Recently, I had some feedback from a reader who was making my Best Chocolate Cake Recipe. In an email exchange with her, I realized that I was perhaps not always giving as many instructions as I could or should for baked goods. There are some things that I have come to take for granted after many episodes of trial and error, a few small kitchen fires, some ruined cakes and a shed tear or two. Although I am no expert and recognize I still have a lot to learn, below are a few things that will help beginning bakers make the best of each recipe. BAKERS - please add your own tips and tricks in the comments!
1. Baking is more like chemistry than regular cooking. A little extra pinch of this and a little less of that is much more dangerous. Substitute ingredients at your own risk.
2. Measure very carefully. It DOES make a difference if you take the time to pack the brown sugar and level off the flour with the back edge of a knife.
3. Maybe I am just suspicious but I truly think that eggs and other ingredients at room temperature make better cakes and cookies than cold ones.
4. Changing cake pan sizes will definitely result in different cooking times. The smaller and less deep, the faster they will cook.
5. Cutting circles of parchment paper and putting them on the bottom of your round cake pans will always make for easy and clean removal from the pans.
6. Wax paper does NOT replace parchment paper. When put in the oven, it may result in smoke or fire. (I wish I did not speak from experience.)
7. Invest in a good oven thermometer. Many ovens are not consistent with the dial. Proper cooking temperature is important.
8. When a recipe requires that you mix dry ingredients together separately, it usually refers to flour, baking soda/powder and salt. Sugar is most often mixed in with the butter or oil.
9. Let cakes cool in their pans for at least 5 minutes before turning them out.
10. Let baked goods cool completely before covering or wrapping. The trapped steam will make the outside sticky.
Happy Baking!
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October 27th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Good tips! I have a few more to add:
RE: measuring flour - don’t scoop the flour up with the measuring cup as you might with sugar - it will pack it too tightly. Rather, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then level.
RE: circles of parchment paper in cake baking. Even better is to grease and flour the bottom and sides, then also place circles of parchment paper in the pan.
ALWAYS use the best ingredients if possible. It really does make a huge difference - butter not margarine, really fresh eggs, dutch-processed cocoa not Hershey’s cocoa powder, the most expensive chocolate that you can justify/afford.
When using cake pans with nooks and crannies, e.g. a fleur de lis bundt pan or holiday-themed pan, grease the pan by melting a dish of butter and then using a pastry brush to get in every last corner. Perfect removal every time!
When melting chocolate, it really is better to use a double-boiler (vs. a microwave).
Man, I’m hungry for cake.
October 29th, 2007 at 3:57 am
“6. Wax paper does NOT replace parchment paper. When put in the oven, it may result in smoke or fire. (I wish I did not speak from experience.)”
Wow, thank you for the warning. It sounds like something I could have done.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I totally agree with Tommy on that! I did that once and boy was that a joy to clean up! I added you to my blogroll too, hope you don’t mind! (http://yummysmells-links.blogspot.com/2007/07/fellow-bloggers-my-inspiration.html)
October 30th, 2007 at 10:28 am
ditto on the wax paper. I wish I had read that two weeks ago when I thought it was the same as parchment paper….kitchen smoke galore! I really had no idea…
thanks for the baking tips, they are really going to come in handy!
October 30th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I agree with all your tips. I would add a few more:
Always use real vanilla, and I double the amount the recipe calls for.
I also REALLY beat the eggs, almost obsessively.
I like cookies soft, so I underbake them by about 2 minutes.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
OK, i got a few lady:
- EGGS: they’ll separate easier if cold, but the whites will whip better and fuller if warm so plan accordingly
- BAKING SODA: I always quickly sift baking soda through a strainer when making a quick bread or muffin that is hand mixed (rather than with a mixer.) Nothing is worse than getting that nasty clump of baking soda in your bite of banana bread.
- LINING CAKE PANS: Parchment circles in cake pans, absolutely. But honestly, if it’s a straight sided pan, I don’t bother with butter/flour fiasco. The circle and a quick spray of Pam is all you need. Save the butter/flour for pans with nooks and crannies. And in that instance, if it’s a chocolate cake, use cocoa powder rather than flour when greasing the pan.
- PARCHMENT CIRCLE ALTERNATIVES: If you can’t find parchment to line the cake pan, wax paper works great as there’s little chance of it flaming under a wet cake batter. Now you didn’t hear this from me but plain white typing paper works in a pinch if you can’t find the stupid roll of parchment when you need it (and that always seems to happen.)
- MOIST CAKES: to be certain of a moist cake everytime, give each layer a good soak with simple syrup (equal parts sugar to water boiled until sugar dissolves.) Flavor accordingly if you like.
- INSTANT COOKIES: Next time you make cookies, roll some of the dough into a log, wrap in plastic and pop it in the freezer. Slice and bake directly from the freezer- you made need a minute or two extra of baking time. Instant cookies and you can bake only what you need. Works great for the holidays.
- MISE EN PLACE: Can’t emphasize enough the ease of mise en place, ie, measuring out all your ingredients beforehand. It goes quicker, you don’t have to stop in the middle of whipping to measure out an ingredient and you can be absolutely sure everything that’s supposed to be in is in.
-FLAVORING: Substitute dark rum for vanilla. In just about everything. Delish.
- FANCY CUT OUT COOKIES: to get the best shapes on your fancy pants cut out cookies, roll the dough into sheets between two pieces of plastic wrap right after you make it, while it’s warm and pliable. Stack the sheets on a sheetpan and refrigerate until firm. THEN cut out. The dough will roll a lot easier when it’s warm but will cut easier/cleaner when it’s cold. The shapes will also hold better during baking if they go into the oven cold.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: don’t stress out. Stress creates hot hands and that’s generally not good for baking, especially chocolate and pastry work. If you cake breaks in half, glue it back together with icing. If your pumpkin pie develops a crater the size of the Grand Canyon, bake off some fancy leaf cut outs from extra pie dough and cover it up. If your tart looks lopsided and lumpy, rename it a Rustic Italian Torta. If your cake is too dry, break it into pieces, douse with a good shot of booze, layer with custard/pudding and whipped cream, throw in some fruit and call it a trifle. Tres fancy and no one needs to know you didn’t plan it that way. State with confidence: It’s not burnt, it’s overbaked. It’s not ugly, it’s rustic. It’s all in how you position it. The point is, a lot of people just don’t bake so if you took the time to actually make something, that’s impressive in itself. So relax.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Could the Nigey be any cuter? Prize-winning photo…
November 22nd, 2007 at 1:58 am
I was trying to make white chocolate chiped macadamia nut cookies, they keep coming out flate not raising and the middle is solf and falls apart and the edges are brown and hard tryed two batches and was so upset i bake alot and never had trouble with other cookies i got the receipe off the back of the tole house cookie chips bag, so i get on the net and get a recipe and i will try this one later but it says to use parchment paper . could that be the promblem
Dawn Wright
December 12th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
That photo of your dog is amazing.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I doubt that it s the parchment paper. If the recipe calls for eggs, you might be over mixing them. This causes the cookies to sink instead of rise. Be sure not to over mix other ingredients also. this has the same effect.
Hope that helps.
December 14th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Also, remove your cookies from the oven before they look done. Stick a tooth pick in the middle of the cookie when the suggested baking time is up and if there is no dough on the pick, they are done, even if they look underbaked. Also, if you are using a dark colored pan, check 5-7 minutes before the recipe suggests. Darker pans retain more heat, faster. Lighter, shinier pans may need more time than suggested.
January 1st, 2008 at 11:08 pm
[…] Click here for other general baking tips,. Tags: bananas, sweet bread recipe […]
January 16th, 2008 at 11:29 am
My boyfriend is in Germany with the Air Force and with Valentine’s day coming up I was wanting to send him some baked goods. Any tips on finding some that would last the week it would take to get to him and still be good other than cookies?
March 18th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I use wax paper to line cake pans, too.
But mainly I wanted to say I love the photo of your dog; mine has been known to thieve entire loafs of banana bread if they’re not properly tucked away on top of the fridge.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I agree with the careful measuring….makes a big difference. Thanks for the other advice.