Below you will find tips to making perfect pies, cakes and cookies... Just like Grandma's
I can still smell the aroma of homemade desserts coming from my mother and grandmother's kitchen. There's nothing that can compare to the flavor and love poured into good old fashioned home cooking.
With a little practice, anyone can become a master baker. Yes, it's a lot easier to just pick up a pre-made dessert at the supermarket, that is, if you want to settle for second best..but if you want to treat your family to a one-of-a-kind mouth watering treat...a homemade dessert is the way to go...
Perfect Cookies
Cookie dough that is to be rolled is much easier to handle after it has been refrigerated for 10 to 30 minutes. Even though the dough will still be soft, this will help keep it from sticking.
If you don't do this the soft dough may require more flour and too much flour makes cookies hard and brittle. Place dough on only enough dough on a floured dough as you can easily manage.
Slightly flour the rolling pin and roll dough lightly to desired thickness. Shapes should be cut close together, take excess dough and add to dough that remains to be rolled.
Cookies bake best if sheets or pans are placed in the upper third of the oven.. Keep a close watch over cookies while baking to avoid burned edges. Try putting sugar in a salt shaker to sprinkle over cookies. This works well and is a great time saver.
Perfect Pies
The bottom crust should cover the pan smoothly, if not the crust will develop air pockets and push the crust out of shape will baking. Pie crust will be easier to make and taste better if all ingredients are cool.
Bake a custard pie at a high temperature for about 10 minutes, then cut the temperature down to finish baking, this will prevent the crust from becoming soggy.
Keep juice in the pie by folding top crust over the lower crust and crimp the edges before baking.
Sprinkle crust with powdered sugar when making a cream pie, this will prevent it from becoming soggy.
Perfect Cakes
Fill cake pans two-thirds full and spread batter into corners and sides, leaving a slight hollow in center.
Cake is done if it springs back when touched lightly with the finger or when it shrinks from the sides of the pan.
Place cake on a rack for about five minutes, after it has been removed from oven, then loosen the sides with a knife and turn the cake out on the rack to allow it to finish cooling.
Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar before icing and the icing will stay where you put it.
Pastry crumbs frozen unbaked are more tender, and flaky, and have a fresher flavor than those baked and then frozen.
