HOW TO: A GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY PICTURE TUTORIAL…

Since launching the gluten-free rough puff pastry mix, I’ve had quite a few requests from people purchasing it asking me if I do lessons on how to make it. Unfortunately I am not in a position to run classes at the moment. So I have put together this short pictorial guide on how to make rough puff pastry using the mix.

The pictures are a little rough and ready, but they should give you enough of an idea of each of the steps involved.

You may also find my simple six stage process to becoming the best baker you can be (Prep like a boss: bake like a pro) helpful to read.

A PICTURE TUTORIAL ON MAKING GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY WITH OUR MAGICAL MIX…

STEP ONE: MAKE THE DOUGH

Tip the mix into a bowl and add the Stork. Rub it into the flour with your fingers. You can use a stand mixer for this if you wish (I do!).

Next, add the iced water and mix until the flour is hydrated and you can bring everything together to form a pliable dough.

STEP TWO: ROLL THE DOUGH

If you have a silicone rolling mat, place this on your work surface and lightly flour it. If not, lay a piece of clingfilm on your work surface and sprinkle lightly with flour.

Place the ball of dough on the work surface, cover with another layer of clingfilm and gently roll the dough out to a rectangle measuring roughly 45cm x 15cm.

STEP three: KEEP THE PASTRY MOVING

After every few strokes of the rolling pin, check to ensure that your pastry isn’t sticking to the work surface. If it is, sprinkle a little more flour on your worktop underneath the dough.

Keeping the pastry moving will also help stop it from sticking – so after every few strokes, gently lift the pastry just off the worktop and put it back down again.

STEP FOUR: NEATEN THE EDGES

Once your dough is rolled out, you can fix any cracks that might have appeared at the edges of the pastry by gently massaging the dough with your fingertips.

You can also push a ruler up to the sides of the dough to neaten the edges.

STEP FIVE: SCATTER THE BUTTER

You are now ready to add the butter to your dough. Remove the first portion of grated butter from the freezer and scatter over the bottom two thirds of the pastry.

Aim for a nice, even coverage but don’t spend too much time trying to get it perfect or the warmth from your fingers will melt the butter!

STEP SIX: FOLD THE DOUGH

You are now going to make a ‘letter fold’ with the pastry.

To make this easier, you can make two little indentations along the length of the pastry at the 15cm and 30cm mark so that you know where to make the folds.

The first step is to fold the top third of the pastry down towards you, as shown in the picture.

STEP SIX: FOLD THE DOUGH

Now fold the bottom third up to the top.

Do this carefully but with determination and with one swift motion. This will help the butter stay in place and not make a bid for freedom across your worktop!

STEP SEVEN: NEATEN THE PASTRY PARCEL

You have now completed your first letter fold of the pastry. You now need to neaten the parcel you have created so that it is ready for the second fold.

Use your fingertips to seal the edges of the pastry and to close up any cracks that may have appeared as you made the folds.

Then use your rolling pin to gently but firmly press down across the width of the parcel to further seal the contents.

STEP EIGHT: REPEAT STEPS TWO – SEVEN

Turn your pastry parcel through 90 degrees so that the long edge is vertical.

Repeat the steps outlined above of rolling the pastry into a rectangle, adding the butter, folding the dough like a letter, sealing the butter in and neatening the packet.

STEP NINE: your gluten-free rough puff pastry is ready!

Your gluten-free rough puff pastry is now ready! Wrap it in clingfilm / food safe wrap and chill it until you are ready to bake.

You can also freeze the dough at this point.

Follow the instructions on your recipe and enjoy the fruits of your labour

A NOTE ON DOUGH TEMPERATURE

It is very important that your ingredients (water and butter) are very cold when you start to work with them. So keep them in the fridge/freezer right up until the moment you are ready to use them.

If your kitchen is warm, you may need to chill the dough after the first fold before starting the second fold to stop the butter from melting.

When you are ready to use your gluten-free rough puff pastry to make something delicious, don’t use the dough straight from the fridge. If it is too cold, it may crack as you roll it. So allow it to warm up by a few degrees before starting to work with it.

HAPPY BAKING

The post HOW TO: A GLUTEN-FREE ROUGH PUFF PASTRY PICTURE TUTORIAL appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

PREP LIKE A BOSS: BAKE LIKE A PRO! MY SIX-STEP PROCESS…

I’m next level Geeky McGeekFace when it comes to the ins and outs of gluten-free baking. I just love all the science-y stuff behind it. But I realise that not everybody is!

Which is why I put together this simple six-step process to help you be the best baker you can be. Yes, even if you’re not interested in learning the whys and what-fors of baking science.

Always choose a recipe from a trusted source and follow it to the letter. Then apply my six-step approach every time you bake

HOW TO PREP LIKE A BOSS: BAKE LIKE A PRO

READ.

Take the time to read the recipe all the way through and make sure it makes sense to you. If it doesn’t, consider using a different recipe (unless you can contact the author to ask questions).

REPEAT.

Read the recipe through again to ensure you didn’t miss anything the first time round (easily done, particularly if, like me, you have a wandering mind!)

PREP.

Gather together all the ingredients and equipment you will need to bake the recipe (the fancy name for this is mis en place).

PAUSE.

Take a moment to check you have everything required and the time needed to bake the recipe. If in doubt, don’t!

RE-READ.

With your preparation done, and satisfied that you have everything you need to get baking, have one last read-through of the recipe from start to finish.

BAKE!

You are now fully prepped and ready to bake like a pro! Go Bake Yourself Happy at Home

I hope this helps you and will encourage you to bake if you have been hesitant to give it a go. But you know where I am if you have any questions

The post PREP LIKE A BOSS: BAKE LIKE A PRO! MY SIX-STEP PROCESS appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

TOP TIPS FOR GLUTEN-FREE BAKING SUCCESS…

Here are some top tips to help you up your baking game…from someone who has made every single baking mistake in the book (and a few more besides) and would love to help you avoid them!

PAY ATTENTION TO BBE DATES ON RAISING AGENTS

Don’t keep raising agents (baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, yeast) beyond their best before date. They can lose their oomph as they age and therefore may not work as intended.

For more information on raising agents, read my article on the difference between baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

EMBRACE THE LUMPS!

When making muffins and waffles, mix the batter only until any traces of flour are barely visible but don’t worry if your batter is lumpy. These lumps will help keep the texture of your muffins or waffles light and airy. Overmixing can result in a dense, closed texture.

ALWAYS BAKE BY WEIGHT

There are *lots* of recipes out there, particularly those originating from the United States, that give ingredient quantities in cups (and parts thereof). In other words, ingredient quantities are given in volume.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, if you come across this kind of recipe, put the book back on the shelf – or keep scrolling if you’re looking at recipes online – and use a recipe that gives ingredient quantities by weight.

I have always been genuinely puzzled why people don’t bake by weight. It’s not as if a kitchen scale is an expensive piece of kit (well it can be if you go for a really fancy pants one, but it doesn’t have to be!)

Baking by weight is accurate. Baking by volume is not.

Buy yourself a kitchen scale and you will, in this one small purchase, instantly become a better baker.

You can pick one up for as little as £10 but I would recommend you invest in the best you can afford, especially if you are going to be doing a lot of baking.

I highly recommend a digital kitchen scale for much better accuracy (which is critical when it comes to gluten-free bread baking!) Have a look at the BBC Good Food review of the 11 best kitchen scales for some options.

DON’T OVER GREASE YOUR CAKE TINS

When greasing (but not lining) your cake tins, don’t use too much fat or you will end up lightly frying the edges of the cake. They will be crunchy with an oily taste – deeply unpleasant!

Check out my recipe for making DIY cake release to use when greasing your cake tins.

MAXIMISE THOSE FRUITY FLAVOURS!

Add fruit zest (lemon, lime, orange etc.) to the butter and sugar while creaming to release the oils from the fruit skins and add more flavour. Do the same when making buttercream if the recipe calls for zest.

A WHITER SHADE OF PALE (BUTTERCREAM)

Buttercream made with butter has a yellowy hue, which is not ideal if you are aiming for white. One solution is to use shortening (such as Trex) in place of the butter but this completely changes the taste and mouthfeel of the buttercream. And not for the better, in my opinion!

To achieve a whiter buttercream when using butter, beat the butter for a minimum of five minutes before adding the icing sugar and it will become a lot less yellowy.

You can also add a teensy (and I mean teensy) drop of violet/purple food colouring. This will neutralise the yellow and make your buttercream look whiter.

You can also buy a product called icing and buttercream whitener, which does the job as well.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE: SO CHILL, CHILL, CHILL!

If a recipe calls for a specific chill time (e.g. cookie or pastry dough), don’t be tempted to skip it. It is there for a reason and ignoring it could result in a baking disaster (like biscuits that spread while baking and end up like crunchy pancakes!)

BE ORGANISED: PREP LIKE A BOSS, BAKE LIKE A PRO

Good preparation is key to successful baking. While the ‘wing it with what’s in the cupboard’ method of cookery can work successfully for rustling up a meal on the hoof (works for me *a lot*), this is a one way ticket to recipe disaster in the world of baking.

Because baking is a science and each ingredient has a very specific role to play in producing a star bake, ‘winging it’ with alternative ingredients will result in something other than intended.

So always start your baking session by reading the recipe and then reading it again to ensure you have understood it. Next prepare your mis en place (the fancy term for gathering together all your ingredients).

Once you know you have everything you need, re-read the recipe one last time then you’re good to go to bake like a pro!

SLOWLY DOES IT! ADD YOUR EGGS ONE AT A TIME

This tip is for cake recipes using the creaming method. The creaming method involves beating the sugar and fat together until light and fluffy. The primary goal of this method is to add volume and air to your cake batter.

So after taking the time to whip up lots of air and volume while creaming the fat and sugar, you don’t want to undo that effort in the remaining stages of making your cake batter.

By adding the eggs one at a time – and beating between each addition – you will be helping the creamed mix retain all that lovely air and volume.

And air and volume trapped in your cake batter will lead to a lovely light and airy finished cake.

CURDLED CAKE MIXTURE? DON’T PANIC!

Nothing strikes fear into an unsuspecting baker like a curdled cake mixture!

It might look like something out of a horror movie, but it’s actually not the end of the world if this happens. You can still bake your cake and it will still look and taste like cake. It’s just that the texture won’t be quite on point. And the curdling can inhibit the rise.

So it’s always best to try and avoid a curdled cake batter in the first place. And there are some simple steps you can take to do this…

Make sure you really cream the fat and sugar together well. This is the foundation stone of a cake based on the creaming method, so it is really important not to shortcut it.

Slowly add your liquid ingredients (this includes egg) to the creamed mixture and resist the temptation to dump them all into the bowl in one go.

As mentioned in the tip above this one, adding too much egg too quickly can knock out air and volume. It can also cause your cake mixture to split / curdle.

Adding your eggs one at a time and beating after each addition will reduce the risk of a curdled mixture.

You can also add a tablespoon of the recipe’s total flour weight with every egg. This will stabilise your cake batter and reduce the risk of it curdling.

An imbalance of ingredients can throw a cake recipe out, which is why it is important to carefully weigh all your ingredients. Including the liquids. Too much liquid will split your cake batter so never guesstimate with liquid quantities and always use the size of egg specified in the recipe.

And finally, always bake with room temperature ingredients. This will help reduce the risk of your cake batter curdling. So if you are someone who keeps eggs in the fridge, lift them out an hour or two before you are ready to start baking.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RECIPE – DON’T BE TEMPTED TO WING IT!

To avoid the disappointment of at best an under par bake or at worst an epic bake failure, always follow the recipe. To. The. Letter. I cannot stress this enough!

A well written, researched and rigorously tested recipe will not let you down, provided you follow the ingredients and method exactly as instructed.

Each ingredient and its corresponding weight will have been selected precisely for the role it plays in producing a mighty fine end product.

Brown sugar in a recipe, for example, will have been chosen for its depth of flavour, higher moisture content and the colour it adds to a bake. Subbing it for caster sugar may not result in a total baking failure, but it won’t look and taste the way it was intended.

So if your recipe calls for brown sugar and you only have caster sugar, pop to the shops before you start baking. Or save that recipe for another day and find something to bake that uses caster sugar.

I know that it is tempting to substitute one ingredient for another, particularly when you are trying to bake without certain ingredients for dietary reasons.

But you are far, far better to take the time to find and follow a recipe that caters specifically to your dietary needs than to ‘wing it’ by making changes to a recipe with ingredients you can’t consume.

And I say this because, at best, this approach will result in an OK bake. And I’m not about OK baking. I’m about *great* baking. And helping *you* become the best baker you can be.

So I will say it again…

Always, always follow the recipe. To the letter. Please and thank you

WORKING WITH MULTIPLE PIPING TIPS

If you are piping more than one design in buttercream on a cake or cupcakes, you are going to need to change the nozzle/tip on your piping bag.

There is a little gadget called a coupler that holds the piping tip on the outside of the bag. This allows you to change the tip while continuing to use the same bag of icing. I sell these – see the baking equipment section of the online shop.

If you drop your tip into the bottom of the bag before filling with icing, you are obviously not going to be able to get the tip out until you’ve used all the icing.

If you don’t have a coupler and you want to change your piping tip halfway through a bag of icing, you can do this…

Put your piping nozzle into one disposable piping bag then cut the end off another bag and fill it with buttercream. Now drop this piping bag into the one with the nozzle in. Then, when you want to change the nozzle, just lift the inner bag of icing out of the outer bag, change the tip and drop the inner bag of icing back in again. Simples!

I hope you have found these tips helpful and I wish you one hundred thousand triumphs with baking yourself happy at home

The post BAKE TALK: TOP TIPS FOR TIP TOP GLUTEN-FREE BAKING! appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

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GLUTEN-FREE EMPIRE BISCUITS

Empire biscuits are wonderfully short and buttery biscuits sandwiched together with jam, topped with an icing glaze and finished with either glacé cherries or jelly tots.

This is my gluten-free empire biscuits recipe, which can be rustled up in under an hour. The dough doesn't require any chilling and the biscuits bake in under 15 minutes. So the longest part of the baking process is probably waiting for them to cool before you fill them with jam and top them with icing!

Bake Yourself Happy at Home® with a batch of these wonderfully light, crisp, melt-in-the-mouth and totally moreish empire biscuits

Keyword Bake Yourself Happy at Home, biscuits, empire biscuits, gluten-free baking, gluten-free biscuit recipes, gluten-free biscuits, gluten-free empire biscuits, gluten-free recipes

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 18 biscuits

Ingredients

• 250 g salted butter
• 130 g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 500 g Magical Gluten-Free Plain Flour Blend
• 160 g icing sugar
• 15-20 ml boiling water
• 8(ish) tsp jam (choose your favourite but avoid ones with chunks of fruit in)
• 18 glacé cherries or jelly tots

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 180c / 160c fan.
• Line your baking trays with baking parchment (you will need three or four, depending on the size of your trays).
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This will take around 3-5 minutes if you are using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer.
• Add the egg and beat again until fully combined and your mixture is smooth and glossy.
• Add in the flour and mix on low speed to start with and then turn your mixer up to medium high and beat the mixture until a dough forms.
• Split the dough into three batches. Roll the first batch of dough between two sheets of clingfilm to a thickness of around 5mm (use the yellow rolling pin spacers if you have them).
• Stamp out rounds of dough with a 7cm round pastry/biscuit cutter. Carefully transfer the biscuits to your lined baking trays.
• Repeat this process until you have used all your dough. You should get 36 rounds out of the dough.
• Bake your biscuits in the oven for 12 minutes until the edges are turning slightly golden (the rest of the biscuit will still be pale).
• Remove from the oven and cool the biscuits on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They will still feel soft when you transfer them to the rack, but don't panic – they will firm up as they cool.
• Once your biscuits are cold, spread a thin layer of jam (I used strawberry) over the bottom of 18 biscuits. Top these with the remaining biscuits.
• Sift your icing sugar into a bowl and slowly add boiling water – no more than a teaspoon at a time. Stir the water into the icing until you have a thick glaze. If you are old enough to remember Marvin glue, this is the consistency you are aiming for. If this means nothing to you, go for a gloopy, wall-paper paste consistency.
• Spread a teaspoon of icing over the top of each biscuit, stopping around 1/2cm from the edge. Top each biscuit with either a glacé cherry or a jelly tot.
• Pop the kettle on, put your feet up and enjoy!

  xx Millie, Marcus, Milo, Maddy and Me xx

WHAT ARE EMPIRE BISCUITS?

Empire biscuits also go by the name of imperial biscuits, German biscuits, Belgian biscuits, double shortbread biscuits and even more besides! Confusing, eh? So I’ll just stick to calling them empire biscuits.

An empire biscuit is basically two wonderfully short and buttery biscuit rounds sandwiched together with jam, topped with an icing sugar and water glaze and decorated (traditionally) with either glacé cherries or Jelly Tots. But really you can decorate them with whatever tickles your fancy.

GLUTEN-FREE EMPIRE BISCUITS – DOABLE?

You bet they are! In fact, I will be as bold to say that this kind of recipe plays to our advantage. Why so? Because kneading dough made with wheat flour activates the gluten network and overworking it can make for a tough biscuit. No gluten? No tough biscuit! Just light, crisp, melt-in-the-mouth and totally moreish gluten-free empire biscuits. Boom

My gluten-free empire biscuits recipe is nice and simple and can be made in just under an hour. The dough requires no chill time as the biscuits bake without spreading/losing their shape. It is best to make them in a stand mixer or using an electric hand mixer if you have one, as you want to get the butter and sugar mixture really light and fluffy, which will take around three to five minutes. You can make them by hand, but it will require a *lot* of elbow grease. If you do make them by hand, be sure to use very soft butter to give yourself a fighting chance!

The recipe makes 36 biscuits in total – 18 empire biscuits, once sandwiched and decorated. If you don’t want to bake them all in one go, you can divide the dough in two and freeze half for another time.

Happy baking!

P.S. Why not check out my other gluten-free recipes for cakes, cookies and cupcakes

The post RECIPE: GLUTEN-FREE EMPIRE BISCUITS WITH JELLY TOTS/CHERRIES appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

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GLUTEN-FREE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE

The Victoria sandwich cake is a classic cake in the repertoire of any home baker. Get it right and you'll delight your friends and family and will be fighting them off for that extra slice!

My gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake recipe is the one I included with my Magical Gluten-Free Plain Flour Blend when I entered it into The Great Taste Awards back in 2017.

The judges used it to test the flour and said: "The cake came out perfectly, with a golden top, and had a particularly delicious taste. It was at least as good as a standard recipe, perhaps more moist, and it remained good and moist for several days." My flour was awarded a Gold Star

I have since scaled the recipe up to make a deeper cake (because who doesn't like more cake?) and am now sharing the recipe with you so that you can make this knockout gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake for yourself.

Happy baking!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 0

Ingredients

• 285 g Stork for baking (tub)
• 335 g caster sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 350 g Magical Gluten-free Plain Flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 50 ml milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 180c /160c fan and grease and bottom line two 8" round cake tins (not sandwich tins as they will be too shallow).
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
• Weigh the Stork into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for two minutes.
• Add in the caster sugar and vanilla extract and beat for a further three minutes.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, each with 1tbsp (heaped) of the flour mix you sifted earlier. Beat between each addition.
• Add the remaining flour and beat until smooth.
• Finally, add the milk and beat to combine.
• Divide your cake batter between the two tins, smoothing the tops. Bake for around 30mins (it may take a few minutes more or less depending on how true to temperature your oven runs) until the tops are golden and spring back when pressed.
• Leave the cakes in the tins for 10mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the cake is cooling, whip 250ml of double cream until thick and spreadable. Set aside.
• When your cakes are cold, place one layer of it on a plate or cake stand and spread liberally with your favourite flavour of jam (I always use blackcurrant).
• With the side of the second layer that was face down on the wire racking facing upwards, spread the double cream all over the cake. (You want it this way up so that you have the smooth base of the cake facing upwards when stacked.)
• Carefully lift this layer up and flip it over and down on top of the jammy layer on your plate/cake stand.
• Liberally dust the top of your cake with icing sugar, pop the kettle on and get stuck in!

  xx Millie, Marcus, Milo, Maddy and Me xx

THE ORIGINS OF THE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE

I would like to tell you that the Victoria sandwich cake was named in my honour. But that would be a hoofing great lie. And anyway, the cake has been around for a very long time and while I’m old, I’m not *that* old!

The Victoria sandwich cake (which you may also hear being called a Victoria sponge) is actually named after Queen Victoria. She was rather partial to a bit of tea and cake of an afternoon (a woman of exceptional taste, clearly).

The Victoria sandwich cake is traditionally baked with fat, sugar, flour and eggs in two layers. These layers are then sandwiched together with jam and freshly whipped cream and finished with a light dusting of icing sugar. Simple, elegant, light and delicate, it is a truly delicious cake.

A GOOD CAKE RECIPE

Having a good Victoria sandwich cake recipe in your repertoire is essential for the budding home baker. If you’re just starting out on your home baking journey, you can’t go wrong with mastering a good Victoria sandwich cake recipe!

So can you still bake and enjoy a Victoria sandwich cake when you are following a gluten-free diet? You bet you can!

A GREAT TASTE(ING) GLUTEN-FREE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE RECIPE

My gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake recipe is the recipe I used when I was developing my gluten-free flour blend. By keeping the cake recipe constant (and picking a classic, no-place-to-hide recipe), I was able to see the effects that different flours had on the end bake – both good and bad. And it’s how I eventually settled on the mix and quantities of flours in my Magical Gluten-Free Plain Flour Blend.

And when a set of Great Taste Awards judges describe your gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake as every inch as good as a ‘standard’ (gluteny) recipe…yeah, that’s a pretty special moment in my gluten-free baking career

You can probably now see why this recipe is so special to me. I hope when you bake it that it makes you every inch as happy as it makes me every time I bake it (and, of course, eat it, too!) I’m delighted to be sharing it with you

The post RECIPE: GLUTEN-FREE CLASSIC VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR AND ITS ROLE IN GLUTEN-FREE BAKING

Sugar. Loved by some, loathed by others. And like so many other food groups, certainly not great if consumed to excess. There, that’s the elephant in the room dealt with

I’m not here to debate, celebrate or demonise sugar in this post. This article is about helping you to understand the role of sugar in baking, the different types of sugar available and the characteristics each one imparts on your baked goods.

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: SO WHAT IS SUGAR?

Sugar is one of the four staple ingredients used in conventional cake baking (along with egg, flour and fat).  And sugar is sugar, right? Well, kind of. Refined, unrefined, brown, white, coarse, powdered, liquid, substitutes…So yeah, sugar is just sugar. Hmm.

As you can see, there are lots of different sugars available to the home baker, each of which will bring something different to your baked goods. The primary aim of sugar in baking, however, is to:

• Add sweetness and flavour
• Create a tender crumb in cakes
• Create air pockets when creamed together with fat
• Contribute to the colour of baked goods (through browning processes such as caramelisation and the Maillard reaction)
• Stabilise beaten egg whites (e.g. in meringues)
• Help baked goods last longer as they hold on to moisture (they are hygroscopic)

The hygroscopic nature of sugar is both a blessing and a curse. It is useful to us as bakers because of its ability to hold on to moisture and keep our cakes and bakes moist.  But this ability to retain moisture can also be rather unhelpful if we are working with things like sugarpaste, brittles and spun sugar.  Moisture from the air will be drawn to our sugar work, making it sticky. This is the reason you shouldn’t store cakes covered in sugarpaste in the fridge. It is also why you should always keep your bags of sugar sealed and stored in a cool, dry place. 

REFINED AND UNREFINED SUGARS

Sugar can be either refined or unrefined. Refined sugar is the one most of us will be familiar with and that we will use most at home. Refined sugar is processed to remove the naturally dark colour, resulting in (for example) the white ‘table (granulated) sugar’ we know and love.

Unrefined sugar, on the other hand, has not been put through a refining process. Typically, unrefined sugars have more flavour than their refined counterparts. Maple syrup, treacle (molasses) and raw honey are all forms of unrefined sugar. It is also possible to buy unrefined golden granulated and golden caster sugar.

THREE TYPES OF SUGAR: EVERYDAY, NICHE AND DECORATIVE

I like to think of sugars as falling into one of three categories: everyday sugars, niche sugars and decorative sugars. I have grouped them this way based on how they are most commonly used in baking. Let’s now take a look at each of these in turn…

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: EVERYDAY SUGARS

WHITE SUGARS

GRANULATED SUGAR

Granulated sugar is a coarse, refined sugar. You may sometimes hear it referred to as table sugar and it is the stuff that most of us typically have in the sugar canister in our kitchens for adding to hot drinks.  

It is great for adding a crunchy texture to toppings (like jammy doughnuts and drizzle cakes) but for baking, you are better off using caster sugar.

The main brands of granulated sugar available in UK supermarkets are Tate and Lyle and Silver Spoon. Some of the major supermarkets in the UK also sell their own brand of granulated sugar.

CASTER SUGAR

Caster sugar has a finer texture and the grains are smaller than those in granulated sugar.  This makes it better for use in cakes and cookies as it will produce a smoother, more even-textured cake batter or cookie dough. 

The main brand of caster sugar available in UK supermarkets is Silver Spoon. Some of the major supermarkets in the UK also sell own brand sugar.

BROWN SUGARS

LIGHT BROWN AND DARK BROWN SUGARS

Brown sugars are essentially refined white sugar with varying degrees of molasses added back in.

They have a higher moisture content than white sugars and impart a caramel-like flavour. And, by their very nature of being brown, they add more colour to baked goods. Brown sugars are also slightly acidic, which means they work well with the leavening agent bicarbonate of soda. (For more on leaveners, see my article on baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, the difference between the two and when to use them).

Billington’s brown sugar is the brand you will see most frequently in UK supermarkets alongside own brand versions of both light and dark brown sugar. 

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: NICHE SUGARS

DEMERARA SUGAR

Demerara sugar is a less refined version of granulated sugar, with larger crystals. It is a form of brown sugar but has a lower moisture content than every day brown sugars as the molasses content is lower.

Demerara sugar straddles both the niche and decorative sugar categories. Its large, coarse grains make it great for finishing cakes with a sweet crunchy topping.  These large sugar crystals make it less suitable for use in cakes using the creaming method but can work well in cake recipes that follow the melting method, as demerara sugar dissolves well in warm liquids.

MUSCOVADO SUGAR

Available in both light and dark varieties, muscovado sugar is derived from raw cane sugar. It is less refined than brown sugar. Its colour is determined by the molasses content (the more molasses, the darker the sugar). It has a high moisture content and a good caramel (light) or toffee (dark) flavour.  

It is a great addition to classic autumnal and winter bakes like gingerbread, parkin and fruit cake.

SPOTLIGHT ON SUGAR: DECORATIVE SUGARS

ICING SUGAR

Icing sugar has a super-fine texture and generally includes a small amount of starch (typically corn/maize), which acts as an anti-caking agent to stop the icing sugar from clumping. That said, you should *always* sift your icing sugar before adding it to your other ingredients (for example, beaten butter if you are making buttercream icing).

Icing sugar is not great in cake-making but is perfect for buttercreams, icing glazes and sweet sauces because it dissolves very easily. You can also use it to dust the top of your cakes and bakes (particularly effective on festive bakes). 

The main brands of icing sugar available in UK supermarkets are Tate and Lyle and Silver Spoon.

SUGAR PEARLS / NIBBED SUGAR

Sugar pearls – also known as nibbed sugar – are large, coarse crystals of sugar that hold their shape and texture and don’t melt when subjected to high heat. This makes them great as decorative sugar toppings that can be added to a bake *before* it is put in the oven. 

You will often see sugar pearls on top of bakery-style muffins and cinnamon / Belgian style buns. Sugar pearls are available from specialist bakery and cake decorating suppliers.

SUGARPASTE / READY-TO-ROLL FONDANT

Sugarpaste icing, which is sometimes called ready-to roll fondant, is a pliable, dough-like substance used to decorate cakes and cupcakes. It comes in all colours of the rainbow and shades thereof!

You can get white sugarpaste and some of the most popular colours (red, green, yellow, blue, pink) in many supermarkets in the UK. But for a wider choice of colours, you will need to visit a specialist cake decorating supplies shop or online store.

A NOTE ON SUGAR SUBSTITUTES

There are sugar substitutes/ replacers and artificial sweeteners available for people who need to reduce their sugar intake. These sweeteners are either low or zero calorie and can be derived from plant extracts or artificially produced through chemical synthesis.

This is not an area in which I have any knowledge or experience and so isn’t something I feel able to write about in this article on sugar in baking.

I hope you have found this spotlight on sugar helpful in understanding the role it plays in baking. The beedy-eyed of you will notice that I haven’t discussed liquid sweeteners (like honey, treacle, golden syrup, agave nectar and maple syrup) in this spotlight on sugar. That’s an article in its own right. And one for another day!

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BAKING EQUIPMENT BASICS: WHAT YOU NEED TO BUY…

You don’t need kitchen cupboards fit to bursting with all the newest, fanciest baking equipment to be a great home baker. But having a few good quality basics will set you well on your way to turning out great bakes, time after time. I have set out some of the key bits of kit you should consider buying to set yourself up well for baking yourself happy at home

BAKING TINS / PANS

There are baking tins out there for any and every size, shape and depth of cake. It can be mind-boggling! So my advice, if you are on a limited budget is to buy the best quality you can afford of an 8″ round, and 8″ square and an 8″x12″ brownie / traybake tin. There are soooooo many recipes written for these tin sizes, that you won’t be struggling for things to bake with just these three tins.

You will also need a 12-hole cupcake tray / muffin pan if you are going to be baking cupcakes (which are great fun to make with mini bakers and are a quick and simple way of getting a cake fix!)

And also a nice and solid and sturdy baking tray (if you are going to be big on cookie baking, buy at least one big one or two smaller ones that will fit side-by-side in your oven. Many cookie recipes require a lot of space between each cookie to allow for spreading while baking. If you only have one small tray, you are going to have to run your oven for a long time to get all your cookies baked).

Decide on your budget and then shop around to see what you can find. My recommendation would be to buy Alan Silverwood tins/pans if you can afford them. They are excellent quality and are made from anodised aluminium. Aluminium is a great bakeware material as it conducts/distributes heat evenly throughout the entire tin, leaving you with beautifully even bakes.

And they last. The Silverwood bakeware tins I use are easily 12 years old and still going as strong as they were on the day I bought them!

Aluminium bakeware, because it is light in colour, radiates heat more gently than dark coloured bakeware, which means your cakes won’t brown too quickly on the bottom and around the edges.

If you are reading this thinking ‘oh no, I already own some baking tins and they’re all dark’, don’t panic! They will still work. I am just sharing with you my preference and why I choose the tins I do.

ELECTRIC MIXER

If you are going to make baking a part of your life rather than just something you dabble in on a whim once or twice a year, then I would encourage you to think seriously about investing in a stand mixer.

I have more mixers than you could shake a stick at. But then I run a bakery so that’s perhaps not surprising!

I have a mahoosive commercial planetary mixer for large volume baking, but I also have three KitchenAid stand mixers. They’re not the cheapest bits of kit but they are really, really well made and will last and last.

I also have one of those old Kenwood mixers from circa 1960 something, which was handed down to me from my mother-in-law (it was originally her mother’s mixer!) And it still works a treat. Although let me tell you it’s loud. *Very* loud!

There are lots of other brands out there, including: Smeg, Cuisinart, Morphy Richards and more. Have a look at this useful guide to buying a stand mixer from BBC Good Food and check out its top recommendations.

Stand mixers have also been known to make an appearance in the ‘aisle of dreams’ at Aldi, so it’s always worth keeping an eye out there if you’re on a tight budget.

If a stand mixer is beyond your budget, then an electric hand mixer can still save you a lot of time and energy in the kitchen and will mean you can be sat down with a cup of tea and a slice of cake quicker than if you did absolutely everything by hand! It will also take up less space if you are struggling for worktop and/or storage space in your kitchen.

BALLOON WHISK

Balloon whisks are useful gadgets to have in your kitchen utensils drawer. You can use them to whisk your dry ingredients together, which will not only ensure even distribution of flours and raising agents, but will add air. And air helps to produce lighter cakes.

You can also use a balloon whisk to lightly beat/froth egg whites (quicker than using a fork) and to make lovely smooth sauces.

And if you don’t own an electric mixer, you will most definitely need a balloon whisk for making everything from meringues to whipped cream. And you will most likely develop rock solid arm muscles, for which I salute you!

I would strongly recommend buying a metal balloon whisk and not a silicone one. I find the silicone ones have too much ‘give’. When selecting your metal balloon whisk, gently squeeze the metal loops in your hand. If there’s a lot of give, put it back and seek out a more robust whisk. A better quality one will last much longer and will be quicker and easier to use as the metal loops won’t lose their shape and start to splay.

MICROWAVE-PROOF BOWLS / DISHES

Your microwave can be a very handy piece of equipment for melting butter and chocolate and warming up jams and sauces for drizzling.

Having a couple of microwave-safe bowls that you can use for these tasks saves your favourite home kitchenware from overuse/damage!

DIGITAL WEIGHING SCALES

Baking by weight is accurate. Baking by volume (cups) is not. Buying yourself a kitchen scale will, in this one small purchase, make you an instantly better baker.

You can pick one up for as little as £10. I would always recommend a digital kitchen scale for much better accuracy (which is critical when it comes to gluten-free bread baking!)

SPATULAS

My kitchen utensils trays are littered with spatulas. But then I bake every day, for hours at a time. For the avid homemaker, just a couple will suffice!

Get yourself a rubber / silicone spatula for scraping all the cake batter and buttercream out of your bowls and to get as much out of your ingredients as possible. They also make great mixing tools.

A metal offset spatula is also a really useful tool for spreading buttercream, jams, spreads and ganaches onto your cakes.

COOLING RACK

You will need a cooling rack to place your cakes and biscuits/cookies on once you have removed them from the tin/tray to allow them to properly cool (I know, I know, you just want to eat them *now*!)

Ideally, go for a fine mesh one as these are less likely to leave imprints on your cakes than the widely spaced ones. (I have a round one that leaves a spiral indent in the cakes I place on it. Very pretty but often not the look I am going for!)

FINE MESH SIEVE

You 100% need a sieve if you are baking anything that uses icing sugar. Icing sugar can easily clump and so you need to get rid of those pesky lumps before you add the sugar to your beaten butter if you want a silky smooth, lump-free buttercream.

Go for one of the fine mesh ones rather than a wide mesh or colander style sieve as they have a tendency to let some of the lumps through.

BAKING PAPER / PARCHMENT OR SILICONE LINERS

You will see that a lot of cake recipes call for you to grease and line your cake tins before adding the cake batter, so it’s good to have a roll of baking parchment in your kitchen cupboard. Make sure you use baking paper and NOT greaseproof paper. If you’re unsure of the difference, read my article on the difference between baking paper and greaseproof paper to make sure you are using the right stuff.

If you prefer to avoid single use materials, have a look for non-stick reusable cake tin / baking tray liners. Bake-O-Glide® is one such product and it is my go-to product to replace single-use baking paper at the bakery (and when I am baking at home). You can buy ready made strips and base liners to fit a range of cake tins and you can also buy it in sheets to cut down to the sizes you need.

ROLLING PIN AND SPACERS

If you are going to be working with pastry, biscuits or sugarpaste icing then you will need to have a rolling pin in your baking kit. At a push you can grab an old wine bottle (cleaned and minus any labels) but for a nice even roll-out a good quality pin is a must, I think.

Rolling pin spacers are an absolute game changer when it comes to achieving thin, evenly rolled pastry, biscuits and icing. They come in a range of different thicknesses so you can pick and choose which ones you use depending on what you are rolling out.

I sell both rolling pin spacers and a durable, non-stick rolling pin in my online shop, both of which I use at the bakery.

MEASURING SPOONS

For this, I mean a set of spoons that measure a tablespoon (1 tbsp), a dessert spoon (1 dsp), a teaspoon (1 tsp), a half teaspoon (1/2 tsp), a quarter teaspoon (1/4 tsp) and some, although not all, may have a ‘pinch’ spoon. I *do not* mean measuring cups. And please, for the love of all that is holy, if you have a set of measuring cups, relegate them to the cupboard of unwanted things (see my article on baking tips for why I say this!)

Ingredients that call for small quantities like a teaspoon are typically things like raising agents. And too much or too little of these can really knock a recipe out and turn a potential baking triumph into a bake fail. But if you have a set of accurately calibrated measuring spoons, you are much less likely to put too much or too little of an ingredient into your bake.

FRUIT ZESTER AND JUICER

If, like me, you’re a big fan of zesty cakes, cookies and desserts, then you’re going to need both a fruit zester and a fruit juicer for all those citrusy bakes you’re going to make!

One of my best kitchen gadgets is the Oxo Good Grips lemon zester. It’s a game changer! No more grated knuckles and leaving half the fruit zest on the grater. I urge you to get one

There is a goodly amount of choice when it comes to fruit juicers, from whizzy electrical ones to the most basic of manual squeezers. I have the latter…the two piece sort with the pointy top half that you press and twist your fruit onto to extract the juice and the tray underneath it to collect the juice.

PASTRY BRUSH

You will need a pastry brush for a whole host of baking tasks including: egg-washing pastry and scones, glazing pastries and greasing tins.

They are available as bristle brushes and silicone. I find the silicone ones worse than useless and would recommend you buy a bristle brush. Always wash thoroughly after use in hot soapy water.

ICING TIPS / NOZZLES

There are 100s of icing tips and piping nozzles out there and for every different shape there are probably several different sizes!

But unless you’re planning on going into business make cakes with piped icing, then you will be good to go with just one or two. The two I use most in the bakery are the 1M drop flower piping tip (which I sell in my online shop) and also a round baking tip.

The 1M tip is perfect for creating classic buttercream swirls for cupcakes and the round tip can be used for piping buttercream teardrops, meringue, choux pastry and more.

PIPING BAGS

If you’re going to be piping buttercream, ganache or cream (and some soft biscuit doughs), then you will need a piping bag.

You can buy both reusable / washable ones and disposable ones. You can also buy icing sets, which typically come with a reusable bag, several tips and a coupler. A coupler is a little attachment that enables you to switch your piping tip without having to switch to a new bag with fresh icing in. I sell 18″ disposable piping bags in my online shop.

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GLUTEN-FREE COFFEE AND WALNUT CUPCAKES

Bake Yourself Happy at Home® with our easy to follow recipe for a dozen delicious coffee and walnut cupcakes.

Coffee and walnut cake is one of the nation's favourite cakes. And weirdly, it is also enjoyed by non coffee drinkers (me being one of them, I loathe it!)

If you're in the 'love it' camp, then here for you is a cupcake version of the sandwich cake, packed with walnuts and espresso powder for a real coffee kick.

Use our gluten-free cupcake flour for the lightest cupcakes in town

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Servings 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes…

• 115 g Stork for baking (tub not block)
• 115 g light brown soft sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 170 g gluten-free cupcake flour
• 2 tsp instant espresso powder made up with 1 tbsp hot water
• 2 tbsp milk
• 60 g walnuts, chopped

For the buttercream…

• 200 g salted butter, soft
• 300 g icing sugar, sifted
• 2-3 tsp instant espresso powder made up with 2 tbsp hot water, cooled
• 12 walnut halves

Instructions

To make the cupcakes…

• Line the holes of a 12-hole cupcake pan with cupcake cases and heat your oven to 170c / 150c fan.
• Beat the Stork for three minutes in a stand mixer or with an electric whisk.
• Add the sugar and beat for a further two minutes.
• Add in the cupcake flour, coffee, milk and eggs and beat until you have a smooth batter.
• Fold through the chopped walnuts.
• Divide the cupcake batter between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 16-18 minutes until golden and the tops spring back when touched.
• Carefully transfer your cupcakes to a wire rack and leave to cool while you make the buttercream.

To make the buttercream…

• Beat the butter in a stand mixer or with an electric whisk until pale and very soft.
• Sift in the icing sugar and beat slowly to start with (to avoid the dreaded icing cloud!), turning up the speed until everything is combined. Slowly add the coffee and beat until combined and you have a nice and soft (but not too fluid) piping consistency.

Decorating your cupcakes…

• Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a flower nozzle (I use the drop flower JEM 1B cupcake piping tip that we sell in our online shop).
• Swirl each cupcake with the coffee buttercream and top with a walnut half.
• Put the kettle on, make a brew and enjoy eating your cupcakes!

  xx Millie, Marcus, Milo, Maddy and Me xx

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