Keeping on top of things during the Christmas period seems near impossible every single year especially for the home baker with a project list full of treats! The secret is to keep it simple, plan in advance and utilise a few handy baking hacks for Christmas. There are a few stress-reducing tips and tricks that are so going to help in the run up to all the festivities. From baking cookies in advance and freezing them to using blitzed candy canes in every recipe for an instant Christmas feel you’re bound to find a time-saving idea to get you ready for December 25th!
5 stress free baking hacks for Christmas!
01: Bake in advance!
This is definitely one of the handiest baking hacks for Christmas! To a novice baker this might sound crazy. Seriously though, baking a little in advance and freezing your bakes not only saves time, but it makes things like cake easier to carve/level/work with. For cake once baked leave to fully cool then wrap in cling film, then foil and place level in a freezer. Try not to set your cakes on a wire rack in the freezer though as this will indent your cakes. You can freeze cakes weeks in advance to get you ready.
Freezing cookies? Bake them, leave to fully cool down, set inside an airtight container and freeze for up to a month! Remove the shapes you want to decorate when you need them (put the rest back in the freezer), ice and box/bag when dry. Easy!
NOTE: We wouldn’t advise this tip for cupcakes, however, as the extra moisture in the freezer will make cases peel away.
02: Reach for the candy melts!
Not necessarily a baking hack BUT it’s too good to not list. Some of the easiest cake and cupcake decorations can be made using candy melts! They’re perfect. All you need to do is melt them, pipe a design and they should set in a matter of minutes. Plus if they’re just not setting quick enough you can place them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Pipe fun Christmas trees with coloured candy melts on a cookie tray lined with parchment or greaseproof paper. Add cool sprinkles or candy and leave to set. When ready carefully peel the paper from under each and then nestle into buttercream swirled cupcakes or attach to the side of a frosted cake. Instant Christmas cheer!
You can even make super easy festive bark using candy melts, crushed candy canes and super fun Christmas themed sprinkles too. Just melt down your candy melts, pour and smooth onto a lined cookie tray (make sure not to smooth it out too thin) and throw on the candy and sprinkles before leaving it to set! When hard break into shards and add to cakes and cupcakes.
03: Marshmallow heaven!
Marshmallows are the perfect winter treat, plus they can help add a touch of cosiness to anything really. Instead of stressing out over time consuming cake pops use giant marshmallows! Turn a simple chocolate cupcake into a winter favourite by adding a giant toasted marshmallow on top. Once you’ve frosted your cupcakes add large marshmallows to a cookie baking tray (make sure each is around 2 inches apart so they don’t melt into each other) and place in an oven for a few minutes until they soften and begin to melt and flatten a little. Remove and blow torch the tops to toast.
Why not even dip a cute retro stripe straw in some melted chocolate then half skewer into a large marshmallow, dip halfway into chocolate or candy melts, add sprinkles and once dry tie a pretty bow onto the straw.
You can also toast marshmallows and blitz them to add into buttercream. Gently heat up and add on top of sugar cookies for a melted snowball design. Or even bake into goey brownies with broken pretzel pieces!
Why not try out our classic vanilla marshmallow recipe to add to cakes, cupcakes, in between chewy cookies or even dropped into hot cocoas!
04: Sprinkles are your best friend!
Sprinkles don’t have to just go ON a cake or cupcake. They can get mixed into the batter too! You can instantly jazz up a bake to make it fit in with your festive party by just adding in a handful or two of coloured sugar sprinkles into the batter before you bake it. Try red and green confetti sprinkles for a traditional Christmas look, add blue for Hanukkah or try purple, pink and blue for a popular Frozen themed treat!
When it comes to decorating you can even create a message or pretty shape on top of your frosted cake by popping a cookie cutter on top and adding sprinkles inside of it. Remove the cutter and you should be left with a fun and festive shape or greeting!
05: Keep it simple and sweet!
This tip isn’t so much a hack, but a piece of essential advice! Try not to overwork yourself by picking out recipes you’ve never tried before (unless you have time for a practice run). The easiest and simplest thing you can do to make baked treats this season stress free and fun is to tweak your go-to recipe a little. If you have a basic cupcake recipe you use for plain or vanilla flavours why not try adding some festive mixed spice into it with a little gingerbread spice for a fun gingerbread-style cupcake swirled with vanilla buttercream? Amp up some of your usual chocolate cookies or biscuits with some mini fudge pieces, smother with thick salted caramel sauce and add a sea salt pretzel on top along with some gold star sprinkles!
The exact same rule goes when it comes to decorating your homemade treats. It’s great to challenge yourself, but new techniques are going to need some prep and practice. To avoid tearing your hair out stick to simple yet effective designs. To make our 24k gold Salted Caramel macaron more festive (as if the gold didn’t already do it) we added a little royal icing and some fondant features to transform it into a cute Christmas Pudding style macaron! See? Simple yet seasonal! Why not create winter-y themed vanilla cupcakes into snowballs by carefully rolling the butter creamed tops in sanding sugar and snowflake sprinkles?
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