How to Bake a Cake in a Pressure Cooker

Anthea asks: How do I bake a cake (eg. carrot or sponge cake) in an electric pressure cooker? I’ve a new Cuisinart electric pressure cooker that has 2 modes, high & low pressure, but no cake button. What do I set it on (high or low pressure) & for how long do I cook it?

Baking [...]

Cupcake and Muffin Liners/Papers

Tooba says: I love baking and have recently started making cupcakes and muffins. I have two questions:

1. What is the difference between a cupcake liner/wrapper and muffin liner/wrapper?
2. The liners I use to make cupcakes/muffins absorb oil. When I take my cakes out, the paper has changed color like it changes [...]

Foil vs. Paper Cupcake/Muffin Liners

Robyn asks: I’m making butterfly cakes for my daughter’s engagement party, so I bought some pretty aluminum foil cases. When I opened the packet, I discovered each foil case has a separate paper liner sitting inside it.  There was no mention of the paper cases on the packaging.

Do I leave the foil case on the outside when I’m baking the [...]

Best choice for hot pads

Jonathan asks: How do you feel about silicone hot pads?  What is your preferred hot pad of choice for removing hot bakeware from the oven?

Baking S.O.S. says: I actually had not tried the silicone hot pads until recently when I got a set of square ones as a gift for my birthday!  Now that I [...]

Are there natural alternatives to food colors and dye?

Nina asks: I love decorating cookies but I am concerned about the additives in food dye, especially for children.  Have you had any experience or do you know of any “natural” food dyes?

Baking S.O.S. says: Good question, Nina.  There is growing concern about the effects of artificial food dyes as we learn more about its [...]

Cupcake Conundrum!

My entry for CupcakeCampColumbus

Originally uploaded by chefrb

Perhaps you have noticed that cupcakes are all the rage lately? I don’t know exactly WHY we are strangely drawn to cupcakes. . . perhaps it is our inner-child seeking comfort in foods that remind us fondly of our youth. [...]

Baking with cake mixes and convenience products

I love the story of how Anne Byrn, author of “The Cake Mix Doctor” and many other such cookbooks, got her start doctoring cake mixes to give them a homemade taste without all the time of baking from scratch. I can remember reading an article about her in the Food section of the “Washington [...]