Baking is one of the most difficult cooking skills to get right. It’s precise, it takes time, and it creates a lot of waste when you make something that doesn’t quite work out. It’s for these reasons that people find it hard to improve their baking skills–but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. So to help you out, here are a couple of tips to help you improve your baking skills.
Always follow the recipe
Until you start getting a bit more experienced in baking, you should always follow the recipe as exactly as possible. If a recipe asks for a certain number of eggs, always stick to that number of eggs and don’t deviate! Don’t try to substitute ingredients either unless the recipe states that you can do that. When measuring liquid ingredients, make sure you use a clear cup with the measurements on the side or the top for better accuracy.
In short, always trust in the recipe. If it doesn’t work out despite you following everything the recipe says, then it’s possible that the recipe isn’t very good. Once you have more experience in baking, you can alter recipes to your liking. Start by making small adjustments like adding or removing chocolate chips, and then you can experiment with different ingredient ratios to get the final result to your liking.
Try something out of your comfort zone
Once you’ve gotten a bit of experience with baking, it’s never a bad idea to get out of your comfort zone. For instance, these seven layer bars are an exciting and different dessert to try out. It uses lots of different ingredients and can be a challenge for anyone who’s looking to improve their baking skills.
You’ll always have comfort baking recipes that you can always fall back on–the kind of recipes that you’ve memorized and can reproduce at any time. However, trying new things will teach you new techniques and inspire you with unique flavor combinations.
Get good equipment
Learning to bake with bad or no equipment is difficult. At the very least, you should have basics like a good mixer and baking sheets and pans. Without this basic equipment, you’re not going to get very far with baking.
You should also try to get used to your oven. Not all ovens are built equal and some of them may be hotter or cooler, so consider measuring the temperature of your oven to see if it’s heating up properly.
Learn to enjoy baking
Baking certainly isn’t for everyone. For many people, it’s quite a chore due to all of the cleaning and equipment involved. The best way to really enjoy baking is to just take it slow. Dedicate an evening to it and try not to rush things. Measure things out carefully, be slow and deliberate when working with things like dough, and do your research to increase your chances of success.
Learning to bake can help you enjoy cooking in different ways. Try out new things and don’t hesitate to make mistakes because you’ll learn from them and become a better baker in the future.