Check out our baking Hints & Tips that can turn the biggest oops into a woop!

Hints & Tips 

A handy hint to help you roll out your pastry.

Rolling Pastry

How to make beautiful marbled and striped meringues.

Colourful Meringues

So, you’ve had a craving for something sweet and want to whip up a tasty treat at home. Only problem is you’ve just discovered that you’ve run out of baking powder! 
While you might be tempted to skip it out of your recipe altogether, this humble ingredient actually plays an essential part in many bakes. Not only does baking powder help a bake rise properly, but it’s also sometimes crucial for flavour, texture and to achieve the perfect golden-brown finish. You’ll find baking powder is featured in almost every kind of recipe – whether that’s a traditional sponge cake or some quick and easy bread rolls – and that it works by creating carbon dioxide bubbles which leaven the dough/batter.
Reckon you can just swap out baking powder for its close cousin bicarbonate of soda? While both are labelled as rising agents, baking powder differs from bicarbonate of soda as it is typically double acting. This means it doesn’t require an additional acidic ingredient (whether that’s buttermilk or lemon juice) in order for it to react and make your mix rise.

Run out of baking powder? Follow these simple steps to make your own.

Make Your Own Baking Powder

Follow these simple instructions to make delicious vanilla infused pastry.

Making Vanilla Shortcrust Pastry

Handling Pastry

How to best cover a pie tin or filling with pastry.

Covering with Pastry

Is there anything better than melted chocolate? This decadent treat can be used to make indulgent dipping sauces, to mould easter eggs and truffles, or even as a part of a rich icing or ganache!

Melting chocolate can, however, often be a risky business. Getting the consistency right takes practice as you’ll want your melted chocolate to be silky and free from any lumps or graininess. As chocolate tends to contain a mix of fat and sugar, it’s also not hard to accidentally burn it or cause it to separate…
If you’re searching for the best way to melt chocolate, you’ve come to the right place! Here we take you through what the melting point of chocolate means and then give you some expert baking tips on how to melt chocolate.

Melting Chocolate

Few things are more satisfying than a generous slice of cake – especially when it’s the perfect texture and consistency!
Learning how to make a moist cake is one of the best things a budding baker can do. They’re the basis of so many delicious treats and can be flavoured and decorated in hundreds of different ways. 
Overcooking, bad mixing or a poor recipe are some of the most likely culprits behind a cake that’s dry and crumbly. Luckily for you, we’re here to share our brilliant baking secrets so you can whip up delicious cakes with a dreamy texture and flavour every time.

A tip for making cakes that stay moist for longer.

Moist Cakes

Enjoy double the number of cookies and double the amount of deliciousness when you make these tasty choc chip cookie sandwiches at home!
Giving you a fun new spin on the classic chocolate chip cookie, these moreish treats are made up of two buttery biscuits packed with rich dark chocolate chips and joined together with a generous helping of decadent Madagascan vanilla buttercream. Our fool-proof chocolate chip cookie dough sandwich recipe should leave you with 14 indulgent snacks which your entire family are sure to love!
Quick to whip up (and even quicker to devour), why not have a go at making our easy-peasy chocolate chip cookie sandwich recipe for yourself? They’re perfect for bakes sales, as well as being fantastic little morsels for a mid-week pick-me-up…

Chocolate Ganache

Smooth melted chocolate is a key ingredient in many bakes (plus it tastes delicious all on its own). Whether you’re hoping to create your own Easter egg masterpieces or you want a batch to use as a base for an indulgent sauce, learning how to melt chocolate is a must-have skill for every baker!
You might think melting chocolate seems pretty simple on the surface. Nevertheless, it’s actually surprisingly easy to over-melt your chocolate and cause it to become a lumpy, separated mess! There are also different techniques you’ll want to bear in mind depending on which kind of chocolate you’re trying to melt….

Top tips for melting different chocolates

Melting Different Chocolates

Take your meringue kisses to the next level with this simple trick to create rainbow meringue kisses!

How to create Rainbow Meringue Kisses

Storing Chocolate

How to Melt Chocolate

A trick to help you achieve perfect grated chocolate.

Grated Chocolate

Not just essential for making cakes rise, bicarbonate of soda is also an amazing cleaning agent that’s kind to both the planet and your bank balance! 

In addition to being brilliant at breaking down dirt and grease, bicarb is perfect for ridding your home of unwanted smells due to its ability to absorb bad odours – whether they’re in your fridge or your bathroom. It’s well-worth having a big tub of bicarbonate of soda stashed away in your cupboard. That way, you can make some truly delicious bakes as soon as you get a craving, as well as keep on top of all your household cleaning!

Cleaning with Bicarbonate of Soda

Did you know our chocolate chips can be melted in the bag?

Melting Chocolate Chips

How to turn a vanilla sponge into a lovely chocolatey sponge.

Chocolate Sponge

This rainbow piping technique is simple to do but looks so effective!

How to Pipe Rainbow Buttercream

Follow the tips below to help you create perfect buttercream border for your cake!

How to Pipe a Buttercream Rope Border

How to achieve a beautiful golden finish for your pastry.

Golden Pastry

Follow these simple steps to create a glossy smooth chocolate drip which adds the perfect finish to any chocolate cake!