Baking can be so tricky! Like mastering an art, being confident in a sport, or knowing your stuff – baking needs practice. And a lot of it. Trust me, even some pro’s need some of these basic baking tips for beginners. There are a few different types of people in the world – those that think anyone who bakes should be side hustling, those that think that baking is a waste of time because you can buy cakes, and those that eat the goods. If you are like me and want to know how to bake, like properly – and don’t think it’s a waste of time, have a read of these Baking Tips For Beginners – hopefully, some questions can be debunked!
Baking Tips For Beginners
Hand Whisks & Electric Whisks are not the same Things
When the bakers tell you to whisk something, many of them do not do it by hand. When making meringues, for example, you have to whisk until the eggs are “soft peaks”. Now, for an electric whisk, 4 eggs will take around 8-10 minutes, for a hand whisk – at least double it, and that is you have the perseverance and arm strength to not get exhausted. However, any time you don’t whisk, you lose air, which is the key to a fluffy egg white.
Pros and Cons of Hand / Electric Whisks
Hand Whisks:
- Pro – Very cheap
- Pro – A free arm workout
- Pro – More control over your food
- Con – Takes more time
- Con – Any arm breaks lose air – reduces fluffiness
Electric Whisks:
- Pro – Takes less time
- Pro – Less of a workout
- Con – Easy to lose control and over whisk
- Con – Expensive
Related: How To Make Doughnuts at Home (Easy & No Yeast)
Cake Liners For No Stuck Cakes
Sick of greasing your tray, hoping that you have covered all of it, instead of your cake getting stuck in the tin? Just like you can get cases for muffin tins, you can also get cake liners for bigger bakes. A range of sizes is available for different tins (sandwich cakes/loaf bakes), meaning that all you have to do is pop this in your tin and add your batter and you’re ready to go! That simple! If you would like some extra guarantee, spray some cooking spray onto your tin to avoid stickage!
Check Check Check Your Flour
Although this doesn’t seem like a major factor, the type of flour you use can drastically change the result of your baking. Always check whether you need Plain Flour, Self-Raising Flour or All purpose flour, and the end product will be more accurate.
Types of Flour De-Bunked
Plain Flour (Known as All-purpose flour in the U.S) – Your everyday flour. This is used for pretty much everything, such as biscuits, bread, and pies, as well as a thickening agent for sauces and soups.
Self-Raising Flour – Self-rising flour is flour with baking powder and a bit of salt already added.
Almond Flour – Almond flour is made from ground, blanched almonds. Almond flour is grain-free, gluten-free, and low in carbohydrates.
Bread Flour – Bread flour is a high-strength, high-gluten flour that’s designed for making pizza doughs, crusty breads, pretzels, bagels and chewier products.
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Eggs Are Always Large
Although a lot of the eggs on sale today are medium, when it comes to baking – we are always expected to use large eggs. Depending on the number of eggs in the recipe vs the size of yours, you may need to adjust your quantities. If you do not have large eggs, then you can add mix 1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil mixed with 1-1/2 tablespoons water and 1 teaspoon baking powder to replace some of the lost egg whites.
Follow the Oven Timings
The number of times I have taken my cake out of the oven when the timer goes off for it to not look done. It is so easy to overcook a cake, but so difficult to get it just right. Always follow the timings on the recipe and check when it tells you to check. To know if it is done, use a skewer (or thin sharp knife) in the centre of your cake – if no batter comes on your knife, it is done. Even if it looks raw! Fun Fact: Cakes harden as they cool on the cooling rack, so it is best to not overdo it in the oven, otherwise it will dry out as it cools.
Baking is a Science
When making a list of Baking Tips For Beginners – this is the most important one! Although it may be a simple context, the reason it is key to follow recipes is that they have measured everything out for you. Too much flour – it will be too dense, too much butter – it will be too soggy. The key is to find the perfect balance in your ingredients and to make sure that there is no compromise when it comes to making sure you have everything.
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Follow the Order of The Recipe
This, again, sounds like a silly thing to remember, but it is super important when baking. Mixing hot & cold mixtures together at the right time is so important! It is usually always butter and sugar mixed together first – to fluff up the butter. If you do this with the flour in, well it won’t fluff and you will end up with a crumble mixture. Add too hot a liquid to butter and eggs, well the butter will melt and the eggs will scramble. Remember to gradually add your dry ingredients too to not overwhelm the wet ingredients. This may sound like a lot of things to remember, but the one takeaway from all of this is to follow the recipe.
Make sure that all of your Ingredients are at Room Temperature
Baked goods do better if they are at a constant temperature. Excessively hot or cold items could change the consistency of the batter. Before baking, make sure that eggs, butter and milk are all on the work surface for long enough to not “shock” the batter. If anything, softened butter is much easier to work with when whisking. I tend to buy it from the supermarket in the morning and leave it out until I bake (unless it is a super hot day).
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Be Wary of The Oven Door
The oven door can be the enemy when it comes to baking. If you open the door, you lose heat in the oven, usually causing your bake to shrink. Wherever possible, do not open the oven door, and if you need to 1. Be conscious of how long it is open and 2. Wait until at least 2/3 of the bake is complete to ensure that you are not sacrificing precious rising time.
Digital Scales are Best
These are the most accurate way of ensuring you have the best chance of a successful bake – the wrong quantities will change everything! Invest in some digital scales – these are way more accurate than measuring cups as they do tend to vary!
Silicone Spatulas are the way forward
A flexible spatula is one of the best tools to use with baking. Although it is firm enough to grab everything, it is gentle enough to keep your batter light and fluffy.
Fold, Not Stir
The key is keeping those light and airy bubbles in your batter is to fold and not stir. Stirring can do the opposite effect and leave you with a flat batter, whilst folding mixes and keeps all those bubbles right where you want them, creating a light, fluffy bake.
The Baker’s Almanac: “Think about it as if you are carving your spatula through the mixture and gently folding the bottom over the top. By doing this, you are incorporating all the ingredients together while trapping air into bubbles in the batter.”
Be Patient and Learn From Your Mistakes
Baking is not the easiest – but once mastered, it is one of the best ways to relax in the afternoon. Take your time, follow the recipe religiously and be patient. Things become second nature, but more importantly, you learn the most from your mistakes. Failure is the best way to know how to not do it the next time. And hey, what’s the worst that can happen? The bake fails! But the supermarket will already have another one ready for you – to keep you covered. Do whatever you can to enjoy the process because it will reap the rewards.
I hope these baking tips for beginners helped to break the back of baking nerves and to clear some misconceptions. Good luck with your next bake!
