Baking Tid Bits

Over-ripe bananas can be peeled and frozen in a plastic container until it's time to bake bread or cake.

When baking bread, a small dish of water in the oven will help keep the crust from getting too hard or brown.

Use shortening, not margarine or oil, to grease pans, as margarine and oil absorb more readily into the dough or batter (especially bread).

Use a metal ice tray divider to cut biscuits in a hurry.  Press into the dough, and biscuits will separate at dividing lines when baked.

To make self-rising flour, mix 4 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 2 tablespoons baking powder, and store in a tightly covered container.

Hot water kills yeast.  One way to tell the correct temperature is to pour the water over your forearm.  If you cannot feel either cold or hot, the temperature is just right.

When in doubt, always sift flour before measuring.

When baking in a glass pan, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees.

If your biscuits are dry, it could be from too much handling, or the oven temperature may not have been hot enough.

When baking bread, you get a finer texture if you use milk.  Water makes a coarser bread.

Nut breads are better if stored 24 hours before serving.

Cracked eggs should not be used because they may contain bacteria.

The freshness of eggs can be tested by placing them in a large bowl of cold water; if they float, do not use them.

For a quick, low-fat crunchy topping for muffins, sprinkle the tops with Grape-Nuts cereal.

Dust a bread pan or work surface with flour by filling an empty glass salt shaker with flour.

To make bread crumbs, toast the heels of bread and chop in a blender or food processor.

To make cookie crumbs for your recipes, put cookies into a plastic bag and run a rolling pin back and forth on it until they are the right size.

Push animal shaped cookie cutters lightly into icing on cakes or cupcakes.  Fill depressed outlines with chocolate icing or decorating confections.

Fill flat bottomed ice cream cones half full with cake batter and bake.  Top with icing and decorating confections.

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Newby Realty provides sales of new and used manufactured (mobile) homes throughout Florida in Bradenton, Clearwater, Debary, Edgewater, Ellenton, Englewood, Fort Pierce, Hudson, Lakeland, N. Fort Myers, New Smyrna Beach, Ocala, Orange City, Palmetto, Port Charlotte, Port Richey, Sarasota, Winter Springs, Zephyrhills.