| Yes, I'm a baking dummy. That was 5 years | | | | Weigh the Ingredients Accurately |
| back. Why I'm calling myself an dummy? Because | | | | Baking recipes tells us very important information |
| I don't even know that whipping cream needs to | | | | such as the number of eggs to be used, weight |
| be whipped in the first place! The craziest mistake | | | | of the ingredients that we should put and so on. |
| I ever did when making a cheese cream was | | | | These are crucial information that needs to be |
| mixing whipping cream (that was not whipped in | | | | measured by us accurately. Hence there is a need |
| the first place) into cheese when I was trying to | | | | to weigh the ingredients carefully on the scale. |
| make Tiramisu cheese filling. And when I called | | | | Try use a digital weight scale to do weighing since |
| my the other half and asked why the cheese | | | | it can be cheaply available in stores or |
| filling wasn't stiff, she asked back,"Did you whip | | | | supermarkets. |
| the cream?" I told her I just pour the whipping | | | | Follow the Steps Correctly |
| cream into the cheese and proceed to mix them | | | | Yes, it's a simple guide, yet most beginner tends |
| evenly. | | | | not to follow. Sometimes, certain step require us |
| And since I did not whip the cream, the mixture | | | | to sieve through the ingredients such as the flour; |
| ended up not smooth with bits of cheese all over | | | | so make sure we sieve it first before adding it to |
| the mixture. Of course my other half almost laugh | | | | the egg batter. Ingredients such as the icing |
| her head off when I told her that. Silly me. In the | | | | sugar, sometimes contain coarse sugar bits that |
| end, I did not throw the cheese filling anyway. I | | | | should be separated by sieving, else your batter |
| still use it as my cake filling. And I proceed to | | | | will not be creamy and smooth enough. |
| refrigerate it. And guess what, the filling was | | | | Use Proper Baking Utensils |
| dripping all over the place in the fridge! That's a | | | | Always use the right utensils for your baking |
| lesson learned, never try to salvage whatever | | | | purposes. You don't use a tart tin to make |
| that's already fail. Instead I should have just buy | | | | cupcakes, don't you? Also make sure that you |
| another box of whipping cream and another | | | | use the right size of cake mold for your cake, |
| cheese block and proceed to make a new cheese | | | | else your cake may ended up very low base or |
| filling for my cake. | | | | too high. When beating egg whites, try use an |
| The basic problem I have at time was that I was | | | | electric mixer or k-beater instead of a hand |
| too impatient. I rushed over it, and hence the | | | | whisker to do the job since it does not require |
| result is all too bad for me to see. So I decided to | | | | much energy from our hand. |
| sum up here what are the important rules that | | | | Always Preheat the Oven First |
| we need to adapt before we even start to | | | | Once you have all the ingredients prepared, it is |
| baking a cake, tarts or whatever. | | | | time to prepare the oven by preheating it at |
| Read the Recipes Thoroughly | | | | certain temperature (normally specified in the |
| The problem with most people is that they are | | | | recipe) so that the oven has reached a proper |
| impatient. They are so eager to bake their cakes | | | | heating temperature by the time you finished |
| that they tends to miss out some of the | | | | making the cake batter. This will of course save |
| important steps in the recipe. Read the recipes | | | | us more time and our cake can be made fresher |
| thoroughly and try to understand each of the | | | | since it goes into the oven straight away after |
| steps. I may sound overwhelming here, but this is | | | | making the batter. |
| just one simple guide or pitfall that can be avoided | | | | Be Creative! |
| easily.By understanding the steps, we can put | | | | Nothing beats creativity when it comes to cake |
| creative imagination in our mind on what utensils | | | | decoration. Most recipes would suggest to use |
| and ingredients that needs to be used. | | | | certain fruits, melted chocolates, nuts or caramel. |
| Prepare all the Ingredients and Utensils before | | | | But it is not necessary to follow the decoration |
| Baking | | | | steps closely. If you are creative enough, your |
| This is another important guide that most | | | | masterpiece may ended up better than the |
| beginner tends not to follow. Always make sure | | | | picture in the recipes itself! Cake decoration is also |
| that we have appropriate or all the required | | | | a skill that take years to master, since creaming |
| ingredient prepared before we even start making | | | | the cake requires masterful and careful hand in |
| the batter! This is because some ingredients are | | | | controlling the stroking of cream on the cake. |
| not easily available anywhere and needs to by | | | | Also, if you do not use the piping bag correctly, |
| bought at certain shops. We may need to pay | | | | you may ended up making a mess in your |
| attention to the type of ingredients specified in | | | | kitchen! |
| the recipes. A good example is on the type of | | | | So, go ahead and create a storm in the baking |
| flour; all-purpose flour is different from self-raising | | | | kitchen now! |
| flour. | | | | |