Hi again everyone! Back after the Halloween. More of holidays coming, Thanksgiving and Christmas, meaning, dining just everywhere and anywhere with family and friends. Baked products are ever present when dessert time comes and they are the ones that makes an ordinary meal special. It becomes special when spruced up with cakes, pastries, pie and cookies. Foods served on special occasions like birthdays and weddings seemed to be incomplete without them .They are saved for last because they are the best. So, cooking these baked products should be done perfectly, not soggy in consistency, nor dry, crumbly nor tough. Important and basic rules should be followed to make these very tempting, sweet baked foods successful. Let me share them with you.
· One very important rule is, strictly follow the recipe directions. Exact measurement is essential to avoid the imperfections I mentioned earlier. So, read the recipe carefully.
· All ingredients should be ready before starting. As much as possible, make sure that all are fresh and best in quality.
· Be ready with all the baking utensils like mixer, measuring cups, whisk, baking pans among others. Arrange them in order as specified in the recipe. In this way, there is that kind of ease – feeling and movement as you go along.
· Be accurate in measuring all the ingredients, never over or under measure. Don’t shake or pack the measuring cup if not specified in the instructions.
· Always sift the flour before measuring, then, sift again with the baking powder. Sifting is needed to break the clumps and adds air to the flour and makes measurement uniform. This also makes cakes and pastries lighter. Sifted flour is lesser in weight (about 20%) than flour that has settled. But the best way to have uniform results is to weigh the flour. Many recipes nowadays give the measurements of ingredients by weight.
· Always beat in the eggs one at a time unless specified.
· When the instructions call for pre-heating the oven at a specific temperature, do it, no more no less.
More tips for perfect baking:
· To avoid over cooking, take the cake out of the oven immediately after baking and place it on a rack, if available, or on a pan placed on top of a wet rag to cool off.
· Place a dish of cold water at the bottom shelf of an oven to prevent the edges from burning or if the cake browns before it is cooked when baking small cakes.
· To avoid icing breaks when slicing cakes, wet the knife in boiling water before cutting the cake.
· Dip the utensils in boiling water occasionally when icing the cake to avoid the icing from drying up.
· Refrigerate cakes with frosting made with eggs.
· For instant decoration of a cake, use empty, clean, squeeze-type mustard or catsup containers and use the narrow spouts for drawing and writing with icing.
· But if cake is really a failure, never throw it away. Simply cut it into squares and top it with whipped cream and syrup to make it as pudding slices.
Last but not the least, put your heart in it. Love and enjoy baking to make it perfectly right and surely failure is out of the way.
