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    Home » Baker's Dozen Baking Tips

    Published: Nov 24, 2016 · by Sree · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments

    Baker's Dozen Baking Tips

    Baker's Dozen Baking Tips - Baking Basics. Follow these 13 tips to achieve perfectly baked goods. Be a better baker, first time and every single time.

    bakers_dozen_baking_tips_dsc0884

    Oh yes!! the baking season is here!!! Before we get into the full-fledged baking frenzy, I wanted to bring to you some tips that give you perfect cakes, breads etc. first time and every single time. Now, I could have compiled a list of baking tips for you, but I went a step beyond and asked a professional baker to share her secrets with us.

    Aarti Prasanna is a professional baker and she is settled in Salem, Tamil Nadu. She is my second cousin and we lived in the same city and she is like my lil' sister. You can find her amazing creations on her facebook page Sugar and spice.

    Warning: These cakes are awe inspiring. If you look at the feedback she gets from her customers, you will know that they taste as good as they look  🙂 .

    aarti

    A few years back, Sonshine had to do a project in school, an art project, and the project was to write an essay about an artistic person in his family and get pictures of their art. We picked Aarti as the family member and her cakes as her art. Sonshine wrote a cute essay about Aarti and his explanation for her being so creative and talented is "Ma, she even has the word ART in her name!!!". I know Aarti's family very well. She is not just good at making cakes, but I know she paints; she belongs to the third generation of artistic people from my maternal side. I am so proud of her achievements.

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    Baker's Dozen Baking Tips

    1. Mise en place

    A French culinary term meaning "putting in place". When it comes to any recipe it's essential to have everything ready so in baking we need all ingredients weighed correctly and ready.

    • Read the ingredients and the recipe before you start.
    • Measuring all ingredients in the correct manner is important. For example, I prefer to measure all ingredients in grams (weight) than in cups (volume). If you wish to measure dry ingredients in cups, do not press all-purpose flour into the cup measure; instead scoop out from the container and remove the excess from the cup by scraping off with a knife.
    • Pre-heat the oven to the required temperature before you start.
    • A recipe may require ready-ing the pan in the beginning which is essential as the cake batter will need to be placed in the pre-heated oven immediately after mixing (e.g. red velvet cake). Otherwise, the rising agents may not be effective.

    2. Butter

    If you need butter in the recipe make sure you leave it outside so that it comes to the room temperature. If you have forgotten to do so, the quickest way is to grate the cold butter so that it quickly comes to room temperature.

    3. Dry ingredients

     It is always better to sift the dry ingredients 2 to 3 times. This helps in evenly mixing all the ingredients as well as the main rising agents. This also helps in aerating the batter.

    4. Unsalted butter

    Always use unsalted butter as this way you can have a control over salt in the recipe.

    bakers_dozen_baking_tips_dsc0876

    5. Types of flours

    In India, we have access to only all purpose flour (maida). We usually don't find self-rising flour or cake flour in the grocery stores. You can make it at home by following the measurements given below:

    • Self-rising flour (140gms)

    130gms all purpose flour
    +½ tsp baking powder
    +¼ tsp salt

    • Cake flour (120gms)

    100g all purpose flour
    +2 tbsp corn-starch (corn flour)

    6. Check the expiry date of ingredients

    When it comes to rising agents or yeast for bread, the expiry date is very important as the quality of the final product depends on the quality of the ingredients. After all the hard work we put in, we don't want a cake that hasn't risen or a flat-bread.

    7. Eggs and liquid ingredients

    Make sure the eggs are fresh and out of the refrigerator at room temperature. Even with milk or any other liquid ingredients, it is a must that they are at room temperature.

    8. Know your oven

    Oven temperatures are crucial for the end product to be perfect. Best way is to check your oven temperature using an oven thermometer so that they are consistent with the temperature indicated on the oven.

    bakers_dozen_baking_tips_dsc0878

    9. Lining your pan

    The best medium for baking pans is aluminum as they are good conductors of heat. It is ideal to line the pan with parchment paper. If you are not using parchment paper to line your pan, brush the pan with butter and dust with flour.

    10. How to check the cake doneness:

    • The batter will separate from the pan sides
    • The smell is another indication
    • Toothpick once inserted into the center of the pan will come clean.

    11. Cool the baked goodies

    Do not try to de-mould the cake from the cake pan or remove cookies from the baking sheet immediately after it is out of the oven. It will not hold shape or could break.

    12. Plan your work

    If you are planning to ice the cake today, make sure you bake the cake previous day so that the cake gets ample time to cool down.

    13. Make sure you are patient

    When it comes to baking, we are not born experts. We make mistakes and learn from it. Moreover, make sure to have fun.

    Hope you found Aarti's baking tips useful.

    If you have any baking related questions, do drop us a line in the comments, we will try to find an answer for you to the best of our abilities. Do not forget to check out our collection of Baked Goods.

    We are planning to bring you not just recipes, but tips like this to make cooking/baking a breeze. So, stay in touch.

    It is EASY.

    We are active on social networks. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and/or Twitter.

    Never miss a recipe, subscribe to our posts. Delicious recipes emailed straight to you as soon as we publish them on the blog.

    Till we meet again…

    Namaste.

    Deliciously Your’s,

    S

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Nafisa shaikh says

      November 28, 2016 at 10:17 pm

      Hi arthi your great baker loved ur tips
      I just wanted to know I make cakes and breads it comes out soft but the surface of cake or bread it's become dry and hard but inside its soft please suggest me and where I m going wrong.

      Reply
      • Framed Recipes says

        November 30, 2016 at 9:44 am

        Hi Nafisa, Thank you so much for your question. Here is what Aarti says about your Query: "When it comes to bread, as soon it's out of the oven it's very hot and thirsty so it needs a brush strokes of milk. Ibrush a lot of milk on the surface,but do not soak it.

        For cakes, butter based cakes will get dry as soon as it cools, so best Is to wrap it in cling wrap after it cools and refrigerate it and get it to room temp before icing. This will ensure that the moisture inside will spread out evenly."

        Hope this helps. Happy Baking.

        Reply
    2. Karkuzhali says

      November 28, 2016 at 11:44 am

      Wonderful tips, pictures are really great ?

      Reply
      • Framed Recipes says

        November 28, 2016 at 12:03 pm

        Thank you so much.

        Reply
    3. Sowmya says

      November 25, 2016 at 9:08 pm

      So thoughtful of you to have shared this Sree. Awesome. A big thanks to you and your cousin Arthi.

      Reply
      • Framed Recipes says

        November 27, 2016 at 2:55 pm

        Thank you Sowmya

        Reply
    4. Priya says

      November 24, 2016 at 10:32 pm

      Lovely post dear. Great pics and wonderful tips!

      Reply
      • Framed Recipes says

        November 27, 2016 at 2:54 pm

        Thank you

        Reply

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