Techniques Answers

Evenly chopping nuts

Is there any way to coarsely chop nuts evenly? I pulse them in the processor and they come out partly coarse and partly fine.

Read Answer
High-altitude baking (5,000 feet)

What are the corrections that should be made when baking a cake, for example, when one lives above 5,000 feet? I live in northern Colorado, at an altitude ar...

Read Answer
High-altitude baking (7,000 feet)

Are there any standard high-altitude recipe changes for baking? Or does each recipe vary. I just relocated to Flagstaff, Ariz. I have had several things flop...

Read Answer
How to grate fresh ginger

What is the best way to grate fresh ginger? I typically use the finest grater on a four-sided box grater, but much of the ginger tends to stay mashed into th...

Read Answer
Cooking in a water bath/bain marie

Many flourless cake recipes call for using a springform pan and putting that pan into a water bath. After my first disaster, (the water leaked in and ruined ...

Read Answer
Lining a pan with parchment paper

A recipe for a cheesecake instructs one to, "Grease, lightly flour and line the bottom of an 8- inch springform pan." My question is this: what do you line t...

Read Answer
Is my yeast alive?

How do you know for sure that yeast is active? Does it have to bubble???

Read Answer
Cleanly cutting pies & cakes

I have a hard time cutting lemon pie with my butcher knife; it always sticks to my knife. Is there a trick to it so I will not pull all the meringue apart? A...

Read Answer
Creaming butter

I never had trouble creaming butter until last night; it just wouldn't cream. The recipe called for 3 Tbsp. of butter and 1-1/2 cups of sugar. I thought it w...

Read Answer
Adding melted butter to cool batter

When adding cooled melted butter to milk, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, etc., (usually for making muffins), how do I keep the butter from lumping up? Also,...

Read Answer
Brining pretzels

What are the ingredients of pretzel brine and how do I prepare it?

Read Answer
How do you revive vanilla beans?

Can you suggest anything I can do to "revive" vanilla beans which have become too dry and crack when I try to cut them open?

Read Answer