Simple Handling Techniques you Probably Already know!
Experience is the best teacher in life, and it is definitely the best teacher in the bakery, as well. What works? What doesn’t work? And … do you really have to experience everything to know every answer? Here are some quick baking tips and tricks – some you may already know – but some you may not. If you don’t, let the extensive experience of BakeMark work for you!
Baking Tip #1: Soften your Chocolate Icing
If you need to soften chocolate icing in your icing pan for donuts, cakes, eclairs, or any baked good, pour warm coffee – as needed – into the icing and stir with the back of a metal spoon. Experience shows that both the flavor and the rich brown color of the chocolate are actually enhanced by the addition of coffee with NO coffee taste or aftertaste. Although warm water does soften icing, the chocolate flavor is weakened and the color fades.
Baking Tip #2: Icing Maple Bars
Weirdly, it’s difficult to duplicate maple bar icing color from day to day, and the final finish sometimes looks dull and dark. Experience shows that allowing the bar to cool thoroughly before icing is the answer to uniform color – every time! Try frying the bars and putting them on the tray to cool. After you fry off your next cut, go back and ice the maple bars. Works every time!
Baking Tip #3: Pre-coat Inclusions
Making scratch blueberry muffins or chocolate chip cakes? Try applying a thin coat of flour to the fruit, candy, or nuts before adding them to your batter. It’s a simple way to keep the inclusions from sinking to the bottom and the flavor evenly distributed.
Baking Tip #4: Solving Cloudy Glaze
If you experience teeny, tiny cracks that gives the appearance of cloudy glaze, we feel your pain. In fact, our Westco Honey Pectin Glaze was invented as simple syrup to thin your glaze and provide the brilliant shine that helps sell product. Ask your BakeMark Sales Representative to demonstrate how this product can help make your display case glow!
Baking Tip #5: Strengthen Aged Bicarbonate Soda
Of course, you should replace your bicarbonate of soda every month for maximum strength. However, if you’ve run past the “best by” date, experience shows that in a pinch adding just a bit more bicarbonate of soda helps prevent flat cookies until you can bring in fresh supplies.
Your Trusted Partners at BakeMark
Beyond these simple baking tips, first-hand experience counts, count on your BakeMark Sales Representative. Not only do they have real-world bakery experience, but they have the resource of BakeMark behind them. In addition to idea exchanges with other sales reps, product technicians and a full quality assurance staff ensure that there are no unearthed problems with which you have to deal. The BakeMark “family” (that means you) makes sure that all members share successful tips, tricks, and experience so we all succeed.
