Have you heard the phrase that “Cooking is an art and baking is a science”? Well, this is true, but also overlaps. For cooking, technical skills are required and for baking, artistry. In cooking, you can adjust the flavours and taste accordingly but in baking, you need to follow the recipe precisely otherwise it can lead to a blunder. Before baking, you should understand the basics of baking and avert the mistakes easily. Here are some basics of baking that you should know before starting baking:

Measure Ingredients Properly

Because baking is considered a science, each ingredient must be precisely measured. It’s one of the most important baking rules. You should measure the ingredients with a digital scale if possible or use the spoon and level method for dry ingredients: fill the measuring cup/spoon with the dry component and sweep the top with your finger or a straight edge. Apart from that, clear measuring cups with gradations on the side and a pour spout are useful for measuring liquid ingredients.

Use Ingredients that are at Room Temperature

In most of the recipes, it calls for room-temperature ingredients. Like cold eggs when added to a batter, it can shock the whole batter, cold butter is difficult to be creamed; therefore, it’s best to take the temperature of ingredients to room temperature to avoid blunders in baking.

Use a Light Hand

You must have often heard this sentence by many bakers – ‘Do not over mix’. Well, there’s some reason behind this too. This is because once flour is added to a recipe it increases the gluten production which results in a tough or chewy texture which we do not want while making cookies, cakes, or muffins. Therefore, mixing with a light hand results in good output.

Be aware of Leavening Agents

Many recipes include baking powder and baking soda to make baked goods rise without the use of yeast. They can’t be used interchangeably. Because baking soda requires acidic components to activate. Baking powder is utilized in recipes that do not contain acidic components because it simply requires liquid to activate. Therefore, you should know the correct quantity, usage, and the difference between them before using.

Evenly Measure and Scoop Batter

To measure cookie dough, muffins, and cupcakes, use cookie scoops and ice cream scoops with triggers. The scoops will be more consistent, the baked items will cook more evenly, and the process will be completed much more quickly.

Baking is more than just a cooking process now. Therefore, before starting baking these were some of the basics of baking that you should know to make your baking experience easy.

Happy Baking!