baking tips

vanilla bean paste on a spoon

All About Vanilla Bean Paste

Vanilla bean paste will make all of your vanilla desserts even better! Learn what it is, how it's different from vanilla extract, why and where you should buy it, and how to use it. …

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Cupcakes with Coffee beans as an example of a coffee desserts

Coffee Desserts – How to Make Coffee-Flavored Cakes, Cookies, Cupcakes, and More

Coffee desserts - desserts that taste like coffee - are for true coffee lovers! Learn how to make the best coffee-flavored cakes, coffee cookies, coffee cupcakes, and more! While crumb cakes designed to …

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Leftover Cake Cut Up

Recipes Using Leftover Cake, Overbaked Cake, or Stale Cake

You have overbaked cake, a stale cake, or simply leftover cake that you don't want to eat. Now what? Don't throw it out! There are so many ways to use the cake up - from …

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Honey on a honey dipper

Baking with Honey

Honey is a fantastic natural sweetener for baked goods. You can plan your baking around honey or use it as a substitute for granulated sugar. Here's everything you need to know to bake with honey! …

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zesting a lemon with a microplane zester into a glass bowl

How to Zest a Lemon The Right Way

Adding lemon zest is a great way to incorporate lemon flavor in both sweet and savory foods. But, just what is lemon zest and how do you zest a lemon? Let's have a look! …

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Ganache dripping from a spoon

The Complete Guide to Chocolate Ganache

You can easily make amazing chocolate ganache using two ingredients - chocolate and heavy whipping cream. It takes five minutes to make using either a range or microwave, and goes so well with just …

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cupcake vs muffin

Muffins vs. Cupcakes

The difference between a cupcake and muffin depends on who you ask, and their answers can include such things as the amount of frosting, ingredients, and time of the day that you eat it! …

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Baking with tea

Baking with Tea – How To Get the Flavor of Tea Into Your Baked Goods

I'm officially hooked on baking with tea. I'm craving baked goods with chamomile, oolong, and chrysanthemum. Why? I learned the trick to getting a vibrant tea flavor in my baking and I'm going to show …

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Russian Piping Tips 101

Russian Piping Tips Are the Cheater Tips You Need

This is a guest post written by Devon done in partnership with Kitchen Conservatory in St. Louis. Devon has spent a lot of time mastering Russian piping tips and is excited to share her findings with …

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How much does a cup of flour weigh

How Much Is a Cup of Flour in Grams?

If you want to use weights when baking and the author of a recipe doesn't give you a weight for their flour, my testing shows that you should use 128 grams for a cup …

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All about Buttercream Frosting

What’s the Difference Between Italian, Swiss, and French Buttercream Frosting?

I was the strange kid who always wiped off and threw away the buttercream frosting from slices of birthday cake. As I became a baker, I learned that most buttercream frosting we consume in America …

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Overmixed Cupcakes

What Happens When You Overmix Cake Batter

Cupcake recipes like my best vanilla cupcake recipe and chocolate cupcake recipe often contain the instruction "mix until just combined." I want to talk about what that really means and what happens when you …

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Applesauce Instead of Butter and Oil

Using Applesauce as a Butter or Oil Substitute: Cupcake Project Substitution Lab Test 2

Cupcake Project Substitution Lab Test 2: Using Applesauce as a Butter or Oil Substitute Introduction / Purpose Many of you have asked me about using applesauce as a butter or oil substitute to cut …

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Mayonnaise Instead of Eggs

Cupcake Project Substitution Lab, Test 1: Using Mayonnaise as an Egg Substitute

Test 1: Using Mayonnaise as an Egg Substitute Introduction / Purpose Mayonnaise is mostly egg yolk and oil; so, despite the initial "yuck" factor, mayo is sometimes suggested as a substitution for eggs in …

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