How To Bake

How To Bake

Are you sure you want to learn how to bake? - It's much more complicated than cooking; But then, everything can be learned right. Here are some beginners' steps to baking:

1. Before you start baking, read the entire procedure first. Understand the whole process.
2. Check if you have all the ingredients and then gather them on your table. Be careful when you plan to substitute some ingredients. For instance, baking soda and/or baking powder is used (only) for cakes and pastries; Yeast is used when you're making bread. Egg yolks, whites, and whole eggs also have specific substituting rules.
3. Prepare the utensils you will need - utensils for measuring, mixing, and baking.
4. Prepare the pans. Check if they are the correct size. Then line them with wax paper, or grease them using shortening or oil. Don't use butter or margarine for greasing because they burn easily and produce a very brown crust.
5. Measure the ingredients. Note to use the correct utensils and to follow the amounts specified in the recipe. While you can adjust the amount of some ingredients like flavorings, spices, dried fruits, and nuts, you can't modify (add, reduce, or omit) the amount of the other ingredients especially leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder, or yeast).
6. Start mixing your batter or dough mixture. Combine dry ingredients first, then the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl, and then together.
7. Preheat the oven according to instructions.
8. Transfer your batter or dough on your greased baking pan making sure that you don't overfill it (only about 2/3 of the pan).
9. Don't open the oven until after the time approximated that baking is done.
10. Test the baked good for doneness. You will have to do this in different ways depending on what you are baking. For butter cakes, doneness is indicated when you prick the cake and the toothpick comes clean; for chiffon and sponge cakes, when you press the cake and it springs back; and for pastries and pies, when the crust is crispy, flakey, and golden brown.
11. Cool the products before transferring to another pan or assembling. This is especially important in baking butter cakes. Put the pan first on a wire rack and leave to cook for at least 10 minutes. On the other hand, you can invert chiffon or sponge cakes immediately after baking.
12. Assemble and decorate as desired.

*A note on ‘High-Altitude Baking': Baking at 3,000 ft. above sea level affects the rising of cakes. Increase the baking temperature by 25 degrees F; Increase the amount of the liquid ingredients by 1-2 tbsp. per cup used; Decrease sugar by 1 tbsp. per cup used; and decrease leavening agents by 1/8 tsp. for every 1 tsp. used.