If you're practising baking cookies, cakes or bread, we've gathered techniques to make your bakes beautiful and appetising, so they turn out flawless.
1. Cookies
- If you're using butter, chill it first. Softened butter doesn't trap air well when creamed, which makes cookies dense and hard.
- If the butter turns runny while creaming, chill the mixture until the butter firms up, then continue creaming so it traps air better.
- When the butter and sugar are properly creamed, the butter turns paler, the sugar crystals shrink, the volume increases, and it feels soft to the touch with no resistance.
- Add the eggs at medium speed, a little at a time, until all are in. If you add eggs too quickly, the mixture will split. You can fix this by increasing the mixing speed until it comes together, then returning to normal speed and gradually adding the rest of the eggs.
- Another fix for adding eggs too quickly is to add a little flour to absorb the excess egg, but this makes the cookies rather tough and hard because the flour is mixed longer than usual.
- Most cookies are baked with more top heat than bottom heat, at about 350°F (180°C).
- If you're baking a large batch, raise the oven temperature to stop it dropping too much.
- If your cookies are smaller than usual, you can bake them at a higher temperature for a shorter time.
- If the recipe contains more sugar or egg than usual, lower the baking temperature so the cookies don't get too dark.
- Properly baked cookies are golden brown.
- Once baked, lift the cookies off the tray immediately and cool them on a wire rack. Don't stack them, or they'll lose their shape, because hot cookies aren't yet set.
- Once cool, store the cookies in a tightly sealed plastic bag or airtight container. Don't leave cooled cookies out too long, or they'll absorb moisture from the air, turn soft rather than crisp, and have a shorter shelf life.
2. Cakes
2.1 Butter-type cakes
- Chill the butter before use.
- Cream the butter and sugar in a cool room, as this makes it easier to whip them light and fluffy. If the mixture turns runny, set the bowl over ice or chill it until the butter firms up, then continue creaming until light and fluffy.
- Over-mixing the flour can make the cake tough and dense, with a small volume and a cracked top.
- Use fine caster sugar for butter cakes, as it dissolves better than coarse sugar, which can leave white spots on the surface of the cake.
- Don't move the cake while it's in the oven, or it may sink.
- Baking at too low a temperature gives a coarse, shrunken crumb because the cake bakes for too long.
- Baking at too high a temperature makes the cake dome and crack, with a thick crust, a dense crumb and a smaller cake.
- Tap the tin before baking to release air bubbles.
2.2 Foam-type cakes
- The mixing bowl, whisk and all other baking equipment must be clean and free of grease.
- Use fresh eggs.
- Over- or under-whipping the eggs makes the cake dense.
- Stirring the batter too hard or too long, or leaving it to sit too long before baking, makes it deflate and the cake dense.
- Baking at too low a temperature makes the cake coarse and dry.
- For chiffon cake, over-whipped egg whites create air pockets in the cake and make it dry.
- A dense, rubbery layer at the bottom of the tin is caused by poorly mixed batter, batter that is too runny, or baking at too low a temperature.
- For roll cakes, cracking when rolling may be caused by pressing too hard while rolling, or baking too long so the sponge dries out.
- Let the cake cool before loosening it from the tin.
3. Bread
- Read and understand the recipe.
- Choose good-quality ingredients suited to the recipe.
- Weigh and measure ingredients accurately, and double-check before you start.
- Choose a mixer of the right size for the quantity of ingredients.
- In the final mixing stage, knead until the dough is smooth and can be stretched into a thin sheet (well-developed, elastic gluten).
- Divide the dough into the sizes and shapes you want, starting by rounding each piece for a smooth, taut surface, so the shaped bread has a beautiful crust. Shape the pieces in order so each one rests in turn.
- Proof the dough at the right temperature and humidity: about 30–38°C and 80–90% humidity, adjusted for the type of bread. Don't proof dough in the open, as the surface will dry out.
- Choose tins that suit the size of the dough, and grease them well so the bread releases easily without losing its shape.
- Preheat the oven so it reaches the right temperature before baking. Choose the baking temperature based on the size of the bread and the amount of sugar in the recipe; for example, large loaves should be baked at a lower temperature for longer than small ones.
- At the right temperature, you can tell the bread is done when it has coloured evenly all over.
- Once baked, transfer the bread to a wire rack so it doesn't turn soggy from steam, which would make it go mouldy quickly.
- Let the bread cool completely (to about 30–35°C). Don't use a fan, as this makes the bread lose moisture quickly. Once completely cool, pack it to protect it from drying out, dust and contamination. If you pack it before it has fully cooled, the crust will wrinkle and the bread will lose its shape.
- Once packed, don't store bread somewhere damp or hot, as condensation will form inside the bag and cause mould to grow faster.
- Keep everything clean at every stage of bread production so the bread keeps longer.
- When slicing bread, for example for sandwiches, wait until it is completely cool; otherwise it will lose its shape and your knife will dull quickly.
