a short guide to prep for baking
Butter
Should always be at room temperature. The most ideal situation would to be to leave the butter out of the fridge for a few hours (while you go shopping for example). Butter that is at the right temperature can “bend” (see picture below) of course if you forget to thaw the butter stick it in the microwave for about 40 secs let it cool and you’re ready to bake!
Cream cheese
Should always be softened! Stick the cream cheese in the microwave for about a minute or so until you easily dent it with a spoon. Never use the cream cheese straight out of the fridge! I’ve broken many a cheap mixer doing this!
Eggs
Ideally eggs should be at room temperature when used for baking. You can normally get away with using them straight from the fridge unless the recipe calls for it specifically. Be sure to crack eggs into separate bowl first in case a bit a shell falls in.
Salt
Regular iodized salt is the best to use for baking since it is easy to mix in. Never use coarse sea salt.
Bananas
You know how sometimes you forget to eat the bananas you bought and they turn all mushy, gross, and black? Well those are perfect for baking! Use a potato masher or just a plain old spoon and mash away! If you want to ripen a banana faster stick it in a brown paper bag in a warm place. Don’t forget about it though or you’re in for a nasty surprise!
Coconut (toasted)
The most ideal way to toast coconut is on a rimmed cookie sheet. Spread the coconut across the sheet on a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 mins. (You WILL smell it) I was too lazy to do this and just used a brownie pan. I ended up having to use a spatula to bring the browned bits to the top and the un-toasted bits to the bottom.
Toasted Hazelnuts
To toast hazelnuts simply roast the hazelnuts with skins on a lipped cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins. Wait for the hazelnuts to cool for 10-15 mins then place in a kitchen towel and rub the skins off.
You can also use the baking soda technique in which you place the nuts in 2 cups of boiling water with 3 tablespoons of baking soda for about 3 minutes and then transfer the nuts to ice water . The skins should come off and then you can roast the nuts as mentioned above. I’ve never tried this method but I will next time. I got impatient and did not wait for the nuts to cool, the skins were harder to take off since I didn’t wait.
