Have you always wanted to know why baking ingredients should actually be at room temperature?
Or do you know that feeling when you want to bake a cake and suddenly you have no clue how things work while baking?
So basically you just want/need a few tips and tricks on the subject of baking. But what are you doing when you don’t know further? I personally have the following scenarios:
- I call my mom (moms are supposed to know these things, right?)
- I call my brother (he’s a trained pastry chef-Yay!)
- I google it
Well, if you have reached point number 3 and stumbled upon my post, I would like to list my favourite tips and tricks in with baking for you. They will definitely help you if you are a beginner at baking and if you are already pretty experienced, I am sure there is at least one where you go- oh! I completely forgot about it! 😉
Plum cake 
Baking Tips and Tricks
Grease the baking pan
Instead of using a nice piece of butter for it, just take the wrapper from your butter (the foil) for it! There is usually enough butter stuck to it to grease a baking pan. Some people freeze these butter packages so that they always have some at home.
Room temperature
When baking, ALL ingredients should be at room temperature.
Why? The ingredients then combine better with each other. Obviously, unless it is stated otherwise in the recipe. Then please stick to the recipe. Especially if you need whipped cream-that works better when the cream is chilled.
Salt
ALWAYS add a pinch of salt when baking. This simply gives the pastry the finishing touches and balance it needs and deserves.
Baking powder
Baking powder is used to loosen doughs and masses. By using baking powder, the baked goods will rise better. It is best to mix baking powder with the flour before processing. And then if you even sift the flour and baking powder mixed into the dough – perfect combination!
Toothpick sample
When I bake a cake, I always do the simple toothpick test with a wooden toothpick. The toothpick should really be free of the batter.
Once I didn’t do it and then of course my Christmas Stollen wasn’t baked fully inside yet. Even that I really stuck to the baking time from the recipe.
But why is that? Quite simply, every oven and every baking pan is different. And sometimes 5 minutes make all the difference. For real.
Shortcrust
The dough has to come out of the refrigerator cold – it can then be processed better. And, if it is really sticky, simply put the dough between 2 cling films with a little flour and then roll out the dough. What is even better, if you only take 1 cling film and a reusable silicone baking mat. Theme sustainability and so on…
Yeast dough
If you ever make delicious cinnamon or nut rolls, then let them go in the refrigerator or put them in the fridge for a few minutes before processing. Why? It can then simply be rolled out better and the rolls become more even and look like they came fresh from the bakery
Did you know that you can freeze a pizza dough? I always make more and freeze one- so I always hove some at home.
Muffins and cookies
use an ice cream scoop for consistent results. The best thing is, you don’t have leftover dough sticking everywhere and you just work cleaner.
gluten free
With most recipes, you can substitute your all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour. There are some excellent gluten-free flour mixtures around to use for all kind of cakes.
Getting the cake out of the baking form
Sponge cakes, such as marble cakes, which simply cannot be removed from the baking form as they stick to it can get removed easily with a simple hack.
Place the cake onto a wire rack with the opening facing down. Then place a damp tea towel over the closed baking pan. After a short time, the cake will come out of the form.
Speaking of damp tea towels
if you cut something on a cutting board and the board keeps slipping, place a damp tea towel under the board. You will see that the cutting board will not slip away anymore.
Cake with fruits
If you bake a delicious cake with fruits, like a plum cake, then add a few breadcrumbs or even better biscuit crumbs between your dough and the fruit. That way, the bottom of the cake doesn’t get soggy.
Recipe
When baking, stick to the recipe or the specified baking times as much as possible. Cooking can definitely be more flexible, so be creative there!
I hope my tips and tricks are helpful to you, and you can use them! And as I said, if you still need a few tips or don’t know something, just let me know.
Have fun in the kitchen!
love
sabrina x