Baking from scratch? Incredibly rewarding, yes. Incredibly messy? Also yes. But totally worth it - especially when your moody London neighbours suddenly turn friendly at the mere whiff of surplus cookies.

But when it goes wrong? It’s carnage. Collapsed soufflés, burnt biscuits, cakes that could double as doorstops. Sometimes, the only logical next step is crying into the mixing bowl.

If you’ve ever had a baking fail, take comfort in knowing that even Bake Off contestants have suffered catastrophic cake collapses. Poor Dorret—her Black Forest Gateau melted into a chocolate swamp on national TV, and frankly, we’ve all been there. | pic via Daily Mail

It’s no wonder that so many people find baking daunting. We do it every day here at Anges and have got mishaps down to a minimum, but we still have days when the humidity messes with our meringue and our ingredients aren’t at room temperature when we need them.

After years of pro baking, I know the key to managing your stress levels is having a handy arsenal of tricks that will save the day, especially for that last minute birthday cake.

Harness the Power of Pro Baking: Unveiling Foolproof Hacks for Perfect Results Every Time!

Image via What Sarah Bakes

Baking Hack 1: Use a wet finger to remove eggshells

Nothing ruins the joy of cake like the crunch of betrayal - aka, rogue eggshell. If you find that a bit of eggshell has made its way into your bowl of cracked eggs, don’t mess around trying to scoop it out with a shell. Wet your finger and the pesky shell will magically stick to it!

Baking Hack 2: Save split ganache with warm milk

Watching 1kg of couverture chocolate seize into a grainy, oily disaster is the kind of heartbreak only bakers understand. But don’t bin it just yet - warm milk to the rescue! Try warming a little bit of milk and, very gradually, beat it in until it starts to come back together.

Baking Hack 3: Stop cakes sticking by greasing and flouring your tins

OK, so it’s not exactly the fun part of baking, but when it comes to cakes, preparing your tins the old-fashioned way really pays off. Grease them with butter, then dust with a little plain flour, rotating the tins until coated. If that sounds like too much hard work, try a ‘magic’ cake release spray, which you’ll find in most supermarkets.

Image via BBC

Baking Hack 4: Use dental floss to perfectly level your cake

The secret to professional-looking cakes, both inside and out, is perfectly level layers. But it can be tricky to do this with a knife by eye. Measure where you want the cake layer to be, insert toothpicks all around at the same level and wrap a long piece of plain unflavoured dental floss around the cake, using the toothpicks as guides. Cross the ends and pull - like a baker’s version of a cheese wire assassin. Perfect layers, no knife stress.

Baking Hack 5: Put eggs in warm water to get them ready for baking

Having your ingredients at room temperature makes a huge difference to your baking results. If you get the urge to throw on a pinny and can’t wait for them to warm up, put your refrigerated eggs in a bowl of warm water for half an hour and it will bring their temp up.

Image via Craftsy

Baking Hack 6: Turn granulated sugar into icing sugar

That heart-stopping moment when you realise you’ve run out of icing sugar? Breathe. If you’ve got granulated sugar, corn flour and a food processor, you’ve got a way out. Blitz it for a few minutes with some corn flour until you get a powdery consistency and save yourself a dash to the shops.

Baking Hack 7: Use oil to help sticky ingredients release

I love making gingerbread, but there’s one bit that is barely worth the effort - trying to pry every last bit of the golden syrup and treacle from the measuring spoons. A quick oil slick on your spoon, and that treacle or golden syrup slides off like it’s had enough of your nonsense.

Baking Hack 8: Cut through butter fast with a hot knife

If it’s cold, it’s rock hard and if it’s soft, it sticks to everything! Of course, I’m talking about butter, the cornerstone of all baking. Fill a jug or tall glass with hot water, dip your knife in to warm up, and you’ll make light work of chopping up butter. This trick is also great for cleanly serving up cake or brownies, just wipe the knife with kitchen paper between each slice.

Image via Food52

Baking Hack 9: Soften brown sugar with a slice of bread

Soft brown sugar stays soft for exactly one baking session—then it transforms into concrete overnight. But a slice of bread in the container works like magic. Science, eh?

Baking Hack 10: Keep cakes tender by brushing with sugar syrup

Make dry cake a thing of the past by brushing the layers with a small amount of sugar syrup as you assemble it. Heat a cup of sugar and a cup of water in a pan until the sugar dissolves and allow to cool. The syrup will keep for a month in the fridge and you can flavour it with spices and citrus to enhance your cake flavour.

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