Page 64 - Hummingbird Bakery Valentine's Day Cakes and Bake

cakes rather than the generous Hummingbird cupcakes.

• The best cake tins are non-stick, loose-bottomed ones. Even if using non-stick,
you should still always grease or line the tin as instructed. This will help stop

the cake sticking to the inside of the tin and make it easier to remove, avoiding
the edges breaking or crumbling and making the finished cake look gorgeous.

- For layer cakes, use three or four 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed sandwich tins

- Cheesecakes are best made in a 20–23cm (8–9in) spring-form tin

- Tarts and pies normally require a 23cm (9in) loose-bottomed tart tin

- Bake loaf cakes in standard non-stick loaf tins

• When making bars, slices or pies, you might prefer to use a foil tray or foil pie
dishes, instead of a regular metal tin. These are especially good if you want to

transport the cakes or give them away as a gift. They are available from
Lakeland, specialist cake shops and catering suppliers.

• All the recipes in this book have been tested in a conventional oven. If you are
using a fan-assisted oven (which tends to cook things faster) it’s a good idea to
read the manufacturer’s instruction booklet, which will probably recommend
turning down the temperature a little. If you no longer have the oven
instructions, we suggest reducing the temperature by 10 per cent.

• All ovens vary in temperature and many people have ‘slow’ ovens without even

realising it. An oven thermometer is a very useful piece of equipment. It can be
permanently hooked into your oven so you can always be sure you are cooking
your cakes at the correct temperature.

METHOD AND TECHNIQUES

• Follow each recipe exactly as written. Baking isn’t a time for experimenting; the
wrong balance of ingredients can cause a recipe to fail. Our methods may seem
unconventional at times, but they are tried and tested, so trust us!

• When creaming butter and sugar, it should be done for a good amount of time –
5 minutes or more – until the mixture is really light and fluffy. It is almost
impossible to beat the mixture too much at this stage. However, once the flour
is added, beat as little as possible, gently folding or stirring it in until just

incorporated, as over-beating the mixture at this point will result in the cake
being dense or heavy.

• When adding liquid ingredients to a cake batter, it is usually best to do this in a
couple of batches, pouring in just a bit at a time and mixing well between each
addition to properly combine the ingredients.

• Our cake batter can be quite runny and may sometimes look a little spilt; don’t
panic, the cakes will bake beautifully.