A Few Tips to Master the Art of Baking Like a Pro

Baking is an art that takes practice. Even the world’s best bakers aren’t perfect – their creations might look perfect, but they spend hours perfecting their craft and using different methods to create their end results. If you aspire to be a great baker and not just someone who can follow a recipe, keep reading for some helpful tips and tricks that will help you master your cake-making skills. 

Use High-Quality Ingredients

The most important tip to remember when baking like a pro is to use high-quality ingredients. For example, if you are making a chocolate cake, using a cocoa powder that isn’t of great quality won’t give you the same results as using a high-end brand. When you use low-quality ingredients, your baked goods will taste bland and lower quality. Baking is all about the quality of your ingredients, so if you use the best, your baked goods will be amazing. You should also be aware of what you’re doing with your ingredients. If you’re re-using old or expired goods, or if you’re adding in ingredients that you don’t usually use (like baking powder that’s past its expiry date), your baking results won’t be amazing. You can easily get fresh, quality baking ingredients from a baking supply store online, like Quoodo.  

Sift Your Dry Ingredients

If you’re baking with dry ingredients (like flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, etc.), you should sift them before adding them to your recipe. This is because dry ingredients are often clumpy, which leads to less-than-perfect baking results. Even if your recipe doesn’t call for sifting, you do it anyway. However, it’s important that you don’t overdo it. You only want to sift until there are no clumps. If you overdo it, you’ll end up with a very fine flour that won’t work with your recipe.  

Don’t Overmix Your Batter

When making a batter, you want to mix your ingredients until they’re just combined. Beyond that, you’re overmixing. Overmixing makes the batter denser, which can make your baked goods taste a little less amazing. When you mix your ingredients, do it until they’re just combined.  

Add Softness With Beaten Eggs

If you’re making a cake batter and want it to be softer and richer, add an egg. You can also add an extra yolk if you’re trying to make the batter richer. 

Know When To Mix And When To Fold

There are a couple of important differences between mixing and folding. When you mix your ingredients, you create what’s known as gluten. Gluten is what makes dough and batter more elastic and less sticky. Mixing is a more aggressive technique that encourages gluten to form. When you fold your ingredients, you don’t create any gluten, as folding is a gentler mixing method that’s better for things that you want to keep whole, like nuts or fruits.

Use Room Temperature Eggs

When baking, you should always use room-temperature eggs. If you use cold eggs in your recipe, the batter will be too thick and dense, and it won’t rise to its full potential. To warm your eggs, you can place them in a bowl with warm water for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can put them in the microwave. When you’re mixing your ingredients, mix your eggs with the rest of the batter using a gentle mixing method.   

Try A Gentler Mixing Method

If your recipe calls for mixing, but you find that your batter ends up too dense, use a gentler method when you mix your ingredients. Gentle mixing means that you’re mixing your ingredients until they’re just combined, but not more. You can use a soft spatula or a wooden spoon to mix your ingredients. You can also use your hands. Whatever you choose to do, be gentle when you mix your ingredients.   

Always Use Parchment Paper

If you’re baking anything that goes in the oven, you should be using parchment paper as it helps keep your baking sheets clean and make it easier to remove baked goods from the pan. If you’re baking cookies or anything that can be easily peeled off a baking sheet and transferred to a cooling rack, you can use regular parchment paper. However, if you’re baking a more delicate baked good, like a cake, you should use a silicone baking mat. When you’re baking with parchment paper, you want to make sure that it is large enough to cover the entire baking sheet. If you don’t cover the entire baking sheet with parchment paper, your baked goods will bake unevenly. High-quality parchment papers are easily available in baking shops and baking supply stores online like Quoodo.  

Conclusion

Baking is a skill that anyone can learn, but it takes practice. When you’re starting out, use these tips to help you nail your baked goods every time. It’s also important to note that baking like a pro isn’t just about following a recipe. It’s also about learning how different ingredients interact and what happens when you put them together. So, why wait? Get all your baking supplies from baking supply stores online like Quoodo and start baking.