Top Tips for Scaling and Sharing your Baking this Holiday Season

This Thanksgiving, it’s time for miniature desserts to shine. Not only are they the perfect size for wrapping up and gifting to loved ones near and far, they look adorable on your plate. The best part about tiny desserts is that you don’t have to find a brand new recipe to make – you can turn many Thanksgiving classics into miniature, ultra-shareable versions by following a few simple steps. As your baking ally, we’re here to help you scale your favorite recipes with ease to create perfect mini delights this holiday season.

1. How to Convert a Pie Recipe Into Mini Pies

• You can transform your favorite pie recipe into four miniature 5-inch pies. This technique works best with a recipe that is meant for a standard 9-inch pie pan.
• Make the filling for your pie according to the original recipe, then make 1 ½ times the amount of dough called for in the original recipe.
• Roll the dough a bit thinner than you usually would, about ⅛ inch thick. The dough circle will be approximately 17 inches in diameter.
• Cut four 8-inch circles for the base of the pie crust and four 7-inch circles for the top crust (if using a top crust).
• Bake at the original temperature for ¼ to ½ the amount of time called for in the original recipe. Begin checking to see if the pies are done at the ¼ time mark.

2. How to Measure Half an Egg

• A large egg is equal to about ¼ cup, or 4 tablespoons. To measure half of an egg, beat a whole egg in a small bowl and measure out 2 tablespoons.
• Measure the halved egg in a separate bowl before adding to the recipe

3. How to Convert a Cake Recipe Into Cupcakes

• Most recipes for a 9×13-inch or standard two-tier cake will yield 24 cupcakes.
• Follow the recipe steps as originally written to make the batter, then fill cupcake liners two-thirds full
• Bake your cupcakes at the temperature called for in the original recipe but reduce the baking time to around 20-25 minutes. Begin checking if they are done at the 15-minute mark by inserting a toothpick or cake tester into the center of a cupcake.
• The best cake recipes to turn into cupcakes are recipes that use the creaming method, reverse creaming method or the blended (muffin) method. Foam cakes, such as Angel Food, sponge or genoise, do not work as well as cupcakes.

4. How to Convert Quick Bread Recipes Into Muffins

• A standard muffin tin will hold ¼ cup of batter per cavity. Find the total volume (in cups) of your quick bread recipe, then divide that number by .25 to find out how many muffins your recipe will make
  • Example: Using our Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread recipe, the total volume of the batter is just over 5.6 cups. Dividing 5.6 by .25 gives us 22.4, so we can expect 22-23 muffins from that recipe.
• Follow the original recipe steps to make the batter, then add ¼ cup of batter to each greased muffin tin cavity
• Bake your muffins at the temperature called for in the original recipe, but for less time. Begin checking if they are done at the 15-minute mark.

5. When doubling or halving a recipe, use a scale for precision

• The best way to make sure all your measurements are accurate is to use a scale when baking. This is especially true when you’re doubling or halving a recipe.
• Consult the metric measurements of a recipe, then write down the doubled or halved amount for the scaled recipe to prevent mistakes.

General Recipe Scaling Tips & Tricks:

• If you are using a stand mixer when doubling or halving a recipe, make sure the dough or batter won’t be too little or too much for the mixer to hold. When in doubt, use a big mixing bowl and a handheld mixer.
• When working with a cookie or pie dough that will be rolled, divide it into smaller batches before refrigerating. This helps keep the remaining dough chilled while working with manageable pieces of dough when rolling.
• Weighing ingredients with a scale is the easiest way to double or halve a recipe with accuracy.
• If you do not have the right size of measuring spoon on hand, round up to the next size and slightly underfill that spoon.
• Check for doneness sooner than you think you need to.
• If you are not using a scale to scale a recipe up or down, consult a conversion chart to help add awkward measurements:

 

Share your mini desserts with us this holiday season and you could win 13 of our most popular products! It’s almost as easy as scaling recipes – just follow our three easy steps:

1. Follow @nielsenmassey on Instagram
2. Upload a new photo to your feed sharing how you are baking to share this holiday season
3. Use hashtag #NMVBaketoShare in the photo caption

Learn more about the giveaway at NielsenMassey.com/Sweepstakes