Baking Basics: 5 Rules to Follow for Instant Success
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Today I’m kicking off something a little bit different… a “baking basics” series here on the site. I thought it would be a great idea to periodically check in and bring you some tips to make your baking lives a little bit easier. Some of these might be second nature to many of you, but if I can help a few people avoid baking disasters, then it’s time well spent! I know that I’ve made ALL of these mistakes (multiple times) as I learned to bake, and they’re always frustrating lessons to learn.
We’re going to start off at the very beginning – when you first flip open that recipe and get ready to bake. Let’s go!
5 Rules to Follow for Instant Success
1. Read the recipe through completely (I recommend reading it TWICE) before beginning.
This is pretty much the Golden Rule when it comes to baking. It’s imperative to read a recipe through in its entirety before even thinking about starting. Ideally, you should read through it twice. You’ll get an idea for what you’ll need to do and when exactly you’ll need to do it. Plus, you don’t want to get a third of the way through making the recipe only to find out that something needs to be soaked/chilled/rested for 8 hours. Especially if you were planning on serving that recipe in a couple of hours. That makes for a bad day!
2. Follow the instructions EXACTLY. Do not deviate or make substitutions unless provided in the recipe.
Baking is most definitely science, and not so much art (cooking is pretty much reversed, so there is much more wiggle room with a cooking recipe!) and, as such, it’s vitally important to follow the instructions as they are written. Food allergies and special diets aside, substitutions should be avoided at all cost. If a recipe specifically calls for whole milk, don’t use skim. If the recipe calls for light brown sugar, don’t use honey. Any slight change in ingredients or technique can have a major impact on the final result of a recipe.
3. Ensure that the ingredients are measured properly.
It’s important to understand WHEN to measure ingredients. Let’s take a look at a couple of different examples:
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
– vs –
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
That lone comma makes a world of difference. In the first example, you should measure out 1 cup of flour, and then sift it. In the second example, you should sift flour, and then measure out 1 cup of the sifted flour. You’ll see this often when it comes to chopped nuts, chopped chocolate, minced herbs, etc. Be sure to look out for that all-important comma!
4. Preheat the oven fully before baking.
Most recipes instruct you to preheat the oven as the very first step. This is imperative, as putting baked goods into a not-hot-enough oven will result in a less than ideal outcome. Biscuits will not rise, cookies will spread… things will not go as planned. Make sure your oven gets to temperature before you put your masterpiece in there!
In addition, I am a HUGE proponent of keeping an oven thermometer inside of the oven to make sure that your oven temperature is correct. I have owned/used six different ovens in my adult life and only ONE of them has actually been dead-on accurate. My current oven is off by 75 degrees! SEVENTY FIVE! Obviously, that could wreck havoc on any recipe. Oven thermometers are less than $10… get one today!
5. Measure and prep all of the ingredients before beginning.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not always good at doing this, but when I don’t, I totally kick myself. Having everything chopped, measured and ready makes completing a recipe easy sailing. You don’t want to be standing over a pot of bubbling butter and sugar that you’re supposed to be stirring constantly and then realize that you need to chop a pound of chocolate (see also #1 above). Your situation is about to get hairy! Getting everything prepped and ready before you start may sound tedious, but you’ll be so grateful that you did!
Wrapping it Up
So, there you have it! Those are my big tips for setting yourself up for recipe success. Ingredients are expensive, time is precious, and I hate for either to be wasted because of a lack of diligence while getting ready to bake. It’s happened to me more times than I care to remember, so being organized and prepared is a huge deal for me!
Happy Baking! xo
Great start to your series, Michelle. Your comma comment is especially useful. Looking forward to your next installments. Thanks for everything you share.
Michelle, excellent tips today. The sifted flour tip is great. I also wondered about my cookies spreading at times even though I placed the batter in the refrigerator. You resolved that mystery about ensuring accurate oven temperature. Many thanks!
Thanks for the information keep it coming .
I liked this one as most of the time I forage on reading a recipe as I go, much to the detriment of my final product. Number five (having all ingredients prepared ahead of time) is especially important, I have found myself in that very situation and messing everything up. I have found that when shopping for ingredients, I get double just in case I mess up, I know me, lol. Thanks for all you do.
Would love to see your pumpkin pie recipe. I wasn’t part of your great ideas and help then. I’m new and love your idea even tho I’m 80
Hi Michelle,
Thank you so much for the information. I will certainly follow these guidelines as I was omitting some of the things.
God bless you
Simple and common sense advice, which we still all need just to brush up now and again!
Thank you for taking the time to inform us of important information!
Love your recipes and helpful hints. Thank you
thank you for GOOD advice
Thank you. Michelle.
I still make all these silly mistakes because I get excited about a baking project and think that I’m “experienced” enough and should be able to fix it somehow, before serving it.
I’ve ruined many cakes and other baking goodies this way. It’s good to know that even a chef like you takes the time to make sure everything is prepared in the finest details before placing it in the oven.
I will make an effort from now on to temper my excitement and follow these simple rules to make sure my baking project will be a success, at least by reading the recipe carefully.
Thank you for taking the time to write these awesome articles/posts.
Be blessed xox
It really helped when you talked about the importance of reading a recipe more than once before trying it out. Recently, my wife and I started to get interested in attempting to cook new dishes. We’re new to cooking techniques, but we’re eager to learn, so we’ll be sure to follow your tips thoroughly! Thanks for the advice on how to get the best out of a cooking recipe.
Hey, I want to cover this topic in an infographic. I think that would help myself to remember those points.
Great advice. I am a avid baker and I have learned to have my ingredients measured ahead of time. Even if I go over the recipes a few times I find I still make mistakes. Just the other day I was making a cake and for some reason thought the recipe called for 4 eggs. It called for one egg and one egg yolk. O! my, I had to throw away 2 eggs because they had gotten to warm. Thank you for clearing up about sifting flour (1 cup flour, sifted; 1 cup sifted flour). I love your blog and will use your recipes before any other blog. Keep blogging.
I found your blog and it’s so cool! I will have to try some of your recipes!
Awesome tips! As a new startup business owner it’s imparative that I get these principals applied to all my recipes!!
If you can check out my Instagram
@prettyeats_
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Sometimes in life we must learn from experience! it’s the practice that makes perfect, haha I have experienced baking mishaps by not following with al five tips, haha!
How true. #2 is too true. It turns out I am entirely too lousy at following directions. I once made a batch of “brownies” that literally THUMPed out of the pan when held upside down. It was too hard to even cut into brownies — it was a big brown plank that I could whack against the counter. It could have been a genuine weapon, come to think of it….
Great tips! When I skip #5 I always pay a price usually by forgetting to add an ingredient. One time I grabbed the bag of sugar but didn’t measure it out before I started a batch of cookies, totally forgot to add it to the recipe and ended up with flavorless biscuits-so gross :)
I did the same thing with sugar, only it was left out of a Thanksgiving pumpkin pie! Ugh!
Great advice! Thanks for sharing your baking wisdom!
I definitely need to remember to read the whole recipe before starting and also getting out all the ingredients. I think that would definitely save me time. I like this new feature on your blog.
Guilty as charged! Hopefully not all at once. Great reminders to share.
I have to disagree with #2, I change things in recipes when I’m baking all the time. It’s rare for me to follow a recipe exactly and everthing still turns out really good.
Hi Christie, That’s awesome that you’ve never had an issues with substitutions, but I know both first-hand and from readers’ emails that substitutions can absolutely wreak havoc on a baking recipe, as they are typically quite precise and many times rely upon chemical reactions for proper rise, spread, etc. Small substitutions and perhaps inconsequential ones depending on the recipe could potentially be fine, but I always think it’s best to err on the side of caution, most especially if it’s the very first time you’re making a particular recipe.
I was wondering about this too, specifically with cakes. I love experimenting with veering from recipes and haven’t had any major problems yet. I totally realize that may be luck & I haven’t veered too far from the particular recipe. Usually just substituting 1-2 things to see what happens. Ive actually gotten lucky w some experiments. However I admit that I avoid doing it when I’m on a deadline or if I’m baking for someone else. However, I find it helpful to experiment to learn how different ingredients react to each other and to learn to get certain flavors. I would like to learn more about the science of baking to learn exactly what’s happening & to build my confidence in creating my own recipes. Is there any books or resources you’d recommend?
Yes, this is a great book! >> How Baking Works: Exploring the Fundamentals of Baking Science
Thank you for this great reminder. Even those of us who have been baking for years need little reminders.
Love your blog and a little picture of your family life.
Great post! I follow all of them already, but was clueless on the need for an oven thermometer. Like another commenter above, I have a feeling my oven isn’t fully heated when the buzzer goes off alerting me that it’s ready, & it would be nice to know how far off the temp is – I know it’s not accurate because my cakes always take a good 10 min. longer than the recipe says. Thank you!
Oh I’ve made a couple of these mistakes even though I know better!
Based on the results of some recent baking disasters, I’m starting to suspect my oven is not as hot as it should be. I have an oven thermometer somewhere so I need to dig it out and check the temp!
You know what I’ve had trouble with lately? Coconut oil. Unless my kitchen is super warm, it is solid (as expected). Measuring it solid is difficult, but would melting it first change the measured amount? It can also be so hard to mix cold coconut oil into a dough recipe! The recipes I’ve made with coconut oil don’t give any instruction on how to handle it.
Thanks so much, Michelle, for the great tips! I just purchased an oven thermometer and look forward to using it…!
On #5 if you haven’t already you might want to check the instruction guide for your oven. I know that mine has a way I can calibrate the oven.
Thanks for great tips! Never have used an oven thermometer. Dumb question….are they calibrated like other thermometers? How do you know that IT is accurate? :-)
Thanks!
I highly recommend the CDN Pro Accurate Oven Thermometer. It’s the one Cook’s Illustrated recommends and it’s less than $10! It’s been widely tested. :-)
On #5 I would add that it’s not just ingredients you should have ready but also your supplies. Many is the time I’ve burnt or curdled something on the stove because I didn’t pre-grease my pan or pre-cut my parchment paper or I had to run down to the basement for a particular tool I don’t often use. Arrgh! And I’ve learned that if I’m going to let my toddler “help” me, to plan in advance for the whole thing to take longer, be messier, and take more space. It also helps to explain verbally to him what his “job” will be and what things are “for mama only” so that I minimize the temper tantrums from him thinking he’s going to do it all.
“Mise en place” is a French culinary phrase which means “putting in place”, and it’s the rule I live by when cooking or baking ANYTHING! And I can’t stress enough how important that comma is! For example, I found a NY style cheesecake online by the Frugal Gourmet that calls for 1/4 cup of melted butter, not 1/4 cup butter, melted. So now I’m torn between trying to figure out how much butter I need to melt to make 1/4 cup and thinking maybe it’s just worded incorrectly! (BTW, the melted butter is for the cheesecake, not the crust.)
Wow, this a great/helpful article! I was not aware of the difference mentioned in #3. And, although I have an oven thermometer, I’ve never paid attention to what it said. I will definitely start doing that now to see how accurate my oven is! :)
Precisely! And I second your advice to get an oven thermometer. Our brand-new Bosch gas oven was not only off by 15 degrees, but the beep that signaled that it was preheated was WAY premature. I set the oven for 350F, it beeps about 7 minutes later and the preheat light goes off, but the oven thermometer reads 200F. No wonder my cakes were taking forever to bake!!! The time to preheat to 350 for reals is closer to 20 minutes.
Yes! I had the preheating issue happen too, and that’s what actually prompted me to buy an oven thermometer about 10 years ago. That oven was brand-new, as well, ironically.
Great tips for sure. I find baking is so much more relaxing when I have all the ingredients assembled, measured and ready to go. Sometimes, I will pre-prepare certain pieces of a recipe the day before, especially if it is something I want to bake for breakfast. It allows me to assemble quickly without a huge cleanup.
As for oven temps, have you tried re-calibrating your oven? An appliance repair person told me to do that occasionally to maintain more precise oven temperatures. He also told me those round free standing oven thermometers loose accuracy very quickly, sometimes within two or three uses. When baking , I always opt for checking doneness sooner than the recipe calls for…better to need a few more minutes than end up with something that is overdone.
Hi Nancy, I have not re-calibrated, something to look into, thank you!
Good comments! I have been cooking and baking for more than 50 years, starting at my Mom’s side when she would allow me to “add the sugar now” and gradually more complicated steps :-) There are some things I still think I already *know* (and I regret thinking it most of the time!). These are spot on – and keep ’em coming, please. Even experienced cooks and bakers can use some reminders, and even learn new things!
This is great! Please continue with your tips. My cooking and baking has improved so much since I was directed to your blog. Have a lovely day.
Ha…that is so me. Most of the time when I cook I don’t follow recipes exactly, but when it is baking I usually do. I tend to skim directions though & NOT read it all beforehand either. A few times it has led to me putting an ingredient in and then later in the recipe when it tells me to do something else with said ingredient I think to myself *oh,crap*.
I have done this SO many times, especially when I’m in a rush!
In regards to #3, I’ve always been told to measure the way ingredient is listed, so in your example, 1 cup flour, sifted would be as you said, measure a cup of flour and then sift. That’s always helped in in remembering which way the measurement goes. Great post!
All points are 100% right on. I was a terrible cook and baker until I started incorporating all of these habits. Being prepared I think is the most important. I just recently started to measure everything out ahead of time, I was actually making a dessert that I wasn’t fast enough with the cream and burned everything. I decided it was time to prepare everything in advance and have it ready. I had a friend over for dinner and went all out, even making an amazing dessert. She asked me how I learned to be such a good cook and baker, I told her I follow recipes exactly and stopped substituting and ‘eyeballing’ ingredients. She said….ah that is why nothing I bake ever turns out right!! She eyeballs and substitutes ingredients well hopefully not anymore
Thank you for this very important post! I do most of these things when baking, but I rarely measure everything out beforehand. Perhaps I need to start doing that when I bake.
I clicked this post on bloglovin just to see the photo of the sprinkles in bigger size haha :’) Anyway, totally agree on these points. Number 1 is definitely THE GOLDEN RULE. When I just started baking, I’d never read the recipe beforehand and always ended up stressing out in the middle of baking ^^”