Tips for Success

I like to be a little scrappy when cooking dinner. Toss in a bit of ginger, throw in a dash of cayenne. Out of onions?! Maybe I’ll just throw in some garlic instead.

Baking, and dessert making in general, is much less forgiving. You can follow a recipe to the letter and things sometimes still go awry. I suggest sticking close to the recipe as written and adhere to just a few basic “rules” that I’ve outlined below to help things go as smoothly as possible.

1) Read the recipe before you begin.

This sounds obvious but sometimes we just see a pretty picture and want to dive right in. I’d suggest slowing down and begin every baking adventure by reading the list of ingredients and entire recipe before you get started. Ideally at least a day ahead of time in case you need to run out and buy more butter. I always need more butter. You don’t want to be halfway through mixing your bagel dough to find out that you have to rest it for 16 hours before you can bake them. (“But I wanted bagels now!”) Or discover you need a piece of equipment or ingredient you don’t have. ("Wait, I need a candy thermometer?") Many recipes for baked goods require eggs, butter, and milk to be at room temperature. Knowing all this ahead of time will save you a world of headache.

2) Preheat your oven longer than you think you need to.

Start preheating your oven before you start prepping your ingredients. Maybe even before then. So many baked goods fail in the oven. This is most likely because it wasn’t at the proper temperature. I’d also suggest using an oven thermometer. Most home ovens aren’t accurate. Mine sure isn’t, and it takes a full hour to get over 450° F. So again, plan ahead and preheat.

3) Weigh your ingredients whenever possible.

Baking is an art but it’s also a science. Scooping flour into a measuring cup can yield different quantities of flour from person to person. One baker may pack it in, others may use a lighter touch yielding different amounts, and this can throw off an entire recipe. Digital kitchen scales that have weights in grams, ounces, pounds, and milliliters are simple to use and are an inexpensive purchase that should last years.

If you must use a measuring cup, 125 grams = roughly 1 cup, but this may be different for the recipes I link to on other sites.

4) Speaking of flour...

Please use the type of flour prescribed in the recipe. All purpose, bread, and cake flours don’t behave the same way. Want to cook gluten free? King Arthur Flour sells a gluten free flour that you can use as a measure for measure substitute for all purpose. I haven’t tried it but it sounds like a dream product for gluten free baking.

That’s it. Happy Baking!