{"id":6301,"date":"2009-11-20T12:41:16","date_gmt":"2009-11-20T17:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=6301"},"modified":"2020-02-26T15:15:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T20:15:22","slug":"best-baking-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/best-baking-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet-Tooth Friday: My Ten Best Baking Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WomanHello foodies!\u00a0 It’s Christine here for Sweet-Tooth Friday!\u00a0 As the holidays roll around, it’s time to show off your culinary prowess!\u00a0 To go along with my post on how to be a healthier baker<\/a>, I thought I’d let you in on some more general (but uber<\/em>-important) tidbits I’ve picked up as a professional baker.<\/p>\n

Ten Tips for Better Baking<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Ditch the timer <\/strong>That cake is done when you say it’s done!\u00a0 One of the biggest mistakes you can make is blindly following the time given in a recipe.\u00a0 Sure, you can use the time given as a guideline, but it can totally vary based on the size of your pan, the nuances of your oven, and even altitude!\u00a0\u00a0 I always start checking on my goodies at least five minutes earlier than the time listed.\u00a0 Keep an eye out for signs your cake is done: edges that are pulling away from the sides of the pan, an unjiggly center, and a knife that comes out clean!\u00a0 If whatever you are baking is browning on top but still not done in the center, just loosely cover with a piece of aluminum foil.<\/li>\n
  2. Get an oven thermometer <\/strong>I cannot stress this enough: setting your dial to 350 degrees does not guarantee your oven will heat to 350 degrees!\u00a0 Many ovens I have worked with are fifty<\/em> degrees<\/em> too hot, so setting it to 350 actually means 400.\u00a0 This is a sure-fire way to over-bake or burn your creations, so before you unnecessarily chip away at your baking confidence, just go get a thermometer already!\u00a0 Mine works great and was less than ten bucks.<\/li>\n
  3. Know thy oven<\/strong>Does your oven have a hot spot in the back left corner?\u00a0 Do cakes on the bottom rack burn if they don’t have sheet pan underneath them?\u00a0 That’s how my oven is!\u00a0 If you’re not sure about yours, try to stay in the center of the oven and rotate your pan around about half way through baking.\u00a0 When you have something on both the top and bottom racks, swap positions there too.<\/li>\n
  4. Make every stir count <\/strong>For light and fluffy baked goods, it’s important not to over-stir.\u00a0 Over-stirring strengthens the gluten, which can make your cake tough.\u00a0 There are several ways to efficiently stir your batter.\u00a0 First, make sure your dry ingredients are completely mixed together before you get them wet.\u00a0 Next, instead of stirring vigorously like a cartoon chef, gently scrape down the sides and bottom<\/em> of your bowl and mix with a folding motion, constantly incorporating a new section of batter.<\/li>\n
  5. Use the right pans<\/strong> No, you probably don’t need that teddy bear sheriff cake pan.\u00a0 But if you only have your trusty 9×13 casserole dish and muffin tin, it may be time to branch out.\u00a0 A 12 cup bundt pan makes an effortless presentation, plus it requires less icing than a normal cake.\u00a0 A springform pan has a removable bottom, and is nice for coffeecakes and other tarts so you don’t have to flip it.\u00a0 Finally, an insulated cookie sheet will bake your cookies without scorching the bottoms.<\/li>\n
  6. Chill out <\/strong>Let your cake or cookies cool before taking them out of the pan.\u00a0 (Better yet, let them cool on a wire rack so air can circulate around the bottom.)\u00a0 Otherwise you risk getting burnt, or more tragically could cause your baked goods to break.\u00a0 Breads, brownies, and “custard” pies especially need time to finishing baking after <\/em>they come out of the oven so just let them be for twenty minutes of so.\u00a0 And you!\u00a0 Yes you, Johnny Impatient.\u00a0 Don’t even think about icing a hot cake or cupcake- you’ll be much happier with the room-temperature results.<\/li>\n
  7. Find a trusty recipe source <\/strong>If you are going to use your valuable time and ingredients, you should know your source.\u00a0 I’ve had great success with epicurious.com<\/a> and as you know I also love to “ask Betty<\/a>“; Matt really likes finecooking.com<\/a>.\u00a0 For vegan fun, nothing tops Isa and the gang at The Post Punk Kitchen<\/a>.\u00a0 And, ahem, there’s yours truly. <\/em>You can always hit me up with your baking questions in the comments.<\/li>\n
  8. Make the recipe yours<\/strong>Substitutions are your friend when you can’t find the healthy recipe you want.\u00a0 See my post on healthy baking<\/a> on how to veganize any recipe.\u00a0 Also, remember to read recipes with a critical eye- typos do exist.\u00a0 If something seems really off, say a quarter cup of salt, it probably is!\u00a0 Finally, feel free to mix up the flavors and add-ins, but don’t go too crazy.\u00a0 One to three flavors usually work best.\u00a0 For example, Lemon Cake is good, White Chocolate Lemon Cake is good, and White Chocolate Lemon Cake with Raspberries is good.\u00a0 White Chocolate Lemon Poppy Raspberry Walnut?\u00a0 Too much.<\/li>\n
  9. Don’t forget the finishing touches<\/strong>Sometimes a dash of rainbow sprinkles is all you need to pull a dessert together.\u00a0 A dusting of powdered sugar is also a nice professional touch- just a teaspoon goes a long way.\u00a0 A drizzle of melted chocolate or chocolate syrup looks elegant on the dessert and the plate.\u00a0 Fresh berries make a lovely garnish too.<\/li>\n
  10. Get out of your comfort zone<\/strong>Still hoping for that pie crust to roll itself?\u00a0 Wary about yeast breads?\u00a0 If you’ve been avoiding recipes that require seemingly complicated skills, go ahead and give it a shot!\u00a0 It takes some practice, but it’s not rocket science.\u00a0 Just don’t save your experiments for an hour before your big dinner party.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And finally, I hope this is obvious, but have fun!\u00a0 The holidays are a great opportunity to get your oven revving, and your friends and family are sure to thank you for it!<\/p>\n

    Have a sweet Thanksgiving!<\/p>\n

    xoxo Christine<\/p>\n

    About the Author:<\/strong> Christine Frazier<\/a> writes vegan recipes through lots of research, trial, and error … now she is applying the same theory to her other passion, writing stories. Follow along as she deconstructs bestsellers and learns how to write a novel<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hello foodies!\u00a0 It’s Christine here for Sweet-Tooth Friday!\u00a0 As the holidays roll around, it’s time to show off your culinary prowess!\u00a0 To go along with my post on how to be a healthier baker, I thought I’d let you in on some more general (but uber-important) tidbits I’ve picked up as a professional baker. Ten […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBest Baking Tips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"10 baking tips that will transform the way you bake vegan treats.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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