Baking Tips

Baking Tips

Over my years of baking I have accumulated some baking practices that I wanted to share with you today. I hope you will find useful.

1. The ingredients – always measure the ingredients properly. If it says one cup then use one cup not a few tablespoons more or less. It does make a difference.
   For example – a few tablespoons of extra flour can make your cake denser as well as crack on the top and a few tablespoons less can cause the cake to sink.
2. Temperature of your ingredients –
   Make sure your butter is room temperature but not melted unless the recipe specifies. If the butter is not room temperature it will not cream well with the sugar. So instead of starting your batter with a nice creamed structure what you have is lumps of little butter.
   Eggs. Start with room temperature or they will not combine well with the rest of the ingredients.
   Sugar - use fine grain sugar that will cream well. Thick granulated suguar will not cream and thus effect your cake. 
3. Over-mixing and Under-mixing – I know this is very confusing. What does it mean? How do I know when it’s enough?
   Most recipes will tell you how long to mix and if you’re still not comfortable use a kitchen timer. (I do it all the time, mostly because I’m multitasking)
   Most cakes have a simple formula – cream the butter and sugar and you will know when this is done because it will appear light, fluffy and creamy. (Usually about 4 to 5 minutes.) Add eggs in 20 sec intervals and beat them until they are well combined and this you can see if they are well combined by just looking to see not traces of egg. It is important to mix the eggs well as this can give your cake that lovely light texture.
   Next, add dry and wet ingredients. This is the most important part of mixing. Always alternate the dry and wet, starting with the dry and ending with the dry. It is important to just stir until they are incorporated. You can do this by hand or use the mixture on low. Here is where you do not want to over-mix and activate the gluten in the flour.
4. Temperature of the oven – I know most professionals say buy an oven thermometer. I don’t have one but I’m very sure it is a great investment. 
   Like me, if you do not own one then keep track of your oven. If you notice that your recipe says cook for 20 minutes and your chicken is done in 15 or 30 minutes, you can guess how far off your oven is. The next time make adjustments and keep track again. When baking the oven temperature is very important and can affect the end result of your baked goods.
5. Always preheat your oven – A good practice is to have you ingredients ready, switch on the oven and start mixing. This gives you approximately 15 minutes of preheating time.
6. Prepare your cake pan – Some people buy special spray for their baking. I personally like to use the pan spray and then use baking paper on the bottom as well as sides.
   I notice that if you do not prepare the sides of your pan – it affects the rise of your cake.
7. The use of cake strips and heating core – you can buy these readymade now days so it saves you a lot of hassle.
   Trust me it does bake your cake level and saves you the extra work of leveling later on. Plus a heating core for larger cakes will bake your cake evenly and you won’t have a wet center with dry exterior.
8. Do not over crowd your oven – overcrowding the oven can cause too many problems with uneven baking as well as sinking. Its best to place the cake on the middle rack and away from the side of the oven. Pans should not touch each other when baking.
9. Do not open the oven door while baking – opening the door when baking can cause your cake to sink. Most recipes will tell you how long to bake it. Most importantly keep track of the smell. You will know when you cake is baked by the lovely sweet smell permeating through your home. Once there, open the door, do a toothpick test to make sure. If the toothpick comes out clean take it out of the oven.
10. Do not leave the cake in the pan to cool for more than 10 minutes – always remove the cake from its pan and let it cool on a wire rack. If you have greased your pans properly this will be an easy job. 

 This is what your creamed butter and sugar should look like. The sugar would have almost melted into the butter making it light and fluffy. The time it takes depends on sugar you use. Very fine sugar with soft butter will take much less than thick grains sugar.

Sorry about the reflection but this is how you mixture should look like when you add in your eggs.  If you add eggs one at a time they incorporate well. However, if you butter is not room temperature or your eggs are not room temperature your butter will curdle. You can still work with it. A good trick when adding your eggs is to add one or two tablespoons of flour to the mixture.

This is how most finished cake batters would look.  Some batters such as Chocolate cake batters have more liquid but the batter should look smooth without any lumps and traces of flour.
 

 Always fill your pan 2/3 full leaving enough room for the cake to rise. If your pan is not lined at least grease and flour it so the cake will be released. If you grease but don't flour the pan it does effect the rise of your cake.








The most important tip is that you should be prepared. Organize you self. Try not to multitask. (I know, easier said than done). Get all the ingredients ready so you don’t forget anything.
Remember baking is food science, unlike regular cooking where you can add more salt or have the luxury of forgetting something. In baking each ingredient plays a key role and can affect the end result of your hard work. 
Baking can be fun and exciting it all depends on the way you approach it.

Happy Baking. Bye for now.
Veena