Kitchen Tips: Ingredient Tips

Ingredient Tips - Baking

Brown Sugar

Placing a piece of bread in with the brown sugar will prevent it from becoming hard, or sealing the package tight and storing it in the refrigerator will also keep it soft and fresh. To soften brown sugar after it has hardened, try one of the following techniques:

Place a fresh apple wedge in the bag of hardened sugar, seal the bag and leave it for 1 to 2 days until the sugar is soft again. Remove the apple wedge and stir sugar. Store in an airtight plastic bag.

Soften in the microwave by placing brown sugar in a microwavable dish, cover with two dampened paper towels and then cover with the dish cover or plastic wrap. Microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring with a fork after each interval. When it has softened, allow to cool and store in an airtight plastic bag. Do not overcook or sugar will begin to melt.

In a conventional oven, place the brown sugar in an ovenproof dish that has sides. Preheat oven to 225°F and place sugar in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes. Do not overcook, bake only long enough for sugar to soften. Cool and store in an airtight plastic bag.

Place hardened brown sugar in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow to stand at room temperature overnight or until the sugar softens. Store softened sugar in an airtight plastic bag.

If you run out of brown sugar unexpectedly, mix a cup of granulated sugar with two tablespoons of molasses to make your own.

Butter / Margarine

When butter or margarine is called for in a recipe, use it in stick form. Do not use it in whipped butter or margarine. The whipped form has air whipped into it to make it softer and more spreadable. When measured tablespoon for tablespoon, the whipped form is actually less in weight than the stick form so it would not be an exact substitute.

When substituting margarine for butter, use only margarine made with 80% fat. Products with less than 80% fat will have a negative affect on the quality and texture of the end product.

To quickly soften a stick of butter with out melting it, cover it with a thoroughly heated bowl.


Eggs

Remove eggs from the refrigerator approximately 15 to 20 minutes before you are going to use them.

Check the shells of eggs to determine freshness. Fresh eggs have shells that are rough and chalky. Old eggs have shells that are smooth and have lost the chalky appearance. Or, place in cold salt water and if it sinks it is fresh. If it rises to the surface, it is old and should be discarded.

To make hard boiled eggs easier to peel, try one of these tips:

As soon as the eggs are finished cooking, crack the shell and place them in cold water.

Before boiling the eggs, poke one end with a needle. Add a teaspoon of salt to the water before boiling.

When storing egg yolks, keep them moist by pouring one tablespoon of water over them.

If raw eggs become mixed with hard-boiled, you can determine which are hard boiled by spinning the eggs. The hard-boiled will spin and the raw will wobble.

Flour

To prevent bugs from getting into the flour, add a bay leaf to your flour container or store it in the freezer.

Make your own cake flour by substituting two tablespoons of cornstarch for two tablespoons of all-purpose flour for every cup of flour called for in the recipe.

Honey

If honey crystallizes, place the honey container in a pan or bowl of hot water and let it stand until the honey has melted. Then stir the melted honey until it is smooth.

To allow honey to slide smoothly from a measuring spoon or cup, coat the measuring device with oil before pouring the honey in it.