. Tip: Chocolate Sundae Pie This recipe comes from my grandmother's collection. The name is somewhat deceptive, since the only chocolate in the pie is grated over the top - to form a "sundae". For food safety reasons, I strongly recommend that you use pasteurized eggs for this uncooked filling. 1 pkg. unflavored gelatin 1/4 cup cold water 3 egg yolks 2/3 cup sugar 1-1/3 cups whole milk pinch of nutmeg 1 tsp. vanilla 3 egg whites 1 baked and cooled 9" pie crust Sprinkle gelatin over the cold water to soften and set aside. In large mixer bowl, whip the egg yolks until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and a pinch of salt, beating until the mixture is light yellow and very fluffy. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it forms a skin and steams. Pour a small amount of hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, beating well, then add the tempered egg yolk mixture to the hot milk in the saucepan. Heat until it just begins to simmer. Remove from heat, add softened gelatin and mix well to dissolve. Then stir in nutmeg and vanilla. Cool by setting the saucepan in a large bowl of ice water for about 1 hour. Beat egg whites until very stiff. Beat the cooled egg yolk and milk mixture until fluffy, then fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into baked, cooled pie crust and refrigerate overnight. Serve with whipped cream and lots of shaved chocolate to sprinkle over the pie. Category: Refrigerated Subcategory: Custards and Puddings
Tip: Making Custard Custards need to be cooked over low heat, whether they are baked or cooked in a saucepan. High heat causes them to curdle. If your custard is cooked on the stovetop, use a double boiler. Check custard for doneness by lifting spoon and holding for 15-20 seconds - if the spoon doesn't show through, your custard is done. Category: Souffles Subcategory: Preparation Tip: Beating Egg Whites Here's an old-fashioned tip for knowing when beaten egg whites are stiff enough. If a whole raw egg, placed lightly on top of the beaten egg whites, doesn't sink but rests on top, the egg whites are stiff enough. Tip: Clean Bowls Be absolutely sure there is no fat on your beaters or in the bowl when you beat egg whites to stiff peaks. If any amount of fat is present, the whites will never become stiff. Category: Troubleshooting Subcategory: Tough Tip: Biscuits - Light and Airy or Hockey Pucks? Biscuits for strawberry shortcake taste wonderful when they are made well. They almost melt in your mouth. If you are having trouble with your biscuits being heavy and hard, there are a few things to check. Make sure that you are not overmixing. Also, your baking powder may be too old and not causing them to rise fully.