Baking

IF YOU’RE BAKING AT HOME AND WONDERING HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS, THERE ARE A FEW KEY QUALITIES THAT CAN HELP YOU TO PROGRESS AS A BAKER.   1) Organisation Baking is a juggling act. This means organising everything from your ingredients to forward-thinking your way through the stages of the recipe.   Lots of thinking ahead is required when you’re a baker and you need to be considering what needs to be done in advance so that everything is ready when needed. It also means incorporating steps that aren’t necessarily in the recipe, such as cleaning down your kitchen as you go.   Weigh out your ingredients before you start, check that everything is ready to use (e.g. chopped chocolate, butter and eggs at room temperature) and that you have all the necessary equipment prepared.   It might help to write a quick timeline if your recipe is particularly complicated,

STOP STUBBORN CAKES FROM STICKING WITH OUR SIMPLE GUIDE TO CAKE TIN PREPARATION. Preparing your tin properly takes a matter of moments and is one little job that’s worth the effort. Sticking sponges can make it harder to prise your cake from the tin without it breaking into pieces but thankfully there are a few things you can do in advance to smooth the way for easy removal. Greasing and dusting your tin with flour is essential if you’re baking something with a large surface area that's liable to stick. Use a clean piece of kitchen towel with a little butter on it to lightly grease around the inside of the tin. This will create an extra layer of oil which when heated by the oven will prevent the cake mixture from sticking to the surface of the tin. Lining the base of your tin with baking paper is particularly helpful if the cake has a wide base and shallow sides, such as a layer cake. Applying a thin layer of grease to the tin

ICING A SPONGE CAKE WITH BUTTERCREAM CAN FILL EVEN THE MOST ABLE OF BAKERS WITH DREAD, BUT IT’S REALLY A PIECE OF CAKE WITH A FEW TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS. As you can imagine, we frost a lot of cakes in The Hummingbird Bakery kitchens. Three key ingredients that make a good cake decorator are a steady hand, confidence and plenty of attempts at getting it right! The good news for any aspiring baker wishing to brush up on their baking and decorating techniques is that anyone can have a go.

SOFT, SWEET AND WITH ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES – WHEN IT COMES TO DECORATING CAKES WE’RE RATHER FOND OF FONDANT. READ ON TO LEARN THE BASICS OF CAKE DECORATION WITH OUR BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DECORATING WITH THIS EASY TO USE ICING. Presentation is such an important part of baking and it can also be the most fun part too. After all the careful measuring and temperature adjusting is done, you can turn your sponges into something spectacular with sprinkles, glitters, writing icing, marshmallows, sweets, chocolates… the list goes on!  Sugarpaste decorations are not only easy to make but can be made up to a few days in advance and stored in an airtight container once dried for a fabulous last minute finishing touch. As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes, so getting the basics down when it comes to sugarpaste will open up so many decorating options for prettifying your bakes. Here are a few frequently asked questions about working

CUPCAKE BATTER OVERFLOWING? PAPER CASES PEELING AWAY? THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERS ARE ON THE CASE! A cupcake isn’t properly dressed without its case. These delicate papery cups are what separate cupcakes from the rest of the cake crowd. We get through millions of them every year in our bakeries and it’s a real talking point for many of our home bakers. So to lay a few queries to rest, we thought we’d crack the mystery of the cupcake case once and for all!   Design Every season brings a new case onto the cupcake catwalk. Even if you chose to bake with a different patterned cupcake wrapper every time you baked, you’d probably never run out of design options. From florals and checks to polka dots, cartoon characters and more, the selection is enormous and it is simply down to personal preference which one you go for. In our bakeries we use classic white paper cases for all our cupcakes aside from our Made

HEAPS OF FLUFFY FROSTING ARE WHAT MAKE AMERICAN CUPCAKES SO DELICIOUSLY MOREISH. GET YOUR TOPPING TIP TOP WITH THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY’S GUIDE TO CAKE FROSTING. Luscious, creamy and with so many beautiful colours and designs, frosting is in every sense the icing on the cake. Most Hummingbird Bakery cakes are topped with generous mounds of either buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting. We whisk up enormous batches to top our cupcakes and layer cakes and often experiment with different frosting flavours when we have new ranges to design. Cupcakes are a classic example of a bake that wouldn’t be seen dead without a decadent swirl of fresh frosting. For tips on frosting preparation, storage and decoration please visit our Decorating Tips page.   Top tips: Experiment with edible essences, flavourings and infusions to create new combinations of frostings and sponges. You can even stir ingredients

INVOLVING CHILDREN IN BAKING IS NOT ONLY LOTS OF FUN BUT IT CAN HELP INSPIRE A FUTURE GENERATION OF BAKERS! More often than not, you won’t have to ask twice for a hand baking in the kitchen when the kids are around. Baking is a fantastic way of getting children interested in preparing wholesome food from scratch and enjoying the rewards with a few delicious treats afterwards. What can begin as a rainy day activity could even become a lifelong passion!   Here are a few suggestions for a fun family baking session:   Stay safe in the kitchen and explain the dangers when cooking around sharp knives and hot ovens. Doing this before you start to measure out any ingredients is a good idea as children are less likely to be distracted by all the delicious food around them. Choose an easy recipe to follow and measure out all the ingredients beforehand. Reading through the steps first will help kids to learn

BAKED DELICIOUSNESS COMES IN MANY SHAPES AND SIZES. THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERS EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAIRY CAKES AND CUPCAKES AND OFFER THEIR TIPS FOR PERFECT CUPCAKE SIZING. Bite-sized mini cupcakes, dainty fairy cakes, generous American cupcakes… when it comes to baking, there’s no one-size-fits-all rule! In a quick Q & A, our bakers share their answers to some of the more frequently asked questions concerning cake sizes.   What is the difference between a fairy cake and a cupcake?  Cupcakes are bigger than fairy cakes and use a generous amount of frosting on top. In comparison, fairy cakes are often drizzled with icing rather than piled high with the buttercream or cream cheese frostings that American-style cupcakes are famous for.   How can I get my cupcakes to turn out the same size? If you want to ensure even-sized cupcakes, a food portioner can be a great gadget

SERVE UP SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN TREATS WITH IDEAS ON HOW TO DECORATE CUPCAKES WITH CREEPY HALLOWEEN DESIGNS! Fright night is drawing in and guys and ghouls will be gathering for tricks and treats! Spook your Halloween guests this season with these gruesome cupcake decorating ideas. Witch will you choose?     Black Cats Sprinkle chocolate cupcakes with chocolate vermicelli sprinkles. Add yellow jelly sweets for eyes and a pink jelly sweet for a nose. Pipe on details for the eyes and whiskers with chocolate icing. Liquorice laces can also be snipped with scissors to make cat’s whiskers.     Crescent Moons Roll out white or yellow sugar fondant icing and use a moon-shaped cutter to make your crescent moon shapes. Let shapes dry on baking parchment for 24 hours. Ice cupcakes with dark blue frosting and smooth over with a palette

IT HAS ALL GONE A BIT HEART-SHAPED AT THE HUMMINGBIRD BAKERY. IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO SWEETEN UP YOUR SPECIAL SOMEONE WITH A JUST-FOR-YOU BAKE, TRY OUT SOME OF THESE BAKING IDEAS – WITH A ROMANTIC TWIST!   Filled Cupcakes Make your Valentine go all gooey with cupcakes that have a hidden centre. Filled cupcake sponges are a doddle to make and for the more adventurous baker they can allow the imagination to run wild with endless flavour combinations. To fill a cupcake, you need to allow the sponge to cool before taking a sharp, small-ended knife to remove a small section of the sponge. With your chosen filling at the ready, fill the cupcake with a piping bag before replacing the small sponge lid. You can use a paring knife, an apple corer or a specialist cupcake coring tool - whichever works best for you. Don’t throw this extra piece of sponge away - you can trim it down and use it as a lid once the filling