Bake Like A Pro: Our Top Eight Baking Tips To Improve Your Skills

With World Baking Day on May 17, 2020, we thought it was the perfect time to share our top baking tips to help you avoid any more kitchen disasters. We have collated the most helpful tips and tricks to get you inspired and educated!

Tip 1: Don’t interchange baking powder with baking soda

If both are leavening agents, why are these two products not interchangeable? A question which is often asked by baking beginners. Here’s the answer: Baking soda (or bicarb soda) must be mixed with moisture and an acidic ingredient – such as yoghurt, chocolate, or honey – to start a chemical reaction resulting in the mixture to rise. The reaction starts straight away, so put it in the oven as soon as possible.

The difference with baking powder is that the product comes pre-mixed with the requisite acidic ingredient – all you need to do is add moisture.

Tip 2: The correct measuring is key

It can be fun to guess when you are cooking up a storm, but there is nothing more disappointing than a baking failure, and flour that hasn’t been measured correctly is often the culprit.

Cups and Spoons are great to measure some ingredients like, honey, milk, and spices such as cinnamon. A gram or ounce is always a gram or an ounce. But a cup isn’t always a cup, so key ingredients such as flour and sugars should be measured by weight. That’s why kitchen scales are priceless.

Tip 3: The right butter consistency matters

Butter is probably the most crucial ingredient when it comes to baking success. So, before you start a new recipe, remember the following:

• Each brand of butter has different levels of fat, moisture and protein. Be aware that these little variations affect the outcome.
• If a recipe states cold or melted butter, stick to it. Different temperatures have a huge impact on the outcome.
• Only use freshly bought butter, as it loses moisture the longer has been refrigerated. This can cause your cake to turn out dry.
• Make sure you use unsalted butter.

Tip 4: Start whipped cream from a cold bowl

Many of us believe creating a perfectly whipped cream from scratch is a mystery. But with the right preparation, everyone can be a cream master. 

Before you start whipping, put your bowl and beater in the fridge or freezer. Your equipment and cream should be very cold. This hack also works when beating egg whites!

Tip 5: Bread helps you to soften your brown sugar

Brown sugar is often used in baking recipes, but why does it always go hard so quickly? Guess what? It doesn’t have to be this way! Simply put a piece of bread into the container with the brown sugar, and it will stay as soft as the day you opened it.

Tip 6: Use yoghurt for guilt-free baking

Baked goods are fun to make, and even more fun to eat! But you don’t have to feel guilty when enjoying your favourite cakes or muffins. Simply, swap the fat in your cake, such as butter, oils and creams, with the same amount of yoghurt to make them healthier.

Tip 7: Get the most out of fruit with heat

If your baking recipe calls for fruit such as berries, banana or citrus, ensure they are ripe and flavourful. To do this quickly;

• Ripen your bananas quickly by baking them in the oven for 40 minutes at 150°C.
• Microwave lemons and limes for 15 seconds to get more juice out of them.

Tip 8: That was a piece of cake!

Once your cake has baked and cooled, it’s time to serve it and enjoy! Cut your cakes with ease by using a hot knife. Let the knife run under hot water, wipe it off and you’re good to go!

Who else feels inspired to get back into the kitchen and give that cake recipe another go? ClickClack has ultra-helpful gadgets including; scales, measuring cups and spoons, that will enable you to become a baking wiz in no time! ClickClack also specialises in good-looking and very useful airtight containers to keep your creations fresher for longer. So, let’s get cooking!

For more hacks and inspiration, visit our Instagram or Facebook.