Tag: Room Temperature

What Frosting To Use In Your Cake Decorating

Those of us who are into cake decorating, think of the beautiful icing designs when we think of cake. Icing is the finishing touch on cakes, cookies, and cupcakes. There are several different types of icing used in cake decorating. The choice of icing while cake decorating, will have a great deal to do with how the decorated cake will look.

1. Buttercream Icing: Buttercream is the icing that is used the most in cake decorating. This is the same type of frosting that we can buy readymade in the grocery store. This icing is easy to use and easy to make. The ingredients are confectioners sugar, and butter or shortening. What you use to thin the frosting will differ with the icing texture you need to work with, to determine whether to use eggs or milk. Take care when thinning the frosting, remember, a little milk goes a long way. If you find the frosting is too thin, you can add a bit of confectioners sugar to thicken it.

To assure an even finish on your frosting, dip the icing spatula in cold water to make the surface smooth. This will give a smoother finish for writing. Buttercream is used to create flowers and other decorations made with a pastry bag. The icing needs to be the right consistency to make flower petals or writing. When you make roses out of icing, you can freeze them and add them to the cake later. This will make them easier to handle.

Buttercream can be stored in the refrigerator without getting hard. Make sure it is back to room temperature before you attempt to use it.

2. Foam Icing: This is a meringue and is used on lemon pie or Baked Alaska. This frosting is made of egg whites beaten into stiff peaks. It is possible to add flavoring and color to the meringue. You will not be able to use this icing for intricate cake decorating, and you won’t be able to use an icing bag with this icing. This icing is used when you want the cake to look fluffy, with little ornate decoration.

3. Fondant: This icing is very popular with those who decorate wedding cakes, and cakes for very special occasions. The ingredients are simply powdered sugar, water, cream of tartar, or glucose. Fondant is thick and doughy, with a silky, smooth, texture. Fondant will give the cake a flawless surface, and soft, rounded edges. Working with fondant is an art and will take practice to get it right. Fondant has a translucent quality, and will work best when placed on the cake over a thin layer of buttercream frosting.

4. Fudge Icing: Fudge icing is made from chocolate, peanut butter, almond, or mint. This icing is quite thick and contains both shortening and butter.

5. Glazes: This frosting is thin and watery, and will harden into a shell after it is placed on the cake. This frosting is mostly used on pastries. Glazes help to keep the pastry moist.

6. Flat Icing: This icing is similar to a glaze, but it is a bit thicker. Flat icing is a combination of confectioner’s sugar and water and is used to drizzle onto pastries.

7. Royal Icing: This is also a flat icing, and hardens after it is set. Royal icing is a wonderful choice to make flowers, sculptures, and garnishes for cake decorating.

You can use any combination of the basic seven icings listed, to create a personal masterpiece. You will need to practice before you become good at cake decorating. You will get the hang of it sooner than you think, and even the mistakes will taste great.

Ingredients in Chocolate Brownies Make Your Brownies Unique

What are the ingredients in chocolate brownies, First you have the ingredients you’ll find in all chocolate brownies. Then you have the ingredients which vary from recipe to recipe , and are what make each person’s brownies unique.

Almost every chocolate brownie recipe features flour, eggs, sugar, a pinch of baking soda, a pinch of salt, butter, chocolate, and vanilla.

The ingredients in chocolate brownies that are chewy feature less flour and fewer eggs while cake brownies have more flour and eggs and need to be frosted.

Where recipes begin to be unique is in what the baker adds to them. For instance, what kind of chocolate does he or she use, Some recipes call for unsweetened chocolate bars. Others use less sugar and call for cocoa.

The add-in ingredients in chocolate brownies are also important. For instance, most brownie recipes call for some kind of nuts. Walnuts are the most common nut used. Pecans give brownies a southern twist. Macadamia nuts are less common but give the All American Brownie an exotic Polynesian taste. Chopped up shelled pistachio nuts are interesting in brownies.

Instead of putting nuts in the brownie, consider putting them on top. A praline topping for chocolate fudge brownies can be made from butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and 2 cups of pecans.

Then there’s the chocolate peanut butter brownie recipe. This involves making separate chocolate and peanut butter batters and then pouring the peanut butter concoction over the chocolate concoction in a layer. Top with chocolate frosting. Peanut butter flavor can also be added to chocolate brownies by adding peanut butter chips.

Adding 2 tablespoons of instant coffee powder to a regular chocolate brownie recipe turns them into mocha brownies. Yum! Pecans are a great addition to this recipe.

Layer 1/3 cup of shredded sweetened coconut in the brownie mix along with , teaspoon of almond extract and you have an Almond Joy Brownie recipe.

Another area where cooks can be creative is in making the frosting for brownies. Most of the time, cooks just use a basic chocolate frosting recipe. But you can get more creative.

For instance, adding peppermint extract to the butter frosting makes a great mint icing for the chocolate brownies.

Cream Cheese frosting is good year round. 4 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature mixed with , cup of sugar, one egg, and a tablespoon of flour is a popular brownie recipe.

Or, consider melting 20 or so caramel candy chews in the microwave and then drizzling the result over the chewy brownies.

Blondies are a cousin of the brownie. They follow a similar recipe but do not have any chocolate in them. Instead, they rely on brown sugar to give them their wonderful flavor.

Additions to Blondies include butterscotch chips, nuts, chocolate chips mint extract (in place of the vanilla), whiskey, bananas, and dried cherries or other dried fruit.

Brownies are typically baked in a 9×13 pan which makes about 16 servings. Brownies are a popular treat for pot lucks or family deserts. Brownies also make a great gift for housewarmings and showers.

The ingredients in chocolate brownies vary from cook to cook, but when you find your signature recipe, you will be beloved by all.

Tips for Better Barbequing

If you are new to barbequing, chances are you retain run into some problems when it comes to barbequing. Barbequing, like anything else, takes practice. Learning from your mistakes, as well as the mistakes of other cede help you learn quickly.

Before you begin cooking, spray your cooking area with a nonstick cooking spray. This will prevent your meat from sticking when you are rotating or removing it. If your meat sticks and tears, you will lose a large amount of juice, and your meat may dry out.

Never place food on the grill until the temperature is correct. The fluctuation force temperatures will cause your food to dry out or inflame. If you are using a charcoal grill, make sure that the coals are completely gray before putting the meat on the grill. This will allow the temperatures to level out, and the majority of the lighter fluid to burn off.

Cooking with charcoal lighter extract can reproduce good or bad. The lighter fluid will generate the edible you are cooking to taste different then with other types of grills. Alternatively, attempting to not use lighter fluid may cause a lot of frustration due to the fact that charcoal can be difficult if not impossible to light without lighter fluid.

You must properly prepare the meat you are cooking, before cooking it. You should never attempt to cook meat on a grill when it is still frozen, or even partially frozen. Thaw your meat by sitting it out about 12 to 24 hours before you plan on cooking it, or by thawing it ascendancy a microwave. If you meat is thawed, but in the refrigerator, set it out long enough for the meat to get to room temperature.

Once meat is cooked, never put it back in on the same plate you had it on when it was raw. This could cause the spread of many unwanted illnesses. Do not handle cooked meat cloak the same utensils that you used when it was raw.

Never poke you food while it is cooking. Poking holes in meat will cause the juice inside to leak out into the bottom of the grill. Not peerless will this make your food dry and unappealing in the extent, but it also could potentially ruin your barbeque grill. At the very primogenial, it will cause a buildup of unwanted money besides juices on your girll, which consign make cleanup harder.

Once the meat is on the grill, try not to unlocked the lid to many times. Each time you open the lid, you change the temperature in the grill. The constant change in temperature and the attitude run will cause your meat to dry up quickly.

Remember that the higher the heat is not always the better. While it is ok to quickly cook food, turning the heat up will just cause the meat to dry up and potentially burn.

While using tin foil or aluminum foil will make cleaning easier, it will cause your vittles to retain more of a fried taste then a grilled taste.

If you are planning on using your favorite barbeque sauce, be sure to wait as long as possible to put it on the meat. Putting barbeque sauce on to early will not only potentially cause your chop chop to dry out, but concrete could also burn.

Tips for Better Barbequing

If you are new to barbequing, chances are you have run into some problems when it comes to barbequing. Barbequing, like anything else, takes practice. Learning from your mistakes, as well as the mistakes of other will help you learn quickly.

Before you begin cooking, spray your cooking area with a nonstick cooking spray. This will prevent your meat from sticking when you are rotating or removing it. If your meat sticks and tears, you will lose a large amount of juice, and your meat may dry out.

Never place food on the grill until the temperature is correct. The fluctuation in temperatures will cause your food to dry out or burn. If you are using a charcoal grill, make sure that the coals are completely gray before putting the meat on the grill. This will allow the temperatures to level out, and the majority of the lighter fluid to burn off.

Cooking with charcoal lighter fluid can be good or bad. The lighter fluid will cause the food you are cooking to taste different then with other types of grills. Alternatively, attempting to not use lighter fluid may cause a lot of frustration due to the fact that charcoal can be difficult if not impossible to light without lighter fluid.

You must properly prepare the meat you are cooking, before cooking it. You should never attempt to cook meat on a grill when it is still frozen, or even partially frozen. Thaw your meat by sitting it out about 12 to 24 hours before you plan on cooking it, or by thawing it in a microwave. If you meat is thawed, but in the refrigerator, set it out long enough for the meat to get to room temperature.

Once meat is cooked, never put it back in on the same plate you had it on when it was raw. This could cause the spread of many unwanted illnesses. Do not handle cooked meat with the same utensils that you used when it was raw.

Never poke you meat while it is cooking. Poking holes in meat will cause the juice inside to leak out into the bottom of the grill. Not only will this make your food dry and unappealing in the end, but it also could potentially ruin your barbeque grill. At the very least, it will cause a buildup of unwanted grease and juices on your girll, which will make cleanup harder.

Once the meat is on the grill, try not to open the lid to many times. Each time you open the lid, you change the temperature in the grill. The constant change in temperature and the air flow will cause your meat to dry up quickly.

Remember that the higher the heat is not always the better. While it is ok to quickly cook food, turning the heat up will just cause the meat to dry up and potentially burn.

While using tin foil or aluminum foil will make cleaning easier, it will cause your food to have more of a fried taste then a grilled taste.

If you are planning on using your favorite barbeque sauce, be sure to wait as long as possible to put it on the meat. Putting barbeque sauce on to early will not only potentially cause your meat to dry out, but it could also burn.

Low Calorie Sweeteners for Better Health

People have become health conscious these days. This is due to the fact that there are more people who are overweight and this has affected both kids and adults.

Can this be treated? Yes but it is going to take more than a change in diet and exercise to make it work. The person can watch the food and beverage being taken in by only using artificial sweeteners that are low in calorie.

Low calorie sweeteners still give the same flavor as regular white sugar. The difference is that it only gives the person a few to zero calories per serving. This product has been called different names such as being a intense sweetener, an alternative sweetener, high potency or high intensity and non-nutritive sweetener.

There are many products in the market that the person can choose from. One of the best selling is made of an ingredient called Aspartame. Brands that use this are NutraSweet, Equal and Canderel.

Companies that manufacture this have produced beverages, sachet packs and bars which serve as another way of taking this into the body. The shelf life of such products could last three years as along as these are stored in room temperature.

Another brand that is quite popular is Splenda. This product also adds flavor without the extra calories after being taken in by the body. People who buy this product dont only mix it with tea or coffee. There are those that substitute this for regular sugar during baking.

The company also has a wide range of products to choose from in the grocery that are good for those with a sweet tooth but dont want to add those extra calories.

Sugarcane has been used for years on a variety of products. In Asia, this has been used as a drink. Lately, people have seen this as an alternative to oil for vehicles. A few years back, scientists have discovered that this can also be a low calorie health sweetener.

Sucanat serves as a wholesome sweetener that is all natural and can give the person the right amount of vitamins and minerals that the body needs.

The ingredients that make up a low calorie sweetener can be found in almost every basic thing that the person buys from the supermarket. Some examples are toothpaste, breath mints, syrup and cooking oil. These ingredients are printed on the label are a good for those who want to have a healthy lifestyle.