How to Cut an Octopus

Octopus is a delicious dish that is quick and easy to prepare. You can buy cleaned octopus, or for a really fresh treat, you can clean it yourself. Octopus can be cut and cleaned with little effort. Octopus has a tendency to be tough and chewy; tenderize a fresh octopus by beating it on a rock. About 40 hits should do. If you are at home, use a meat mallet to tenderize the flesh. Scoring the surface of the flesh will also tenderize the octopus. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Tenderize the octopus by beating it on a rock or with a kitchen mallet.

Rinse the octopus body and tentacles to remove salt and sand.

Lay the octopus on your chopping board. Locate the eyes at the bottom of the head and just above the tentacles. Hold the head in one hand and cut between the eyes and the tentacles.

Cut a slice off the bottom of the head to remove the eyes. Discard the eyes.

Clean the head by slicing along the back of the head which is opposite the eyes. Use your hands to remove the dark brown innards. The innards and ink sacs are held in place with small fleshy tubes. Use your fingers to break through the fleshy tubes. Remove the innards and discard.

Rinse the head in clean water and peel the skin from the head. If you are struggling to grip the skin, sprinkle some salt on your hands. You can also parboil the body for five to 10 minutes and then peel the skin off when the head is cool enough to handle.

Locate the beak in the middle of the tentacles and push it through to remove it. You can push on either side to remove the beak. Discard the beak. If the octopus is very large, you may need to cut around the beak before pushing it through.

Cut large tentacles into rings and small tentacles into bite-sized pieces.

Tips

- Score the flesh with a knife to help with tenderizing.

- Marinating the flesh also helps with tenderizing.

How to Make Mountains on a Cake

Whether you're baking a mountain biking cake for your nine-year-old son or a skiing-themed cake for your brother, certain cake designs require mountains. Using large sections of another party-cake works for a single large mountain, but multiple mountains or a mountain range require more strategy. Artificial structures, like cardboard and tin-foil, make eating the cake awkward and cumbersome. Instead, use appropriately dense cake types for the base of your cake-top mountain range. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Remove the pound cake from its foil and cut a triangle measuring approximately half-an-inch smaller than you envision your final mountain. Pound cake is denser and crumbles less easily than standard party cakes, making it suitable for building mountains of any size.

Spread a single layer of thick frosting on the mountainous portion of the party cake before applying the mountains. The frosting helps the pound-cake mountain stick to the party-cake surface.

Spread a thin layer of frosting on the connecting side of the pound-cake mountain and place it directly onto the recently frosted portion of the party-cake. Connect the two pieces while the frosting is still wet for maximum adhesion.

Drive a toothpick through the top of the pound-cake mountain and beneath the party-cake surface to prevent movement while frosting.

Spread frosting over the pound-cake mountain sides and onto the party-cake surface with a spoon. A spoon's shape rounds the inclines and edges of a pound-cake mountain for a natural-appearing merger between the two cakes.

Tips

- Cut larger pound-cake triangles for larger mountains and smaller triangles for smaller mountains.

- Apply any animals or candy decorations while the frosting is still fresh and wet for secure placement.

Warning

- Don't use gel or writing frostings to connect the pound-cake mountains with the party-cake surface. Both frostings are too liquid and won't harden like creme frosting after drying.

How to Clean Octopus for Cooking

Octopus is a delicacy that many enjoy, but few dare to prepare in their own home. Cooking an octopus may seem intimidating, especially when purchasing a whole octopus that has not yet been cleaned. Most fish markets or butcher shops will pre-clean the octopus they sell, but if you happen to purchase an unprepared octopus, don't worry. Cleaning an octopus may not be the simplest of tasks, but it can be done with a little focus and concentration. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Rinse the octopus thoroughly in the sink to remove any sand or dirt.

Hold the octopus over the sink and turn it upside down. The beak of the octopus is located in the mouth, which can be found at the center point of the tentacles.

Push the beak through the mouth by placing your thumbs on either side and applying firm pressure. Discard the beak.

Lay the octopus on a chopping board and cut out the eyes with a pair of kitchen shears. Discard the eyes.

Hold the octopus over the sink once again and turn the head inside out. You can do this by pushing the head through the mouth. Ink and innards may spill out.

Rinse the inside of the octopus head under warm water for a few minutes.

Pull away the entrails, stomach sac and ink sac. Make sure to remove any plastic-like bones.

Trim away any connecting tissue with your kitchen shears.

Discard all of the parts that you removed.

Rinse the octopus one more time to remove loose tissue.

Turn the octopus right-side out.

Rinse eye sockets and tentacles well. Make sure to take extra care when cleaning the suckers.

Tips

- A smaller octopus can be cooked without any extensive cleaning. They can be rinsed, tenderized and cooked whole.

Warning

- Octopus ink stains, so it would be prudent to stay near a sink and wear an apron to avoid staining clothes and household items when cleaning octopus.

How Do I Decide What Diameter to Make the Tiers of My Cake?

If you're tackling baking a tiered cake for the first time, it can be difficult to know where to start in deciding the size of the cake. Inexperienced bakers often choose a recipe, select frosting and fillings, and design the cake's decorations without considering how big the cake needs to be. Fortunately, deciding what diameter to make the tiers of your cake doesn't require any special skill or knowledge. Also, it rarely impacts the cake's external decorations in any substantial way. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Estimate the number of people who will be eating the cake. You want to ensure you have enough cake for everyone, plus last-minute guests and second helpings.

Choose a serving size. Most round, tiered cakes are served in slices 4-inches high and 2-inches wide, but you may choose to serve smaller pieces, particularly if the cake is being served after a meal.

Decide how big you want the top tier of your cake to be. Then decide how many servings that tier will provide. Reference cake pan serving charts or estimate based on the size of the pan. For instance, a 6-inch round pan yields 12 two-inch slices, while an 8-inch yields 24 slices.

Determine how many tiers your cake will have by subtracting the number of servings each tier will yield from the number of servings you need, beginning with the top tier. Note that the next tier should be 3- to 4 inches larger than the one above it.

For example, if you need 100 servings of cake and your top tier is 6 inches in diameter (providing 12 servings), your next tier can be 9 inches, which is three inches larger and provides 32 servings. Subtract 12 and 32 from 100, which reveals you need another 56 servings. Since the next tier down should be 12 inches, serving 56 slices, you will have exactly 100 servings of cake.

How to Thicken Icing for Cream Horns

Cream horns are a delicate dessert consisting of a pastry shell with a sweetened cream filling. The icing inside the horns is made from either whipped cream or pastry cream. Both of these can be also used as cake icings. If either prepared product is too thin for filling the cream horns, they can be thickened by adding gelatin or draining off excess liquid. Gelatin works best with pastry cream-based icing fillings and draining should be used for whipped cream-based icing fillings. Add this to my Recipe Box.

How to Thicken Pastry Cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the cool water and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Warm the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. water in a microwave-safe bowl over low power for 30 seconds to slightly warm it.

Whisk the gelatin and cool water into the warmed water to dissolve the gelatin.

Beat the pastry cream with the dissolved gelatin using a hand or stand mixer until the the two are thoroughly combined and thickened. Adjust the texture of the filling by increasing or decreasing the amount of dissolved gelatin added to the pastry cream.

How to Thicken Whipped Cream Filling

Line a colander with two layers of cheesecloth.

Place the colander into a large bowl.

Pour the whipped cream icing filling into the cheesecloth-lined colander.

Set the bowl with the colander in it inside the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours to drain off excess liquid from the whipped cream. The whipped cream remaining in the colander will thicken as it drains it for filling the cream horns.

How to Mix Color Flow

Color Mix is a cake frosting product that helps to create flow-in designs with cake frosting. All you need to add is confectioner's sugar and water to create an easy to apply frosting. Each package makes ten 1 1/2 cup batches of frosting. The Color Flow mix takes the guesswork out of mixing icing and always ensures the perfect consistency. It is especially helpful for lattice or string work on cakes. Color Flow mix comes in a 4 oz. tin and is certified Kosher. Add this to my Recipe Box.

For the Outlines

Place 1/4 cup of water and 4 cups of sifted confectioner's sugar in the bowl.

Blend ingredients on low for five minutes if using an electric mixer. If using a hand mixer, blend ingredients on high for five minutes. Stir in 2 tbsp. of Color Flow to color the icing.

Spoon icing into icing bag and go over the outline of your design.

For the Filling

Put 1/4 cup of water and 4 cups of sifted confectioner's sugar in a bowl.

Blend for five minutes. Use a low setting for an electric mixer and a high setting for a hand mixer.

Add 2 tbsp. of Color Flow and 1 tsp. of water to thin the icing. Fill in the design between the outlines.

Tips

- The icing crusts quickly, so cover it with a damp cloth while you are frosting your cake.

Technique for Dipping Cake Balls in Candy

Cake balls are tiny little balls of cake and frosting. They can be made in any flavor and served off a platter or made into a cake pop on a stick. These desserts are popular for holidays and birthday parties because they can be decorated to match any theme. These bite-sized creations are distributed through companies online, at bakeries and even at some high-end stores, but making cake balls at home is easy and inexpensive. After mixing the ingredients together, the balls are dipped in chocolate to lock in the cake and prevent crumbling. They can then be rolled in candy bits such as sprinkles, crushed candy bars, miniature candies, crushed peppermint or tiny candy flakes. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Refrigerate the mixture

When the cake and the frosting have been well blended, it is important to refrigerate the mixture for at least two hours before forming the cake balls. Refrigeration will make the balls easier to handle and prevent the warmth of your hands from making them crumble. After the balls are formed, you can refrigerate them again for an hour so that they are nice and firm when you dip them in the melting chocolate. Again, this will make the balls easier to work with and prevent them from falling apart when they are exposed to the heated chocolate.

Set Up

It is a good idea to have all of your candies laid out and ready to go prior to coating the balls in melting chocolate. Arrange the candies on a plate and set them near the melting pot so they are immediately available when you are ready for them. When working with melting chocolate, you have to move quickly because it does not take long for the chocolate to harden. It may take a minute to completely coat a cake ball in chocolate, not leaving much time for you to dip the ball in candy before the chocolate hardens. The trick is to make sure the chocolate is at the right consistency before transferring it to the plate of candy. The chocolate must be starting to set, but not yet completely hardened. It may take a few tries before you get it right.

Dipping with Tongs

Some people prefer to use tiny baking tongs to dip the cake balls in candy bits. Although a bit trickier than using your hands, this method generally makes less of a mess because the tongs control the cake ball, preventing it from rolling or falling. Tongs also prevent finger marks from appearing on the finished ball. When using tongs to dip the cake balls in candy, maintain a light grip to prevent the tongs from digging into the cake balls and puncturing the chocolate coating.

Hand Rolling

Many chefs prefer using their hands when cooking or baking rather than using kitchen utensils. Using your hands to dip cake balls in candy allows you to maintain control and not have to worry about using too much force. Drop the cake ball on the plate with the candy pieces and use the palm of your hand to roll the ball around until is evenly coated. To prevent the candy from sticking to your hands as you work, put on a pair of thin cooking gloves. This method can be messy because the rolling motion tends to spread tiny pieces of candy off the plate, but the end result is an even, all-over candy coating.