I must admit, I’m one that always look at the desert menu first when eating out!
I love a good desert and the following baking hacks will change your life forever! They will make baking fun and enjoyable without the mess.
- Salvage your cookies: Burned the bottom of your cookies or cupcakes? Don’t throw them away! Use a microplane zester to shave off just the burnt bits.
- Soften your brown sugar: If you haven’t used your brown sugar in a while and find it’s now hard as a rock? Pop it in the microwave with a wet paper towel for 20-30 seconds and it’ll loosen right up.
- Get creative: Want to decorate a cake quickly? Press a textured paper towel all over an iced cake for a cool design that takes just seconds. Or sprinkle an un-iced cake with a powdered sugar design by sprinkling it onto the cake through lace.
- From stiff to spreadable: Don’t have time to wait for that butter to soften? Turn on a heating pad, place a thin dish towel over it and then place your butter on the covered pad. It will soften in minutes.
- Avoid splatter: Poke the ends of your mixer’s beaters through the middle of a paper plate before attaching them to the mixer to act as a shield.
- Slice like a pro: For perfect cake slices — use a warm knife — either one straight out of the dishwasher or one that has been soaked in warm water. The cake won’t clump up on a warm knife.
- Avoid sticky fingers: To make measuring sticky ingredients like honey and syrup easier, spray the measuring cup or spoon with cooking spray first, and the sticky stuff will drizzle right off.
- Baking perfect cookies: Love crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside cookies? Well, chill the dough before baking—at least an hour or up to overnight. Then when the cookies come out of the oven, drop the pan down on the counter to help them fully set. Yes, literally! Hold the cookie sheet about a foot above the counter and drop it down onto the counter. (This helps the cookies flatten to the perfect thickness and settle faster).
Just remember these awesome hacks the next time you’re baking!
