Baking Tips and Information

Baking is a lot of fun, but I find that it can be challenging. I've made a lot of mistakes (I still do) and you might have too, so I thought these tips may help you. I'm not going to post next week, because it's going to be an inconvenient time for me, but I will post on July 17. Best wishes to all.

• Flour: There are several different kinds of wheat flour that are each produced for specific uses. 

1. All-Purpose Flour: the most commonly used flour. Certain brands have a higher wheat protein which can be a good or bad thing. King Arthur's flour isn't the best for most desserts but can work great with yeast breads. When using all-purpose flour use either Gold Medal or Pillsbury.
2. Cake Flour: contains a low wheat protein, thus producing a delicate crumb to cakes. I recently started using cake flour and now I will only use cake flour. Sadly, cake flour comes in small boxes and are more expensive than regular flour. However you can make your own. For 1 cup of cake flour use 3/4 cup all-purpose flour+2 tablespoons+ 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the mixture in a bowl, then sift 5 times. Don't skip the sifting process or the cake flour won't work. If a recipe tells you to avoid homemade cake flour containing cornstarch, please buy the real stuff.
3. Bread Flour: bread flour has high wheat proteins that allows yeast breads to have a chewier texture. King Arthur's flour could make a decent substitute instead of bread flour. Personally, I haven't used bread flour but I would like to.

• Eggs: Size matters in baking. Occasionally, cookbooks and baking books don't tell us what size to use. (Irritating isn't it?) Too much or too little liquid can be our enemy. My best bet is if a recipe doesn't include the egg size, use large eggs. Avoid small, medium, or jumbo sized eggs unless noted in your recipe. Always bring any liquids to room temperature.

• Butter: Don't try to substitute butter for anything else, unless noted. The results will never be the same. 

1. The perfect temperature for room temperature butter is about 65 degrees F. Room temperature butter should still be a little cold, easy to press, but not greasy. If you bend room temperature butter it should still be solid enough to not break. I'm not a huge fan of using the microwave for bringing butter to room temperature. Instead leave it on the counter top for about 45-60 minutes, or if you're in a hurry, cut the butter into 6 pieces and let sit for about 25-35 minutes.
2. Use unsalted butter because salty desserts are not always wanted. 

• Milk: I recommend using either 2%, 1%, or whole milk. Skim or fat-free milk can dry out cakes and other baked goods.  
• Oils: The best oils to use are either canola, corn, or vegetable oil. Avoid using olive oil because it can have a strong flavor, unless noted.
• How to measure your dry and liquid ingredients: 

1. Liquid ingredients: Use a glass measuring cup or plastic cup. Not the kind that are sold in a set of 4.
2. Dry ingredients: Use dry measuring cups that normally come in a 4-piece set. There are several ways to measure dry ingredients. Different methods can alter the outcome of your baked goods. A good baking book should tell you which method they like to use.
3. The spoon-and-sweep method: putting spoonfuls of flour into the measuring cup and sweeping the excess flour off with the back of a table knife.
4. The dip-and-sweep method: dipping the measuring cup into your dry ingredient, letting it overfill some, and sweeping the top off with the back of a table knife.
5. The weigh method: Weighing your flour according to the recipe's amount. 

Why is this important? From what I have learned over the years, and you may know too, every cookbook prefers to use some methods over others. For example, a low-fat baking book would prefer the dip-and-scope method, because less flour is put into the measuring cup. An average baking book would use the dip- and-sweep. So which one method should be used? Preferably, an electric scale would be the best to use for weighing out your ingredients. You should get accurate measurements when using this method. However, quite a few baking books do not provide the exact measurements. When in doubt, use the dip-and-sweep method for average baking books, and spoon-and-sweep for low-fat baking books.