Simplify Pastry Making

Today I'm highlighting three more of the Wilton Better Baking Tools. This time we'll focus on tools designed for making pastry. All three of these items come with comfortable, ergonomic handles and are completely dishwasher safe.

This pastry blender is unlike anything else I've ever seen. Not only does it come with a cleaning rake or clip on the side that slides around the wires to loosen or remove butter when it begins to gum up the wires, but the wires themselves are different The two outside wires and the middle one are thicker to easily cut through thick pieces of butter or shortening. Then there are two thinner wires on each side of the middle wire to help blend finer pieces of butter into the dry ingredients. There's even a note on the back of the package that suggests using chilled butter makes for a delicate and flaky crust.

In my own experience, you can blend the dough as much as you need to before adding liquids to your pie crust, but once you add the water, vinegar, and/or egg, mix only until the dough is evenly moist to prevent the crust from coming out tough.

The pastry wheel has stainless steel blades in both straight and scalloped shapes. This allows you to shape your pastry however you like. This tool also boasts an easy rolling axle and the smooth wheel works great for cutting pasta as well!

I've always used one of those cheap pastry brushes to spread oils or butter mixtures at home. It works, but it doesn't clean up as easily as I would like. The Wilton Silicone Pastry Brush is wonderful. Instead of round bristles, these silicone bristles are curved to make channels that hold liquids. The bristles and lower end of the brush are heat resistant and can handle temperatures up to 500 degrees without melting!

To learn more about these great products and see what else is available, visit our Website.

Great Tools Simplify Baking

As part of my Tools of the Trade series, I'm covering a few fun products today that can simplify most any job.

First is the Twist 'n Measure measuring cup. This versatile tool has a rotating dial on the bottom that allows the user to adjust the size from 1 cup, through 3/4, 1/2, 13/, 1/4, and even an 1/8 cup measure. This cup is dishwasher safe on the top rack, and the dial can be removed completely for cleaning. It can even be used for liquid ingredients!

Do you love to decorate cakes? This cake lifter slides easily below cakes up to 16" so you can lift and move them from one surface to another. It's fine-chiseled edge won't damage cakes. It is made from durable, easy-to-clean stainless steel, is dishwasher safe and the non-slip comfort handle is precisely angled to lift heavy cakes with ease.

Wilton's Silicone Oven Mitt is a great asset to any kitchen. The high-heat silicone will protect your hands from heat and steam in your kitchen or at the grill. It withstands temperatures up to 500 degrees! Both the inside and outside of the mitt are textured to improve grip on heavy pots and pans and the mitt is designed to fit on either hand. The non-porous surface of the mitt resists staining, and is totally dishwasher safe.

To see these or any of our other great baking products, visit us at our Web site.

Simplify Decorating in the Round

Bake even strips area great option for those looking for a nice, even cake height. Because they keep the sides of the cake from cooking too quickly, they help larger round cakes to bake flat on top with a nice moist consistency all the way through. You simply attach wrap the strips around the pan before placing it in the oven. They are oven safe.

They come in large and small sizes. The package of large strips has enough for a 10", 12", 14" and 16" pan. The package of smaller strips comes with two strips, one for an 8" pan, and one for a 9" pan.This revolving cake stand can make most decorating projects simpler. It lifts cakes three inches off the table and with an 11-inch width, easily accommodates a 10" round cake. With a smooth ball-bearing mechanism, this cake stand will turn in either direction.Have trouble getting your icing smooth? A metal spatula may be just the thing. This 15" option has an angled blade and contoured handle, but straight blades in 11" or 15" lengths are also available.

Make a Special Treat

Recently I tried out a new treat that will melt in your mouth. Since I had some extra egg whites on hand after another cooking project I whipped them up in my mixer. I used three whites. When the whites are stiff, but not dry I added a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar per white, so in this case, 3/4 cup of sugar. Since I was low on powdered sugar, I put the 3/4 cup of regular, granulates sugar in my blender and ran it for 30 to 60 seconds.
Incorporate the sugar slowly as you continue to beat the eggs. Continue to mix until it doesn't feel grainy when a little bit is rubbed between your forefinger and thumb. It is important that all of the sugar is dissolved.
Next spoon the mixture into a pastry bag. If you prefer the disposable parchment-type bags, that works as well. I used tip #822 onmy bag, but any open-star tip will work.It's best to use parchment paper on the cookie sheet so the meringue treats will lift off easily after baking. If you don't have any parchment, don't use waxed paper or oil as it will break down the egg whites. Start by making the base the width you like, then slowly spiral upward until you reach the middle.

Alternately, if you have trouble making spirals, you could hold it down until it pushes out enough to make the right sized base, then continue to dispense as you slowly lift your bag.
If you want to dress things up, now is a great time to add colored sprinkles or little candies.Put in a cool oven (about 325) for 30 minutes and then let them cool down with the oven. If they start to brown turn the oven down.You could add lemon juice and zest, other flavorings...next time I'm going to try cocoa powder.

Great Tools for Cake Baking

Every activity has certain tools that make the job easier. For a carpenter it might be a hammer or drill, a writer might need a laptop or AlphaSmart, and many medical professionals can't work without a blood pressure cuff. But if you do much baking, here are a few great tools you'll wonder how you ever lived without.

A cake leveler like this can make the difference between a cake that forms an inverted bowl, and one that is nice and flat on top. This tool has an adjustable height up to three inches high and eighteen inches wide. Simply twist the feet to lock the height at the desired place. We also have a smaller one that is great for cakes up to ten inches wide and two inches tall. This is a great help when making torts, too.
Among our other whisks and spoons, this Cyclone Whisk has a silicone coated central spiral that adds more air to batter than a traditional whisk. The silicone coating makes the whisk easier to clean. It has an ergonomic handle for easier gripping and sturdy wires and a large head for more versatility. It is also dishwasher safe--two of my favorite words.

This 12" rolling pin not only boasts a great easy-clean non-slip surface, but it's dishwasher safe. In fact, it's the only rolling pin on the market that is fully submersible. The smooth-action roller, and the push-button release on the handles are added benefits available only in the Wilton Rolling Pin. The smooth surface of the barrel makes it perfect for rolling fondant or dough. A must-have for every kitchen!
Stop by our Website to see what other great tools we have available for the dedicated cook!

Liven up crafts with boy embellishments

Looking for a different way to dress up your son's scrap book? We have a fun selection of buttons in sports and other great themes.

Dress it up with Soccer has these ideal buttons and words.

The Baseball selection has balls, bats, mitts, banners and more.

This Train package has seven train engines inan assortment of colors.

And for the boy who loves his dog, there's a choice for him too. This one has an asortment of dog faces and bones.

If you have other crafts, gift cards or scrap book pages that could use fun embellishments, check out our selection. We also have great summer fun, baby shower, and other packages available.

How to make a Wall*E cake

Trying out cake decorating for the first time can be a bit intimidating, but I'm going to show you step by step how to go about it. This Wall*E cake pan was used to create a tasty confection for one of my grandchildren. First removed the picture and wash it out.

Next, grease and flour the pan. It can be hard to get all of the little edges and corners in these shape pans and we recommend using a pasty brush with shortening on it to make sure you get complete coverage. If you don't have a pastry brush, you could just use a plastic sandwich bag on your hand, but make sure every bit of the bottom is well covered, then flour it. If you don't grease it well enough, you'll have bits of cake stick to the pan.

Next, pour the batter into the pan.
When the cake it out and cooled partway, flip it upside down on a cooling rack or a clean dish towel to dislodge the cake from the pan.

Next, ice the outside part around Wall*E. The contrast and lighting is what makes it look like the cake is darker brown than in the previous picture. A spatula is a great tool to use in this step. When you are trying to get the frosting to smooth out nice, one simple trick is to dip you spatula or knife in a cup of water between swipes so the frosting won't stick to it. Just make sure you don't get the frosting too wet.

One great thing about these character pans is that Wilton includes directions on which tips to use when and special tips on how to get your finished product to look right. In this case, they suggest you use a #5 tip to outline the wheels and eyes, and a #10 to fill the spaces in. To smooth the larger section, dip your fingertip in a bit of corn starch, then smooth the frosting with it.

After that, outline the rest of Wall*E in the yellow frosting and fill it in.

With a little care and time, you could be producing this cute cake for a special child in your life. Pastry bags, tips, and other tools you may need are available on our Web site.