6 Home Baking Tips from Boutique Brownies

I have baked hundreds of batches of chocolate brownies and many, many different cakes. In that time I have found there are some very simple things that you can do
or not do that will keep your baking on track and possibly save your Chocolate Brownies or your cake!

1) Tick off each ingredient as you go.

It’s so annoying when you look in the oven and think to yourself – why is that not looking how I thought it would.

A Lemon Drizzle Cake can quickly turn into what resembles a beautiful but inedible Lemon scone if you forget to add your sugar!

2) Measure the ingredients properly.

Sometimes it is tempting for speed to not measure ingredients properly such as use any old spoon for a tablespoon or any old cup for a cup measure.

You may get away with it if you are lucky depending on the ingredient but too much baking powder for example can cause your cake to rise beautifully only to collapse shortly after.

I have a set of digital scales which are brilliant as you just weigh each ingredient and return the scale back to zero each time.

3) Use the right size tin.

If the mixture doesn’t fill the tin properly you will probably end up with an overbaked cake or rather shallow bake as it will spread out too much.

Similarly, if it is overfilled you may find yourself having to clean your oven because batter has overflowed. You will be surprised at how far a small amount of batter can spread in your oven!

4) Line & Grease your tins

It is very tempting to skip this as it takes a minute or too, but it really is a must.

There is nothing more annoying than trying to release a cake from the tin and half stays put and the other half flops out.

A little icing can do an excellent repair job but it will still be noticed once the cake is cut.

5) Use a sieve

We no longer need to sieve flour because there are large grains left but sieving the flour will aerate it after it has been sitting in the bag in your cupboard.

Do sieve icing sugar too, it is much easier to make a gorgeous silky icing if the icing sugar has been sieved already.

The same goes for other ingredients which may have settled in their package such as Muscovado sugar. You don’t need to sieve it, but break up any lumps before you start mixing your batter otherwise it is much harder to make your lovely smooth batter.

6) Use a Timer

Really simple, put the timer on! I usually take off at least 5 minutes from the cooking time depending on how long is needed in the oven so I can keep an eye on how it is baking.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on baking what baking tips you have. Please share in the comments box below.

Heidi