Hi Bold Bakers, I love the baking season, but let’s face it, it can be a really stressful
time.
I asked you on social media, “what do you fear most about holiday baking?”
And you brought up a lot of really good topics that I’m sure a lot of other people out
there have the same concerns.
That is why I compiled a list of my top five baking tips to get you through this time without
even breaking a sweat.
As always, all the recipes that I mention in this video can be found on BiggerBolderBaking.com
along with information on how to buy my first cookbook, a Fearless Approach to Baking Anytime,
Anywhere.
Ok, let’s get started with our first tip.
So obviously let’s start out by talking pies, really important around the holiday
season, but a lot of people can be kinda funny about them.
I have an amazing video for never fail pie crust on my website.
Definitely check it out, it’s going to be your go-to pie crust in the future.
So let’s talk pie pans.
I love metal pie pans and I’ll tell you why.
They conduct heat so much better than glass or ceramic.
They’re also really thin, it gives you a really lovely golden brown crust and it makes
sure that you don’t have a soggy bottom.
One of my favorite pie tins that I like to use is my GoodCook 9” pie pan and you can
easily get that online.
So a quintessential pie this time of year is an apple pie.
Now I’ve got a great recipe online for an apple pie filling.
Now the great thing about this is it can be made in advance, it can be kept in the fridge
for weeks, and then when you want to make your pie you have your pie crust, you have
your filling, and then you just bring them all together.
It’s really really easy.
I strongly suggest that you have some of this in your fridge, ready to go.
So let’s talk soggy bottoms, nobody likes a soggy bottom when it comes to your pies.
And the way to avoid that is simple, bake your pie on the lowest rack of your oven so
it has that direct heat source from the bottom of the oven making sure that it gets nice
and crisp.
Another really good tip, is to bake it on a baking tray or even a pizza stone.
That being preheated will just make sure that your pastry gets lovely golden brown all the
way around.
So for your pie recipes, I’ve got apple, pumpkin, pecan, fudge all on my holiday baking
headquarters so be sure to check them out.
So let’s talk baking with yeast, around the holiday season people do extra baking
making all sorts of doughs like bread, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, lovely dishes like that.
However they all have one thing in common that can deter people and that is yeast, but
I have the perfect solution for you.
So here’s my secret, use dried instant yeast.
It’s the best kind of yeast to use.
You do not need to sponge it in water, you do not need to wait for it to activate, anything
like that.
What you do is you add it into your dry ingredients, so you add in your flour, your salt, your
sugar, then you add in your yeast.
Then you mix it together and you add in your liquid.
You don’t have to worry about doing an extra step, it’s so much easier to use, less fuss,
and honestly it works every time.
Do me a favor, go to your baking cupboard, check the expiration date on your yeast, because
if you haven’t boughten yeast since last Christmas, you’re gonna need a new pack.
After all that, if you’re still a little unsure about using yeast, I do have a yeast-free
cinnamon roll recipe on my website.
So let’s talk rolled cakes, around this time of year Yule logs or even my red velvet
roulade make really impressive centerpieces.
The one thing people worry about is rolling them and having the center crack, but I have
the perfect solution for you.
So here’s my secret, when it comes out of the oven and it’s still warm, you want to
roll it up like it’s already filled, then just hold it in place for a few seconds just
holding that spiral shape, then roll it back down flat again.
So what you’re doing here is kind of creating a muscle memory.
So when you do fill this cake and roll it it will already be used to this shape, and
will do so with ease and without cracks.
And listen to me, if it does crack, just dust it with powdered sugar and no one will know
the difference.
So let’s talk treats that are perfect for holiday parties and for gift giving.
I’ve got two words for you: holiday fudge.
It is no bake, it can be made in advance and it doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge
and it lasts for weeks.
You only need three ingredients to make the base: chocolate, condensed milk and butter.
You melt that in the microwave and then you can add any flavor you want to it.
You can make my festive flavors like praline fudge, chocolate and orange fudge, and even
my cookie butter fudge.
One tip I do have for you about fudge making, don’t over-mix your fudge base.
What can happen is it can separate and your fudge can become really oily.
So just mix it the minimum amount to get everything together.
So the big question on social media was, how do you get everything out of the oven, all
the dishes ready to go at the exact same time and hot to the table, and the answer is really
easy.
It comes down to menu planning and being prepared.
So a little secret, working in professional kitchens when everything has to come out at
the same time, hot, cold, whatever, we have to have our mis en place which means prep,
ready to go so we can fire our dishes at the same time.
When you’re catering to your friends and family this holiday season, you have to think
the same way.
So when you’re choosing your menu be really careful about this, make sure that your dishes
are coming out of the oven hot.
Do some hot dishes, some cold dishes, some room temperature dishes and that will really
make life a lot easier it’ll be one less thing to put into the oven and one less thing
to bring to the table hot.
So now let's talk prep, I prep within an inch of my life I peel I chop I get all of my vegetables
in water or I put them in a cold room in my house and leave them out until the big day.
This will make your life so much easier.
I do not want to know that you are peeling potatoes on Thanksgiving.
So when it comes to dessert I have the perfect recipe for you, I do this every year.
Gingerbread cake made in a crockpot, you don’t even need to turn on the oven.
So what you do is you mix it up the night before, keep it in the fridge, then the next
morning put it in your slow cooker or crockpot, set it and forget it.
You walk away for a few hours, it’ll slowly cook and it’ll become this lovely warm pudding.
And by the time dinner rolls around and it’s dessert time, your pudding will be ready to
go.
That’s it, now you’re ready to go.
Head over to BiggerBolderBaking.com and check out my holiday baking headquarters.
Every recipe you’ll need for the holiday season.