To ask for your baking/cooking shortcuts?

[Pettyspaghetti]

Posting for traffic.
I’m started baking again and really enjoying it, and I’ve read through a lot of MN threads about favourites meals and people sharing/not sharing recipes.
Was wondering what shortcuts you use when baking? Or just full on “cheating”
I melt toffees and pretend it’s a homemade toffee sauce. And I’ve also used the betty crocker chocolate fudge frosting in a homemade cake more than once
I suppose both of mine are definitely in the cheating territory, but what do you do that’s makes baking/cooking easier?

You can make a really good chocolate fudge icing by mixing equal amounts of dark chocolate and condensed milk and heating it through gently, stirring it until smooth. Use it while it's warm. That kind of thing?

I sometimes use jus-rol pastry. My rule of thumb is if it's cheaper to buy than make, I'll buy it in.

People think making ganache is hard and makes cakes 'fancy' it's just warm cream, a little butter and good dark chocolate, sometimes a little alcohol, easy peasy, but I don't tell people that when they are raving about a chocolate tart (crushed biscuit base if I can't be bothered to make pastry) with shop bought ice cream, ooh you've gone to so much trouble! Really I haven't...

I always use the all in one method for sponge cakes instead of the creaming method.

Also, I weigh my eggs first then just use equal weights of sugar, SR flour and Stork, plus a tsp of baking powder.

My cakes are always in demand.

Virtually every cake recipe can just be chucked in and beaten. I've never sieved flour and I never beat eggs before putting them in.

I always melt chocolate and butter in the microwave - the trick to avoid burning them is to do them in a china bowl (just a cereal bowl is fine!), and stop before they are completely melted - stir them, and let the heat of the bowl finish them off. Otherwise you can end up with them burnt in the middle (especially with chocolate, which goes quite easily, and when burnt is not good at all).

Since I've started making vegan cakes I've discovered they are so much easier than making normal cakes. No sieving, creaming, breaking eggs, or mixer needed. Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, mix them together by hand until just mixed and bung in the oven. No fancy ingredients required. They taste excellent too.

And my other shortcut is lining all my tins by crumpling up a big bit of parchment in my hand and then smoothing it out to line the tin. No drawing/cutting or greasing needed.

You can make a very passable sponge pudding in the microwave - put fruit (pre cooked if it's hard like apples), jam or golden syrup in bottom of basin, add an approximation of a Victoria sponge mix (I quickly hand-beat, and measure ingredients by eye), and microwave for a few minutes. For two of us it takes less than 5 minutes from start to finish.

I buy cake tin liners from Poundland etc because I hate lining tins. I will scale a recipe to fit it in either a loaf tin or 7 inch round rather than use a different sized tin.

I also hate creaming butter and sugar so look for recipes that use melting method or oil.

I soften butter and sugar together in the microwave when creaming is required to make it easier.

I have one of those pastry cutter things for making crumble - less hard on the hands when rubbing in (I get sore joints at times).

Speaking of crumble mix, it freezes beautifully. I make loads at once, stick it in a bag then pour it over my fruit mix still frozen. If you use frozen fruit as well with a bit of sugar sprinkled over, it's the easiest thing ever. It's my go-to emergency pudding.

You can also make brilliant ice cream by mixing together double cream, condensed milk and whatever flavouring you fancy. You don't need to churn it at all. It's amazing.

Loving these, thank you! One thing I like to do when lining cake tins is cut a piece of parchment paper, fold it in half, then diagonally so I’ve got a sort of flat cone. I put the point of the cone paper thing in the middle of the cake tin, and then cut it to size. Helps me the right size circle all the time!

Lakeland cake tin liners and Lakeland measuring cups for speed.

Oil small jug or bowl for measuring out golden syrup or treacle (doesn't stick).

Freeze peeled chunks ginger - they keep longer - and are easier to grate.

Keep two or three marshmallows in bag of brown sugar to stop it hardening.

Petty I always forget about that folding trick! Thanks for the reminder!

I do cut multiple rounds out of baking parchment though using tin as template (and long strips with folded and cut edges) when I have an idle moment and keep in zip-locked plastic bags. One set for 20 inch tins and one set for 23 inch.

Must try crumple method too Dangermouse!

Btw, Lakeland cake tin liners are for loaf tins, as those are such a faddle to do!

My favourite cheat is breadcrumbs and cheese. (Mixed in roughly equal quantities)
Top pork chops with apple chutney and breadcrumb mix. Bake in oven.
Top chicken breasts with garlic & herb cheese spread and breadcrumb mix. Bake in oven.

Easy peasy but makes it look like you spent hours.

Nothing wrong with short cuts.

We buy ready cut circles of baking parchment.

That pork chop short cut sounds amazing, I’m drooling just thinking about it!

My favourite baking shortcut is getting one of the kids to do it instead of me........

For ganache; use good quality, cold, dark chocolate and put in blender until quite fine crumbs. Then just mix in warm cream. I've never split it using that method, and much less messy than trying to chop up the chocolate by hand.

Good thread!

For brownies, use a recipe where you melt the chocolate, butter and sugar and then mix in the eggs, flour and baking powder in the same pan. Then pour into tin and bake. Makes for a really quick recipe but looks like a decent amount of effort.

To soften butter quickly without melting, cut it into cubes and put it in a jug of lukewarm water for a few minutes. That was a Mary berry tip I saw once and have done every single time since.

I make chocolate ganache, pour it into a large/ miniature ready made tartlet bases, dust with coco... sometimes add raspberries on top!

Leave in fridge to set over night!