Category "baking"

Baking two loaves at one time (from Artisan Breads book)- need to change amt of water added?

I'm following a recipe from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book and want to bake two loaves at the same time. For one loaf, you are supposed to add on

What other vegetables can be used in cake/muffin baking?

Vegetables have been commonly used in baking cakes and muffins. A common one is carrots to make one of my fave - carrot cake. Recently I also found out about ad

Why doesn't my quick bread rise properly when substituting splenda for sugar?

I used Splenda in one of my favorite quchinni (squash) recipes and it did not rise at all. It is about 3 inches thick and is heavy as the batter was thick. Why

Why does my German nut strudel fall apart?

I have a recipe for nut strudel, which calls for the following: 2 cups flour 1 stick butter 8 oz cream cheese. I have made it twice, and both times the crust i

How to cook rice in an electric oven meant for baking cakes?

Are there any special precautions to be taken? About the water quantity, soaking and timing etc?

Baking cakes in the Microwave ovens as compared to Electric ovens

Is there a difference in the output or in the procedure when baking cakes in the Microwave ovens as compared to Electric ovens? What are the basic and crucial

Which kind of icing should be used?

In reading about baking one comes across many different type of icing; royal, buttercream, fondant etc. What is the difference between these? What determines th

How can I thicken an already cooked pie filling?

I made a coconut cream filling using 2% milk as that was all I had. Now, more than 6 hours later, it still has not set although it was thick while I was waitin

What differences, practical and aesthetic, are there between egg washes?

An egg wash can be done in six major variations: [with | out egg white] mixed with [water | milk | cream]. My first hit when searching 'egg wash ratio' My Pers

Tweaking a Macaroni & Cheese Cake

This is basically the first loaf I have baked and I am having difficulty knowing how I should tweak it. I have four directions to go with it and would like to k

Why should I rest gingerbread dough?

My gingerbread recipe says I should rest the dough for 20 minutes in the refrigerator before rolling out and cutting. What difference does it make?

What are the different effects that different washes produce in baked goods?

Just before you put something with dough in the oven, often you have to brush it with a liquid. I've seen recipes that say with egg wash, with egg yolk, with eg

Possible to over-knead dough?

It will be my first attempt to bake with yeast this weekend and I'm interested to know how you know when you have kneaded dough enough. Is it possible to over-k

How to make a non-salty cheesecake?

There are lots of American cheese cake recipes which call for cream cheese. And I don't know about cream cheese in the USA, but in Europe, cream cheese is salte

Greasing a pan with butter vs. with shortening

Is there any reason one should prefer one over the other? I've always used shortening (probably because that's what my mom always did), but my fiancee has alwa

How can I correct this Brandy Snaps disaster?

I recently got a copy of the "Be-ro book of Home Recipes". Near the beginning is a recipe for 'brandy snaps'. This is a kind of cracker that is rolled after coo

Is baking by weight really more accurate?

It's gospel among serious bakers that measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by volume. However, I'm not sure that measuring by weight helps a

How to make cookies less crumbly?

I baked cookies last night and they came out rather crumbly. It felt like I put in quite a lot of flour - would that affect the crumbliness?

How can I make my banana bread more moist?

I've followed lots of standard recipes online, and the result is always more cake like: dark on the outside white and dryish in the middle. When I go to the s

How do I stop my brownies from rising?

I have been trying out brownie recipes baked in a muffin tin. I am using the muffin tin so that I can get all edges. (And I have been decorating the tops!) My