Resources/Tips

WHERE I BUY MY BAKING SUPPLIES

King Arthur Flour - cocoa, flours, powders, sugars

Trader Joe's - ingredients

William-Sonoma - pans, equipment

Sur La Table - pans, plates, napkins

L'Epicerie- fruit powders for macarons

Shop Sweet Lulu - baking decorations, packaging, displays

Amazon - hard-to-find specialty items

Michaels - packaging, cake products

Whole Foods - white chocolate chips

Straub's - StL based; specialty ingredients

Kitchen Conservatory - StL based; ingredients, pans

Cornucopia - StL based; cutters, pans

Karen Ann's Supplies - StL based; cake supplies

Global Foods - StL based; specialty ingredients


FAVORITES

The greatest, effortless simple almond cookies for any occasion.

The ultimate go-toshortbread cookie dough/tart crust recipe.

The chewiest this-is-it-chocolate chip cookie recipe ever.

The most irresistible can't-stop-won't-stop-eating "coffee/everyday" cake to take to a friend's house (or to make with one!)

A great "grown-up" dessert to bring to the office.

The pie that EVERYONE loves. It contributes to world peace, I promise.

The tastiest totally-worth-every-minute-spent-on-it ultimate chocolate cupcakes.

The yummiest breakfast-on-the-gooption.

The lightest fruit-filled-so-you-can-justify-eating-more-of-it summer cupcake.

If you love cinnamon, you have to put this cake on your must-make list!


RANDOM BAKING TIPS

*When making cakes, it's important to beat the butter (at room temperature) with the sugar before adding everything else. When they're creamed, the cakes turn out more airy and light. They say you should also add the eggs, one by one, and then everything else in small parts, but I don't always follow that rule. Just make sure the butter and sugar is creamed first!


*For chewy cookies, add melted butter. For thin cookies, add more sugar. If you want cake-like cookies, add more eggs.


*Making vanilla extract at home: Split a fresh bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Place the seeds and split pod in a 1-cup sealable container. Add ¾ cup hot vodka and let mixture cool to room temp. Seal container and store at room temp for 1 week, shaking gently every day. Strain the extract if desired and store in cool, dark place. Should keep indefinitely.


*Don’t stir caramel while it’s cooking; it will regain its sugar shape (adding acid like cream of tartar helps it to become more syrupy)


*You can replace oil with applesauce in a 1:1 ratio, but it takes about 5 tbs of oil to replace 1 stick of butter, BUT, it's better to just reduce the amount of butter by 25% instead of replacing it with oil. Oil can make it more greasy.


*When buying white chocolate, look for a brand that contains cocoa butter, that's what gives white chocolate the flavor (you'd be surprised how many packets do not list it). Avoid that ones that have sugar as either the first or second ingredient.


*Sometimes chocolate can cloud or develop a grayish look but it's still fine to use. It's just a sign that the cocoa butter has separated.



*When whipping heavy cream, you can spoon it into a strainer, place the strainer over a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours and it will drain off excess moisture and become slightly denser. This is useful for using cream as a cake filling!


*2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup


*Make brown sugar by mixing 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 tbs of unsulfured molasses (for dark brown sugar, add another tbs of molasses)

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