Baking Basics

Here is an article on how to bake a spice cake. A great recipe from my Aunt. This one will surely cure that sweet tooth! One of my wifes favorites.

I love a good ham with a sweet crusty outside that compliments the natural salty flavors of the ham. Here is a super easy and quick way to prepare a ham.

Unless you are a serial-baker, a five-pound bag of flour is going to last you a while. But what is the best way to make sure that the last cup measured is as fresh as the first? Air tight storage...

Wheat flour is essential to many baked goods because it provides structure. All-purpose flour and self-rising flour can be substituted in many baking recipes with some minor adjustments.

Baking a cake is both a fun and rewarding experience. Whether you're a novice or you're a master, there are a few basic steps that you need to get out of the way in order to create the perfect...

It’s that time of year when everybody is puttin on their apron and turming up the oven and is planning on baking homemade Christmas cookies. Whether you are baking with the kids, a baking veteran,...

Fan ovens, which are sold at department stores, look just like conventional ovens. But fan ovens are especially well suited for making bread because the constant convecting air cooks the dough at...

All-purpose flour was produced specifically for casual cooks who make a wide range of recipes in small quantities and without specialized equipment. Baking flours specialized for pastries and...

The chocolate chip cookie is the king of all chocolate recipes. Baking these chocolate chip cookies has become a ritual for many families and friends. Use this cookie recipe to quickly and easily...

Baking in a convection oven is similar to a regular oven, although the convection oven allows you to bake much faster and produce moister foods. When baking in a convection oven, you need to...

Open a cookbook full of baking recipes, and you'll find you often need to use flour. Flour is the main ingredient in many baked goods including bread, cake, cookies and brownies. If you don't add...

Flour can be made from any type of milled grain, although baking flour is usually made from wheat. Baking flour serves a variety of purposes for making goodies such cakes, pastries and bread.

Flour is usually made from wheat, but it can be made from any type of milled grain. Baking flour has a combination of physical characteristics that create the right texture in baked goods.

Baking and decorating beautiful cakes is easy if you know the secrets professional bakers use to help them turn out a perfect product every time. One of the best tools in any baker's arsenal is...

Vegetable shortening is used in baking as a fixative and moistening agent. It helps to hold batters together, grease baking pans and prevent sticking. Shortening is high in trans or saturated fats...

Gas or electric? If you rent, you probably won't have a choice, but as a homeowner, you can select your preference. There are distinctive differences in these two types of ovens, particularly for...

These cookies will have your friends asking for the recipe and every bake sale YOUR cookies will be the first ones gone!

Many home bakers use baking cups to line muffin pans; cups have largely replaced having to grease or grease and flour the pan. Baking cups come in various sizes and styles, such as small, medium,...

Electric ovens offer several advantages to baking, once you learn how to properly use them. When baking cakes in electric ovens, certain actions should be taken to ensure that your cake cooks...

Recipes often specify the type of cake pan you need to use, but if your kitchen lacks one, you need to substitute another pan. Another pan substitution reason: wanting to change the shape of the...

Many people are confused when it comes to using all purpose flour and self rising flour. There is indeed a difference between the two and this article will help you to understand those differences.

This will teach you how to make and bake classic chocolate chip cookies.

Corn bread is a great addition to any holiday or family meal. This sweet and moist cornbread acts as a great side to any homestyle meal.

Parchment paper is used to line baking sheets or hold in liquids in packets of oven-baked foods. It is lined with a coating of silicone or Quilon, which makes it moisture-resistant. Use of...

Children and cookies go hand in hand. This article, about making hand cookies, is a natural. Your children will love helping make these cookies on a rainy or snowy day, and they will love eating...

Italian fig cookies, or Cucidati, are a holiday tradition. A sweet dough is filled with fruits, nuts and jam, almost like a Fig Newton. Making them is time-consuming, but the dough and filling can...

The peak season for fresh blackberries is June and July, but you may begin harvesting as early as May and as late as September. Bake with fresh blackberries that are deep purple to black in color;...

When you are baking cookies or cakes, it would be nice if you only had to concentrate on the baking, wouldn't it? Instead, you spend a lot of time measuring, checking your ingredients, reading...

Cooking a buttercup squash is easy, tasty, and healthy. Squash have many vitamins but only small amounts of calories and fat. Follow the recipe below to start enjoying your autumn harvest today.

Bicarbonate of soda, also known as baking soda, is common in many kitchens, restaurants and bakeries. Aside from being a versatile and gentle cleaning agent, bicarbonate of soda's most important...

Sodium bicarbonate is the chemical name for a very common household substance: baking soda. If you've ever done any baking, you'll know that sodium bicarbonate is a white, odorless, powderlike...

Cream of tartar often appears in recipes for baked goods such as cookies and meringues. But what is cream of tartar and what role does it play in baking?

Holidays seem to bring out our desire to bake cookies. Passing by bakeries and seeing a display of festive cookies compels many to buy cookie cutters, search for a recipe and then stop before a...

How to make Blueberry Muffins

The holidays are quickly coming upon us and one nice community service idea for the children in your family is to bake cookies for charity. Our local Girl Scouts do this every year for a soup...

Bread baking is an enjoyable and relatively easy hobby. Beginning bakers may be put off by problems when baking bread. Here is a list of bread baking problems and their solutions.

How to make a delicious wine cake, perfect for holidays!

One of history's most enduring foods, cake has evolved throughout the centuries from simple sustenance to grand works of edible art. Sheet cakes as we know them today are youngsters on cake's...

While a good recipe and quality ingredients make for tasty brownies, the secrets to success are in the mixing and baking. I am using my own favorite recipe but really any will do.

If you live at a high altitude then you know that your cakes tend to peak or poof up and become rounded and maybe crack in the center. The air pressure at high altitudes is less, so from scratch...

Fast, Fast, Fast. And great with coffee in the morning. This is an old recipe from my mother-in law in Chicago. She reluctantly gave it up. Hope you enjoy these family favorite Italian X-mas...

Baking pans come in all shapes and sizes, style and textures. To keep your baking pan looking new and working at its best, be sure to keep these tips in mind the next time you are creating your...

A leavening agent, also referred to as a leavener, is any substance that creates volume in baked goods. It works by expanding the carbon dioxide bubbles found in batter to create a light texture...

In a matter of minutes, pork chops can be prepared in the oven. A perfect pork chop is one that is browned on the outside and moist on the inside.

Cookies, cakes, breads and muffins are very popular foods. But they are often expensive to buy at a bakery. Cake, cookie and bread mixes at the grocery store can also be pricey and provide few...

Generally, for baking all you need to do is follow the recipe. In high altitude locations however, this poses a challenge as the results will be the same if the recipe is followed exactly. If you...

Baking recipes are really instructions for complex chemical reactions. You need to mix the right proportions of sugars, starch, protein, fats, and acids and bases to get the perfect texture and...

Baking can be fun and super easy! Dump cake is probably the easiest cake one can make. It requires very few ingredients and no skills at all! With this recipe, no stirring is involved, just...

The steps for baking bread are easy for anyone to master. Just assemble and mix the ingredients. Allow your newly formed dough ball some time to rise. Then bake your dough to golden-brown...

I love peanut butter, and I love peanut butter cookies even better. They are my favorite above all and I have tried all kinds from so called gourmet to the basic. I think you will like these as...