7 Essential Baking Tips & Questions

Both butter and margarine have their place in baking—and their advocates. It is not always easy to tell the difference between a cake that has been made with butter and another made with margarine. Generally speaking, however, butter gives a richer finish to pastry, whereas margarine will give cakes a lighter, more airy texture. One of the advantages of using margarine over butter is that you do not have to wait until it has softened before working it into the other ingredients.

These two baking staples often get confused. However, they are not the same thing, so it is useful to know which product is most suitable in which circumstances. The main thing to remember is that baking soda needs an acid to activate it, whereas baking powder has had the acid already added to it. Baking soda can be used in any recipe where an acid is present to activate it—most commonly, lemon juice or buttermilk. Baking powder is typically used in all kinds of baked goods where no other acid is present—for example, vanilla cakes.

Using freshly ground spices in a recipe adds a depth of flavor that is hard to beat. If you are using fresh, whole spices, take the time to toast them first. Sprinkle the spices in an even layer in a dry frying pan, and cook them over a low to medium heat for a couple of minutes, or until they start to change color and release their fragrance. Allow the spices to cool before grinding them. When you toast the spices, make sure they
do not cook too quickly. It they burn, they will produce an unpleasant, acrid flavor.

A good recipe should tell you where to position your oven shelves. Do not overlook this seemingly minor aspect—it is of the utmost importance to the overall success of the cake. Position the shelf before you heat the oven because hot shelves require careful handling, and time spent juggling them will inevitably result in considerable loss of heat. Moving the oven shelves before you start baking is not only safer but is more likely
to result in the correct oven temperature.

The temperature dial on your oven may give only an approximate reading. Since the temperature inside the oven is such a vital element of a successful cake, it is worth investing in an accurate oven thermometer. You can leave it in the oven to double-check that the temperature on your dial matches the temperature inside, or use it to check and calibrate the oven’s temperature every so often. The loss of heat resulting from opening the oven door takes a few seconds to register. Read the temperature through the glass, if possible.

If you are baking with chocolate, it is worth buying the best-quality chocolate you can afford. If you are using dark chocolate, try to find one with a cocoa solid content of at least 70 percent. A high cocoa-solid percentage will result in an intense, chocolatey taste rather than a cloyingly sweet one. Melting chocolate: a microwave is a good shortcut for melting chocolate, but the higher cocoa-solid content it has, the more likely it is to burn. Instead, melt it in a bain-marie—that is, in a glass bowl over a little gently simmering water.

Digital scales are an essential piece of equipment for any serious baker. Most have a zeroing, or tare, function, which enables you to measure out several different ingredients into the same bowl. The accuracy of digital scales is such that it is possible to measure out even the smallest amounts.
Metric or imperial? Good-quality digital scales operate both metric and imperial systems, which eliminates the need to convert grams into ounces and vice versa.