Summer Baking Tips
Would you rather be baking in the sun than actually baking? Here are some handy tips to help cool down your kitchen and make your bakes go as smoothly as possible so you can get back to enjoying the sunshine!
Keeping the Kitchen Cool
- Bake recipes with shorter cooking times – such as shallower cakes.
- Bake in the early morning or evening when the kitchen will be cooler.
- Only open the oven when necessary.
- Put any doughs in the fridge as well as any frostings.
- Keep your kitchen as cool as possible by blocking the sunlight with blinds and placing ice in front of fans to circulate colder air around the room.
Decorating in the Heat
1.Consider what type of cake and filling to use. It is best to use a firm cake and stable fillings, if possible, in the heat.
2.Keep an eye on any butter that you’ve taken out of the fridge to soften as it will melt quicker than you’d normally expect.
3.Dowel your cakes to stop them slipping – yes this includes single tier cakes!
4.If using buttercream or frosting place less of it in the piping bag than usual and refill more often to keep it as cool as possible and stop it melting from overhandling
5.Add royal icing powder or meri white to your butter cream to firm it up (2 teaspoons to 500g of icing sugar).
6.Consider using ganache instead of buttercream.
7.Choose your sugar paste wisely, they are not all created equally, and some hold up in the heat better than others.
8.Your sugar paste is likely to need less kneading.
9.In extreme heat sugar paste can be popped in fridge for a few minutes prior to opening.
10.Air pockets can become more of a problem for sugar paste covered cakes in the heat, to solve this prick a small hole in the air pocket and gently press to flatten against the cake.
11.Keep buttercream cakes in the fridge until 20 minutes or less before serving to ensure their decorations don’t melt.
12.Sugar paste covered cakes will sweat if kept in the fridge so instead just keep them in a cool well shaded area.
13.When transporting the cake make sure the car is cool before putting the cake on a flat surface inside – use your air conditioning!
Products to help in the heat –
Massa Ticino Tropic Sugarpaste 7kg - This sugar paste is ideally suited for working with in warmer temperatures.
500g Royal Icing Mix by Saracino – Add to your buttercream for a firmer texture.
Culpitt - Meri White 100g - Add to your buttercream for a firmer texture.