Some tips and resources for beginner bakers
Originally posted on Substack 3/15/2023
I’ve been baking as a casual hobby for over five years after my spouse challenged me to try making a bread loaf for the first time. Even then, I’m always learning new skills and techniques every time I go into the kitchen and put on my Bad Toro apron to make a new loaf, some desserts for friends, or just test out a new recipe.
Now getting back into it after a long break, I decided to thumb through some beginner’s guides as a primer. One of those guides, 101 Essential Tips: Baking, gave some good advice that I’ve found to be useful during my own or hadn’t seen before but sound interesting.
The book appears to be harder to find than it was even last year, so I decided to pull some of the most useful tips and present them here for anyone else starting their own baking journey. [1] I’ve also provided some other resources below for those who want to go even further.
Some Baking Tips
Always read the full recipe first!
Keep eggs at room temperature before using.
Take butter out of refrigerator 30 minutes before using.
Butter gives richer finish to pastries; margarine gives lighter texture to cakes.
Toast fresh spices whole in a pan over low/medium heat for several minutes.
Baking soda needs an acid to activate, baking powder has acid already in it.
Be careful where oven racks are positioned.
Don't open oven until done, due to sudden drops in temperature.
Dark chocolate [2] most recommended for use; microwaving chocolate may burn, melt in glass bowl over low-simmering water preferred.
Fresh eggs sink, bad eggs float.
Spray measuring utensil with baking spray before scooping honey or syrup.
Digital scales are highly recommended for measuring accuracy of ingredients.
Unsalted butter better option for baking than salted butter, due to better control of salt in recipe.
Maximized use of vanilla beans if using them, with sugar storage or flavored milk recommended.
Fresh ground nuts pulsed in a food processer gradually (not too quickly) is better than store-bought.
To slice a frosted cake, dip the knife in a cup of hot water, then dry with towel and slice.
Good alternatives to...
Parchment paper: Aluminium foil lightly coated with baking spray or butter.
Buttermilk: Milk (250ml) with 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice or white vinegar (per 250ml milk) is good alternative; leave for few minutes to curdle and thicken.
Baking powder (1 tsp): 1/2 tsp cream of tartar & 1/4 tsp baking soda.
Self-rising flour: 125g all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder.
Let cookies set on a wire rack to rest properly.
Brownie consistency depends on cooking time. [3]
Rotate baking sheet halfway in bake for even browness.
Freeze cookie dough by scooping and seperating slightly on baking sheet, then transfer to freezer bag; when baking, just add a couple extra minutes to the bake.
Good-quality heavy baking sheets are worth the investment.
Muffin batter should ideally be lumpy - if it's smooth, it's overworked...
An ice cream scoop is useful to portion out batter evenly for cupcakes.
Spray the scoop before using - make removing batter for smoother portioning.
Remove cupcakes from the pan immediately to prevent them from cooking further.
Fill empty spaces in a cupcake/muffin pan with water to evenly distribute heat.
Cover muffins with clean, dry dish towel while cooling to keep tops soft.
Don't twist the cutter to release for scones or biscuits - up-and-down motion is better for cleaner cuts.
Grated apple or pear keeps muffins moist.
Using the right-size pan impacts baking time.
Grease pans or line with wax paper to prevent sticking.
Use baking spray to grease decorative pans (ex. Bundt pans), then sprinkle with a little flour.
Let cakes cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes.
Use unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate cakes instead of flour, preventing little specks of flour showing up.
Mix citrus zest with sugar in a food processor before creaming.
Batter needs to be thick if baking with dried fruit.
Balloon whisks are best for mixing dry ingredients.
Double-line pans for larger fruitcakes to prevent burning during low-temperature bakes.
Check bakes 5 minutes prior to the recommended time in the recipe - open oven only after 3/4 of time has passed.
Cakes should have light-brown color and spring when touched.
Metal skewer or toothpick should be inserted without anything coming up with it.
Cut cake layers horizontally, carefully, and with the palm of your hand placed lightly on top.
Move a cake to the serving plate FIRST, then frost.
To avoid crumbs while frosting a cake, coat the cake with a thin layer of melted/cooled jam or thinned frosting before applying frosting.
Frost cupcakes to the edge of the wrappers to keep them from going dry.
Strong plastic freezer bags make good alternative to a piping bag.
Use a wooden skewer to get a small amount of food coloring to add to frosting.4
Dust stencils with powdered sugar if there's no time for frosting.
Use a blow-torch for a brulee effect.
Make sure butter is well-chilled before rubbing into flour.
Cold water is a simple way to bind pastry together, as it prevents the fats from breaking down.
Plan ahead for certain baked goods (like breakfast rolls) and allow the second rising to happen in the refrigerator overnight.
For chewy meringue, gently fold 1 tsp of cornstarch and white-wine vinegar.
To prevent egg-white stickiness, rub the clean bowl with the cut side of a lemon or a splash of white vinegar, then dry before whisking the egg whites.
Add some cream of tartar, white vinegar, or a few drops of lemon juice to merigue mix to stabilize the egg whites.
Freeze leftover egg white in an airtight container - defrost, weigh, then double weight of sugar to egg whites for meringues.
Fish out broken eggshells with the broken half of an eggshell.
Make sure pastry is cool enough to roll out.
Pastry is usually bind with water but sour cream, milk, and even 1 tsp of vodka can be used instead.
Egg yolk beaten with a little cold water binding the dough produces a rich crust.
Don’t overwork pastry and rest in order to prevent shrinkage or cracking.
Don't over-flour the work surface, which could make the dough hard and dry if there's too much flour incorporated.
Don't reroll since that adds more heat and activates more gluten in the flour, making the bake tougher and prone to shrinking.
Ideal temperature for starting yeast is either room temperature or lukewarm (a pinch of sugar is said to help too). [5]
Salt enhances flavor but add it at the correct time, since it can kill yeast and prevent bread rising.
Salt can be added to flour instead from the activated yeast.
Ideal temperature for dough to rise on a warm place and should be covered with clean dish towel or greased plastic wrap while rising.
Use a large clean bowl (plastic or ceramic better than metal) to allow dough to grow during rising - make sure to lightly grease bowl to keep dough from sticking too much.
Properly kneaded dough should appear sort of translucent (with light coming through without breaking) when placed to a windowpane.
With bread dough, make sure to "proof" it by letting it rise a second time after it is placed in the baking pan.
If a springy top for the bread is desired, either spray the loaf or place a pan half full of boiling water on the bottom rack of the oven just before baking.
For a crunchy bottom, add cornmeal (for pizza dough) or some semolina/flour (for bread dough) on the tray before placing in the oven for baking.
Best way to determine if bread is done, it should be ideally golden brown on the outside and hollow-sounding when knocking against the underside.
Let bread sit and cool for about 20 minutes before cutting into it - if cut too early, it'll turn into a deflated loaf instead.
Some Baking Resources for Starters
How to Bake Everything: Simple Recipes for the Best Baking by Mark Bittman
The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking: Classic and Inspiring Variations to Hone Your Techniques by Caroline Bretherton
If you have any additional tips or resources you’d like to recommend, please feel free to comment below!
End Notes
[1] The book actually covers a literal 101 tips but a good percentage of them also double as recipes (for basic pastry dough, ciabatta dough, etc.), so I didn’t include them here. The recipes are probably fine but I think some of the other resources listed might provide more reliable versions to try out instead.
[2] 70% cocoa is considered best.
[3] 1 TBSP Greek yogurt or sour cream are recommended for gooier brownies.
[4] A little goes a long way!
[5] 70°F to 90°F (21°C to 32°C) is the ideal range.
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