Baking is a science, and you have to follow certain rules. This can be intimidating at first, but with practice and patience, you'll get better results in no time!
The best part about baking is that it's fun! It's a great way to spend time with friends and family, and it's also a wonderful way for children to learn about science. Baking can be a rewarding activity for anyone who loves trying out new recipes or techniques - so why not get started today?
Some tips to remember while Baking
1. Properly draining your flour is crucial.
Properly draining your flour is crucial. Draining helps to aerate the flour, which makes baked goods more tender and light. It will also help break up clumps of flour so that they don't end up in your dough or on top of it. Draining will also ensure that you don't have any lumps in your dough—this can happen when a lot of air is trapped between dry ingredients during mixing, which causes small pockets of air bubbles to form within the dough as it rises (or "puffs").
2. Measuring liquids in a vessel is easier than using your measuring cup.
Measuring liquids in a vessel is easier than using your measuring cup.
If you like to measure ingredients while they're still wet, it's important to use the right tool for the job. A measuring vessel will allow you to pour the liquid into it and then use a separate cup or spoon for dry ingredients. If you have trouble with this process, consider switching from measuring cups exclusively for dry ingredients (such as flour) to those that also hold liquids such as water or broth.
3. Don't overmix the dough after adding the wet and dry ingredients together.
Overmixing the dough can result in a tough and crumbly product. While it's tempting to mix all of the ingredients as thoroughly as possible, don't do it! If you have an electric mixer or stand mixer (or even just a whisk), use that instead. The right amount of mixing means that your bread will still be tender but not too soft, or hard and dry—and not tough like sandpaper on your tongue.
4. Always Measure The Temperature Of Your Cooking Surface Before You Start.
You can't bake anything if your oven isn't hot enough. If you want to bake something that requires a specific temperature, like making cookies or cakes, it's important to make sure the temperature of your cooking surface is correct.
To do this, check and make sure that your oven is fully pre-heated before starting to bake. This means not just turning on/off but heating all parts of the stovetop and walls inside so they're at least 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). If not, use a pan full of water in place of what would normally go into an ordinary baking sheet—this will increase its temperature by 15-20 degrees Celsius (27-36 Fahrenheit).
5. Don't forget to pre-heat any pans you will use.
You should always preheat the pan before adding your batter. This allows the batter to cook evenly, which results in a more flavorful and moist finished product.
If you're using an electric mixer or stand mixer, it's easy to forget that you need to preheat your pans at least 15 minutes before baking. If this happens, turn off the oven and let everything cool down until room temperature so that when you put on your cupcakes or cookies they'll come out just as good as if they were made with fresh ingredients!
5. Make sure you grease and flour baking pans before adding the batter.
• Grease the pan with butter.
• Flour the pan with flour.
• Use a pastry brush to spread out any excess flour on the sides of your baking pan, as it will prevent sticking when you add your batter to it.
• Don't forget to flour the sides of your baking pans before adding batter!
6. Baking is very methodical and there are lots of steps to do correctly to get good results.
Baking is a science and an art. It's the science of precise measurements, but it also requires creativity to come up with something that tastes good. The best way to learn how to bake well is by practicing different recipes over and over until you get it right.
SOME IMPORTANT BAKING TOOLS
If you’ve ever made a cake, you know that it’s only as good as your tools. The right tools can make all the difference between a homemade cake and one bought at the bakery. Here are some of the most used baking tools:
1. Measuring Cups and Spoons
Baking is a science, and it's important to use the proper tools. Measuring cups and spoons are essential for baking because they help you measure dry ingredients like flour, sugar and other dry goods like cocoa powder or baking soda. You can also use measuring spoons when adding wet ingredients such as milk or water in recipes that call for more than one cup at a time (like brownie batter).
When measuring liquids like this, make sure to use an accurate cup so you don't overfill your batter with too much liquid. If there’s too little liquid left over when you’re done mixing up a recipe then your baked goods won't rise properly!
2. Stand Mixer
A stand mixer is a kitchen tool that is used to mix ingredients in a bowl or bowl-shaped container. It has two mixing paddles attached to its base, and these paddles spin around at high speed when you push down on them. The result is buttercream frosting or cake batter coming together quickly and easily! Stand mixers come in many different sizes and styles, so you need to know what kind of stand mixer will work best for your needs before making any purchases.
3. Cake Pans
There are many different types of cake pans. Cake pans can be made of metal, glass, ceramic and even plastic. The size of your cake pan is determined by the kind of batter you want to use for your cakes. Some cakes need smaller pans than others because they require more specialized ingredients or make higher demands on how much batter will fit into them.
Cake Pans come in many shapes and sizes including round loaf-shaped spice racks as well as square pyrex baking dishes with a nonstick coating inside them so that food doesn't stick when baked in them (this type will also help prevent mould growth). These days there's even a small mini-baking sheet designed especially for cookies!
4. Whisk
A whisk is a tool used to mix ingredients in cooking and baking. When you use a whisk, you want it to be of high quality so that the ingredients don't stick together or fall apart when you're mixing them.
• When should I use a whisk?
A good rule of thumb: if your recipe calls for more than one teaspoon of any ingredient, then use a whisk. If not, then don't bother! There's no point in using one if all it's going to do is get messy and make cleanup harder than it already is—not only will this waste time and energy, but it'll also contribute to poor taste (and possibly even create food poisoning).
5. Offset Spatula and Bench Scraper knife
An offset spatula is a tool with a set of handles that have been angled away from the blade. This allows you to spread and lift out of your pans without getting your hands dirty. The bench scraper knife has a flat blade, which makes it ideal for scraping down walls or cutting through hard-to-reach areas on the surface of things like cake pans and tins.
These two baking tools are both essential for making perfect cakes every time!
6. Baking Parchment Paper
Parchment paper is a thin, flat plastic sheet that you can use to line your baking sheets. It acts as an insulator between the food and its pan, which allows you to bake foods like cookies and brownies without them sticking or burning. The parchment paper also helps protect the bottom of your pan from getting scorched by hot liquid foods
There Are So Many Variables Involved In Baking, From The Type Of Oven, You Have, To What Type Of Flour You're Using, That There's No Way For One Recipe To Work Every Time. So I've Compiled Some Common Questions About Baking And Answered Them Here:
1. Can you bake with a gas oven?
You can bake with a gas oven.
If you have an electric oven and want to use it for baking, be sure to turn off the pilot light before putting in your pans or mixing bowls.
2. How do I make my cakes moist?
• The right ingredients.
• The right baking pan.
• The right temperature and time.
• The baking method and rack or pan size will make all the difference in how your cake turns out, so don't forget those!
3. Why is the top of my cake sticky and wet after it cools?
What's going on?
The answer is simple: your cake is too moist. The reason for this is that you didn't grease and flour the pan, or you used too much sugar in your recipe. If you're having trouble getting a nice crusty top and an evenly baked bottom, try adding more baking powder or baking soda to your recipe—it may help make it less moist!
4. Why did my buttercream curdle?
If your buttercream curdles, there are several things you can do to fix it. First, make sure that there's enough liquid in your frosting. If the frosting is too thick and doesn't mix well with anything else, it won't spread as well or stay on a cake. Second, check the consistency of your sugar by testing its firmness with a spoon—if it feels grainy or gritty (like sand), then double or triple the amount of sugar being used so that it doesn't get clumpy together when added to liquid ingredients like water or milk!
5. Why are my cookies crispy on the outside and doughy in the middle?
• Too much flour – This can happen if the recipe calls for too much flour. Adding too much flour will make your cookies dry out quickly and prevent them from rising properly. If this happens, try replacing some of the regular amounts of all-purpose flour with bread flour or cake flour (which has more protein).
• Too much sugar – Sugar can also make it difficult for yeast to act as leavening agents during fermentation processes because they don't like high acidity levels—and most baked goods contain lots of acidities because they're made out of eggs that have been beaten until frothy
