It’s always good to be confident that every cake you bake will taste delicious and moist for your loved ones or clients. These are some tips to keep in mind when baking.
Your Oven
It is important to ensure that your oven temperature remains consistent. A 5-degree difference can make a huge difference in the quality of your cakes and other baked goods. Get an oven temperature thermometer. Always refer to it to ensure that the oven has been preheated before you place your cakes in the oven. Also, make sure the oven has reached the desired temperature.
Pan Preparations
It would be best if you prepared your pans according to your recipe. Most recipes require you to flour and grease your pans. However, there are some exceptions. Greasing and flouring can be done with pan grease, baking sprays, or cake release. This will make your life easier. Follow the directions if your recipe calls for either grease only or none.
Measuring Ingredients
Baking can be described as an art form, with a touch of this and another.
Kitchen Scales
While a kitchen scale is not an inexpensive investment, it can be a valuable tool for baking. You can use it to weigh ingredients, and in baking, you can also use it to measure the batter in your pans.
There are two types of basic scales:
- Spring-loaded scales equipped with a needle and numbers that show the weight in ounces and pounds.
- The same information is available on digital scales and a tare option that will subtract the weight of your bowl or pan if it’s placed on the scale. After hitting the tare button, you can add ingredients or batter.
A scale that has a level surface is best. It should be able to see your face even if you have many pans on it. Consider purchasing a power adapter if you decide to purchase a digital scale so that low batteries are never an issue.
Measurement of Spoons and Cups
- Dry measuring cups are for dry ingredients and liquid measurements for wet. Although the volume of both cups is equal (they take up the same space), liquid measures can not be used to level dry ingredients.
- It would help if you only bought liquid measuring cups with accurate markings. Cooks Illustrated Magazine ranked Wilton liquid measuring cups among the top brands with precise markings.
- Weigh the empty measuring cup. Add water to the cup mark, and weigh again. A cup of water should weigh 8.34542 ounces. However, most scales won’t give you this exact weight. Let’s assume that a volume of water equals 8 1/3 ounces.
- Baking can have a big impact on the final product. Even a Tablespoon less or more than the recipe calls for can make a difference in the outcome. And if you’re talking about leavening and salt, imagine how tiny variations can make a huge difference!
You should always fill traditional dry measuring cups the same way you use them. You can either spoon the flour into a measuring cup, level it with a straightedge, or dip the cup in the ingredients and then sweep it with your straightedge. You would probably find different weights if you tried both of these methods.