Ever followed a recipe perfectly but still ended up with a baking flop? You’re not alone. Many beginners struggle with flat cakes, chewy cookies, or burnt edges. It’s frustrating when your hard work doesn’t pay off the way you expected.
But don’t give up just yet. A few clever baking hacks can make a big difference. These simple tips and tricks are designed to help beginners avoid common baking mistakes and achieve great results every time.
In this guide, we’re sharing 13 beginner-friendly baking hacks & tips to simplify the process and improve your results. Whether you’re baking your first batch of cookies or tackling a layered cake, these practical tricks will help you succeed every step of the way.
Before diving into hacks, it’s essential to grasp the fundamentals:
Let’s start from scratch, shall we?
The key ingredients:
1. Flour:
Flour is a fundamental ingredient in baking, providing structure, texture, and a foundation for the overall baked product. While all-purpose flour is the most commonly used, there are many types of flour options. Whole wheat, oat, and almond flour are popular healthier alternatives that can add unique flavours and nutritional benefits.
2. Sugar:
Adds sweetness and flavour to your baked goods.while brown sugar gives a chewy and rich caramel-like flavour. There are several types of sugar used in baking, each offering unique properties.
3. Eggs:
Bind the ingredients together by adding structure and moisture. Yoghurt can be added as a substitute for eggs.
4. Leavening agents:
Baking powder or soda in baking causes dough and batter to rise, becoming light and airy.
Best baking tools for beginners:
1. Whisk:
A whisk is used for mixing ingredients, whipping cream, and incorporating air into the batter for light and fluffy texture.
2. Parchment Paper:
It prevents baking goods from sticking to the pans, making cleanup easier and ensuring the structure of baked goods comes out perfect!
3. Measuring cups:
Baking is a precise art, and accurate measurements are essential for achieving the desired outcome.
4. Hand mixer:
A handheld electric mixing device is used for prolonged whipping and mixing.
Common baking terminology:
1. Sift
It means using a sieve to remove lumps from dry ingredients.
2. Cream
Whisking butter & sugar together until fluffy & light.
3. Whisk
The process of mixing ingredients well to incorporate air and create a smooth blend.
4. Knead
Work the dough with your hands to develop the gluten that creates an elastic structure and gives it structure.
5. Proof
The process of allowing yeast dough to rise before baking. Ensuring a lighter, more airy texture.
6. Batter
Is a liquid mixture of all the ingredients used for cakes or pancakes.
7. Beat
When you keep mixing the ingredients till incorporated well to allow the air in.
Baking measurements:
Don’t have a measuring cup? No problem we got you!
All you need is a spoon!
Cups to a tablespoon
|
1 cup |
16 tablespoon |
|
¾ cup |
12 |
|
â…” cup |
10 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons |
|
½ cup |
8 tablespoon |
|
â…“ cup |
5 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon |
|
¼ cup |
4 tablespoon |
Baking powder vs baking soda?
|
Leavener |
How it works |
Best for |
Keep in mind |
|
Baking soda |
Needs acid to activate |
Cookies, Banana bread. |
Fast-acting, Strong rise. |
|
Baking powder |
Has acid built-in |
Muffins, Pancakes. |
Double acting, extra lift. |
|
Yeast |
Fermentation |
Breads and Cinnamon Rolls |
Needs time+warmth to activate |
13 Baking Hacks for Beginners
1. Chill your cookie dough:
Helps prevent cookies from spreading too much.
2. Dropped an eggshell in the batter?
If you dropped a small piece of eggshell in the batter while cracking them oops?
No worries, here’s the fix, simply wet your fingers and gently remove them.
3. Hardened brown sugar:
Is your brown sugar hard like rocks and difficult to work with? Don’t toss it yet!
Try this, place an apple slice in the brown sugar container, leave it for a couple of hours, and watch the texture change!
4. Burnt cookie bottoms? No need to crumble!
The top of the cookies are perfect and golden but the bottom is burnt.Â
It happens to the best of us. Here’s what to do: use a grater and scrape off the bottom.
The burnt bottom disappears into dust!Â
5. No icing sugar? No problem!
Halfway into frosting your cake, you need icing sugar but all you have is granulated sugar.
All you need to do is blend your sugar in a mixer jar for 5 minutes with 1 tablespoon of corn flour.
6. Bring eggs to room temperature quickly:
When you’re baking, you spontaneously forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator.
Cold eggs? Let’s warm things up!
Placing the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes does the trick.
7. Sticky ingredients:
Ingredients like honey and molasses can be tricky to measure and clean.
Avoid this by simply greasing your spoon with oil. The ingredients will slide right out!
8. Uneven cookie shapes:
If the cookies turn out in different non-uniform funny shapes, here’s how it can be fixed. While the cookies are still hot from the oven. Use a circle bowl, place it on the top of each cookie and swirl around in circular motions to get perfect round-shaped cookies!
9. Add salt to elevate flavour:
Adding a pinch of salt to the sweet bakes will make all the flavours shine.
It hits the right notes!
10. Sifting dry ingredients:
If you sift the dry ingredients like flour, cocoa powder, etc it helps in removing lumps and aerating the ingredients. This will result in lighter and airier baked goods.
11. Room temperature ingredients:
Using room temperature ingredients incorporates better leading to a smoother batter that bakes evenly.Â
12. Fluffy whipped cream:
To get stiff fluffy peaks in your whipping cream keep your mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge before mixing. This ensures an even temperature throughout the mixing process which results in fluffy cream that stays longer.
13. Toothpick to check if the cake is done:
When baking a cake and all looks good you just want to check if it is cooked throughout.Â
There’s a simple trick, use a toothpick and poke it in the center of the cake pan and take it out.
If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready. If it has some wet batter stuck to it you might want to keep it in the oven for 10 more minutes for an evenly cooked cake!
Common Mistakes to avoid in baking
1. Not preheating the oven
Now this one is basic but crucial. Without the initial blast of heat from preheating, the chemical reaction that causes baking goods to rise and develop texture may not happen. It will result in uneven centres and flat baked goods.
2. Ignoring measurementsÂ
Baking is a precise art, just a handful of ingredients and a sprinkle of this & that can only result in chaos. Like dense cookies to sunken dense cakes. Put money into tools like measuring cups and kitchen scales for the best precise results.
3. Opening the oven door too often
We get it you can’t keep your hands off the oven. It can be tempting. Been there and done that, but every time you open the door the hot air escapes and disrupts the temperature in the oven.
For even baking, consistent temperature is very important.
4. Avoid overmixing
Overmixing in baking doughs and batters will develop too much gluten which results in a dense or flattened final product. How to know when to stop?
Just keep mixing till all the ingredients are incorporated well.
Baking substitutesÂ
Let’s get creative.Â
1. DIY Buttermilk:
Many recipes call for buttermilk but we don’t always have it at home. Instead, add one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Your buttermilk is ready!
2. No lemons?
There are moments when you assume you have all the ingredients but surprise! You don’t have it.
When a recipe needs lemon juice and you don’t have any, just replace it with ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar for 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
If you’re into healthy baking. We got you!
Healthy baking focuses on making delicious treats without compromising on your well-being.
It involves substituting refined ingredients with healthy alternatives reducing added fats and sugars.
1.Wheat flour:
Whole wheat flour has more fibre and is healthier compared to All-purpose flour.
Wheat flour is more dense, so use ¾ cup of wheat flour for every 1 cup of All-purpose flour.
2. Fruits instead of sugar?
Yes if you want to cut down on sugar you can use berries and bananas in your recipe to give it that healthy sweet flavour.
3. Natural sweeteners:
Honey and maple syrup can be used in baked goods instead of sugar, as they have a natural sweet taste and have additional health benefits. Honey is rich in antioxidants and has antibacterial properties while maple syrup is an excellent source of minerals like zinc and magnesium.
While these baking hacks can certainly elevate your skills at home baking. No hacks can beat professional training from an experienced chef. If you wish to turn your passion into expertise, Whitecaps provides top-tier programs that offer the skills and knowledge needed to excel in the pastry world.
Baking can be calming and therapeutic. It’s like an unpaid therapist, these tips and hacks will prevent baking fails and offer alternatives. Are you ready to take your baking passion to the next level? Join our Level 3 Advanced Diploma in Baking, Patisserie and Chocolate Art in Whitecaps now! With expert guidance and hands-on training, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a pastry master.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I stop my cake from sticking to the pan?
Don’t have parchment paper at the moment and am worried about the cake sticking to the pan,Â
Here’s the fix: grease your pan with oil or butter and sprinkle either flour or cocoa powder.
Result: A smooth cake without sticking to the pan.
2. What is the best way to soften butter quickly for baking?
You’re halfway through mixing the cake batter when it hits you-oh crap the butter is still in the fridge. Chill, it’s a common mishap, to soften the butter without melting you can cut the butter into small pieces and let it soften or microwave in short intervals to prevent melting.
3. What is the secret to good baking?
Try not to make substitutions, baking substitution really comes in handy for impulsive baking however, each ingredient in a recipe plays a role in creating delicious baked goods. Swapping ingredients will affect the outcome. Always follow the recipe!
4. What is the most important thing in baking?
Start with a trusted recipe and read it carefully. Gather and accurately measure all the ingredients before beginning.
Follow each step carefully, if a recipe calls for adding eggs one at a time follow that exactly. Baking is a precise blend of method and science.
5. How to prevent cookies from spreading too much?
Start by refrigerating the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes to firm it up. Use softened butter rather than melted. Make sure your oven is at the correct temperature, and bake using parchment or a silicone mat to prevent sticking.Â
If spreading continues, review the ingredients and balance the flour or sugar as that can affect the cookie’s shape as well.
