Baking tips

Note to readers: Baking is not my strong suit. If you have any tips you'd like to share, leave a comment below, or e-mail me at lori.korleski.richardson@gmail.com.

• Sprinkle pie crust scraps with cinnamon and sugar, and bake like cookies.
• If your cake recipe calls for nuts, heat them first in the oven, then dust with flour before adding to the batter to keep them from settling to the bottom of the pan.
• When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding the honey. The honey will slide right out.
• Sift flour as it is being emptied into the container. As most recipes call for sifted flour, this will save much time.
• Save butter wrappers in the freezer to use for greasing pans when baking. Keep your butter in the freezer and grate just what you need over toast or in recipes that call for a tablespoon or less.
• Use unflavored dental floss to cut all kinds of soft foods: soft cheese, rolled dough, layered cake and cheesecake.
• For a disposable pastry bag: Take a heavy-duty zipper-seal plastic bag and snip off one corner, making a slightly curved cut. Using a standard two-piece plastic coupler (available wherever cake decorating supplies are sold), insert the larger piece into the hole. Choose a tip and secure it with the coupler's ring. Fill the bag and zip the top closed. Decorate away, then remove the coupler/tip assembly and toss the bag. No messy cleanup!