Beginner baker in search of the perfect bake, fear no more: this page is dedicated to you!
On this page we share the baking tips and hints we have learnt along the way of baking our favourite recipes. Sorted into four main tips categories (Ingredients, Equipment, Method and Baking), we hope our tips and tricks will make the main steps of pulling together a perfect fool-proof bake.
If you cannot find the answers to all your questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch, we will be happy to help whenever we can.
Ready, steady, bake!
INGREDIENTS
- How to check if eggs are still fresh? Dip them in a bowl of water. If they sink, then it means they are fresh. If they float and stand on one end, they are not fresh anymore and you probably should discard them.
- To experiment with different textures, try and substitute milk with yogurt or sour cream in your cakes.
- 1 large egg white weighs approximately 37 grams. 1 large egg yolk weighs 20 grams. Eggs separate best when cold, but whites whip best when at room temperature.
- How to bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly? Dip them whole into a bowl of lukewarm (not hot) water for at least 15 minutes.
- How to bring butter to room temperature quickly? Cut it into small cubes and leave it on a plate for about 15 minutes.
- To get the best results, bake with ingredients at room temperature (unless required differently in the recipe). Ideally take them out of the refrigerator 60 to 90 minutes before starting baking.
- If a batter or icing calls for more than one flavour, always add a little of vanilla first. Vanilla enhances most flavours.
- Always use the best quality ingredients you can get, and your cakes will be all the better!
- How to make buttermilk? Add one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to every cup of milk and let it sit for about ten minutes.
- How to make self-rising flour from plain flour? Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to every 150g of plain flour to make your own self-rising flour. Sift them together in a bowl before adding to any mix to make sure the baking powder is evenly distributed.
- Never ever taste caramel until it is completely cooled down or you risk burning yourself badly!
- How to make caster sugar with granulated sugar? Run granulated sugar through a coffee grinder or food processor.
- Keep your brown sugar tightly sealed to prevent it from hardening. If it does, you can try and microwaving it in a bowl next to a cup of water for two to three minutes.
- Most berries grow mold easily, so use either fresh ones within a day or so, or freeze them. Also don’t wash them until you’re about to eat or use them – they’re more likely to grow mold when wet.
- One large lemon will yield about 3 to 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, and 2 to 3 teaspoons of lemon zest.
EQUIPMENT
- How to make the perfect meringue? Wipe your ustensils and bowl with a paper towel lightly splashed with vinegar or lemon juice before they come in contact with the egg whites. Any trace of grease is likely to jeopardize your meringue.
- Use an offset palette knife to spread batter evenly into pans to ensure your cakes rise and cook evenly.
- Always use the size of the pan/cake tin called for by a recipe to make sure the cake doesn’t burn (in too a big pan) or brims over (in too a small pan) while baking.
- When baking, always make sure you measure all ingredients accurately to ensure the best results. Use metal or plastic measuring cups for dry ingredients, and glass or clear plastic for liquids. Use calibrated measuring spoons – not table utensils – to measure dry ingredients.
- When cooking something on the stove, always use a wooden spoon as it doesn’t conduct heat.
- If you want all your cookies to be uniform in size and shape, form them in a tablespoon measure – it’ll give you a good guide to shape them.
METHOD
- Using the exact amount of each ingredient is important to get the best results when baking. Weigh your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale for the most accurate method!
- Always avoid overmixing a cake batter once dry ingredients have been added; just mix your batter on low speed until they are just incorporated.
- How to retrieve stray eggshells from a mixture? Eggshell sticks to eggshell! Use the emptied half-shell to get them. If it doesn’t work, they should sink when baking, so you can probably retrieve them by turning the baked and cooled cake over and picking them.
- When folding cake batter, always try and add the lighter of the two mixtures from the top, using a gentle folding motion to incorporate it to avoid deflating the batter.
- How to ice a cake and avoid crumbs? Apply a first layer of icing to “seal the crumbs in”, leave to set in the refrigerator for 30 minute, and then apply a second layer.
- To give your frosted cake a glossy finish, you can use a hair-dryer (on medium heat) to warm the outside very gently just before serving.
- To make sure your cookies are all cooked consistently, weight them when shaping them to make sure they are all the same weight, so they will all need exactly the same cooking time!
- How to make the perfect muffins? Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl, the wet ones in another one, and combine both mixtures mixing them as little as possible. Don’t worry about lumps, they will disappear while baking!
- Where to leave a bread dough to rise when the house is cold? On a chair in front of the warming oven or in front of a radiator (but not too close!)
- For all pastries that call for rubbing the butter in the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, always start washing your hands with very cold water. It will prevent the butter from melting as you work it and ensure a nice and crumbly pastry.
- To prevent a homemade pastry from breaking when rolling it out, leave it to rest for around 30 min between making it and rolling it out
BAKING
- Make sure you don’t fill your cake moulds to more than 2/3 of the height to make sure the batter doesn’t spill out when rising in the oven.
- Always wait for your oven to reach the temperature required by the baking instructions before putting your cake in the oven.
- Warmed your oven too hot? Just reduce the temperature to the right one and leave the door open for 1 or 2 minutes. It will go down quickly!
- Always bake your cakes in the center of the oven to ensure a balanced air flow so that it cooks and rises evenly.
- When baking a cake in the oven try avoid opening the oven door before at least 2/3 of the baking time has passed, or it might result in the cake sinking completely.
- Let your cake cool in the pan on wire racks for at least 15 minutes before taking it out of the pan or it might break.
- Why use a cooling rack to cool cakes down? To ensure it doesn’t get wet from its own steam released on a plate or board
- Always leave your cookies to cool down completely on a cooking rack before transferring them to a metal tin or a cookie jar to ensure they don’t go soft
- How to test if a cake is cooked? Carefully insert a sharp knife or wooden toothpick into its centre. If the tester comes out just clean, then it is ready!