How to Tell if Your Cake is Done

          Baking a cake from scratch can sometimes be tricky, especially if you are trying out a new recipe. Usually, the baking time given in a recipe is the time that has worked perfectly for the creator of that certain recipe. However, this baking time might differ from the baking time you need. There are multiple factors involved here: the type of oven,  the type of pan, and even the altitude of your current location can mess up with that baking time.

How to Store a Cake

     

      A cake is not only an art, craft or something fun to do. A cake is a food, and we should never forget that because it's very perishable. I know that when baking a cake, we put a lot of effort and love into it. And we shouldn't waste all that hard work by letting a cake to dry out, or totally melt. So, let me help you out. In this article, I will tell you how to store a cake, accordingly to the type of cake you baked.

Most Common Baking Mistakes

     We all know that baking can be sometimes difficult. There are plenty of reasons why an amazing cake can become a big disappointment. Inspired by my own mistakes and some online research, it's clear that baking mistakes happen. A fun baking project can easily turn into a big frustration.
     When it comes to cooking you can be creative. With a pinch of this or a dash of that, you can cook something super delicious. But when it comes to baking, we should remember that it's a science and even the smallest mistake can result in a fail. Luckily, the most common baking mistakes can be easily avoided by following some guidelines.

How to Make a Moist Cake

     Hello there. I am continuing my Tips & Tricks articles. I really hope that these articles are helping you become a better baker or at least they help you understand what's happening in your oven :) In this article, I will be talking about how to make a moist cake. I think we have all been there before. Spending hours on finding a perfect recipe, following it, and in result, we got a dry cake. For our luck, there are some tips that will help us get a delicious and moist cake every time.

How to cut a cake?

     Cutting a cake might seem like such an easy thing to do. Until you manage to fail right in front of your in-laws or other special guests. How can you fail by cutting a cake, you might ask. It's simple: the knife can stick to your cake (or frosting, or cream) causing it to tear apart. And you will be left with a slice of crumbs. I have made this mistake many times until I learned how to cut a cake properly.

How to Make Perfect Muffins

     

     If you follow my blog (and if not, you really should hit the subscribe button!) you definitely noticed that I have a "thing" for muffins. I just love them! I love baking them, experience with them, and of course eating them! What I love most about muffins is that you can have them whenever you want: for breakfast, brunch, dinner, on a road trip or they can even be a great snack for kids at school. I want to share with you a couple of tips on how to make perfect muffins. I am no expert, but baking as much as I do, I have learned some things over the years. Once you know how to make a basic muffin, you can make anything you want with them!

Best Mothers Day Gift Ideas

   

     I know we still have a couple of weeks until Mothers Day, but I always like to buy ahead any gift I have to buy. I just hate having to run through stores or spend hours online searching for the perfect gift in the last moment. Mothers Day is such an important day! We should be grateful and appreciate our mother every day through the year (which I hope everyone is doing) but on Mothers Day, we tend to get a little more sentimental. We feel to celebrate more our mothers and make this day all about them. Although there is no gift big enough to truly show our love and appreciation, that doesn't mean we can't spoil them a little on their special day, right? :)

What is a Leavening Agent

   

   If you like to spend some time in the kitchen, you definitely heard of leavening agents. Leavening is what makes cakes (cookies, bread) to rise, resulting in that chewy texture that we all love. There are multiple types of leavening agents, and they are used for different types of baked goods. In this article, I want to introduce you to all the types of leavening agents and also explain how each of then works.

16 Kitchen Tools Every Baker Needs

   There has been baking in my family and in my house for as long as I can remember. All my family and friends think that I have so much baking/kitchen tools that I have enough for another 3 or 4 kitchens. When I look around my kitchen, sometimes all I can see, are the tools that I don't have. That's because nowadays, the market is so full of tools trying to make our baking experience more easier. While some of these tools were made only for our comfort, and to make our lives easier, some of them are crucial to baking something. 

Baking Conversion Charts

   I have loved baking and eating cookies and cakes since I've known myself. This is thanks to my mother, who is an excellent cooker and baker, and she always allowed me to help her out in the kitchen. Back in the days, all we had was my mom's and granny's recipe notebooks. Everything was simple because we know the measurement every recipe had, and there was no need for something like a Baking Conversion Chart. 
   Nowadays, thanks to the internet, there are plenty of recipes out there. And at the same time, there are many different measurements available for the ingredients. If you read the "About Me" corner, you know that I am from Europe, Romania; to be more precise, Transilvania (the land of Dracula 😊). I baked all my life measuring my ingredients using milliliters and grams.

How to Test Eggs for Freshness

   
   
   We all know that when it comes to baking or cooking, all our ingredients must be fresh. In baking, you will find that you need eggs in almost all the recipes. They are a very important part of the texture of the cake/baked good. The freshness of an egg is something that should never be overlooked. So, how to test eggs for freshness?

Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder

     Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder is a very discussed subject in the baking topic. There are many questions out there such as: '' What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?'' ''Can I substitute one for the other?'' ; '' Are they the same?''. I am writing this post in order to answer these questions and help you out. The most important thing you have to remember is that Baking Soda and Baking Powder are not the same things!

   

7 Chocolate Facts

Chocolate is one of the most beloved food product in the world. How can one not love chocolate? We eat it to help out with our sweet tooth, we use it to calm down when we are nervous, we use it to create amazing and delicious cakes, and least but not last, we use it to complete a perfect gift for the loved ones. I am sure that many of you eat chocolate on a daily basis, or at least a few times a week. So, here are 7 chocolate facts that I found really fascinating. Maybe you haven't even heard of some of them.

How to make hard boiled eggs

  Every Easter my mother is the one boiling the eggs. But do you want to know why? Because she simply doesn't trust me doing it. And she's right. When I boil eggs for myself, I let them boil for "about" 5 minutes; give or take. It all depends on my mood, my time, me paying attention to the clock. But mom always manages to make them just perfect. So here are her tips on how to make the perfect hard boiled eggs. 

How to bake a perfect cake

   This is a tip post, inspired by my own mistake. I recently made a Ferrero Rocher cake. And because I was in a hurry, and didn`t think so much, I used baking paper in the tray. And that was a big mistake.

How to prepare and work with yeast

   Yeast is used in cakes to make them soft and fluffy and also to expand them. Although some people say that you can use yeast or baking powder for any cakes you want, it`s not true. You need to follow what the recipe says. 

Cake sheets

 

 As I promised in my older posts, I will show you how to make the cake sheets. I have lots of recipes that involve these sheets. The process is pretty simple. So, here we go. :)