#baking-tips

#baking-tips

Dining out at restaurants, it's usually dinner rolls that arrive at your table first. Golden, tender, and glossy, it's almost too easy to forget they're only meant to be companions for the main courses to come. The secret to this magic is surprisingly simple, and you can recreate it at home with a little help from bacon. Whether you just spent a whole afternoon baking up dinner rolls or got them straight from the supermarket,

Like a float in a Thanksgiving parade, this giant cinnamon roll impresses through sheer size alone. The overflowing bun feels like a never ending spiral of sticky, gooey filling and fluffy bread. The dough is milk-bread-adjacent and comes together easily in a stand mixer. Milk powder and tangzhong make it cottony and tender, but sturdy enough to hold in all of the rich, sweet filling.

To start, a warning. This method is a last-ditch effort and best employed if you are already fairly confident in your piping skills. It's not the easiest solution to this problem, but it can work in a pinch. We tried it ourselves after doubting it, and it proved itself to be another reliable foil hack around the kitchen. You'll need to layer your foil, especially if you have a very thin brand.

A truly great pumpkin pie recipe has to nail three things: a silky, well-spiced filling, a crust that's flaky yet tender, and the kind of irresistible appeal that earns its place on an already crowded Thanksgiving dessert table. This one delivers on all fronts. As one reader put it, "I don't think there are enough words in the English vocabulary to describe just how wonderful this homemade pumpkin pie is."

We're not talking about those fancy, sugar-loaded protein shakes you might see at the gym, but ultrafiltered milk, a type of fortified cow's milk with a higher level of protein. It's usually found right next to the regular milk you might be used to, most commonly under the Fairlife and Lactaid brands, but instead of having 8 grams of protein per cup, it packs a whopping 13 grams per cup.

Among a plethora of different types of apples, using the right varieties is crucial for the very best flavor and texture. Tasting Table chatted with cookbook author Mark Filippelli to get his must-know tips for the tastiest apple fritters and he strongly recommended avoiding overly ripe apples as well as varieties such as Red Delicious or Fuji as their tender texture will not stand up to the cooking process.

sweet-toothed foodies: This one's for you. Few things are more disheartening than meticulously, laboriously crafting a visually stunning layer cake, only to have those clean layers mangled by a slicing hack job. Under the unforgiving blade, once-clearly-defined layers can crumble and meld into a mess (so much for all your attention to detail). Or, worse, in the excitement and distraction of a gathering, that cake can get miscalculatedly sliced into totally misshapen, different-sized pieces. Luckily, those days are over thanks to one non-traditional slicing technique.

Getting out your best china is a good start, but a photo-worthy dessert relies on getting a clean slice. If you neglect to clean the crumbs and filling off the knife between each cut, these clumps can end up transferring to the next piece. Not only is this visually messy, but the extra bulk on the sides of the knife will prevent it from gliding smoothly through that classic banana cream pie.

There's a lot to be said for a good old Hawaiian sweet roll. They can be used to make delicious French toast, they taste amazing when served alongside any type of barbecue, and they're a downright necessity when it comes to many slider and sandwich recipes. But they can also be used to make delicious no-fuss desserts, and all you have to do is grab a little pie filling and get inventive.

Similar at the core yet varying in nuance, it is no wonder lemon and lime are so interchangeable. Undeniably, they both have that zesty zing that sparkles anything they touch, but in entirely different ways. Whereas lemon's sour taste is still laced with subtle hints of sweetness, lime is sharper and crisper, with a stronger emphasis on citral aroma. If you thought lemon's brightness was mesmerizing, just wait until you taste what lime can do.

Once the carrots are grated and folded into a spiced, moist batter, their skins vanish into the crumb. In the heat of the oven, the ever-so-slightly-fibrous outer layer softens completely, contributing the same sweetness and texture as the rest of the root vegetable. For anyone worried about flavor, the skin's mild earthiness is no match for cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar; it simply disappears into the background.

Using a springform pan is essential for no-bake cheesecakes, as it allows for easy removal of the dessert while keeping the bottom intact.

When you touch it, it's slightly crispy, and it's firm. It bounces back. If you leave a fingerprint, you know it hasn't baked right in the middle of it.

Martha Stewart suggests adding real fruit to cupcake batter to enhance moisture and flavor. Strawberries, which contain 92% water, are a great example.

Using room temperature ingredients is crucial for making cream cheese frosting. Cold cream cheese and butter can result in a grainy texture due to poor emulsification.

The hardest part about making a fruit pie is waiting for it to properly cool before you can slice it open. It takes hours. Four is better, with a six-to-eight-hour wait being downright pro chef behavior.

Transforming traditional pies into pie bars allows for easier slicing and serving while maintaining the beloved flavors, offering a practical solution for gatherings and events.

The secret to wrapping bread correctly is to store it in an air-tight or vacuum-sealed container, where the bread can keep for up to three months. "You could double wrap the bread if you're going into things like a deep freeze just to provide another layer of protection," says Parisi. "Maybe wrap in parchment then plastic wrap."

"Making sure your oven is really hot is the best tip. I'd recommend letting it stay preheated for at least 15 minutes before baking to ensure it will hold its temperature well."

Panna cotta is very user-friendly, and requires enough gelatin and chill time to ensure a proper set. Following the recipe and allowing plenty of time to chill before serving should make it easy.

Incorporating candy bars into monkey bread is actually quite easy. To add candy bars to each of the little bread pieces that make up the bread, tuck the candy inside and pinch the bread closed around it.

This recipe is BA Bake Club's first multi-layer cake, featuring four layers of cake and cream cheese frosting, designed to celebrate six months of Bake Club.

To prevent your cake batter from curdling, always use room-temperature ingredients. Cold eggs or butter can cause separation, leading to an uneven texture in the cake.

To soften hard cookies, reheat them in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for a perfect balance of warmth without drying out the treat.

Sift your dry ingredients. It might feel like an extra step, but sifting is the secret to an even, fluffy crumb and can make or break the final product.