What are your top baking tips? Share your top cheats, shortcuts and tips with Flora and you could win a £200 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

Flora have asked us to find out about Mumsnetters top baking tips and tricks.

Here's what Flora have to say, "At Flora were real fans of baking, but we're always on the lookout for tips and cheats to speed up the creation of cakes. We'd love to hear how you fit time to bake into your busy lives and how you make your cakes extra special with brilliant decorating designs that wow. (We'd also love to see photos of your creations, and we're running a great competition over on our Facebook page with some fantastic prizes, so pop over and upload your pics for a chance to win!)"

What are your top baking tips? Do you take any shortcuts when baking? Maybe you buy ready-made icing? Perhaps you use pastry from a packet? Or do you prefer making everything from scratch? Have you ever bought a cake and pretended that you baked it yourself?

Whatever your top baking tricks are, Flora would love to hear them.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £200 John Lewis voucher (in time for Christmas).

Please note your comments may be included on Flora's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[Spirael]

Forget the old hassle of melting chocolate in a bowl above a boiling pan of water... Use the microwave! 1 minute bursts, give it a stir, then stop microwaving just before all the lumps have gone and let the last few slowly melt into the residual heat. Only takes a few minutes and you can melt it straight into a jug for pouring.

[BooRooandTiggerToo]

Cupcakes take just 2.5mins in the microwave!

Our oven went wrong a little while ago and I was forced to manage with just a microwave. Having experimented I found that adding the cupcake cases around the edge of the turnplate for just 2.5mins makes light spongy cupcakes, yes they may not be browned on the top but a little icing and you'd never know the difference.

[hermioneweasley]

If I want a lighter than air sponge I always use sponge flour and fold in with a metal spoon so the gluten isn't worked.

You have to cream butter and sugar for much longer than you think to do it properly!

Always wash your bowl and beaters before making meringue.

Both egg whites and egg yolks freeze well if separated.

[Blu]

Top Tips for the Terrible Baker:

When microwaving the butter straight form the fridge in order to be able to cream it: Lurpak wrappers cannot be microwaved.

Check that your DP and DS, when shopping and baking for your home made birthday cake are looking at the correct recipe. The frosting may have an impressive list of ingredients but it makes a terrible mess in the oven.

Bought puff or flaky pastry is excellent - and vegan / vegetarian. Reputable recipe-book-writing chefs use it.

Even if Nigella says add boiling water to the baking powder, don't. You may only have scraped through your GCSE science, but trust your instincts.

Lidl Free Range eggs are 50% cheaper.

You can use a stick blender to rub fat into flour!

[IHadADreamThatWasNotAllADream]

Oh yes Blu - previous housemate killed the microwave by using it to soften the Country Life without taking the wrapper off.

[Ruby6918]

Home Made Pastry Easy, and Freeze it

Ingredients
12 oz plain flour
60oz butter
Pinch Salt
3 tablespoons of cold water

sift flour and salt into bowl and softened butter in small cubes, Rub the mix together with your fingers to bind, untill the mixture starts clinging to your fingers, add two thirds of the water, mix with a fork, and the last tablespoon of water to form a smooth pastry, add more water if it seems too dry, remove the dough ball and place of a floured surface, work with the dough for a few mins to form a ball. using a floured rolling pin roll out, use for a pie or apple cake, but any leftover pastry can be rolled into a ball, wrap it really tightly in clingfilm, then place in an airtight container and frozen. simply defrost and use when you need it, far nice than frozen bought pastry,, and far cheaper

[ouryve]

No shop bought cake is ever a patch on home made, so no way would I ever claim to have baked a bought cake. The shame!

My tip is to use a food processor for crumble toppings. It's so quick and there's no messy hands of the sort that prompt your phone to ring.

[TheDietStartsTomorrow]

When making a layered cake, I used to often slice the top off to get an even flat top. I now have a few tips to get a flat cake that doesn't require slicing or wastage.

Firstly, use aluminum baking tins where possible. My cakes are just as well risen but with a flatter top in the alumnium cake pans.

Secondly, (and this is genius IMHO) take an old towel and cut it into strips. Wet it thoroughly and tie it around the cake tin before putting the tin in the oven. It means the cake won't rise in the centre more than the sides and you end up with a well risen, flat cake that you can just use without trimming the top off.

Lastly, if you are frosting or lining with fondant icing, turn the cake upside down. The bottom is always flatter than the top.

[secretscwirrels]

I use a bit of kitchen roll and a dab of olive oil to grease tins.
Cut out circles from reusable baking sheets to line tins.
I don't weigh flour. One round tablespoon = 1 ounce 25 grams. Just spoon it into sieve.

[DeathByLaundry]

If you're short of time, make cupcakes or muffins instead of large cakes or loaves. Bakes in half the time.

[peronel]

Buy a big block of cheddar then have a mass grating session! Put one large handful in each freezer bag then freeze until needed. Cheaper than ready grated, defrosts on a plate in minutes and makes cheese sauce, gratins and the hundred-and-one other cheesy dishes just that little bit easier.

[mousmous]

when baking cookies roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper. no flour for the dc to traipse all through the house.

[GetKnitted]

just remembered my best ever tip for baking with little ones. When you've nothing for them to do at their level of ability, set them to the crucial task of cutting the flour :) HTH

[Willemdefoeismine]

Just thought of my best and simplest baking tip. Always keep the butter wrappers after you've put the butter in a dish, refrigerate and then use for easy greasing of baking tins etc.....

[CoconutRing]

When making a sponge or fairy cakes always weigh your eggs first (in shells). I use this tip because the weight of eggs can vary and this affects the consistency of the cake mix.

Then, for example, if your eggs weigh 212 gms, use 212 gms of Flora, 212 gms of flour and 212 gms of sugar. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix together (all in in one method) for a perfect, light sponge.

[cjbk1]

boiling water in a measuring jug for measuring out golden syrup; wet the spoon before each spoon of syrup makes it slide off easily then you can just wipe the jug with kitchen paper and use it for the rest of the recipe

[MyCatLovesMeSometimes]

I rarely buy SR flour now, instead preferring to just buy plain flour and add baking powder to ensure we use flour up faster (after we found bugs in a bag!)

[MyCatLovesMeSometimes]

If baking a birthday cake for your daughter and your Dad needs you to go out with him do not leave your mother in charge of taking it out the oven. I was very upset when she forgot and it burned.

[MyCatHasStaff]

I always store caster sugar in a big jar with a couple of vanilla pods. It gives your cake more depth of flavour, and is much cheaper than buying small quantities of vanilla sugar.

[spleenyone]

My mum taught me well, when making scones or biscuits, always make double quantity if you expect to get some yourself!

[Tortoise]

My top tip is, when using golden syrup, put the spoon in a mug of boiled water. It just slides off the spoon then.

One of our favorites is Cadburys caramel nibbles mixed into brownie mixture. When you bite into it you get a lovely bit of caramel inside.

[Rockinhippy]

Another I discovered when I took ill with a kidney infection part way through making DDs birthday cake - cake made ready for decorating - no way in hell was I well enough to do my usual fancy job, let alone make icing


A jar of cheap chocolate spread or Nutella makes great easy & cheaper icing - I plastered the choc cake in it, stuck those chocolate crisp all around the sides so that the edges stuck out & made a star edging all around - crushed some more up, sprinkled on top, finished off with a sprinkle of mixed colour chocolate cake decor stars & dusted with edible gold glitter powder - it lasted 5 minutes, the DCs at her party loved it & took me 10 minutes to decorate :)

I now sometimes use choc spread to pipe onto cupcakes as DD loves it

[HazeltheMcWitch]

Does cutting a cake into 2 layers usually give you 2 odd shaped wedges? Use a cotton thread, not a knife! Dental floss works too.

It's even more foolproof if you mark out a knife cut on each side, then just wrap the thread around, cross it over, and pull tight.

You can also slide the top layer of cake onto a bread board, or the base from a cake tin (anything flat and rigid, basically), so there's no chance of your cakes breaking.

[tinypumpkin]

Another one saying that it is the fun to be had that you need to focus on when baking with small people and not the outcome! My efforts are not great but they enjoy it and that is what matters to me. Fairy cakes a lot in this house with icing and peppa toppers! Also, adding colour to the cake mix and/or icing is something they like to do even if it does look odd.

[TerrorMeSue]

My electric hand whisk is my godsend for baking. Faster than mixing by hand, but easier to clear than a big mixer.