ashleyd /

Cake Baking Tips and Tricks

 

While I do know how to bake, I do not claim to be an expert or even an advanced baker. Like many, I dreamed of owning my first Kitchen Aid mixer which we so wonderfully received as a wedding gift. But, since then, in an effort to reduce my waistline, the mixer has not received much love and attention. Copy of 030

This weekend though, I had one thing on my to do list that I wanted to accomplish while Meg and Spencer were in New York City. Meg and her sister are amazing bakers and I wanted a 1:1 baking lesson with Meg!

She allowed me to choose the bake good of choice and then helped me create the beautiful masterpiece from scratch. Along the way, she pointed out some tips and tricks that I wanted to share with each of you!

1. Don’t throw your butter wrapper away just yet! After you add the butter to your mixing bowl, you can use the wrapper to easily grease the sides and bottom of your pans. This will keep the batter from sticking, even on non-stick, and also help the wax paper in your next tip stay in place.

Copy (3) of 003 2. Use wax paper to ensure your cake doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pans.  Due to my brand new non-stick pans, I haven’t had an issue with cakes sticking lately. But, many people often fear the flip at the end of the process due to the fact that sometimes almost half the cake remains in the pan. In order to prevent this, merely place a wax paper circle in the bottom.

Copy (3) of 004 Copy (2) of 005 You can measure the circle in one of two ways, trace it with a pencil and then cut inside the outline or use the geometric triangle method as seen in the above picture.

3. Ice the plate first! This is going to sound silly, but before placing your cake onto the cake dish or paper plate, place a dollop of icing on the plate. This will serve as glue and help keep the cake from sliding.

Copy of 023 4. What is a crumb coat? Crumb coating ensures that your visible icing is picture perfect versus having unsightly crumbs in the mix. It serves as a thin coat, holding everything perfectly in place, similar to a base when using using makeup. A crumb coat is most important when icing red velvet or chocolate cakes with a white or light colored frosting. The crumb coat only took a quick five minutes to do but made a huge difference in our final product. For more information on how to crumb coat, see this link.

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Question: My sweet friend Meg has offered to do a few baking guest posts. Do you have any baking questions you’d like her to answer?

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ashleyd /

Cookie Friday Goodness

I absolutely love making people smile. Sometimes it is through random acts of kindness and other times it through planned baking adventures. During my last three positions I’ve quickly become known as the go to baker for birthday celebrations, off sites, and random surprises. Over the past few years my co-workers have declared their favorites! This cookie, while unhealthy in every way possible, is delicious in moderation and makes the perfect treat. I love that the coconut adds a punch of summer to what could otherwise be a very basic cookie.  I originally found a recipe similar to this on allrecipes and then altered it to leave out the nuts, add some whole wheat flour to make them a bit healthier, substitute white chocolate for semisweet, decreased the sugar some, and bake them for 11 minutes normally!

Oatmeal Chocolate Coconut Chewy (white chips)

Oatmeal White Chocolate Coconut Chewy Cookies

Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cups wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 12oz bag white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
    Directions
    1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
    2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture until well blended. Stir in the oats, white chocolate chips, cinnamon, and coconut until evenly distributed. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
    3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven for a chewy cookie or 14 minutes for a firmer cookie.
    4. Cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheet and then remove to wire rack. Cool completely and then store in tightly sealed container.

    Yields 5 dozen delicious bites of chewy goodness! I highly recommend sharing them with others and removing them from your home as soon as possible as they are addicting!

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