Calling all amateur bakers!
Do your cake layers turn out ridiculously domed? Have your cookies been spreading all over the pan? Is a cake mix the limit of your baking prowess? Do you always run out of frosting?
No worries! Follow these simple tricks and everyone will think you're a total pro, and that your desserts are good enough to be from a fancy bakery.
Let's take a look!
The top cake was baked in a dark-colored pan and the bottom in a light-colored pan, with everything else the same. The darker pan absorbed more heat.
If you only have darker pans, try lowering your baking temperature by 25°F.
Grating the butter creates soft, thin pieces that will be much more easily distributed throughout your dough.
Lay some clean lace over your cupcakes, sprinkle powdered sugar on top, and gently lift the lace away. You'll be left with a professional-looking design with minimal effort!
Poke tiny dots into the frosting to mark out where each letter should be, then trace it over with your icing. No crooked or half-finished words here!
Crimping with tongs is a foolproof method, but you can also try corkscrews, measuring spoons, and even pearls to create gorgeous repeating designs.
Apparently the trick is to add one more egg (two for super richness), use whole milk instead of water, and substitute melted butter for oil, doubling the amount.
Two quick tricks will sort that out. First off, try wrapping your pans in cake strips to even out the heat. Second, to correct small domes, grab a tea towel when the layers are fresh from the oven and lightly press down.
Put the frosting into a bowl and then whip it with an electric mixer. You'll be whipping tons of air in, doubling the volume of your frosting after a few minutes to cover more cupcakes or layers.
A quick blow dry will work wonders. Turn up the heat and apply it directly to the ganache, using a spatula to smooth out the melting chocolate.
You can leave cake layers overnight without getting stale if you put a slice of bread on top of each one. The bread will get super hard, but the cake will stay nice and moist.
To soften up butter when you need it (and not melt it), try pouring boiling water into a glass, dumping the water out, and then using the glass to cover your butter.
Just add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil and two eggs to your cake mix for instant three-ingredient cookie dough. Get ready for lemon cake cookies, devil's food cake cookies, and funfetti cookies.
Once you've made the buttercream as wrinkle-free as possible, lay smooth (not patterned!) paper towel on the cake, and use a fondant smoother to rub firm, even circles across the sides and the top of the cake.
Just cut out your top crust with cookie cutter hearts and layer them onto the pie.
Try playing around with different kinds of sugar, chilling the dough, and melting the butter to see what works best for you, and use the guide below to understand exactly how cookies work.
Place your equipment in your freezer 20 minutes before you start beating, and make sure your whipping cream is as cold as possible as well.
