12 Cooking Tips That Can Save Your Dishes

Unfortunately, very often, cooking becomes a routine that deprives us both of creativity and joy. Therefore, we have collected another portion of culinary recommendations for those who want the time spent at the stove to bring both the joy of cooking and the desired result.

Have you ever noticed that people who cook often have many secrets that ease their work in the kitchen and make their dishes extremely tasty?

We at Bright Side have collected another portion of life hacks from bloggers who cook something incredibly delicious every day.

1. How to bake a flat cake

In order to get a flat top on a cake instead of a dome-like shape, wrap the baking form with a strip of wet durable cloth (you can use an old towel). This trick will help bake ideally flat biscuits. You can find more details here.

2. An easy trick to prevent fish from sticking to a frying pan

In order to avoid fish sticking to a frying pan during cooking, follow this rule: hot frying pan, cold oil. You can find more nuances in fish-frying here.

3. Caramelized sugar will definitely improve the taste of your baking.

Sugar affects the taste of baked goods greatly. Slightly fried sugar will add a bright note of caramel to confectionery products. For example, an hour of heating up sugar on the stove gives it a slight caramel tinge, while 5 hours creates granulated caramel with a unique aroma. Try to use this recipe and you’ll be surprised at how the usual tastes of your desserts will change.

4. How to squeeze lemon juice without seeds

You can avoid seeds getting into lemon juice if you wrap the citrus fruit with a cheesecloth before squeezing. You can learn more details here.

5. A trick that will prevent brown sugar from clumping

Brown sugar tends to clump and harden quickly. In order to avoid this situation, place a marshmallow into the container with sugar. It will help keep the sugar soft thanks to the moisture a marshmallow has. We learned about this trick here.

6. A simple idea for transporting a cake

In order to keep the shape and decorations on a cake in good condition while transporting it, put it on a dish, stick wooden skewers (or toothpicks) on the edges and cover it with a plastic wrap. The cake won’t get damaged or dried out. We looked up this idea here.

7. How to melt chocolate chips and maintain a perfectly melted consistency

You can melt chocolate chips in a slow cooker. Place the chocolate into heat-resistant bowls and put them into a slow cooker. Add hot water and don’t close the lid. You can find more details here.

8. How to keep a cake fresh

In order to prevent a cut cake from drying, use pieces of bread and toothpicks. Adjust the bread with the help of toothpicks to the cut edges of the cake. The bread will get dry but the cake will keep the moisture and, therefore, stay tasty. We saw this trick here.

9. What you should do before putting macarons in the oven

When cooking macarons, leave them out for at least 20 minutes (or till they get a crust) on the baking sheet before placing them in the oven. It will help macarons raise better as well as get a better shape. Here, you can find more details.

10. How the amount of sugar affects the consistency and taste of baked goods

There is hardly any baking recipe that has no sugar. Not only does it affect the taste, but also the volume and aroma of cakes and pies. For example, a sugarless pie will be dense, pale, low and almost aromaless. At the same time, pies with a higher content of sugar have a deeper taste, they are more fluffy and tall. You can read more about the effect of sugar on baked goods as well as the best proportions to use in order to get the desired result, here.

11. A simple idea for combining dessert stuffings

By combining only 2 ingredients: chocolate, and heavy whipping cream, you can create a poured glaze, fillings for cakes, and a base for truffles. The main thing is to know the right proportions and temperatures.

For example, by using equal parts of chocolate and whipping cream, you can make a filling for a cake. And later, when the mass cools down, you can cook truffles. You can also learn about how to make several types of a chocolate ganache here.

12. A few tips on how to cook perfect spaghetti

The process of cooking pasta seems so obvious: water+ spaghetti = a tasty dish. However, in order to get the perfect dish, you need to use several tricks:

• The pot in which you are going to cook spaghetti should be large so that it doesn’t stick.
• When you add spaghetti to boiling water, keep stirring it.
• Drain the pasta into a colander. Taking it out with a special spoon will prevent the unnecessary water from staying in the pasta, making it soggy.

Which of these ideas will you start using? Do you have your own secrets that ease your cooking? Please tell us about them in the comments!