Baking Conundrums

Baking is one of my least-hated thing to do. The act of adding in dry ingredients and mixing is oddly therapeutic and satisfying. From ensuring my utensils are grease-free to not over-mixing the batter, baking can be rather challenging. Despite being one of my mum's hobby too, she always asks me why don't I buy straight from the bakery. Maybe its because the way that I put the baking ingredients together appalls her. Apparently, I get flour and butter on every surface possible when I bake. In my defense, our mixing bowl is not big enough for me to work with. Or maybe I am truly a klutz.

Waiting for the oven to ding is also a torturous task, especially when the recipe requires varying baking time or when the batter needs to spend an hour or so in the oven. However, when I first open the door after the oven dings and the waft of delicious smelling food rapidly fills my nostrils, the effort of waiting is well paid-off. That is, if the baking was successful. Lop-sided cakes does not confound me anymore. I am also convinced that removing the baked goods from the tray requires a certain amount of Newton's knowledge because it took me a number of tries to get my cakes out in one piece. Or like the time when I thought it was a good idea to bake meringues on tracing paper. Alterations of the amount of ingredients like flour, sugar and water are also a problem to me because I tend to go overboard or add too little. THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN. After much 'research' and 'interviews' conducted, I have gathered some baking tips If you are like me, hopefully these tips can help to minimise our chances of ruining our baking.

1. Lining of tray/tin/pans

My  enthusiasm nosedives when I find out that my decent-looking cake remains stuck in the cake tin. For smooth, easy removal, tins must be prepped properly. When a recipe calls for buttering and flouring, place a piece of parchment or wax paper on the bottom of a pan. You can accurately cut the right size of paper to fit the bottom of your tin by tracing the sides of the tin before cutting it.

Coat the sides and bottom with softened butter and then dust with flour, turning the pan on its side to get a full coverage and tapping out the excess. Usually, paper will not be needed if cakes are baked in springform pans. Just butter the pan with a pastry brush to ensure every crevice is coated with butter. Then, dust with flour. However, there are a few exceptions. Angel, chiffon and sponge cakes should be baked in clean, untreated pans as they need to adhere to the sides to rise properly. As for cupcakes and muffins, foil or decorative preformed liners are indispensable. 

2. Bringing ingredients to temperature

The temperature and consistency of ingredients can make or break the texture of a cake. Usually, cake recipes call for softened butter. It is important to use softened butter especially during creaming. This part may be tricky when you forget that your butter has been out of the fridge for too long, or when you have sporadic bursts of motivation for baking that you can't wait for your butter to soften. When butter is softened, it is pliable enough to beat but can maintain its structure so it can trap and hold air, which is the secret to a fluffy cake. When a butter is too cold and firm or warm and sloppy, it will result in a flat or dense cake. So, how does one acquire the correct temperature for their butter? Take butter out from the fridge roughly 45 minutes to an hour before using. The time may vary depending on the weather. Also, don't forget to set a timer. Cutting the butter into smaller pieces speeds up the time. If you are feeling impatient and cannot wait to start mixing, you will just have to challenge yourself and play the waiting game. When the butter is soft enough to hold a light thumbprint, you are ready to go. Warming up the butter in the microwave is not advisable as it can cause uneven melting and burn easily. Other than that, eggs should be at room temperature as well.

3. Creaming and beating eggs

Cake recipes often call for beating or creaming, butter with sugar for several minutes- sometimes up to 10. It is important to follow the stated time, although it can be tempting for most people to cut this step short, particularly when you are using a hand mixer. As for me, my paranoia often causes me to over beat the batter, resulting in a lumpy batter and then a tough cake. The beating process greatly affects the texture and structure of a cake as it incorporates air into the batter. As you beat, the butter will lighten in colour and you should see it increase in volume in the bowl. Eggs should also be beaten until light and fluffy. They should lighten in colour and fall into a thick ribbon when the beater is lifted out of the bowl. If the recipe calls for adding one egg at a time, make sure each one is well-incorporated before adding the next. As for meringues, it is crucial that your equipment is grease-free and the egg whites are yolk-free. Meringues are demanding and mean.  If you fail to meet the two important criteria, don't even bother to continue. The egg whites will not peak and will fall flat just like your hopes of baking crisps meringues. 

Hopefully my efforts in trying to improve my baking will be not be futile. And hopefully the praises I get from my family will not be out of courtesy anymore.