In this post, I hope to enlighten you more about the basic baking tips and tricks that will increase the chances of having perfect baked products especially cakes whenever you bake. The following are considered;
It may sound strange but highly necessary. We all love that sweet flavour mix wafting out of our oven and having to share the baked products with family and friends but some of us are impatient when it comes to following the step by step procedures that will give us that sweet look we anticipate of our baked products. But we need to be in a good and excited mood knowing that we are about to begin a recipe and would love to know how perfect it comes out. Baking when you are not relaxed or are physically or emotionally distracted, will definitely affect your baked goods. So it is advisable to bake when relaxed (in the right state of mind), with enough time, sure to follow all steps and be gentle with your dough and batter.
2. Recipe guide. A bit of this has been discussed
HERE and to crown it all, your recipe is your recipe and should not be altered until your final product is tasted and needs adjustment. Remember
"Baking is chemistry", we will admit that even the most tested recipes can still flop on occasion. It is usually a culmination of little issues that you may not be aware of, that result to sunken cake disaster or flat greasy cookies. So, before you adjust any recipe, consult a
professional Baker who is also a
recipe creator.
3. Quality ingredients. Your ingredients should be of high quality and in its freshness because they have great influence on your final baked products. These ingredients are: flour, eggs, butter or margarine, sugar, baking powder and baking soda, yeast, spices and other ingredients used in baking.
▪︎Flour: This is said to be the most important ingredient in cake because it creates the basic structure of the entire cake. Your flour should be fresh and not infested by weevils. It should be stored in an airtight container and if possible put in your freezer. If you use flour that has been infested with weevils (even if you sift it), will still affect the taste of the baked goods. There are different types of flour used for baking, but note that the all-purpose flour can be used for various baked goods.
▪︎Eggs: When baking, it is best to use big and fresh eggs unless the recipe has the instruction to use small or medium eggs. If small or medium eggs are used in place of big eggs or if you are to use 5 big eggs for a recipe and you use 6-7 small or medium eggs, it will not give you the exact quantity of eggs needed for that recipe and this will likely affect your baked products. Just a trick to know fresh eggs...if you break an egg and pour in a bowl and the yolk still stands whole, it means it is fresh but if the yolk seems watery or mixes with the egg white, then it is in its spoiling process or probably spoilt (having odour) and should never be used to bake or even consumed.
▪︎Butter or margarine: Both are good for baking. Any one you choose should be of good quality and healthy. Unsalted butter makes your batter very fluffy and your cakes extra soft. In order to produce healthy baked products, it is advisable to use butter or margarine with low fat but ensure they are of good quality.
▪︎Sugar: Either using white granulated sugar or brown sugar for baking, ensure it is dry and not moist. Also, using confectionery sugar (icing sugar) for your frosting or your choice of decoration, ensure you purchase the one that is properly sealed, powdery and not blocked/lumpy.
▪︎Baking powder and baking soda: Baking powder increases the volume of baked products during baking process while baking soda is responsible for that soft, chewy and melting feeling of cookies in the mouth. This can only be possible if they are still active and to increase the shelf life of both, it is best stored in an airtight container or even in freezer.
▪︎Yeast: We know that yeast is commonly used to bake various types of breads. It is also used for pizza dough and doughnut dough. Yeast causes bread to rise and become lighter and softer. It should be stored in an airtight container and if possible in freezer to retain its activeness.
▪︎Spices: Fresh or powdered spices can be used for baking, but I prefer using the powdered ones. Whichever one you choose, make sure they are in good condition.
4. Measurements. Follow the instructions on your recipe and measure all necessary ingredients using measuring cups and spoons or weight scale depending on the quantity of ingredients you are working with. Make sure to always stir in the bag, measure with spoon into the cup and level flour when measuring. Scooping packs the flour down, which end up with more than you need. This goes for other ingredients as well, but mis-measured flour is most often the culprit in faulty baked goods. For other ingredients measured with spoons, should be levelled unless your recipe specifies it being heaped.
5. Sifting dry ingredients. In baking, the dry ingredients are to be measured and then sifted with quality sieve in order to remove any particle and get the fine state of the ingredients which results to wonderful baked products.
6. Creaming. This is a very important step in baking of which some people like to skimp on and if done, would affect the final baked goods. It is appropriate to begin the creaming of butter/margarine and sugar at a moderate speed either with an electric mixer or mixing with hand and then at an increased speed until the sugar breaks down and the mixture becomes fluffy. If you normally don't pay much attention to this step, you will realise a difference in your cakes and even cookies.
7. Time: (mixing and baking time). Ensure all wet ingredients are mixed together and dry ingredients mixed together in another bowl. The eggs should be used at room temperature and all the creamed butter and sugar scraped into a bigger bowl in order to mix the dry ingredients with it. To get a good consistency, it is better to add the whisked eggs gradually and interchangeably with the mixed dry ingredients but also make sure that the last portion of dry ingredients are added before the last portion of the eggs. Make sure to be gentle when mixing and in a particular direction without spending much time on it. Grease and flour the baking pan before pouring in your final batter. A parchment paper can also be used which evenly bakes your cakes and cookies and makes your cakes come out of the pans neatly. Baking time differs considering the mixture of your dough or batter and the quantity. Always avoid opening the oven often during baking process so that you don't reduce the temperature of your oven thereby reducing the rising effect of your baked goods. In the case of cakes, use toothpick or skewer to test if your cake has baked finally at the centre and if it comes out dry, bring the cake out for cooling and turn off the oven.
8. Oven temperature. Your oven should be preheated inorder for your cakes, cookies, bread and other items to be baked evenly with a moderate temperature. When loading your oven with what you want to bake, the temperature will definitely reduce, in that case it is advisable to increase the temperature above the required level but after loading it, DO NOT FORGET TO LOWER THE TEMPERATURE after you close the oven door. That way, you are sure your baked goods will start baking at a moderate and right temperature.
9. Cooling baked products. When your cakes, cookies and bread have baked and are out of your oven, allow to cool on a cooling rack. Let the cakes be placed upside down for cooling which enables the dome tops to flatten making it easy to stack for layer cakes. Those soft chewy cookies can be left on the parchment paper to cool. As for bread, it can be left to cool upward so that the puffed top will be retained.
10. Storage. This is the next step after the cooling of your baked products. Cakes should be properly wrapped in cling film to remain moist and retain its shape and left at room temperature or in your fridge or freezer if intended preserving for a longer time but before you consume make sure it has defrosted and back to room temperature. It is not advisable to microwave frozen cakes because it changes the original taste and probably makes it a bit wet. Store your cookies in a glass jar or a quality plastic container air-tightly.
CONCLUSION: With these tips and tricks, I believe your baking journey will be an interesting and fun-filled experience. So let's do this.
Image credit: pixabay.com
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