Did you know that you can eat sweets on a diet and still lose weight? And that you don't have to follow trends? Portion control is the key to healthy sweets. It is not necessary to give up carbohydrates, sugar, fat or whatever is the current villain in the diet world. Restrictive diets should be...
Recently, we started learning how to braid bread and had so much fun we made a giant cinnamon roll the size of West Virginia mountains. But eventually, you start realizing you are making too many sweets and want something savory. I wanted to see if I could push the size of the roll and still have...
Time for some fun with bread making. Let's braid bread and see what happens! After creating many recipes, I decided to use this easy hamburger bun recipe and make a braided garlic bread. The reason I chose this bread is because it is soft, tender and yet holds up well. It's a fabulous recipe to...
Let's learn how to zest a lemon safely. When working with round objects such as potatoes, limes, oranges and lemons, you want to take your time. If you are in a hurry, you don't take time to have proper equipment, you can hurt yourself. From grated knuckles to cutting yourself, zesting and juicing...
What if you want to make a recipe but you don't have the buttermilk that is in the ingredients list? Is there even a substitute for buttermilk? Why not just use regular milk? The answer on substituting for regular milk is dependent on what other ingredients are in the recipe. For example, if the...
Kneading sticky dough by hand can be a little intimidating for beginners, but it doesn't have to be. Imagine finding a recipe for some gorgeous cinnamon rolls or another high hydration dough and trying to make it without a stand mixer. Many recipes tell you it is a sticky dough and a mixer is...
Last week, I made a wartime or depression cake. It was so delicious it inspired me to try an invent a similar recipe. Instead of cocoa, lemons were used. The cake would be this delicious lemon brownie type texture with less ingredients than my lemonade cake. The perfect cake. This was going to be...
Did you know you can make bread without yeast? They are called quick breads or soda bread. They use self-rising flour, baking powder, baking soda or a combination to rise the bread instead of yeast. Think about biscuits and banana bread for examples. In addition, they are fast and painless to...
Lining a cake pan with parchment paper can seem daunting. I watched many videos that go into great detail on how to cut and fold the paper just right. The truth is, there is some merit to doing so. For instance, when you make a cheesecake without a springform pan, it's beneficial to bring out the...
Today, I ruined my cake! Sometimes, we can bake amazing chocolate cakes like this devil's food cake. And then other times....well. Things don't go as planned. Today was one of those days. First, I decided to make a chocolate cake from the back of the cocoa mix instead of sticking with something...
When you are looking at how to make yeast for bread, many recipes ask for a lot of flour. Some recipes want you to use nearly 5 pounds of flour! Others several pounds. Who can afford to waste so much flour for something they may not even like in the end? With my sourdough starter, I used much less...
When I first started baking, I didn't even know what zesting meant let alone how to do it. Many recipes would ask for zest, but none explained how to zest a lemon. I am a big proponent of using fresh fruits and vegetables in baking for flavor. However, I soon realized I didn't have any tutorials...
How do you fix lopsided biscuits? You've done everything right. You have a great recipe, you don't overmix the dough, you carefully cut out the biscuits and followed the instructions carefully. However, they aren't straight. Instead, your biscuits are wonky. You mastered how to make fluffy...
How to melt almond bark without a microwave is a question I asked myself after countless recipes using this confection. Online tutorials are great for using the microwave like the video from this guy, but not so much with stove top. Most insist you must use a double boiler or microwave to melt the...
The type of pan affects baking quality. Let's discuss why this is important today. I have written about how the type of pans can affect the outcome of the bake, but wanted to do a more thorough side by side comparison for you all. When making some citrus madeira cakes the other day to use up eggs,...