How Brownies Work

Fudgy brownies or cake-like?  It’s a matter of choice—but as for us, we like fudgy brownies.  What makes them so and how do they work?

If you are willing to do a bit of experimenting, you can tweak the recipe to make your brownies just the way you like them.

    To make your brownies more cake-like:
        * Increase the amount of flour in your recipe.
        * Substitute cocoa for part of the solid chocolate.
        * Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

    To make your brownies fudgier:
        * Decrease the amount of flour in your recipe.
        * Increase the amount of fat by decreasing the amount of cocoa and increasing the solid chocolate.  You can also add butter to make your brownies fudgier.
        * Take your brownies from the oven when a toothpick comes with just a bit of batter still clinging to it.

    To make your brownies crustier (but still with a moist interior):
        * Beat the batter vigorously after the eggs are added.
        * Lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake the brownies longer.

    To make your brownies less crusty:
        * Mix the eggs into the batter gently.  Stir only until mixed.
        * Bake your brownies at 350 degrees.

Article Source : Prepared Pantry 
Get a free baking ebook delivered to your inbox every week for 8 weeks. Get it now! >>

Classic Frosting Recipes For Cakes And Cupcakes

Before we get to the recipes, I would like to share a few frosting making tips with you.

* Don't confuse confectioner's sugar with granulated sugar as they are 2 different types of sugar and substituting them will have disastrous results.

* If you like the frosting smooth and creamy, use an electric hand mixer. Beating the mixture by hand doesn't remove all of the lumps.

* It will be easier to spread onto your cooled cake if you let your frosting come to room temperature.

* If you are worried about it sticking to your beaters, lightly spray beaters with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

* To soften cream cheese or butter, let them sit out on your kitchen counter for 20 minutes while you gather and prepare the rest of your ingredients.

Chocolate Frosting

2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 egg white
1/2 cup shortening
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold milk
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

In a medium sized bowl, combine the egg white with 1 cup of the confectioner's sugar; beat with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and beat for an additional 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 cups confectioner's sugar

In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the milk and confectioner's sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat until icing is cool, light and fluffy.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounce cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and milk with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Slowly add in the confectioner's sugar, beating in between each addition.

Vanilla Frosting

1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
2 unbeaten egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

In a medium sized saucepan, combine granulated sugar, water and cream of tartar. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Slowly add in egg whites, one at at time. Using an electric mixer, beat with mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir in the vanilla extract and beat an additional 30 seconds.


Shelly Hill has been working from home in Direct Sales since 1989 and is a manager with Tupperware. Shelly enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends. You can visit Shelly online at http://my.tupperware.com/Ravish30 or her Shakin 'N Bakin Recipe Blog at http://wahmshelly.blogspot.com for additional free recipes and cooking tips.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Taking Care Baking Products

CAKE CARE TIPS
Room temperature cakes are best eaten fresh! And needless to say, chilled cakes are best eaten chilled.

Storage :
* Keep the cake away from sun drenched windows and as cool as possible.
* Pound and slice cakes need not be refrigerated but store them in an air-tight container in a cool place, and they can last three days.
* Store your chilled cakes in the refrigerator in an air-tight container, and they can last three days.

Cutting & Serving:
* For chilled cakes, dip your knife in hot water, dry before cutting.

Article Source : Cedele, eat well.be well

How to make Buttercream Icing - Video Tutorial

Hi,
Well rasa seronok pulak dapat kongsi ilmu yang walaupun not from my own pocket, but i wud still love to share. Since i m not so call a "professional baker" n belum layak nak conduct kelas, ini aje la yg boleh i kongsi. B4 this i shared about making the cupcake and this time plak camna nak icing your cake.

Buttercream is an essential ingredient for frosting or icing yr cake. The following Video is a basic n most easiest way of making the buttercream. Actually, there a so many version of buttercream ni. Ada yang pakai shortening, krimwel and so on. But u can try la mana2 resepi n i that one goes well...then that's it la. So, happy trying yaaa...








U can get more buttercream icing and mcm2 lagi kat Wilton .
Di samping itu banyak lagi resepi cupcake lain yg menarik.

For more Buttercream recipes.
Buttercream Icing 101

How To Make Cupcake - Online Video Tutorial

Hi there,
Selamat bertemu kembali. I know some of us are very interested about learning and making cupcakes but not all of us have got the opportunity to sign up for a formal courses. But the great thing is, there's a lot of story about making and decorating cupcakes on the website or books too. All u got to do is just look for the good recipe and try it out. Try & error is one of the best tools in learning process.

Here are some of the interesting tutorials & lessons for cupcake beginnner. Well, as beginner (from my own experience)it's not enough to bake a cake by just following the recipe from the books n websites. Not everyone can bake cake from the same recipe. According to my 1st guru (& after my own experiment too), There are 2 very critical aspects of baking cupcakes which should be given attention :
1 - Moisture in recipe ratios
2 - Oven temperatures

Then what else u need to make your cake taste even better n look good?..confidence? creativity? joy? fun?...yg penting hati mestilah ikhlas...betul tak?

For newbie, there's plenty of video lesson available online too. One of the sites that i always look for an ideas is Youtube, but i often visits Videojug.com. Lagipun videojug mempunyai video lesson yg di buat secara lebih professinal oleh individu2 yg profesional, so nampak mudah dan senang di ikuti. Moreover, u can also get the full recipe and method of doing it by clicking at the text version menu.
Hope u anjoy it as much as i do. Opps... b4 u see the video, this is my classic recipe for vanilla/Butter cupcake :
130gms butter
3/4cups caster sugar
2 eggs (large)
1 tsp vanilla essence(if not using any other)
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk (more if neccesary)
Note : U can add any fav flavor, nuts, fruits, ect.

Method :
- Heat your oven at 170-180 deg.
- Beat sugar and butter till pale and fluffy.
- Add in essences and eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Fold in sifted flour+baking powder alternately with milk in 3 portions till well incorporated.
- Spoon into cupcake liners.
- Bake for 15-20 mins. Tadaaaaa Done!........Happy baking.

How to make cup cakes - video tutorial lesson



My 10 cents : "i m not a pro baker...but i m a learning baker" which is never ending...:):):)