Baking basics

Nothing says ‘HOME’ like the smell of baking.

I am a procrastibaker ?. Procrastibaking is the practice of baking something in order to put off doing something else you need to do. For me baking is so intensely satisfying, a perfect stress buster. I love how the entire house is filled with the sweet, buttery, sugary aroma of freshly baked goodies. Waking up to the pleasant smell of cake and strong brewed coffee sets a positive tone for the day ??

But baking at times is a tricky business.One small move can end up in a disaster. Sometimes even though you follow the recipe to the ‘T’, the results aren’t same as expected. This may be because of the equipment’s used, or the technique followed or even because of the measurements.

If you are a new baker, keep in mind these simple techniques which we often tend to overlook. Also don’t forget to check other posts on the basic series. – Bread Baking.

PREHEAT THE OVEN:

Preheating your oven is an important step. Pre heating means preparing your oven to attain the required temperature to bake your cakes. The leavening agents (substance causing expansion of doughs and batters by the release of gases within such mixtures, producing baked products with porous structure) such as baking soda and baking powder require a good amount of heat at the beginning -for optimal rise, texture and browning.In case when you have to open the oven door for longer (in case of loading multiple baking sheets) I like to preheat the oven at a slight higher temperature ( preheat the oven to 25 degrees higher than recommended ) and then lower the temperature after loading your goods and closing the door. This ensures that my goodies start at the right temperature.

READ THE RECIPE:

Always read the recipes 2 to 3 times. This helps to know that you have all the ingredients and tools on hand. The procedure may have some hidden ingredients (like water), or split the ingredient list in an expected way (like using half sugar while beating your egg whites.)

MAKE SURE ALL THE INGREDIENTS ARE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE:

Make sure all your ingredients including eggs, milk and butter are at room temperature. This step helps in the proper emulsification of your mixture.

ALWAYS USE FRESH INGREDIENTS:

To get the best results make sure you have fresh ingredients.

WEIGH YOUR INGREDIENTS INSTEAD OF MEASURING IT:

Weighing your dry ingredients with the help of weighing scale is more accurate than measuring with the cups. Depending on how tight or lose you have packed your cup the quantity may differ. I follow STIR-SCOOP-LEVEL principle. Stir the bag , scoop your ingredient and then level it with the knife and then use it.

SIFT THE DRY INGREDIENTS:

Always sift your dry ingredients such as flour, cocoa powder. It helps to get rid of the lumps and also adds in air which helps the cake to rise.

ADD ONE EGG AT A TIME:

Add one egg at a time to allow them to emulsify the fats and liquids in the mixture. Adding all together will result in a lumpy mass. So add one egg beat it and add the other.

DO NOT SUBSTITUTE INGREDIENTS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT.

Substituting ingredients may change the taste and texture of the finished goods if not used in the requisite measurements. The most common mistake is substituting baking soda for baking powder and vice a versa. They both are leavening agents but differ completely in their chemical properties. Baking powder is a product consisting of baking soda plus some other acidic component, in powder form; whereas baking soda when combined with an acidic ingredient, it will produce a chemical reaction that causes the release of CO₂.

MIX BUT DO NOT OVER BEAT:

This is a key step in baking the perfect cake. After creaming your sugar and butter/oil mixture always mix dry and wet ingredients in alternate pattern. Do not mix vigorously as the batter may lose the air and the cake may become dense.

BUY A GOOD QUALITY OF SPATULA

I like a spatula that is silicone, so it can withstand heat and also is perfect for gentle folding of the batter.

LINE YOUR BAKING TINS:

Always line your baking tins. Apply butter or vegetable oil on the base and along the sides of your baking tin. You can place a butter paper or a parchment paper and brush it with little oil. This prevents your cake from sticking and also demolding is easier.

DON’T LET YOUR BATTER REST ON THE COUNTER FOR  LONG:

Once the batter is ready put it straight into your pre-heated oven. The leavening/raising agents start working as soon as it comes in contact with the wet ingredients. If your cake batter is left for too long on the counter it will prevent your cake from rising perfectly.

DO NOT ENTIRELY FILL THE BAKING PANS:

Do not fill your pans completely. Always fill them up to 3/4 th of the pan Most cakes will rise a fair amount, so you should leave space for expansion. 

TAP THE CAKE TIN:

After filling the cake tin, gently tap the cake tin twice or thrice to ease out the air bubbles.

MINIMAL OPENING OF THE OVEN DOOR:

It is hard to not to open the door of your oven to for a sneak peak of your cakes. But minimize the opening of the oven doors as the oven may lose heat and also the temperature can fluctuate causing your cakes to sink instead of rising.

HOW TO KNOW YOUR CAKE IS READY?

Always take the Toothpick/Skewer Test to know your cake is ready. If you love baking cakes, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a package of long toothpicks or wooden skewers for testing. Normal toothpicks are not useful it when you need to test a deep cake. Or you can buy the the cake tester from store. It is very effective and cheap. After baking, insert a long wooden skewer into the center-most part of the cake. If it comes out clean, turn off the oven and cool the cake on the counter. Otherwise continue baking.If you don’t have toothpicks or skewers on hand, you’ll know your cake is fully baked when: the sides pull away from the pan, the cake is pillowy and golden on top, the top bounces back when you touch it, and/or when the internal temp reads 210 degrees F on a thermometer.

COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE UNMOULDING:

Let the cake cool completely before trying to demold it from the tin. Hot cakes are delicate so they have a risk of breaking while handling them. Cool cakes upside down on a cooling rack. This will flatten out the tops, creating easy-to-stack disks for layer cakes.

COOL BEFORE FROSTING:

Never frost a cake, cupcakes, or cookies until they have fully cooled.

 That’s all bakers. Keep these tips in mind and put on your cape (your apron) and start baking.

 Have some more unanswered questions?You can email your queries to: [email protected]

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