The Basics of Baking
So, you’ve decided to step into the kitchen and try your hand at baking for the first time. Or maybe you want to dust off your oven mitts and see if you’ve still got the family genes of creating amazing desserts. Before you decide to become the neighborhood baker of the year, there are plenty of things you should know before you preheat your oven.
Around the time we started Sprinkle Me This, there was a massive spike in people who decided to take up baking. Of course, with all of us being stuck at home, it made perfect sense. But if the Netflix show “Nailed It” taught us anything, it’s that our visions of being the next Betty Crocker don’t always go as planned.
A little bit of preparation will keep you from having your own nailed it moment in your own kitchen and becoming a viral video. We’ve gathered up some useful links from around the Internet to give you a little refresher course. For some of you, these might be completely new tips for you.
The Syllabus
- Like any good artist, you can’t create masterpieces without having the right tools. That’s why when you start your baking journey, make sure your kitchen has the basic baking tools every baker needs.
- Once you have the right tools, it’s time to make sure your pantry is stocked with all the basic baking ingredients you’ll need to make just about everything.
- Before you even lift a whisk, you need to know how to be safe in a kitchen. A bit of common sense can keep you and your little sous chefs safe in the kitchen.
- Is math a four-letter word to you? Don’t know your cups from your quarts? Thankfully, there are a ton of helpful conversion charts that can help you figure out just how much of an ingredient you need.
- You bought flour, did you buy the right flour? And did you know there is more than just all-purpose? It’s important to know all the types of flour and how you can use them.
- There is no way you’re going to be making anything sweet without… well, something sweet! That’s why knowing the different types of sugar and their uses is important.
- Salted vs unsalted butter? Is there really a difference? Will the baking police get you if you use the wrong one? Here’s what you need to know about salted and unsalted butter.
- It’s a messy part of baking, but you can’t bake a cake without breaking a few eggs and sometimes those eggs will need to be separated. Here are a few tips for separating yolks and whites.
- It never fails. You’re doing your best to follow the recipe and something is clearly wrong. Don’t worry. Many people run into common baking problems, but many of them can be solved.
- You need to bake up something for a party and realize you’re missing something. Put down the car keys and check if you have any of these baking substitutes before you run to the store.
- It might look as simple, but it takes a little talent to make frosting on a cake look professional. With a few simple tools, and a lot of patience, frosting a cake can be pretty easy.
- You’ve got that cake perfectly frosted, and now it’s time for sprinkles! But do you know which ones you need? We’ve covered the various types of sprinkles to help you out!
- When it’s all said and done, there’s always the dreaded cleanup. But thankfully, there are plenty of kitchen cleaning hacks to help make cleaning a little easier.