Do You Have Time To Bake?

What are the main reasons you don't bake as much as you would like to?

• I don't have the time
• I don't have the know-how
• I can't find a reliable recipe
• I don't have the right kitchen utensils
• I don't have the right ingredients
• I don't have the confidence....

If any of these resonate with you, you'll be pleased to know that you aren't alone. Actually around 85% of home cooks say that they don't bake because of one or more of these reasons with 'time', or the lack of it, being the most popular.

So today I'm going to give you 5 very simple tips to help make your time in the kitchen more efficient and hopefully knock the 'no time' reason off your list.

5 Top Time-Saving Tips When Baking

1. Don't make it hard for yourself. Forget the 'fancy' recipe (the one that is complicated, difficult and time-consuming). The recipe that will become the family favourite is often the one that is dead-simple and super-quick and that's the one you should reach for.
2. Get a little organised before you start. Take a few minutes to read through you recipe, get out all your ingredients and tools and turn on the oven so that once you start you won’t have anything slowing you down.
3. Take your butter and eggs from the fridge the night before. Baking recipes quite often ask for butter and eggs to be used at room temperature. Pulling them out of the fridge the night before (or a couple of hours ahead of time) will mean you are ready to bake when you want to. You can also coarsely grate the butter and/or pop your eggs in warm water for a few minutes to bring them to room temperature quickly if you forget. (Alternatively, bake a recipe that uses chilled butter like the one I'm going to give you...)
4. Don’t worry about sifting flour. Unless you need to sift the flour with another ingredient, such as cocoa powder, to combine them evenly before adding to the mixture, don't bother. All flours are pre-sifted and really don't need to be sifted again, especially in quick-mix and one-bowl mixes.
5. Get to know a recipe well and make it again, and again, and again...The more you make a recipe the more efficient you will become. If it is a good one, no one will care how many times you make it - they will just love you for it!

Want to start your time-saving baking now? Try this totally delicious Almond & Raspberry Cake.

Keep these 5 simple tips in mind when you next bake and I promise you that not only you will save time but you will find yourself turning on your oven and baking far more often than you currently do.

Happy Baking!