Make sure to stock up on at least two or three cans of evaporated milk. In case you don’t have any heavy cream, you can easily use evaporated milk as a substitute. Aside from baking, there can also be many recipes where you wan use it.

If you love baking, chances are you will never run out of butter but in any event that you do.

Measure an appropriate amount of shortening and canola oil.

You can then use this for your recipe. Don’t expect it to have the rich flavor though. You can also try substituting mashed avocado for the butter if it’s available.

We all know how the ratios play an important part in baking, right?

Though, that doesn’t mean that you can’t experiment and play around with add-ins.

If you want to aim for a chewy texture, then substitute oats for up to a third of the flour that you are using. You can also try adding in dried fruits or even candy sprinkles. Be generous, try it out!

If you have been ignoring them, then this is the time to invest on not just one but a few silicone baking mats.

Not only will it save your precious pans, it will also save you a lot of time when cleaning plus, they actually help cookies to bake much more evenly. It’s definitely something worth buying.

If you are new to baking and you’re always getting super hard cookies, a tip that you can use is to check if the sides of your cookies have hardened.

This is the time that you should take them out because if you wait a little bit more, they will become too hard and may even break your teeth.

A step you should never ignore is to use room temperature ingredients. It’s easier to mix or cream together butter and sugar if they are in room temperature.

Baking requires patience especially if you are using rock-hard cold butter. If you don’t want this, plan ahead of time and prepare your ingredients so you can be sure that when you’re baking, they are all ready to be mixed together.

When you have a recipe that calls for the use of buttermilk and you don’t have it handy – make your own. Just measure one cup of whole milk then stop just a shy of the top.

Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or rice vinegar to level off the measuring cup.

Then just allow the milk to sit for 10 minutes and curdle and that’s it! Very easy and ready to use.

Don’t have any cake flour available? You can use this substitute. Mix in all-purpose flour and corn starch.

Measure 1 cup of flour then remove 2 tablespoons of the flour and place back in the bag. Replace the top the measuring cup with 2 tablespoons corn starch. That’s it. Make sure to sift well.

To be able to cut your brownies like a pro, make sure that they are out of the pan.

To do this, use a parchment paper so you can line the pan. Make sure you have extra parchment paper extending over the sides so you can use them as handles.

Gently lift the baked slab out of the pan and from there, cut it into squares on a cutting board. Slice away any hard or tapered edges and you’ll see just how pretty they look.

Cake release spray is a very useful tool for all those bakers and even those who just love to bake.

Just a quick spray and it will already give you an effortless way to release your baked goodies.
Easy to use and is also very handy so you won’t have any problems removing cake from the pan.

If you are adding choco chips, blueberries, or other add-ins, make sure to coat them first with flour.

Why?

This is because it will prevent all these add-in bits from sinking to the bottom of your batter and will also ensure that you have an even distribution of flavor.

Whether it’s for passion, baking for your kids, or baking as a business – don’t settle for cheap bake-ware.

Aside from the poor quality, they won’t even last long and you even might end up with poorly baked goods.

Some can’t conduct and distribute heat evenly, some coatings may not even last long. Never settle for cheap tools that can compromise your baking.

Butter is one of the most important ingredients in baking. It’s just vital that you have it prepared as the recipe suggests.

Settling for what “looks good” isn’t okay. From the correct temperature of the butter to the brand can dramatically affect the texture and taste of your baked goods.

Even how you incorporate it to your mix will have great impact so, make sure you take good care of how you prepare and use your butter.

Most baked recipes require sifting. To do a proper way of sifting, make sure that you measure first before sifting.

Once done correctly, you will be able to get flour that is lighter and easier to mix. This is perfect for those ultra-light cakes or biscuits, especially when you are incorporating cocoa powder into other dry ingredients.

Cold desserts:

Use a hot knife.
Just run it under hot water and wipe it dry)

Hot desserts:

Use a chilled knife.
Just place your knife in the freezer for just a few minutes.
Bonus Tip: For clean slices, make sure to wipe your knife with a wet paper towel between each slice.

Did you know that lining your baking pans with parchment paper is way better than greasing?

This is because it allows you to transfer your baked cookies, breads and cakes without even tearing or falling apart.

Cut parchment paper or buy pre-cut sheets to fit your loaf pans and cake pans. Better to allow a few centimeters excess so you can use them as handles.

Use an ice cream scoop to equally portion your muffins and cupcakes. It’s way easier than trying to guess. Use a small ice cream scoop so you can fill the liners.
They will even come out in perfect proportions every time.

The flavor of vanilla bean paste is more similar to a real vanilla bean. Plus, you will also get those little black vanilla seeds that make your cakes and frostings fancier.
Who wouldn’t appreciate such effort?

When your recipe calls for a greased or floured pan, it isn’t for décor or nothing. It is being asked for a reason.

This is to avoid your batter or dough from stick and to possibly ruin your cake. So be generous when applying grease!

Consider every nook and cranny that could stick, and make sure you are doing a thorough application. This also goes if you are flouring a pan.

This actually happens even to passionate bakers.

Reading ahead and familiarizing yourself with the recipe, especially if it’s a new one that you want to try will help a lot.

Saves you time, saves you from wasting valuable ingredients and gives you more confidence.

For that sexy, super professional looking cake – try to give your frosted cake a glistening frosted finish. Use a hair-dryer (medium heat) over the outer part of your cake right before serving. This gives it a glossy look.

If you are new to baking and want to try and practice piping frosting, start of by buying a set of piping tips with several standard sizes.

There is no need to go overboard especially if it’s your first time. Practice on a piece of wax paper first. Do this even before you bake so you feel much more confident.

It’s tempting to buy stocks for our pantry especially for baking. Those “sale” items with nearing expiration date are tempting but be careful!

Using expired ingredients or near the expiration date baking powder, baking soda, yeast, even chocolates will have an effect in your products or baked goods.

For high-quality results and delicious baking goods, go for the freshest ingredients only!

A trusted digital scale is very important especially when you are baking. Some recipes require a specific amount/weigh of ingredients and “guessing” will never work. Measure your ingredients to get best tasting results.

Seeing that you still have lots of baking goods that you bought at an expensive price is great, but what if they are already expired?

Don’t feel bad about wasting money on those forgotten ingredients. Throw them away and don’t use them. They are tagged as expired for a reason.

Even if you are not in a cooking show with all those already prepped ingredients, it’s best to do the same. Measure your ingredients even before starting a recipe.

Read through the ingredients, sift flour if needed, let the butter soften, prepare all your bowls, spatulas, and we mean all the things you need.

This way you won’t get stressed out when you suddenly realize you need a sifter and you don’t know where it is.

Leavening agents such as baking powder, baking soda, and yeast will lose their lifting power over time. That’s why you’ll need to buy new baking soda and baking powder every 6 months. Make sure to toss the old container or stock, just to be on the safe side.

If you can get versions of your favorite recipes with the ingredients in grams or pounds – that’s better. This way, you will see more exactness in your final products. Less mistakes with the measurements of the ingredients.

Don’t bake if you don’t have enough time. Because time and patience is needed to create works of art.
Make sure that you let your cake cool down first before trying to put icing on it.
They’ll break if you take them out the tin too soon plus, the frosting will just melt right off.

Believe it or not, your mood matters. If you are feeling sick, sad, or even angry – don’t bake or cook.
Chances are, the finished product will not come out good. Make sure that you are happy, in a good state of health and mood so you can enjoy the moment.

Dough rise may take time, that’s why many home bakers choose to put their dough in the warmest place possible – to speed up the process.

Acclaimed British baker and author Paul Hollywood says this is a mistake!
We want to achieve a slow, natural rise to get that best bread flavor. Speeding it up is not the right way to go.

Today, we can already find affordable mixers. Who wouldn’t like a beautiful and colorful stand mixer sitting out on their counter top?

Though, what’s preferred is to actually go for quality other than the design. This will ensure even mixing, stiff meringues, and that perfect whipped cream. It can even last for years!

Lift and drop your cake pan on the counter with just the right amount of force a few times before putting them in the oven. This way, it will get those stubborn big air bubbles out of the batter. You’ll have better quality cakes.

Are you familiar with the toothpick test?
Just poke your cake with a toothpick and if there are still pieces that stick to the toothpick, that means it’s not ready yet!

Bonus tip!
Better to set your timer for less than what the recipe calls for. This way we avoid over baking the cake.

Rotating your pan is for baking cookies and not for cakes.
Rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking will make sure you have even baking.
You’ll end up with evenly cooked cookies that everyone will love!

When you want to melt chocolate, make sure to add a drop of liquified coconut oil. This will help thin the chocolate and make it more manageable for coating baked goods or making candy bars.
Just be careful not to add too much.

Want a faster way to create whipped cream? Put your beaters and bowl in the fridge just before you make whipped cream.
The reason for this is if they are cold, your cream will whip faster!

If you are a beginner in baking, we understand how it’s fun and sometimes needed to peek and check your baking cookies or cakes.

This isn’t a good practice because cool air can get in; this will greatly interrupt your baked goods from cooking properly.

If you need to test your cakes, then just use the toothpick trick. Remove your cake from the oven, immediately close it and test if it’s done, if not okay, then put it back in as quickly as you can.

Sometimes, ovens tend to lean to the hot or cool side of a specified temperature over the years.

To ensure that you still have and know the right temperature, invest in an oven-safe thermometer.
This way, you can attach it to an oven rack and you can adjust your oven temperature if needed.

This is an amazing tip! To keep your leftover cookies extra soft, make sure to store them with a piece of bread.

Why?

The cookies will absorb all of the bread’s moisture and that’s it. Your bread will be rock solid after a few days and your cookies? Well, they will be soft for days!

If you are using egg whites for your meringues, just make sure to keep your fingers out of the egg whites.
The reason for this is because the oils from your fingers can actually flatten the meringue.
Just use an egg separator and make sure the yolk doesn’t break.

It’s a common misconception that it’s good or even okay to take out your daily frustrations on the dough.

Don’t do this, please.

This can cause tough baked goods. Nobody wants that. So make sure to handle your dough gently and use only a light dusting of flour on the rolling pin or counter.

Don’t panic. You can easily patch tears in your dough or pastry by pinching or pressing it back together.

However, those large gaps, they can be patched with trimmings cut from the overhanging dough.

However, if you have a pizza dough, that’s a different story because it’s almost impossible to patch them when torn so be careful.

Even if you can easily convert it using apps, it’s still better to be familiar with them.

For example:

2 cups = 1 pint

2 pints = 1 quart

4 quarts = 1 gallon

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup

5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon = 1/3 cup

And so on…

Brown sugar is nice but sometimes, they can harden and we don’t want that.
To avoid this from happening, just use marshmallows!

Place 2-3 marshmallows in a bag of brown sugar and it will keep it from hardening.
Just make sure to replace the marshmallows when they are hard.

Eggwash is common term in baking. Bakers love egg wash.

It’s actually a mixture of 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon water – that’s it.
It is used to seal crusts together (like in turnovers) and to add color and shine on the crust of baked goods. Also makes your baked goods look good.

If your frosting is too loose, you can just add extra powdered sugar.
If your frosting is however, too thick to spread, just slowly stir in a spoonful of milk.
Be careful, use small amounts until you reach the right consistency.

Under beating or over-beating will greatly affect the texture and even the volume of the cake.

Most recipes are tested using an electric mixer, this produces the highest volume.
Make sure to read the recipe and be sure to know which method to use, either electric or hand mixing.

Note: One minute of medium beating time with a high-quality mixer usually equals about 150-180 strokes by hand.

If you are making something in large quantities or batches, make sure that you test one out first.

Separate them in small batches, and try to bake a small batch.
This way you will see if it still needs adjustments or is good to go.

This is a great way to save time and avoid huge mistakes.

Fill muffin, cake, and even bread pans only about a 2/3 of the way up.
Leaving enough room for the batter to expand and rise.
You wouldn’t want to end up with a burnt cake batter stuck to the bottom of your oven.