Cooking Tips
Sent in by readers, gleaned on the Internet and
some just came from dear Mom!
If your bananas are on the verge of over-ripeness and you haven't
time to make bread, freeze them! Simply peel the bananas, wrap in
plastic wrap and freeze until ready to use.
Professionally decorated cakes have a silky, molten look. To get
that appearance, frost your cake as usual, then use a hair dryer
to blow dry the surface. The slight melting of the frosting will
give it that lustrous appearance.
To make self-rising flour, mix 4 c. flour, 2 t. salt and 2 T. baking
powder, and store in a tightly covered container.
You may substitute up to 50% applesauce or fruit puree in place
of oil when you bake to reduce fat content, i.e.: 1 c. oil called
for in recipe, use 1/2 c. applesauce. For more tips and answers,
call Motts Applesauce: 1-800-426-4891.
When baking in a glass pan, reduce the over temperature by 25 degrees
If you have an old recipe that calls for soft or cake flour and
don't want to purchase a whole bag, you can make it by sifting together
2 parts cornstarch and 1 part all-purpose flour.
For those who may have troubles writing with frosting on cakes,
use a toothpick and write what you want on the cake. Then all you
have to do is trace over what you just did in the actual frosting.
Works every time and the cakes always look great!
Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot
griddle perfect shaped pancakes every time. You can also use a clean
ketchup container with a squeeze top.
Measure 1/2 cup shortening by pouring 1/2 cup of water in a glass
measuring cup, then push shortening under the water till the water
rises to the 1 cup level. Drain the water before using. Will work
for any "odd" amount of butter or shortening.
Brush beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a
beautiful glossy finish.
Pie Crust Tips: Don't know about the recipe but the key to making
a light flaky pie crust is the use of cold butter or lard which
is "cut" into the flour and other ingredients. You can use a knife
or pastry cutter to do so but I don't really recommend a fork. You
want your fat (butter or lard taste best - margarine won't work)
to form balls a little smaller than peas through out the mixture.
Then roll it out on a clean, floured surface. Be sure to put flour
on the rolling pin too. You want a comfortably cool room too....too
cold and the stuff won't roll out and will crumble; too hot and
it sticks to everything and you just get darned frustrated trying
to get it into pie crust shape. You may also want to finish by separating
an egg and lightly brushing the surface (top crust or edges) with
egg white. This will produce a golden color with a little sheen
to it. If it is a dessert pie, you may sprinkle it with coarse sugar
before baking and it will come out even prettier.
Decoration Tip: Use cookie cutters on the leftover dough and decorate
the top. This is especially a blessing if you messed up your crust
and it has a hole where it might not be so pretty.
Whether making baked goods from a box or from scratch, replace
the water in any recipe or direction with skim milk. It makes the
cakes, brownies or cookies a little richer and adds calcium to boot!
Want to keep your soft brown sugar soft? Just put into the air
sealed container or plastic bag a piece of bread.
Add 1 teaspoon of gluten to 1 cup all purpose flour to make 1 cup
bread flour.
Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies
treats in the pan. The marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit
of the dry cake mix instead -- no white mess on the outside of the
cake.
Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it back
up.
Thanks to reader Nancy Davis for today's helpful hint:
If you want cookies like sugar cookies or peanut butter cookies
to stay soft when they cool, bake them with a loaf pan with about
2 inches of water in it also in the oven (don't let the pan touch
the element). After the cookies cool, store them in an airtight
container. (from WWWRecipes.com)
I have been waiting to see this tip for a long time, so decided
to send it in. To easily split a layer of a cake in half, I was
taught in High School Home Ec to take a length of thread and wrap
it around the middle of the layer and pull the ends together. It
made a nice level cut and separated them without any fuss. (from
WWWRecipes.com)
To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the
water before hard-boiling.
To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool,
salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh -- if it rises to the surface,
throw it away.
When I buy fresh eggs, I alternate between white and brown. Then
when I am placing them into the egg holder of my refrigerator, I
know the ones that I have the fewest of are the older ones, and
I should use them first
Another egg tip: when I hard boil eggs, if I have some left over
I take a pencil and make an obvious mark on the shell so they are
easily distinguishable from the fresh eggs. Sometimes I get creative
and draw faces on those shells; it always makes me smile when I
use them a few days later.
When making deviled eggs, cut a small piece off the two oval ends
and slice through the middle (not lengthwise). The flat part will
keep the egg from rolling around on the plate.
To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the
water before hard-boiling.
Also, for people like me whose "spoon-filling" skills are mediocre
at best, put the egg yolk mixture into a quart ziplock bag, cut
a small section out of the corner, and squeeze the deviled mixture
into each shell, much like a pastry thing-a-ma-jig. No muss, no
fuss, and instantly disposable.
We use a typed grocery check-list (tacked on the refrigerator)
with items as they would be found going through our favorite supermarket.
It saves time when you shop: everything is in order and you don't
have to double back to another aisle because you forgot something.
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See also:
Kitchen Tips
Cooking Tips
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