Cooking Tips for the Beginner Baker

Before an individual gets started, there are a few steps that should be followed first. These cooking tips will prevent most disasters from happening. Always read through the entire recipe before beginning. This ensures that all necessary ingredients are on hand before starting. Check expiration dates on all non perishable supplies, so that running to the store happens in the middle of baking. Preheat the oven and check with an oven thermometer. Most ovens can run anywhere from twenty five degrees to cooler to twenty five degrees warmer. This ensures that the proper temperature is obtained for the recipe. Follow directions on adjusting oven racks, prepping baking sheets, and using the right baking pan. Measure ingredients accurately this means holding it up to eye level especially with liquids. To measure dry ingredients over fill then level off with flat edge of knife. Finally bake with love, if an individual is angry or rushed the recipe may not turn out right.

These next cooking tips are about ingredients. There are many different kinds of flour, and they are not all the same. Wheat flour is important for all yeast breads. Bread flour works for yeast loaves, however put it in yeast bread and it will turn into a heavy cake. Cake flour is very fine. All purpose flour can be used for most any baking. Bleached and unbleached flours can be used interchangeably. Make sure to store flour in an airtight container, in a spot that cool and dry for up to six months.

Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable. Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and an acid. Its leavening power works when mixed with wet ingredients and then baked into the oven. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. When it mixes with an acid ingredient like buttermilk, yogurt or molasses, it makes carbon dioxide bubbles that make baked goods light and airy.

Cooking tips for handling chocolate are important. First there are different types of chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is chocolate liquor that has at least fifty percent cocoa butter and no added sugar. Various amounts of sugar added create bittersweet, semisweet, and dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is dried milk powder, cocoa butter and added sugar. White chocolate is made with cocoa butter instead of chocolate liquor. Unsweetened cocoa is made from chocolate liquor with seventy five percent cocoa butter removed and then dried and ground into a paste. When melting chocolate it is easy to burn, so always melt it over very low heat. Individuals can choose the double boiler method, the direct heat method, or the microwave oven method.

Using these cooking tips will make almost any baked goodie turn out great.

Sugar Free Cooking Tips Using Splenda

For people dealing with diabetes or other sugar-related problems, it can sometimes be difficult to watch others enjoy great meals, especially desserts. There are sugar substitutes available that allow you to enjoy these same great meals and desserts. One sugar substitute you can cook with is Splenda. However, many people find that replicating recipes using this alternative sweetener product is difficult. Here are some top tips to help you cook with Splenda:

Tip #1: Only fully replace Splenda in recipes that have low to medium amounts of sugar
When a recipe calls a large amount of sugar, such as with angel food cake or fudge, the sugar has a greater purpose than just making the food sweeter. It is also used to create the texture and structure of the food. Splenda is not the same as sugar in that regard, even though it is just as sweet. So, look for recipes that treat sugar as a sweetening agent. If your recipe calls for a lot of sugar, you can replace 25% to 50% of it with Splenda.
Tip #2: Bring out the flavor with vanilla or honey

When you are baking cookies and other treats that call for both sugar and vanilla, adding an extra teaspoon or half teaspoon can bring out the sweet flavor of the Splenda and the vanilla flavor of the extract. You should not use more than one extra teaspoon per cup of Splenda. For breads and other recipes that do not call for vanilla but are still sweet, you can use a tablespoon of honey instead.

Tip #3: Consider the yeast in your recipe

In order for yeast to work, it needs to be activated with sugar. Splenda does not provide yeast with the proper food it needs to make your bread rise. When you are replacing the sugar with Splenda, make sure that you keep a couple teaspoons as sugar, and for larger recipes, you should use more sugar than Splenda. Yeast recipes are more difficult when you use Splenda, so you may want to do some practice runs to ensure that you have the right sugar-to-Splenda ratio for the yeast to work.

Tip #4: Watch your baking times

When you use Splenda in your recipes, the baking time is going to be different from using sucrose. Until you know how your recipe reacts to the sweetener change, check your baked goods early to see if they are done. Cakes and breads are sometimes done up to 10 minutes earlier if you replace all of the sugar with Splenda. Cookies, muffins, brownies, and other baked goods might be done up to five minutes before their normal time. When you figure out the correct Splenda baking time, write it on your recipe card so that you know for next time.

Tip #5: Flatten your cookies a bit to help them spread

Splenda changes the chemical make up of your cookies, and sugar is one of the ingredients that help a cookie spread as it bakes. Splenda does not do that job as well, so before you put your cookies in the over, press them down a bit to help them flatten. When a cookie spreads, it bakes more evenly.

Tip #6: Help your baked goods rise with smaller pans

Sugar is an ingredient that helps breads, cakes, brownies, and other baked goods rise when baking. If you replace all of the sugar with Splenda, you will not achieve that same fluffy height for the most part. You can help the process by using two smaller pans instead of one larger pan and then following the recipe as normal. If you are still not getting the height you want, try adding an addition teaspoon of baking powder and a cup of nonfat dry milk powder per every two cups of Splenda in your recipe.

Tip #7: Follow the Splenda directions carefully

There are a number of different kinds of Splenda, and before you begin using it to replace sugar in your recipes, read the label to find out exactly how much Splenda to add. For some recipes such as those with regular sugar, you replace the sugar on a one to one ratio. However, other Splenda products, like the Splenda sugar blend, tell you to use only half the amount of blend that you would use with regular sugar. If you do not read the label carefully, your final product could be too sweet or it may not cook correctly.

Tip #8: Test everything first

Finally, if you are going to cook with Splenda, test your recipes before making them for a party or event. Splenda does not always react in recipes the way you would expect. By doing a test run, you can see what needs to be adjusted without having to serve less than perfect baked goods to your guests.

10 Cooking Tips

Have you been frustrated by cracks in the top of your cheesecakes? Would you like tips to make flaky biscuits? Or would you just like to know a bit more about sweet potatoes? Try these cooking tips from the Good Cooking Central website today for better results in your kitchen endeavours:

? BISCUIT TIPS:

If you want biscuits that are crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside, you roll the dough thinly and fold it over once before cutting out the biscuits. They will then split open easily when you’re ready to butter them.

To re- heat biscuits, put them in a well-dampened paper bag. Twist the bag closed and put in a 300? oven for several minutes or until warm.

For soft-sided biscuits, bake them in a pan with sides and put the biscuits close together. For crusty biscuits, bake them on a cookie sheet and separate them from each other.

? PREVENTING CHEESECAKE CRACKS:

Grease the sides of the pan before adding batter. The surface will not stick to the sides of the pan and crack when the cheesecake starts shrinking as it cools.

Run a knife or a metal spatula around the edges of the pan immediately after removing the cheesecake from the oven.

Drastic temperature changes can also cause a cheesecake to crack. Avoid putting a warm cheesecake from the oven into the refrigerator.

To disguise cracks, top the cheesecake with fruit or some other topping.

? SOUR MILK:

Since sour milk is not really sold in the grocery stores, when a recipe calls for sour milk, simply add 1 TBSP. of vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk. You can also use buttermilk to replace the sour milk called for in a recipes.

? BAKING POWDER:

If you use too much baking powder in a recipe it will produce a product with a coarse grain, and will cause the product to eventually fall. If you use too little baking powder, the product will not rise enough and be heavy.

Baking powder tends to lose its strength over time and should be kept in a tightly covered container. Moisture will cause the baking powder to deteriorate faster.

When increasing the amount of eggs in a recipe, decrease the baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon for each extra egg added.

? CUTTING FAT WITH APPLESAUCE:

To reduce the fat content in your baking recipes, substitute applesauce for half of the amount of vegetable oil called for in the recipe. Using all applesauce produces a low-calorie, moist product.

? ADJUST TEMPERATURE FOR DIFFERENT PANS:

Keep in mind that the type of pan you use when baking can determine the outcome of your finished product. For glass pans, turn down baking temperature by 25?. If you substitute a shallow pan, reduce the overall baking time by one quarter. If you use a deeper pan than suggested in the recipe, increase the overall baking time by one quarter.

? ALTERNATIVES TO COOKING WITH BUTTER:

When browning or saut?ing onions, hamburger, etc., replace the butter by spraying your skillet with non-stick spray or use chicken or beef broth instead.

When baking, use reduced-calorie margarine instead of butter (but note that the texture may not always come out the same). Non-fat margarines currently on the market do not tend bake well.

Cutting butter in some of your recipes can cut a lot of the calories making it a diet-friendly option.

? SWEET POTATOES:

Due to rapid spoilage, keep sweet potatoes fresh, by storing them in a dry, cool (55-60?) place at a temperature of about 55-60?. If stored in the refrigerator, they may develop a hard core and an “off” taste. Sweet potatoes will keep for a month or longer if stored at the proper temperature. At normal room temperature, they should be used within a week of purchase. Brush off any excess dirt before storing, but do not wash them until you are ready to cook them.

When preparing, wash sweet potatoes well. It is best to cook them whole whenever possible as most of the nutrients are next to the skin. Also, the skins are easier to remove after they have been cooked. Pierce the sweet potato skins with fork. Place potatoes in a pan and cook in an oven heated to 375? F for about 45 minutes or until tender. Cool potatoes slightly before removing skins. To cook sweet potatoes in a microwave, wash and pierce potatoes. Place them on a paper towel. For 2 medium sweet potatoes, cook on high for 5?9 minutes, or for 4 potatoes cook for 10?13 minutes.

Sweet potatoes are high in vitamins A and C, and are a good source of fiber.

? SUGAR SUBSTITUTES:

To substitute for 1 cup of sugar use any of the following:

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 ? cups molasses

2 cups corn syrup

3/4 cups honey

1 ? cups maple syrup

Note: If you use molasses, corn syrup, honey, or maple syrup you need to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe.

? BROWN SUGAR SUBSTITUTE:

If you need to substitute brown sugar in a recipe, for each 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar use 1 ? Tablespoons molasses plus 1 cup granulated sugar.

To make 1 cup light brown sugar from dark brown sugar, use ? cup firmly packed dark brown sugar and ? cup granulated sugar.

To make 1 cup dark brown sugar, use 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar plus 1 tablespoon molasses; or 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup molasses.

If you would like to see more hints to help you in the kitchen, and get great recipes too, visit the Good Cooking Central website.

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