Baking Tip of the Week: The Freezer is Your Friend

When making a custom cake that requires carving the layers, freeze them first.
Seriously.
Wrap them well in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer until they're frozen solid. Cake layers are much easier to carve when frozen. Plus, freezing shrinks the crumb, so your cake doesn't crumble when you slice it up and serve it to your guests.
No, freezing the layers in this manner does not dry out your cake if you wrap it well. You get a dried-out cake when the grocery store bakery freezes cakes already decorated.
Just don't leave the layers in your freezer for months on end and then expect them to still be good. I'd say two weeks, at most. Usually, I bake and freeze the day before I decorate.

Buttered Perfection

I've recently gotten into baking my own bread. It's healthier for my kids because I can use organic ingredients and whole grains, it's delicious, and it costs much less than buying it at the grocery store. Plus it's quick and fun.

Yes, I said baking bread is quick. And fun. And no, I haven't lost my mind. I stumbled across a wonderful recipe book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg. That's how my romance with baking bread began. They have a new book out now, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and it's even better than the first. My favorite recipe so far is their "100% Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Bread," found on pages 145-146 of the second book. I served it the other night at our home group Bible study, and let's just say Doug and I were picking the crumbs off the serving tray as the rest of our group pulled out of the drive. With a little butter, this bread is perfection.