My top tips for baking

I’m completely self-taught in cake decorating, my dad has had a big influence though and teaches me a lot about baking and cooking, mainly Italian. Having now realised I’ve been baking for ten years, I thought i would share with you all my little tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way. I know a few people have said to me that they find baking quite daunting, so hopefully these useful tips will help you bake with ease.

1. Good quality ingredients.

I know some may disagree with me but in my opinion if you can afford to buy a better quality of something, then do! Once you see the outcome of one of your bakes and knowing it works for you, then why would you do anything different. I always use callebaut chocolate and vanilla beans, I find that spending just a little bit extra on higher quality ingredients will always give a better result, which is the taste and you’ll 100% be able to tell the difference.

2. Weighing your ingredients and following the recipe.

I know this is a bit of a no brainer, but seriously weighing your ingredients accurately is super important. I recommend investing in some digital scales. If your new to baking then following the recipe step by step is a must, read it before you even begin so you can get a rough idea of what it’s asking you to do. As time goes on and you become more confident you can start using recipes as a guide and you’ll learn to adjust them and experiment a bit. I also, cannot stress enough about using a good recipe from a trusted website, or even better a good recipe book, I always find it easier having a book in front of me then looking at my phone. You can also tell if a recipe is good online by the comments people leave.

3. Same temperature ingredients.

Now I never used to follow this, I didn’t think it made any difference, but it actually does! I especially notice the difference when I make my baked cheesecakes. Make sure your eggs, butter, chocolate all your dry ingredients are at room temperature before you start. Eggs don’t even need to be kept in the fridge, but the butter, especially if it’s as cold as it has been the past few days, it needs to be taken out a good few hours before you start. Sometimes I’ll even take mine out the night before if its super cold. The importance of this is because eggs curdle easily when you add them to your sugar and butter if they’re cold and butter just wont mix properly, you need an even consistency, I’ve also broken many whisks in my kitchen aid years ago by trying to mix hard butter.

4. Prepare your tins and oven ahead of time

Whilst my cold ingredients are whisking, instead of standing around waiting I’ll prepare all my tins. Make sure you use the right sized tin for the recipe you’re using, and even if some of my tins say they’re non-stick, I still make sure I grease them. I butter the tin and then line it with grease proof paper and then butter it again, on top of the grease proof paper. I also line the tin all around the sides and above the tin if I’m making a fruit cake. Using too much butter can also cause you to fry your cakes inside the oven, so be careful of that. I always put my oven on the right temperature before I begin to allow it time to heat up to the temperature I want. If your over isn’t preheated and you add your cake it may cause your cake to be dry or affect the way it rises, or just sink.

5. Baking powder

Do not be tempted to over use baking powder, when I was learning I used to think if I add more then my cake will rise more, I was so very wrong. If your recipe states to add ¼ teaspoon of baking powder, then do! Adding too much will cause your cake to rise too quickly and then sink.

6.Getting your cake as light as air

I have a certain sponge recipe, I use for all my cakes, it has always worked great for me and I know I can do it with-out any problems. I’m quite secretive about my sponge recipe, I really do think, in my opinion it’s the best sponge cake recipe ever, it took me ages to perfect it and it really is light as air. It involves me mixing the eggs and sugar to start with and once that’s mixing I just forget about it for a while, grease my tins and I leave it going until it’s doubled in size and pale. If you can get your mixture like that with which ever recipe you use, then your onto a winner. Next, if the recipe says fold, fold! Don’t be tempted to whisk vigorously and at this stage you shouldn’t over fold, once it’s all incorporated you must bake straight away as the baking powder as soon as it’s in contact with the mixture it starts working straight away. I always bake my cakes in the center of the oven too so they bake evenly.

7. Your oven.

Once your cake is in the oven, do not open the door. Don’t even be tempted however much you’d like to. Opening the oven door can cause your cakes to sink. You can test your cakes are ready by either just pressing down slightly and if it springs back it’s ready or using a skewer in the center, If the skewer comes out clean it’s ready. If you do really have to open the door to check your cake then make sure you don’t slam the oven door shut. Once removed from the oven, leave it for a few minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack, this stops the cake from getting soggy. If you’re making something like a baked cheesecake I always leave it to cool inside the oven.

8. Patience.

Patience is everything when it comes to baking. There’s been so many times when I get so excited about making a cake and I want to rush it so I can see the outcome straight away, but I have to resist! If you only have an hour or so to bake but the recipe is asking you to take two hours, put it off for another day to save it failing and having to redo it. Baking can’t be rushed and you definitely can’t take any short cuts either. Take your time and enjoy it, baking is fun once you know all the right tricks.