Baking Basics 101
Source of Recipe
Judy Walker
"I'm not a cook, but I love to bake." How many times do you hear that? Why are practitioners of the baking arts so fond of their subject?
Maybe it's the alchemy factor. In all branches of cooking, the application of heat changes one thing into another.
In baking, this mystery is even more pronounced. You make a dough or a batter, put a wet, sticky thing into the oven and eventually remove a mouthwatering solid object that smells so good people will think Betty Crocker has been incarnated in your kitchen.
Baking is basic, but it can be tricky. It's one of the more advanced kitchen arts, but you can learn it. Be forewarned right now: Baking can be addicting. I know. I'm a bread junkie. Baking is awesome. And it can be easier, once you learn the basics.
In Baking 101, there is One Big Rule. You can't fudge on it. Unlike other types of cooking, you can't just add a little bit here or substitute a little bit there, until you are pretty advanced.
*****The One Big Rule is THAT YOU MUST MEASURE ACCURATLY.
This is probably another factor bakers love. They are kitchen chemists, more than any other kinds of cooks, using measuring spoons and cups instead of test tubes and beakers.
You must measure accurately and have the right tools, for it all to work. You need different measuring cups for liquids and dry ingredients. Flat-topped measuring cups are made to be filled to the top with dry stuff. Liquid measures are usually glass, with more space at the top to eliminate spills, and a pour spout.
A 2-cup Pyrex liquid measure is more useful than the 1-cup; a 4-cup measure is handy because it can also be used as a small mixing bowl.
Add liquids to the cup, set it on the counter, and look at it sideways, on its own level. If you hold it up in front of your face, the liquid sloshes around and is hard to read accurately.
One cup of flour weighs four ounces. You can buy a kitchen scale and weigh it, or you can properly measure flour: Stir the flour in a bag. Gently spoon flour into the measuring cup that you hold over a sheet of waxed paper or the flour canister. Do not tap it or shake it to level the flour. Let the flour heap up. When the flour is over the top, use the flat side of a knife or spatula to level off the top of the cup.
If you tamp flour into the cup it could weigh as much as six ounces. See the problem here? The only dry ingredient you pack into a cup is brown sugar. Solid shortening is packed, too, unless you purchase the stick form pre-marked in measured amounts.
Do you need to sift? Only if the recipe recommends doing so, because today's all-purpose flour is pre-sifted. If you do have to sift and you don't have a sifter, use a sieve or strainer.
After you get your fix of measuring, you will arrive at the crux of baking magic. The alchemy all depends on leavening, the agents that make dough rise. Leavenings can be yeast, eggs, baking powder, baking soda combined with an acid such as vinegar, or other more arcane things, such as sourdoughs and the artisan baker's "old dough" saved from previous loaves.
Yeast can be a tricky beast, so for today's Cooking 101, we concentrate on the quicker, easier baked goods made with baking powder. Yes, there is every kind of mix these days, but you should know how to make basic muffins, biscuits, cornbread, brownies and a loaf of banana bread. See how much better homemade can be. Next week, we'll focus on cakes and pies.
---PREHEATING---
Why do recipes for baked goods always start out "preheat oven to . . .?" It's because of "oven spring," which is the initial leap that leavenings make when put into a hot oven. If your oven's not hot when you put the pans in, the mixture won't rise like it's supposed to. Most ovens will preheat in 10 to 20 minutes.
You should also prepare baking pans according to the recipe. Cookies with a high fat content may not need to go on a greased surface. You can use a paper towel to smear shortening or butter into pans, and remember to coat those pesky corners well, or you can spray with PAM, one of the greatest inventions of the modern world. Reminder: Some non-stick pans can be ruined if you apply non-stick sprays.
---SUBSTITUTIONS---
Adventurous souls: Now read this. Where many beginners go wrong in baking is trying to substitute one ingredient for another. I want to make this more healthful, they think, so I'll just put in whole-wheat flour instead of white flour. Then they wonder why they have baked a brick. Adobe would be easier to eat.
Whole wheat is heavier. You can substitute half of the flour amount in an all-white-flour recipe with whole-wheat flour, but, more than that, and you're risking your teeth.
One of the most frequent baking mistakes is the use of breakfast spread instead of butter or margarine. This is a guaranteed way to wind up throwing your results in the trash can.
"Spreads" that are less than 60 percent fat have a lot of water included and will make cookies spread too thin or otherwise mess up recipes. If the first ingredient on the label is water, don't use it for baking.
Stick margarine that is at least 80 percent fat can be substituted for butter. For best results, use butter if the recipe calls for butter. Eat smaller pieces.
Baking powder cannot be substituted for baking soda. They are not the same thing.
Bottom line: Don't mess with the basic ingredients, the flour, liquid, salt, fat, leavening.
In one area you may unleash your creativity. It's in the add-ons. Nuts and dried fruits can be substituted freely. Out of almonds? Use pecans. Or use dried red cherries instead of apricots in a scone. Coconut counts as a dried fruit.
However, substitute dry for dry. Fresh fruit cannot be used in place of dried fruit because the extra moisture in the fruit will change the finished product.
Spices and extracts can often substitute for each other, too. Try nutmeg for a change instead of cinnamon, or use almond extract instead of vanilla. Remember, however, that too much of any spice will overwhelm instead of complement. Go for subtlety.
In general, don't make more than one substitution per baked recipe.
"Of course, you can put chocolate chips in anything," says Marilyn M. Moore, a Scottsdale-based cookbook author. "Subtract or add. They're a health food, aren't they? Chocolate chips are one of the four food groups."
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