To Line or Not To Line?!?!

When it comes to baking, I find that the pitfalls are many, but they are not many enough to deter me from wanting to whip up a gorgeous cake, an oozy cookie or a fluffy muffin. No! No pitfall can stop me from baking!!

The pitfalls I am referring to can be anything from over beating, resulting in a tough finished product, to leaving out ingredients or forgetting to pre-heat the oven. Most pitfalls however, do have a solution and thankfully today I am going to dish one up in an effort to improve your baking prowess!

A very common baking issue is the dreaded STICK! It happens unexpectedly. You look, hopefully through the oven window to see your gorgeous cake browned and sitting up in the pan announcing itself ready. You open the door, give her a press and she bounces right back. The smells in the air are telling you she's done baby! You bring her out and let her cool before turning that pan carefully over above the cake rack and.....nothing. Aha....the dreaded STICK! You shake it, you run knives around it, you jiggle your best spatula and still....nothing! All that effort, all that time and all those ingredients have amounted to a disaster. The solution? TO LINE!

I always, always, always grease and line my pans before baking. Yes it does take a little more time but if it means that my baking will always pop out beautifully it's all worth it for me! I usually spray with some cooking spray but of course a real purist would rub with some soft butter. My nan, always made me do it using the paper that the butter is wrapped in. Don't be shy here...give it a good covering. Now the baking paper. If it's a straight sided tin you may be able to use one piece and press it down well into the corners. If you want a perfect edge however I always trace the bottom of the tin onto the paper and cut it out to make the base piece and then cut strips to go around the sides. The greasing will help keep the paper in place so don't be scared to add a little extra if you have floppy bits. I once read that if you line your sides up higher than the tin it will also help your baked goodies to rise.I haven't personally visited a laboratory and had that clinically tested but I go with it!

Now the round tin. Again you can trace the bottom shape onto the baking paper and cut it out and then use strips for the side but I find it quicker and easier to make a little cartouche. Yes, I know very posh french cooking word being used; hope you're impressed!! So a cartouche is a paper circle that you can use on top of sauces to stop those nasty skin bits forming or you can use one as a makeshift lid to keep moisture in your saucepan. In this instance I use it to line the bottom of my circular cake tin. Stay tuned for the lesson in pictures.....

1. Tear off a square piece of baking paper big enough to cover over the top of your tin....

2. Fold it in half and then in half again...(yes, quarters!)
 

3. Continue to fold in half repeating making a traingle that gets smaller and smaller.

4. When it gets too tricky to go any further place the skinny triangle shape over the tin placing the tip above the centre point of the indside of the tin. Then cut the end off where the edge of the tin is.

5. Unravel your paper and you should have a gorgeous circle of baking paper that will fit pretty close to perfectly inside your tin....aha Cinderella it fits!!

6. Cut some strips of paper to line around the sides of your tin and you're ready to pour in your cake batter and bake to your hearts content knowing that the turn out will be followed by a triumphant cheer and a smile of sweet satisfaction.

So in answer to the  originally posed question...yes TO LINE! And they all baked happily ever after.....

Chin chin xx