Baking Tips & FAQ

These are some tips to be taken care of while baking. Small tips can make your baking easy and delicious. I've tried to add some which found in net while browsing and those which I've noticed. I will defenitely try to add some more to it as and when I find something informative.

Tips on the Ingredients to be used:

Eggs:

Eggs to be used in baking should be at room temperature unless otherwise mentioned. It really makes a difference.  If we are using eggs at room temperature, we get higher volume when whisked and ensures a soft cake when baked. Cold eggs can be kept in a bowl of warm water for 10-15 mts to turn it to room temperature.

The size of the eggs used in baking is always large, unless mentioned. It will affect the baked good.

A large egg in shell is 57 grams

& without shell is 50 grams

 (courtesy:joyofbaking)

In India, it is difficuilt to find large eggs. So what you can do is beat 2 eggs slightly and then measure it to make it 50 g.  You can do the same with egg whites and yolks too.

White of a large egg 30g

Yolk of a large egg 18 g

Beating Eggs:

 A clean beater and bowl is essential for beating egg-whites.  No drops of water or moisture should be there. I always wrap my beater in a plastic wrap after using as I don’t have to wash it next time using it and hence, no risk of water drops in it.

Separate eggs when cold and then warm egg whites to room temperature before using. Make sure there is no yolks in egg-whites.

Copper is always best for whipping whites. Stainless steel when used with cream of tartar and sugar is also good. Avoid using aluminium bowl . Glass and plastic bowls are okay; but not as good as copper and steel.

Use egg whites in room temperature so that it triples in volume.

Always start beating the egg whites at low speed, gradually increasing the speed to medium-high.  Continue beating the whites and once they have reached the soft peak stage, gradually add the sugar.

Foamy stage: Once you start beating egg whites, the small bubbles or foams appear on top . It takes about half a minute to one minute to reach this stage.

Ribboning Stage: When you lift your beater, the batter should fall like ribbons. That is, the it should make a mark on the batter in the bowl when fallen.

Soft peaks: Lift your beater and you can see the peaks hold its shape but falls immediately; but those were clear peaks.

Stiff peaks : The egg whites should be beaten until you have moist stiff shiny pointed peaks when beaters are raised and when you turn your bowl upside down, the meringue (beaten egg white) stuck there and should not fall. If the meringue is still sliding, beat again.

Use the beaten egg whites as early as possible. If you over- beat your egg whites, add one unbeaten white and beat again until stiff peaks form and then remove ¼ cup of egg white.

 Cake Flour: 

Remove 2 tbsp of all purpse flour and add 2 tbsp of corn flour to it. Sieve it atleast 3 times.

Self-raising flour

Add 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder to1 cup of all purpose flour and sieve it 3 times to the least.

Corn Syrup:

Boil 1/2 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water to make syrup.
                                                                       Sour Cream

Add 1 tbsp of Vinegar into 1 cup of fresh cream and let it sit for a minimum of 15 minutes. Don't stir it. You can use it then. You can also use yogurt instead for certain recipes

Oven:

Preheat your oven.

If you are baking in two separate pans, don’t let pans touch each other. Or else, the cake will rise unevenly.

Don’t open the oven door until it is finished rising and is partially browned, or your cake may fall.

Layering the cake

Cut the cake with long, serrated knife. Hold the knife horizontally, put one hand on top of the cake and slowly rotate the cake, cutting the cake all the way round. Continue to rotate and cut deeper into the layer until you cut through and create two even halves.

Cool your cakes completely before frosting.

You can freeze your cakes upto 4 months if not frosted. Frosted cakes keep for 1 or 2 months.

 FAQ

Why my cake crust crack?

Why the crust is too dark?

Why my cake is uneven?

The answer is your oven is too hot.

Why cake has heavy or dense texture?

Why my cake won’t set fast or fall?

It might be because the oven is too cold.

If your top crust is too hard, you might have baked it too long or oven was too hot.

FOR WHIPPING THE CREAM

Its really hard to whip up your cream in a place where room temperature is too high. What I do in my place is that unpack cream into the whipping bowl and refrigerate it for about an hr or more before whipping.

I refrigerate my beaters also.

Or else, you can keep the whipping bowl on a big bowl of ice while whipping.