6 Simple Steps to Successful Baking!

I’m putting this post together because I get tons of messages asking so many different questions about recipes. I would love to have all the information in one place to help everyone the best I can! Below I’m going to go through several tips and tricks to help everyone achieve the best results possible for successful baking. I truly believe that anyone that really wants to bake, absolutely can! There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to walk into the kitchen and produce any baked good you want to. It’s my mission to make this possible for any and everyone!

1. Key to Successful Baking:  ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RECIPE! I’m sure this seems like something that should go without saying. However, 9 times out of 10, when I start troubleshooting my recipes, there’s been one (and sometimes even a few) thing that was done differently than the recipe called for. I develop my recipes and techniques so that anyone can follow along and get the same results I do.
2. Always use an oven thermometer! A few degrees in any direction can and will affect the outcome of your baked goods. You can find oven thermometers online as well as a lot of grocery and hobby stores.
3. Unsalted butter! I always use unsalted butter in baking. Salted butter can contain as much as 18% more water than unsalted. 18% can absolutely be the difference in a recipe working out or not.
4. Weigh your ingredients! Everyone scoops ingredients differently. I provide weight measurements to all of my recipes. When I’m developing a recipe, I weigh out the exact measurements that I use for that specific recipe. Again, I do this so that anyone can follow that recipe and get the same results I did. I also measure my specific ingredients because I don’t like online conversion charts. They can (and do) differ and will change the results.                                                                                                             
5. Pan sizes: If you’re using a recipe for a cake that calls for the use of 6″ pans, but you decide to use 10″ pans, this is going to affect the outcome. When changing pan sizes, you must also change the amount of time you’re baking for. This can differ in many different ways. My best tip is that: If this is your very first time trying the recipe, make it as the recipe states. Then the next time you can try different things.
6. Baking times: In recipes you will almost always see a range of times to bake in (i.e. bake for 10-14 minutes). Ovens differ from one another. There’s so many different things that can contribute to things baking at different times. Different pans, altitudes, atmospheres, and even ovens can change the amount of time something takes to bake. Follow the guides and pictures and you’ll quickly learn your equipment and times.

When in doubt, reach out for help! The whole reason I started this blog was because I want to help. As I stated above, there’s no reason that everyone can’t get out there and bake a delicious, from scratch treat. Feel free to join my Facebook group “Everything Cake & Cookies!”. It’s a great community with tons of info as well as many tutorials to learn from!