A toothbrush or pastry brush is helpful in A toothbrush can aid in cleanup, too: Use it to spreading oil evenly on the surface of a waffle iron. brush batter from the crevices. When pancakes stick to a griddle it means they don't contain enough shortening. Mix a little more oil or melted butter into the next batch. To reheat pancakes without overcooking them, wrap them in a dish towel and put them in a 250°F oven for a few minutes. You can speed up the chore of cutting up pancakes for small children by using a pizza cutter even a stack is easy to cut this way.
Crepes will be lighter if, instead of cream or milk you use a liquid composed of 1 part water to 3 parts skim milk For extra delicate and tender crepes, use just enough batter to cover the pan bottom with a paper-thin layer. The trick to freezing crepes whether flat or rolled is to stack them (sandwiched between sheets of wax paper), cool them, and then wrap them tightly before storing them in the freezer. Make waffles and pancakes extra light by replacing the liquid you usually use with club soda. Don't store any of the club soda batter, because continuing effervescence will alter its texture. Use it all, or discard it. Opt for lard rather than butter when making pie dough. Butter may give a little more flavor, but lard makes a flakier crust.
So juice can bubble out of a pie harmlessly ind in one place, insert a piece of tube-type macaroni in the center of the pie before baking. When you must cool a pie in a hurry, set the pie pan on top of a larger pan lined with ice cubes. A powder puff kept in the flour canister is perfect for dusting flour on pastry boards and rolling pins. To prevent pastry dough from clinging to your rolling pin, chill the pin in the freezer before flouring. When you roll dough on wax paper, dampen the counter before spreading the paper; then the wax paper will cling smoothly to the counter. If you scrape rolling pins and pastry boards clean with a knife rather than washing them, they will be seasoned and dough won't stick as much the next time you use them. No rolling pin handy? Use a full wine bottle.
When making a fruit pie, brush the unbaked lower crust with a beaten egg to keep the crust from soaking up too much juice and turning mushy. Or sprinkle plain bread crumbs over the bottom crust before pouring in the filling. For a tempting brown glaze on your pie, brush the top with milk before sliding the pie in the oven. Here's a real time- and money-saver. When fresh fruits are in season and on sale, prepare enough pie filling for several pies. Line pie pans with aluminum foil or wax paper, fill with the fruit, cover, and stack in freezer. The next timeyou want a pie, just slide one of your pie-shaped fillings into a crust and pop it in the oven.
To keep a fruit pie from getting soggy, dust the crust with flour before adding the filling, or sprinkle ground nuts over the bottom crust. If the fruit filling in a pie is too juicy, add a spoonful of tapioca to absorb extra juice. To thicken juice of a fruit pie so that it won't be too runny, add a beaten egg white to the sugar you use when preparing the pie, or add a dash of flour to the fruit itself during preparation. To make an upper pie crust extra flaky, brush the surface with a little cold water before baking. Frozen pies sometimes have a "dry'' taste. You can eliminate this dryness by brushing them with melted butter before baking. Before baking a frozen pie, it's sometimes difficult to make slits in the top crust, since the crust is too hard. Warm the pie in the oven for a few minutes and then make the slits.
When making a pumpkin pie, put a layer of marshmallows on the crust before adding the filling. As the pie bakes, the marshmallows will rise and form a perfect topping. When making pie shells, double your recipe and make a few extra. Store these in the freezer and they'll be ready for use at some later date. Egg whites refrigerated for up to 2 weeks produce a fuller, more flufly meringue than fresh egg whites. Meringues were never easier. Separate the eggs while they're still cold, then let the white warm up to room temperature before beating them. Meringue shells won't darken while baking if you grease your baking sheets with a solid vegetable shortening. To make meringue that's extra high, add a little baking powder to the room-temperature egg whites you beat or whip for the recipe.
To stabilize meringue, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to every three egg whites. To avoid shrinkage and watery edges in the meringue topping on a pie, spread the meringue all the way to the edge of the pie crust. Meringue pie topping won't split or crack if you cook the pie slowly. Instead of removing the pie from the oven when the meringue turns brown, just shut off the oven, open the oven door slightly, and leave the pie for several minutes. There are several ways to prevent a meringue from sticking to the knife when you cut a pie. You can dip your knife in boiling water or butter it before slicing the pie, or you can sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top of the meringue before you brown it.
The inverted flat top of a 2-quart, ovenproof casserole dish can double as an 8-inch pie plate.
You can avoid oven spills when baking a pie by putting it in a plain paper bag or an oven browning bag that you've cut several slits in. Bake the "bagged'' pie 10 minutes longer than called for in the recipe. Before whipping cream, chill the beater, the bowl, and the cream. To prevent cream whipped ahead of time from separating, add teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to each cup of cream during whipping. If you whip half a pint of cream at a time, rather than a full pint, it'll be much fluffier. Adding a few drops of lemon juice to cream will speed the whipping process. If you want whipped cream with good body and in no time whip it in a double boiler over salt and ice cubes.
For best results when adding sweetener to cream, add it after the cream has been whipped.
You can maintain whipped cream's shape and prevent it from getting watery if you use powdered instead of granulated sugar. Don't be dismayed if ice crystals remain in heavy cream after you defrost it. The cream whips better in that condition. You can remove lumps from curdled egg custard by putting the custard in a jar and shaking the jar vigorously. For feather-light steamed pudding replace half the flour called for with bread crumbs. You can prevent "skin" from forming on pudding by resting plastic wrap on its surface before it cools.
Make your own parfaits by spooning different kinds of jelly between ice cream layers. Or, spoon different kinds of sherbet between ice cream layers. Half the fun of a parfait is seeing what you're eating, so make your concoction in a crystal water glass. Chocolate melts more quickly if it is first broken or chopped into small pieces with a chef s knife or in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. If chocolate contracts into a hard lump while melting stir in 1-2 tablespoons of solid vegetable shortening (not butter or oil), and beat vigorously. When you want a pronounced chocolate flavor in your baked goods, use dark or bitter chocolate in the recipe.
Once sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate are melted, they must be used immediately. Unsweetened and semisweet chocolate will be usable for up to 15 minutes after melting. If melted chocolate used for dipping becomes too thick to coat evenly, add a tablespoon or two of warm water or brewed coffee to thin it to the proper dipping consistency. For best results, chocolate should be melted in a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Working the chocolate back and forth with a spatula helps the chocolate to melt evenly.
Semisweet chocolate with its higher sugar content is best for dipping and icings because it hardens to a beautiful, glossy sheen. To make thin chocolate curls for dessert decorations, shave room-temperature chocolate with a vegetable peeler. Refrigerate the chocolate curls after shaving. If unsweetened baking chocolate is unavailable for a recipe, substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening or unsalted butter for each ounce of chocolate called for in the recipe.
Crepes will be lighter if, instead of cream or milk you use a liquid composed of 1 part water to 3 parts skim milk For extra delicate and tender crepes, use just enough batter to cover the pan bottom with a paper-thin layer. The trick to freezing crepes whether flat or rolled is to stack them (sandwiched between sheets of wax paper), cool them, and then wrap them tightly before storing them in the freezer. Make waffles and pancakes extra light by replacing the liquid you usually use with club soda. Don't store any of the club soda batter, because continuing effervescence will alter its texture. Use it all, or discard it. Opt for lard rather than butter when making pie dough. Butter may give a little more flavor, but lard makes a flakier crust.
So juice can bubble out of a pie harmlessly ind in one place, insert a piece of tube-type macaroni in the center of the pie before baking. When you must cool a pie in a hurry, set the pie pan on top of a larger pan lined with ice cubes. A powder puff kept in the flour canister is perfect for dusting flour on pastry boards and rolling pins. To prevent pastry dough from clinging to your rolling pin, chill the pin in the freezer before flouring. When you roll dough on wax paper, dampen the counter before spreading the paper; then the wax paper will cling smoothly to the counter. If you scrape rolling pins and pastry boards clean with a knife rather than washing them, they will be seasoned and dough won't stick as much the next time you use them. No rolling pin handy? Use a full wine bottle.
When making a fruit pie, brush the unbaked lower crust with a beaten egg to keep the crust from soaking up too much juice and turning mushy. Or sprinkle plain bread crumbs over the bottom crust before pouring in the filling. For a tempting brown glaze on your pie, brush the top with milk before sliding the pie in the oven. Here's a real time- and money-saver. When fresh fruits are in season and on sale, prepare enough pie filling for several pies. Line pie pans with aluminum foil or wax paper, fill with the fruit, cover, and stack in freezer. The next timeyou want a pie, just slide one of your pie-shaped fillings into a crust and pop it in the oven.
When making a pumpkin pie, put a layer of marshmallows on the crust before adding the filling. As the pie bakes, the marshmallows will rise and form a perfect topping. When making pie shells, double your recipe and make a few extra. Store these in the freezer and they'll be ready for use at some later date. Egg whites refrigerated for up to 2 weeks produce a fuller, more flufly meringue than fresh egg whites. Meringues were never easier. Separate the eggs while they're still cold, then let the white warm up to room temperature before beating them. Meringue shells won't darken while baking if you grease your baking sheets with a solid vegetable shortening. To make meringue that's extra high, add a little baking powder to the room-temperature egg whites you beat or whip for the recipe.
To stabilize meringue, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to every three egg whites. To avoid shrinkage and watery edges in the meringue topping on a pie, spread the meringue all the way to the edge of the pie crust. Meringue pie topping won't split or crack if you cook the pie slowly. Instead of removing the pie from the oven when the meringue turns brown, just shut off the oven, open the oven door slightly, and leave the pie for several minutes. There are several ways to prevent a meringue from sticking to the knife when you cut a pie. You can dip your knife in boiling water or butter it before slicing the pie, or you can sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top of the meringue before you brown it.
The inverted flat top of a 2-quart, ovenproof casserole dish can double as an 8-inch pie plate.
You can avoid oven spills when baking a pie by putting it in a plain paper bag or an oven browning bag that you've cut several slits in. Bake the "bagged'' pie 10 minutes longer than called for in the recipe. Before whipping cream, chill the beater, the bowl, and the cream. To prevent cream whipped ahead of time from separating, add teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to each cup of cream during whipping. If you whip half a pint of cream at a time, rather than a full pint, it'll be much fluffier. Adding a few drops of lemon juice to cream will speed the whipping process. If you want whipped cream with good body and in no time whip it in a double boiler over salt and ice cubes.
For best results when adding sweetener to cream, add it after the cream has been whipped.
You can maintain whipped cream's shape and prevent it from getting watery if you use powdered instead of granulated sugar. Don't be dismayed if ice crystals remain in heavy cream after you defrost it. The cream whips better in that condition. You can remove lumps from curdled egg custard by putting the custard in a jar and shaking the jar vigorously. For feather-light steamed pudding replace half the flour called for with bread crumbs. You can prevent "skin" from forming on pudding by resting plastic wrap on its surface before it cools.
Make your own parfaits by spooning different kinds of jelly between ice cream layers. Or, spoon different kinds of sherbet between ice cream layers. Half the fun of a parfait is seeing what you're eating, so make your concoction in a crystal water glass. Chocolate melts more quickly if it is first broken or chopped into small pieces with a chef s knife or in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. If chocolate contracts into a hard lump while melting stir in 1-2 tablespoons of solid vegetable shortening (not butter or oil), and beat vigorously. When you want a pronounced chocolate flavor in your baked goods, use dark or bitter chocolate in the recipe.
Once sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate are melted, they must be used immediately. Unsweetened and semisweet chocolate will be usable for up to 15 minutes after melting. If melted chocolate used for dipping becomes too thick to coat evenly, add a tablespoon or two of warm water or brewed coffee to thin it to the proper dipping consistency. For best results, chocolate should be melted in a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Working the chocolate back and forth with a spatula helps the chocolate to melt evenly.
Semisweet chocolate with its higher sugar content is best for dipping and icings because it hardens to a beautiful, glossy sheen. To make thin chocolate curls for dessert decorations, shave room-temperature chocolate with a vegetable peeler. Refrigerate the chocolate curls after shaving. If unsweetened baking chocolate is unavailable for a recipe, substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening or unsalted butter for each ounce of chocolate called for in the recipe.
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