About Baking Page

10 Key Baking Tips

Butter Consistency is key - Follow the Instructions/Ingredients closely concerning butter.
Get an oven thermometer for perfectly baked items.
Prep all of the ingredients before you begin cooking.
Baking recquires precision. Measurements must be accurate.
Check the recipe for ingredients that need to be a certain temperature and follow that instruction.
Use parchment paper instead of nonstick spray. It allows for evenly cooked cakes and baked goods while also making it easy to remove the item from the pan.
Fully scrape your bowl each time you stir to make sure you are getting a full even mix of ingredients.
Always bake the item in the center of the oven
Make sure your oven is FULLY preheated before you put your item in the oven.
Always mix ingredients in the order stated in the recipe. Generally liquid ingredients mixed together and then the dry ingredients mixed together and then added to the liquid ingredients.

When making meringue, learn to recognize "soft peaks," which are characterized by white glossy soft peaks that won't pour out of the bowl if you turned it upside down.
Practice piping techniques. A steady hand is critical and make sure to hold the piping bag from the top so that the frosting doesn't spill over the top.
When kneading bread, massage bread until you can take a piece of the dough and spread the dough without breaking it, all while being able to slightly see through it.
Before transfering cookies to the cooling rack, let them sit for 5 minutes so they can set and therefor won't fall apart as easily when transferring them with a spatula.
The easiest way to melt chocolate is actually to melt it in the microwave. For every one cup of chocolate chips, it is adviced to leave it in the microvewave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
When toasting nuts, set the oven to 300-325 degrees farenheight and place the nuts on a shallow pan with the nuts spread out. You'll know they're ready when they're golden brown and smell delicious.