8 Easy Baking Tips for Beginners
Taste of Nova Scotia teamed up with Chef Larry Bergeron of the Nova Scotia Community College, Akerley Campus, for 8 easy tips to take the stress out of baking – just in time for Thanksgiving weekend.
Apply these tips while trying Chef Bergeron’s Morning Glory Muffins and make something fresh for breakfast that will power you through until turkey time.
1. Read the recipe
If you plan to follow a recipe, read it from start to finish before you start baking. Ensure you have the time and the equipment to follow each direction step by step.
2. Mis en place
When it comes to baking, each ingredient is important to the success of the final product. To save you from wasting time & ingredients –organize everything in one place before you start.
3. Weight & Measurement
Baking is a science. Proper care and precision of method and measurement in a recipe is very important. For example, if a recipe calls for one cup of milk, be sure to use a proper liquid measuring cup.
When you’re cooking, there is room to improvise with measurements for taste preference, however, this is often not the case in baking. If you alter flour, yeast or sugar in a baking recipe – it will affect the end result in a BIG way.
4. Temperature
Temperature plays a big role in baking. When a recipe calls for room-temperature butter, there’s a reason. To produce a soft gentle dough requires the blending of a fat (at room temperature) and the dry product (such as flour).
The opposite is true for making tea biscuits. Your butter should be chilled in a small portion when binding with the dry ingredients. This method will provide a beautiful flaky product.
5. Grease your Pan
Here is a little baker’s secret to create your own pan coating to avoid baked goods from sticking to your pan:
Place an equal amount of vegetable oil, all purpose flour and bread flour in a mixing bowl, blend on low speed for five minutes. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it and then coat the inside of your baking pan or muffin tin with the mixture. Make sure it coats the entire surface.
6. Preheat
Give yourself some time to heat things up. Depending on what you’re baking, if you don’t preheat the oven, it will not rise properly.
7. Into the oven –
When it’s time to bake, put your pan in the middle of the oven to get the most even temperature.
And remember what your mother told you: when there’s a cake in the oven, don’t open the oven door! It should remain closed at all times, unless otherwise indicated. This helps prevent the cake from “falling” or collapsing.
8. Ready yet?
To check if your cake (or other baking) is cooked throughout, insert a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean you’re ready to remove the cake from the oven.
For breads, a good tap at the bottom of the loaf, will indicate the bread is ready if the sound is hollow. This trick requires a little trial and error.
Chef Larry Bergeron:
Chef Larry Bergeron, is a wiz in the kitchen with over 30 years of professional experience in food service delivery around the world. Founder & instructor of the NSCC – Boulanger and Baking program, he has spent the last decade teaching young minds the most advanced techniques in modern baking.