Tips & Tricks: Baking
Martha White helps you measure up in the kitchen so your family and friends think you're a pro.
Baking Sweet Potatoes
Simply wash the potatoes and bake them right in their jackets. Pierce the potato jacket in several places. Rub with oil if you prefer a soft skin. Place on a baking sheet and bake uncovered at 450° F. until soft.
Bar Cookies
Bar cookies taste just as great as traditional cookies, and they offer the added convenience of one-time, one-pan baking. Cutting bar cookies into different shapes transforms their character. A platter of triangles, diamonds, rectangles and squares looks fancy and irresistible.
Biscuit Dress-Ups
- Dip dough in melted butter and roll in brown sugar and cinnamon for a succulent sweet roll.
- Roll dough and wrap it around a sausage link for a spicy sausage roll-up.
- For moist cheese biscuits, add 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese to flour.
- Add Italian seasoning to flour, roll dough and cut into thin strips for breadsticks.
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Brownie Dress-Ups
- Start with a brownie mix and sprinkle the batter with nuts or stir in almonds, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts or cashews.
- Check out the baking aisle for brownie fix-ups, from peanut butter chips to miniature marshmallows to white chocolate chunks to English toffee bits. Serious chocolate lovers may opt for an extra handful of chocolate chips stirred into the batter.
- Add an easy flavoring to the brownie mix batter, such as instant coffee powder, ground cinnamon or peppermint or almond extract.
- To dress up brownies, don't forget glazes and icings. Start with brownie mix, then make your own icing, or rely on prepared varieties from the grocery store.
Canned Fruits for Cobblers
When you are in the mood for a cobbler when no fresh fruit is in season, canned fruit is a good option. Water-packed fruits and canned pie fillings are the best choices for quick cobblers. Be sure to drain water-packed fruits unless the recipe calls for water. If so, drain the juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make the amount called for in the recipe.
Chocolate Substitutions
- One 1-ounce square unsweetened chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa + 1 tablespoon shortening.
- One cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels = 2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate + 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar + 2 tablespoons shortening.
- 1 bar (4 ounces) sweet baking chocolate = 4 tablespoons cocoa + 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar + 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons shortening.
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Choosing Apples for Baking
The best apples for baking are the ones that hold their shape and don't turn to mush when heated. An easy rule of thumb is to think green. Two of the most widely available cooking apples have green skin: Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. Ideal for all kinds of baking, Granny Smith apples have a crisp tart flavor and Golden Delicious have a more floral taste. Rome Beauty, available in the fall, is a red variety that is also good for baking.
Cornmeal for Dessert
The Martha White Kitchens experimented and found there is a secret to corn meal's success on the sweet side. To enjoy its texture and flavor in desserts from mush custard to buttermilk chess pound cake, pre-cook the corn meal a little or combine it with flour to lighten the texture.
Cutting a Sheet Cake
To cut a sheet cake neatly, use a two-foot piece of sewing thread. Hold thread tightly stretched and draw the straight thread down through the cake.
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Cutting Dried Fruits
Cutting dried fruits with a knife is difficult because the fruits are so sticky. In the Martha White Kitchen, we find that kitchen shears come in handy for this task. It's easier to snip the fruit into uniform pieces because the scissors' motion keeps the fruit from sticking. Periodically dip the scissors blades in water while snipping the fruit. Bits of dried fruits add lots of flavor to baked goods like muffins and quick breads.
Freezing Quick Breads
Most quick bread loaves freeze well. Cool loaves completely; do not glaze or decorate. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, plastic bags or foil. Or, wrap individual slices separately, allowing them to thaw more quickly. Label the outside wrapping with the type of bread and the date. For optimum flavor, use within one month.
Making Cobbler
There are so many ways to make cobblers that there has to be one right for you. Whether you choose a cobbler made with the traditional pie crust, a rich biscuit topping or a pour-on batter, here are a few tips to make your cobbler perfect. Choose ripe juicy fruits and berries. When out of season, unsweetened frozen fruits and berries may be substituted. Sugar to taste. These recipes make a moderately sweet cobbler, but you may add sugar to taste depending on personal preference and sweetness of fruit. Serve warm. Cobblers are delicious topped with ice cream, heavy cream or whipped cream.
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Martha's Muffin Method
MIX THE DRY: Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. MIX THE WET: Combine all liquid ingredients in another bowl. MIX THE WET INTO THE DRY: Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir, just until moistened.
Measuring Baking Powder, Salt and Spices
Use standard measuring spoons. Heap ingredient in spoon. Level off with spatula.
Measuring Brown Sugar
Pack into correct size dry measuring cup just firmly enough for sugar to keep the shape of the cup when turned out.
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Measuring Flour
When recipes call for sifted flour, sift before measuring. Spoon flour lightly into correct size measuring cup. Do not tap cup or pack down. Fill to overflowing and level off with a knife.
Measuring Liquids
Place standard liquid measuring cup on level surface. Pour liquid into cup to correct measurement.
Measuring Sugar
Do not sift. Spoon lightly into correct size measuring cup. Do not tap cup or pack down. Fill to overflowing and level off with a knife.
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Perfect Cakes
Cakes do best if baked in the size pan recommended in the recipe. However, if the correct pan is not available or a special shaped pan is to be used, fill pans only half full of batter. Shiny metal pans make a tender cake with a light brown crust because the pan reflects the heat. If you have dark pans, reduce oven temperature 25 degrees. Place pans in the middle of the oven for even browning. Layer pans should not touch and there should be at least one inch of space all the way around pans.
Perfect Pie Crust
Flaky pie crust is the result of cutting shortening into flour in small pieces. With gentle mixing and rolling, bits of shortening remain in the dough and melt during baking to produce layers of flaky crust. Cut the shortening into the flour in two steps. 1) For tenderness, cut half the shortening into flour in small pieces. 2) For flakiness, cut remaining shortening in until it's the size of small peas.
Plumping Raisins
To plump raisins, cover the amount needed with very hot tap water and soak for 2 to 5 minutes; drain.
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Raisins in Cake Batter
To distribute raisins better in cake batter, stir 1/4 of amount needed into batter. Pour batter into pan(s) and sprinkle with remaining raisins.
Real shortcake is not a cake, but a buttery, lightly sweetened biscuit that can stand up to a soaking from juicy berries without turning into a soggy mess. Just before preparing the shortcake, toss the cut fruit with sugar to sweeten it and bring out the juices. By the time the shortcake is done, the sweetened fruit will be bathed in juicy nectar.
Reasons to Make Biscuits
- If you can make biscuits, you can bake almost anything. This simple dough provides the foundation for many Southern favorites, including dumplings, scones, cobblers, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, casseroles and shortcake.
- Biscuits are convenient. Made with just three handy ingredients, they bake in less than 15 minutes.
- Everyone likes hot homemade biscuits!"
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Scones: The Biscuit's British Cousin
Scones come in as many styles as do biscuits. In general, though, scones are sweet and often flavored with dried fruits or nuts, and they have a more dense texture than biscuits. In Great Britain, scones traditionally accompany afternoon tea. In the South, scones are a great alternative to sweet rolls or coffee cake.
Storing Cakes
Store plain cakes or cakes frosted with buttercream frosting in a cake keeper or under an inverted bowl. Refrigerate cakes with whipped cream or cream cheese frosting. Cakes with fluffy cooked frosting should be eaten the same day they are made. Plain or buttercream frosted cakes freeze well. Unfrosted cakes will keep 4 to 6 months in the freezer; frosted cakes will keep 2 to 3 months. Freezing cakes with cooked frosting is not recommended.
Too Many Bananas?
Over-ripe bananas are great for baking because they have lots of sweet flavor and a soft texture. You can easily keep them on hand in the freezer. Simply take the bananas out of their skins and seal them in a plastic bag and place in the freezer. They'll keep for months. Then, whenever you want to make your favorite banana bread, all you have to do is defrost as many as you need, mash them, and proceed with your recipe.
Homemade Muffins
Remember the secret to tender homemade muffins is to stir the batter just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be lumpy.
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