Nothing comes to perfection within a day or week, and for that, these two P's are really important: practice and patience. The reason why a number of people leave baking in the mid-way of learning is the distress when it goes all wrong again and again. No doubt, baking is science but with the help of few hacks, you can surely take the fuss out of the painful experience and can make some outstanding cakes.
1. Soften brown sugar
Oh! There's a box lying right there on your kitchen counter that contains brown sugar. But what's that? It has now become as hard as a rock. Nothing to worry about because you can easily soften your brown sugar simply by keeping it in the microwave with a wet paper towel for around 20-30 seconds until you get softened brown sugar.
2. Stay away from batter splatter
Hate that situation when the batter spills all over the kitchen counter? That mess is just annoying when it comes to cleaning. To prevent all that chaos, you can let the ends of the mixer's beaters go through the middle of a paper plate and let that plate act as a shield.
3. Bake a perfect brownie
Everyone wants to eat healthy, without compromising taste. So to make healthy brownies, you just need to mix 1 package of the brownie mix (your choice) and add one can of pumpkin puree to it. Now continue with the recipe you were following.
4. From stiff to spreadable
Oh no! You forgot to take out the butter and now there's no time left to wait for the ingredients to come at room temperature. If that's the problem, then there is no problem. You can easily change that by turning on the heating pad, and then keeping a thin dish towel over it. You then place your cheese or butter on that covered pad, and you'll see the ingredient soften in a matter of minutes.
5. Get creative
A beautiful and presentable cake is something that everyone admires. So if you want to decorate your cake quickly, use a textured paper towel and press it all over the iced cake. Now you need to let the design cool for a few seconds. You can also sprinkle an un-iced cake using a powdered sugar design, through the lace.
6. Slice like a pro
You will never want to get cake slices that are not cut properly. Also, it won't even look good. So to cut the perfect cake slices, get a warm knife. You can either take it out right away from the dishwashing cycle or get one that was soaked in warm water. You'll see how perfect your cake slices will be.
7. No sticky fingers
It becomes really sticky and messy when you want to measure ingredients like honey and syrup. While measuring, spray the tools like cup or spoon with cooking spray and you'll see that the sticky thing will drizzle itself.
8. Bake perfect cookies
Who doesn't love those crispy cookies that are chewy on the inside? Here's the best way to get those cookies: You need to chill the dough before baking for at least an hour or, if possible, overnight. When you take the cookies out from the oven, let the pan rest on the counter to let the cookies set completely. When you hold the cookie sheet around a foot above the counter and drop it onto the counter, your cookies will settle to perfect thickness quickly.
9. Round ones are bit boring
You have also tried round shaped pans. Why not try some fun-shaped pancakes this time? You can use a cookie cutter and keep it in the skillet or griddle then pour the batter into the shape. You simply have to remove the cutter while flipping.
10. Eggs by the dozen
There are some baked goods like meringues that use lots of eggs and need to be separated. For this, you can crack all the eggs into a shallow container then use a bottle and suck out all the yolks.