You can measure and sift dry ingredients in one step!
Via @shessunday/Tiktok.com (3)
When it comes to making cakes from scratch, or even just making pancakes, your dry ingredients matter. Often, a recipe will call for sifting certain items through a sifter or a fine-mesh sieve. Everything from flour and cocoa powder to confectioners’ sugar and pancake mix can be sifted to get rid of large clumps. And getting rid of those large clumps will ensure you have a smooth batter or frosting.
Want to make measuring and sifting dry ingredients easier? Use this clever TikTok baking hack. It turns out your balloon whisk is a helpful two-in-one tool!
What Is the Flour Whisk Hack?
TikTok user @SheSunday blew people away by sharing this on TikTok. First, she grabs a whisk, dips it into pancake mix and taps it into a bowl. For the pancake mix, it makes perfect sense as it gets rid of large clumps at the same time as scooping it out of the canister or bag. And for pancakes, it’s pretty easy to eyeball it when it comes to finding the right consistency.
But what if you need exact measurements? This TikTok baking hack works for ingredients like flour, cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar, too!
Use a whisk to pick up the dry ingredient you’re measuring and transfer it into a measuring cup or a bowl on a kitchen scale. This will help you skip the need for a sifter altogether, which is especially handy if you don’t have one in your kitchen.
Not all viewers are convinced. A number of comments point out that you could simply use a spoon and a measuring cup. But using either of those items doesn’t help to rid dry ingredients of large clumps! Using the right type of whisk, a balloon whisk, you can sift dry ingredients while keeping the baking mess to a minimum.
Plus, once dry ingredients are measured and added to a bowl, you can use the whisk again for a quick stir to be sure everything is aerated without having to dirty additional utensils.
The downside here is the potential for inaccurate measurements, which is why the whisk needs to be doubled up with another tool. Using this hack to do a quick sift of dry ingredients before transferring them to a bowl on a scale is genius. That way, you can sift and measure your ingredients in one fell swoop.
Mamaw Emily’s Strawberry Cake
My husband loved his Mamaw's strawberry birthday cake recipe. He thought no one could duplicate it. I made it, and it’s just as scrumptious as he remembers. —Jennifer Bruce, Manitou, Kentucky
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Molly Allen is a previous bakery owner and former event planner. Now, a freelance writer and editor focused on food and beverage, lifestyle, travel and parties, she brings her years of experience and industry knowledge to readers across a variety of platforms.
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Updated: Apr. 27, 2022
