8 genius baking tips straight from a professional pastry chef

IF YOU have ever gone off the book while following a baking recipe, you know the results can be disastrous.

The chemistry of baking doesn’t lend itself as naturally to experimentation as cooking does — so how do the professionals do it?

To answer that question, chef and cookbook author Hendrik Pretorius shares below his advice for becoming a better, more intuitive baker.

Always read the recipe before beginning

This will help you know the how, why, where, and when or what you are about to do. It will only take a few minutes but could save you from wasting ingredients on a disastrous result.

Always have ingredients prepped

Read through the ingredient list and have them prepared on your counter. Mise en place is a French term that means ‘to put everything in its place’ and refers to getting everything prepared and in place ready for baking.

Measure correctly and carefully

This is one of the most important tips. Baking is a science, so successful baking requires precision.

Unlike cooking, you can’t just bake something by throwing ingredients together and hoping for the best.

Measure dry ingredients in proper measuring cups or spoons because they are specially designed for dry ingredients.

Also, spoon and level dry ingredients, which means using a spoon to fill the cup and level it off. This is especially important with flour.

Scooping flour (or any dry ingredient) packs that ingredient down, and you could be left with much more than needed and a dry, unpalatable end product.

For liquid ingredients, use a clear liquid measuring cups or jugs. An electronic kitchen scale is invaluable to get 100 percent correct weights every time.

Room temperature ingredients are key

If a recipe calls for room-temperature eggs or dairy ingredients such as milk, cream, or yoghurt, ensure you adhere.

It’s impossible to cream cold butter into a soft consistency necessary for some recipes, and the same goes for eggs which add more volume to the batter when at room temperature.

Also, always use the correct butter consistency stipulated in the recipe. Most recipes call for room-temperature butter, which means when you press it, your finger will make an indent but not sink into the butter.

To get that perfect consistency, leave the butter out for 60 to 90 minutes beforehand. Cold butter is butter straight from the fridge, while melted butter should be liquified and lukewarm. If it is too hot, it can cook the eggs in your batter.

Use unsalted butter

Always use unsalted butter unless the recipe specifies otherwise. The added salt in salted butter affects the flavour and changes the way the glutens in the flour develop, which can affect the consistency of the dough.

Always use fresh ingredients

The top priority here goes to chemical leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda because they lose much of their effectiveness after about six months, meaning your baked goods won't rise the way they should.

Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves will also lose their potency, especially the pre-ground kind, so it's important to always use fresh ingredients.

Invest in an oven thermometer

Very often, oven temperatures can be out by as much as 20°C, which can affect the baking times given in the recipe and result in under or over-baked goods.

Invest in an inexpensive oven thermometer and place it in the centre of your oven so you always know the exact temperature.

Keep the oven door closed

As tempting as it is to look inside to see how things are going, keep the oven door closed until the bake is done in order to keep a consistent temperature throughout.

If you're baking a cake, the influx of air or even the vibration of the oven door can cause it to sink in the middle.