The Best Hacks To Make Your Fall Baking Less Stressful

Fall…we are so back. Well, that’s the case where I am, anyway. On my morning walk today, I felt an unmistakable chill in the air; in the tree over the fence at the end of my garden, the first few leaves are starting to turn brown and shrivel up. And I’m already preheating my oven in anticipation of all the baking I’ll be doing this year. 

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Okay, I’m lying – I’m not a regular baker, aside from the odd loaf of sourdough here and there, whenever I remember to feed my poor, neglected starter that sits at the back of my fridge. But maybe I would be if I incorporated a few of these time-, purchase-, and appearance-saving hacks into my life. Maybe then I’d produce pastries and desserts that are the envy of all of my similarly baking-curious-but-skill-poor friends. Maybe, by the end of this article, you will be too. Stranger things have happened. 

Skip The Measuring Spoon For Your Vanilla

Today was the day I learned that the cap on a bottle of vanilla extract is a teaspoon, and I’m passing that information on to you. While this obviously may vary from brand to brand and bottle to bottle, generally speaking, vanilla bottle caps come in at a teaspoon’s volume – which basically means you can skip using, and subsequently washing up, a tiny measuring spoon.

It is worth saying, though, that you might want to test your cap’s volume the first time you use it. Putting too much vanilla into baked items can make them taste harsh and metallic; putting too little in won’t give you the full flavor you need. 

Homemade Buttermilk

This is one I’ll never stop raving about, mainly because here in the UK, buttermilk can be a little harder to find. If you find yourself without it and in need of some for a recipe, you can make an easy substitute by combining a cup of milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar. Once you’ve used it in your recipe, it’ll be hard to tell the difference in flavor between the two.

DIY Sugar

Out of brown sugar? No stress. Like buttermilk, you can make a quick dupe with two ingredients. Mix a cup of white granulated sugar with a tablespoon of molasses for a light brown sugar substitute, or add another tablespoon of molasses for a dark brown sugar substitute. With this hack, you’re essentially doing what sugar producers do anyway to make brown sugar – which is to combine molasses with white sugar. 

Oh, and if you don’t have any confectioners’ sugar, blend a cup of white sugar with a tablespoon of cornstarch for a couple of minutes. Sweet, powdery, siftable goodness.

Heat Up Your Knife

If you’ve ever toiled over the perfect cake for hours, only to have your hard work ruined when you slice into it and smear it all over the side of your knife, this one’s for you. Before cutting your cake, pastry, whatever, dip your knife in hot water, then wipe it dry. The heat will help the knife make clean, smear-free cuts.