Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Clive's Tips - Tip #2

First of all Clive wanted me to pass on his top 5 favourite movies of all time:

1. Bambi - I think that is self explanatory.
2. The Thin Red Line - get it?
3. Open Season - again with a deer as the main character.
4. Snow White - lots of lovely forest folk.
5. Notting Hill - he is a hopeless romantic after all.


So now that we have got that out of the way it is time to pass on Clive's wealth of knowledge with you all. Did you know that Clive has baking since he was 4 years old? Now at the mature of age 21 he has decided to share his baking wisdom of 17 years in order to help all aspiring bakers out in the blogosphere.

Whisk your dry ingredients together before adding to the wet ingredients.

By doing this you minimise the amount of stirring needed to properly combine the dry ingredients, therefore reducing the risk of over mixing and losing all of the air from your batter. You also ensure that each of the dry ingredients is distributed evenly in the batter, instead of having small pockets of cocoa powder as an example.
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23 comments:

  1. Miss DotNovember 17, 2009 at 10:58 AM

    Oooo! Duly noted, Clive! Thanks for the tip :)

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  2. ChristyNovember 17, 2009 at 11:17 AM

    Well I'll be. Never thought of that!

    BUT.. the real reason I stopped by was a cupcake question that maybe you or one of your loyal readers may know the answer to.

    Why, once the cupcakes are all cooked, iced and decorated, to the papers start to lift. They don't look pretty anymore? Am I doing something wrong? By lift, I mean come away from the sides of the cake.

    Any suggestions??

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  3. KatNovember 17, 2009 at 11:30 AM

    Great tip Clive!

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  4. Running for a CauseNovember 17, 2009 at 11:50 AM

    Great tip Clive

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  5. GabbiNovember 17, 2009 at 3:58 PM

    Wonderful tip dear Clive. I totally used the egg tip while making my oatmeal cookies the other day and it worked and I also did the mixing the dry first this time too... seriously, such a useful blog!

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  6. AnonymousNovember 17, 2009 at 4:17 PM

    Christy - could be a few things. I have only had this happen to myself once and I believe it was because my cupcakes were too moist. So as a first point make sure that you do not underbake the cupcakes. Secondly make sure you only leave the cupcakes in the muffin tin for 5 minutes to cool and then move to a cooling rack, otherwise moisture will build up in the muffin tin. And make sure they are completely cooled before storing in a container otherwise condensation will build up and make the cupcakes moist, and the papers may pull away. Hope that helps.

    If anyone else knows any tips for this feel free to let us know :)

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  7. Miss DotNovember 17, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    P.S. -- just wanted to stop by and let you know I left a little award for you on my blog :)

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  8. AnonymousNovember 17, 2009 at 7:10 PM

    Miss Dot - Thank you!

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  9. ChristyNovember 17, 2009 at 8:14 PM

    Ahhh, that makes sense, they are often very moist! Undercooked!!
    You are brilliant.

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  10. cookies and cupsNovember 17, 2009 at 11:10 PM

    Yes, this is a good tip. I have been doing this for a while now and it works, and sometimes when I am really lazy I whisk instead of sift...I know, gasp!
    Also, tried your egg cracking tip...thank you...brilliant!

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  11. The Blonde DuckNovember 18, 2009 at 5:56 AM

    Popped in from Miss Dot to say hi! Great tip!

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  12. ChatterboxNovember 18, 2009 at 7:06 AM

    That's a great tip that I never knew about.

    Thanks for sharing Alicia.

    Cheers!!

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  13. bootsNovember 18, 2009 at 8:22 AM

    hey sweetie! i need your help- i got a bread maker and ant to whip up something delicious- your the first girl i thought of that may have a killer recipe. Point me in the right direction would you? thanks !!!

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  14. Shannon @bakeandbloom.comNovember 18, 2009 at 9:52 AM

    Clive is such a clever fellow!

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  15. AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 10:56 AM

    boots - I don't actually have any bread maker recipes, but you could try http://www.bread-maker.net/Bread-maker/Bread-maker-recipes-list.htm

    Hope that helps :)

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  16. AmandaNovember 18, 2009 at 12:20 PM

    I love the simplicity of this tip series. It's so cute.

    One question: What program/tools do you use for your Clive illustrations?

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  17. AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    Amanda - first a draw a pencil sketch, then trace with a 0.5mm felt tip pen, then I scan into Photoshop to paint. Hope that helps :)

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  18. emma wallaceNovember 18, 2009 at 1:12 PM

    How cute! Thank you, Clive for your wisdom. I like Notting Hill too. And Bambi except for that one part.
    So looking forward to your Christmas posts!

    P.S. I just nominated you for a Beautiful Blogger award! After reading through your comments I see you just won another. Hehe! iamemmamusic.blogspot.com

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  19. AmandaNovember 18, 2009 at 1:52 PM

    Awesome. I love the illustrations and lettering. I'm glad you are doing more of it these days.

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  20. drollgirlNovember 18, 2009 at 3:17 PM

    ack! i never thought to do this, but it makes perfect sense!!!

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  21. AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 4:27 PM

    emma wallace - thank you so much!

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  22. ElissaNovember 19, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    Thank you Clive! I never knew that but it makes sense and yes I am guilty of those pockets....

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  23. ChantelNovember 19, 2009 at 6:56 PM

    Great tip Clive! I heard this tip the other day ironically - can be used instead of sifting as well :)

    Also, I tried your egg cracking on the bench tip this week - worked a treat!! Thanks for your tips, keep them coming!!

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