Page 63 - Hummingbird Bakery Valentine's Day Cakes and Bake

cloud, sending some of your carefully weighed ingredients up into the air.)

• Nuts are often nice toasted or roasted before use, which really improves their
flavour. Simply pop them into a saucepan and toss over a medium-to-high heat

for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the heat as soon as they turn brown as they can
burn easily.

• There are many brands and types of food colourings; each may give a slightly
different final shade to your cake or frosting. Although liquid food colouring is
the easiest to get hold of, we recommend a paste, which normally results in a
better colour. Pastes are available from cookshops or specialist cake shops. You
will need less paste than you would liquid; just add a little at a time until you

reach the desired colour.

• While we’re on the subject of colour, red is generally the trickiest to achieve.
For recipes such as the Red Velvet Cupcakes or Christmas recipes like the
Candy-cane Cupcakes, steer clear of bottles labelled ‘natural red’ or ‘scarlet’ as
they aren’t strong enough to create a good depth of colour. (Adding more
doesn’t tend to work; it just spoils the flavour and often causes the batter or
frosting to split.) The most reliable red liquid colouring is Dr Oetker ‘Red’,

available from Sainsbury’s, other supermarkets and online.

• We have tried to ensure that most of the ingredients in our recipes can be
bought from supermarkets. However, some of the recipes do call for slightly
unusual ingredients, such as Marshmallow Fluff. Many of these are available in
larger supermarkets or in specialist cake stores. If you are struggling to locate
them, search online for suppliers. We’ve included a directory of suppliers on
where we suggest stockists for some of the trickier ingredients, so that you

never find yourself stuck.

EQUIPMENT

• Baking is a science so it is really important that you measure your ingredients

accurately. A set of digital scales is ideal for the most precise measuring.
• Most of our recipes call for either a freestanding electric mixer (with a paddle

attachment) or a hand-held electric whisk. It’s essential to use one of these;
mixing the ingredients by hand is rarely as effective and the finished cake won’t
be as successful. A hand-held electric whisk (or a hand-held blender with a
whisk attachment) can be bought cheaply from larger supermarkets and is a
great investment for all types of recipes – baking or other.

• Always use the size of cake tin specified in the recipe. (Using the wrong size will
affect the cooking time, the batter may cook unevenly and it could overflow.)

No matter what size of tin a particular recipe calls for, as a general rule you
should always fill it about two-thirds full.

• For cupcakes and muffins, a deep muffin tin is best (usually with 12 holes). Do
try and get a deep one, as regular ‘bun tins’ are designed for fairy-cake style