If you're looking to bake cakes and pastries, here are some ideas to help you get started in what can become a very enthralling and even therapeutic hobby, with the resulting benefit of some very delicious things to eat!
Steps.
1. Decide what you would like to bake. You won't have enough time in the day to bake a lot of items, so be selective. Pastries tend to be more effort and take more skills than making cakes, so if you're a novice, start with cakes and work your way towards making pastries.
2. Read up on making cakes and pastries. To begin with, it's a really good idea to become knowledgeable about the techniques, as well as the things that can go wrong with them. For example, temperature is very important when baking a cake, so that opening the oven mid-cooking can cause it to deflate. And pastries often require cold handling (adding cold fat, keeping your fingers cool by only using the fingertips and only rubbing for a short time, and having a cool room to work in). While these "fiddly" things may seem overwhelming at first, once you have grasped the finer techniques of baking, they make the experience both much more enjoyable and a lot more successful.
3. Try easy baking recipes to begin with. Start with plain cakes and pastries before graduating to fancier, more complicated versions. Some good ones to start with would be:
4. Once you feel confident making basic cakes, you can proceed to more complex cakes, such as wedding cakes, fruit cakes, layered cakes, birthday cakes with designs etc. Here are some ideas to try:
A cupcake wedding cake, Fruit cake, A chocolate chip birthday cake, Red velvet cake.
5. Avoid making French pastries until you have a good grasp of working with pastry and a fair understanding of its properties. French pastries become easier with practice but they are not a good beginner's pastry because you will be easily deterred by the amount of effort required. Once you do feel more certain, you might like to try:
Croissants, Eclairs, Choux pastry for a croquembouche.
6. Consider attending classes to learn the techniques used in baking. It can be a lot easier learning from a pastry chef who already knows all the tricks and trickiness and you will benefit from both the visual demonstrations and the practice with help.
7. Learn about baking from other places and for special occasions:
Try to experiment with baking from different cultures, from Japan to New Zealand, from the USA to Romania, you will find wide variations on commonly baked goods. It could take a lifetime to discover them all!
Learn about baked food that signify different seasons or celebrations. There are many different baked items associated with harvests, Christmas, Easter, Day of the Dead, and other celebrations around the world. These tend to be more complicated, on the whole, so you might need to be an intermediate to advanced baker to feel comfortable with them. See wikiHow's Holiday Cooking section for some ideas.
Tips.
It's a good idea to purchase an excellent book on Baking (often known by chefs as baking bibles) as these will give you good tips and are also excellent references for troubleshooting baking problems.
It is important to learn gradually. It takes years to become a top pastry chef or baker, so you're bound to have a few mishaps before feeling that you've mastered some of the trickier cakes and pastries!
In addition to knowing how to bake the cakes and pastries, it is also important to familiarize yourself with making frosting, using fondant, and making shapes and designs on cakes and pastries. Knowing how to make sugar toffee and glazes can also come in handy. You'll learn these techniques as you go.
Warnings.
Good cake and pastry pans are essential for good results. Don't skimp; it is better to buy one or two good quality baking items than to by an array of cheap ones that don't hold or distribute heat evenly, or do a number of things needed to ease your baking experience.
If you’re looking to get creative with your baking, a cupcake cake is a great way to start! Cupcake cakes look great, but only require a regular cake recipe, some gluing with frosting, and a creative mind. You can carve a giant cake into cupcake shape or arrange lots of small cupcakes into a unique shape or pattern for any occasion. No matter what kind of cupcake cake you choose, your taste testers will love the shape and flavor of this delicious dessert.
Ingredients.
Makes 20-25 standard-size cupcakes.
2 cups (470 mL) flour.
1⁄2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt.
2 teaspoons (9.9 mL) baking powder.
1⁄2 cup (120 mL) softened butter.
3⁄4 to 1 cup (180 to 240 mL) sugar (add more if you want sweeter cupcakes).
2 eggs.
1 cup (240 mL) milk.
1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) vanilla (optional).
Icing.
Makes 10-12 servings.
2 cups (470 mL) butter.
6 cups (1,400 mL) powdered sugar.
2 tablespoons (30 mL) whipping cream.
2 teaspoons (9.9 mL) vanilla or almond extract.
A few drops of food coloring (optional).
Steps.
1. Decide on a pattern. This will depend on what occasion the cake is for! If you’re celebrating a child’s birthday party, think about doing a simple rendition of their favorite animal, like a turtle; cartoon character; or activity, like an airplane. For a holiday, go with a simple symbol, like a Christmas tree or a dreidel.
2. Calculate the number of cupcakes you’ll need. Lay out cupcake liners in your chosen pattern on the large plate or piece of clean cardboard you plan to arrange your cupcakes on. Make sure they can all fit snugly, adding or subtracting cups as needed. Your final number of cups will be the number of cupcakes you’ll make.
This recipe makes 20-25 standard-sized cupcakes. If you need more or less than that, adjust the measurements accordingly.
For example, if you want to make 40 cupcakes, use 4 cups (950 mL) of flour, 1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) of salt, 4 teaspoons (20 mL) of baking powder, etc.
You could also use mini cupcakes. A recipe that makes 20 standard cupcakes can be used to make about 60 mini cupcakes.
3. Preheat your oven to 375 °F (191 °C) and line the pan with paper liners. If you’re making mini cupcakes, preheat to 350 °F (177 °C).
4. Mix your batter. Stir your butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or a mixer on medium speed until it’s light and fluffy. If you’re using a mixer, this should take 2-3 minutes.[4] Stir in one egg at a time, then add the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour in your milk and stir well, then add your vanilla (optional). Stir until smooth.
Soften the butter by leaving it out for a few hours before you start mixing your batter.
Use a mixer if possible, as the batter will be much harder to stir with a wooden spoon.
Vanilla will add a sweeter flavor, which is a great way to sweeten up your typical boxed cake mix.
5. Pour the batter into the tray. You can use a large measuring glass with a pointy lip to get a neater pour. Fill each cup about halfway, making sure to divide the batter equally so you get an even bake.
6. Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes. Check on your cupcakes after about 10 minutes to make sure they’re rising but not burning. They shouldn’t be darker on top by the time you pull them out. Then, let them cool in their pans for about 10 minutes.
You can check if your cupcakes are done by sticking a toothpick into the center of one cupcake. Pull it back out and check to see if there is wet batter on it. If so, your cupcakes need some more time. Put them in for 5 more minutes, then check on them again. When the toothpick comes back dry, your cupcakes are ready to go.
If you’re making mini cupcakes, bake for 10-15 minutes.[9]
7. Make your icing. Microwave your butter for 10-30 seconds or leave it out for a few hours, until it’s slightly soft but not melted. Mix it with sugar in a large bowl, using a mixer on medium setting or a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Mix in the whipping cream, vanilla, and any food coloring you want and stir until the frosting is thick but spreadable.
If you want to use different colors in your pattern, separate the frosting evenly into different bowls, then add your desired food coloring to each bowl.
8. “Glue” your cupcakes to your plate with a swirl of frosting. Transfer your frosting to a piping bag, or make your own by poking a small hole in the bottom corner of a resealable plastic bag. Squirt a circle of frosting onto the bottom of each cupcake, directly onto the paper liner. Place each cupcake firmly back onto the plate or cardboard.
Make this squirt of frosting roughly circular and slightly smaller than the bottom of the cupcake, but don’t fill it in.
9. Push your cupcakes together for a tighter fit. Gently press the cupcakes together with your hands so that each one is pushed flush against its neighbors. This will prevent too much icing from slipping into the cracks between cupcakes.
10. Ice the cupcakes smoothly for a cake-like look. Use your piping bag to put a small dollop in any remaining diamond-shaped holes between cupcakes. Outline the outside edge of your pattern with frosting, then fill in the rest. Smooth it over with an icing scraper or a flat plastic spatula. Decorate with other colors of frosting or sprinkles.
11. Ice the cupcakes individually to make different frosting patterns. You could do rose-style icing or simple swirls with your piping bag. The cupcakes may feel like less of a cohesive cake, but this method could be best for some patterns. If you’re making a large flower out of cupcakes, for example, you may want to frost the cupcakes individually to make them look like individual petals. You also might wish to create a certain illusion of texture, for cakes in the shape of animals or birds.
Cream of tartar is a powder ingredient used in many recipes to stabilize egg whites, act as a leavening agent, or prevent sugar from crystallizing. If you are working on a recipe and realize you are out of cream of tartar, no worries! You can easily substitute it with lemon juice, white vinegar, and baking powder, to name a few. Alternatively, omit the cream of tartar substitute if making frostings or syrups. Modify your recipe slightly, and you can easily substitute cream of tartar.
Method 1 Substituting with Common Kitchen Ingredients.
1. Substitute lemon juice for a very effective option. When mixing ingredients for your particular recipe, swap equal parts of cream of tartar for lemon juice. Most recipes call for 1/4 tsp (1.2 g) of cream of tartar. The acidity in lemon juice is similar to that in cream of tartar, so this makes for an easy swap.
This is particularly a good idea if you are making lemon meringue pie.
2. Choose white vinegar if you are beating egg whites. White vinegar and lemon are both very helpful substitutes that work great to mimic the effect of cream of tartar. Add equal parts of white vinegar to your eggs as you beat them to easily whisk them up and make them extra fluffy. The acidity of the vinegar helps to add volume, similar to cream of tartar.
If your recipe calls for 1/2 tsp (2.4 g) of cream of tartar, use 1/2 tsp (2.4 g) of white vinegar instead.
You may have to add a little bit of sugar to taste if the mixture is too bitter.
3. Try baking powder if you need a leavening agent. If your recipe calls for baking soda and cream of tartar, swap it out for baking powder. Baking powder is another effective leavening agent that you can use in a pinch. Use 1 tsp (14.9 g) of baking powder to replace 1/3 tsp (1.65 g) of baking soda and 2/3 tsp (3.3 g) of cream of tartar.
Baking powder is essentially a mix of baking soda and cream of tartar, so this won’t change your recipe much at all.
This is a good idea if you want to add cream of tartar to blueberry pancakes, for example.
4. Use buttermilk if your recipe calls for lots of dairy. If you’re making a dish with lots of milk or cream, like pies or puddings, you can use buttermilk to add acidity and replicate cream of tartar benefits. Remove 1/2 cup (118.3 mL) of liquid for every 1/4 tsp (1.2 g) of cream of tartar, and then add 1/2 cup (118.3 mL) of buttermilk instead.
Buttermilk is an acidic liquid that is left over after churning butter. It is often used in baking pancakes and birthday cakes.
In some cases, you can substitute yogurt for buttermilk. Add milk to your yogurt until it is the same consistency as buttermilk, then use the same buttermilk proportions to substitute your cream of tartar.
5. Skip over the cream of tartar if you are making frostings or syrups. If you are making sugary toppings including icing, syrups, and frostings, leave out the cream of tartar rather than trying to find a substitute. Your topping may crystallize and get hard, but you can easily reheat it in the microwave or stovetop to soften it.
Do this if you are topping cookies, frosting a cake, or stuffing donuts, for instance.
Method 2 Using Cream of Tartar.
1. Use cream of tartar to stabilize egg whites when making meringue. Cream of tartar is what gives meringue its creamy, fluffy texture. Use your meringue to make cookies, pies, and other tasty desserts. Typically, you can use 3 egg whites and 1/4 tsp (1.2 g) of cream of tartar to make delicious meringue. Be sure to beat your egg whites well until they are foamy.
Consult your recipe to determine how much cream of tartar and egg whites to use.
2. Add cream of tartar when making baked goods for a leavening agent. Mix cream of tartar with baking soda to create a chemical reaction, resulting in extra-fluffy treats. Use cream of tartar to help cookies, pancakes, and other baked goods.
The amount of cream of tartar and baking soda to add to your ingredients depends on your particular recipe.
For example, add 2 tsp (9.9 g) of cream of tartar when making Snickerdoodles for fluffy, yummy cookies.
3. Include cream of tartar to prevent sugars from crystallizing in icings. The acidic base of cream of tartar helps keep sugars from hardening up when making icings, frostings, or syrups. In addition, cream of tartar gives these sugary toppings a smooth, consistent texture.
For instance, if you are making icing with 3 cups (710 g) of confectioners sugar and 2 egg whites, add 1/4 tsp (1.2 g) of cream of tartar for a creamy touch.
Things You’ll Need.
Recipe.
Lemon juice.
White vinegar.
Baking powder.
Buttermilk.
Tips.
If you store cream of tartar at room temperature in an airtight container, it should stay good indefinitely.
You can also use cream of tartar and lemon juice to help clean household items.
Cream of tartar can be used to substitute baking soda in some recipes.
Warnings.
Remember that these substitutions may have similar results, but your finished product may still come out differently. After all, it is a substitution. You can expect subtle changes in texture and overall appearance.
Who can resist a piece of delicious, rich cake or fudgy brownies? For avid bakers, making tasty desserts that everyone raves over is a badge of honor -- that's why bake offs have become so popular. A bake off can be a fun activity among friends or a great way to raise money for a good cause. Hosting the event can be challenging, but with some careful planning, you can pull off a successful -- and delicious! -- bake off.
Part 1 Designing the Bake Off.
1. Choose a theme for the bake off. To make it easier to settle on recipes, it helps to have a theme for the bake off. You might choose a specific type of baked goods, such as cookies, cakes, pies, or brownies, or a specific event to bake for, such as desserts for a holiday, birthday, or wedding. A specific ingredients, such as apples or pumpkin, can also be a good theme.
A seasonal theme can work well too. For example, ask for summer desserts or fall-inspired treats.
A movie or book can be a fun theme as well. For example, request Harry Potter-inspired baked goods.
You can even use a color for the bake off's theme. For example, ask for baked goods that feature red ingredients.
2. Decide on the rules for the bake off. A bake off can be arranged in several different ways. You can give the participants the general theme and let them choose their own recipes or you might choose a single recipe and have all of the participants make the same thing.
It’s also important to decide if participants will bake their entry at the venue or bring a finished product to the event. Having participants bake on site is very exciting, but it can be more difficult to find a venue with the proper kitchen facilities so having bakers bring finished entries may be more convenient.
Write down a set of formal rules for the bake off once you settle on them. Participants will want to know all of the guidelines before they agree to take part.
You should also decide if you will charge an entry fee. If you’re holding the event to raise money, having participants pay a small fee makes sense. Anywhere from $5 to $20 may be appropriate, depending on the event.
3. Settle on prizes for the bake off. To give people incentive to participate, it helps to have some type of prize for the winner(s) of the bake off. If the event is sponsored by a local business, it might be a cash prize. You can also hand out a trophy, ribbon, or certificate.
The bake-off prize can be worth any amount, but typically, $25 to $100 is a good range.
You may decide that only the first-place winner receives a prize, but you can also have smaller prizes for the second and third-place winners if you like.
If you’re holding the bake off for fun, you just might purchase small items to use as prizes, such as an apron or pot holders.
A bake off can also function as a fundraiser. Even if you give the winner a small prize, you can then sell off all of the baked goods afterward to raise money for your cause.
4. Set a date and time for the bake off. Once you’ve settled on the basic guidelines for the bake off, you’ll need to find a day and time to hold it. It may depend on when you can secure a venue, but it’s usually best to hold it on a weekend when people typically have more free time.
If you're using a holiday or other special occasion as a theme for the bake off, you'll want to time the event to appropriately. In most cases, you'll want to hold the contest within a two to three weeks of the holiday. For example, if the bake off has Christmas theme, you'll want to hold it within the first two to three weeks of December.
5. Find a venue for the bake off. When you’ve settled on a date and time for the bake off, you’ll need a location for it. If you plan to have participants bake their entries at the event, you’ll need a spot with multiple ovens and stove tops. If you’re having participants bring prepared baked goods to the event, you only need a spot where there’s room for a judging table and space for an audience.
If you need a venue with cooking equipment, you might look online for catering facilities that could support the bake off.
A bakery or restaurant can be an ideal venue too. Talk to local businesses to see if they're interested in partnering with you for the bake off.
If you only need a space to showcase the finished baked goods, any catering hall or party room that's available for rent will work.
Part 2 Gathering the Personnel.
1. Select at least one judge for the bake off. To determine the winner of the bake off, you’ll need at least one judge to taste and evaluate the baked goods. Ideally, the judge(s) should have some baking knowledge and experience, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be as a professional.
The judges shouldn't have any personal connections to the contests to avoid any claims of bias.
In general, the more participants your bake off has, the more judges you’ll want. A panel of three judges works well for most bake offs, though. If your bake off has five or less participants, though, a single judge is usually sufficient. For five to ten candidates, two judges work well.
People who would make good candidates for judges include local bakery and restaurant owners, culinary teachers from local schools, or bakers who've won other bake offs.
When you're talking to potential judges, you might say something like, "We're holding a bake off and would really like your expertise in judging the entries."
If you're holding the event to raise money for a cause, provide information about the organization or group that will benefit to the potential judges.
2. Find participants for the bake off. A bake off can’t happen if there aren’t bakers to participate. Ask friends, family, co-workers, and/or classmates who you know enjoy baking to take part. You can also create flyers with all of the details to post in your neighborhood, on your school or office bulletin board, or other locations to invite people to participate.
Make sure to get permission before you post any flyers on private property, such as a store window.
If you’re active on social media, you can also post online about the bake off to find participants. For example, making a Facebook event for the bake off is a good way to generate buzz. You can also use Twitter and Instagram to do a countdown to the event as a way to keep people interested.
3. Invite people to watch the bake off. It’s not necessary, but it can be fun to have an audience to attend the bake off. Once you’ve secured participants, create a flyer that advertises the event for anyone who might like to watch and post them in your neighborhood and/or school or office bulletin board.
If you’re holding the bake off as a fundraiser, you can sell tickets to the event. You can charge however much you like for the tickets, but it's best to keep the price between $5 and $10.
Part 3 Arranging the Bake-Off Supplies.
1. Create judging sheets. To make it easier for the judges to evaluate the entries, you should create scoring sheets for them to use. Decide what categories they should judge, such as taste and appearance, and what scale they should use, such as 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. Make enough copies so each judge has one for every contestant.
Some judging categories to consider include overall taste, texture, presentation, originality, adherence to theme, and skill level.
There should be a spot on the judging sheets for the judge to write their own name, as well as the contestant’s name.
2. Make copies of the recipe if it's that type of challenge. If all of the participants are preparing the same recipe for the bake off, you’ll need to make enough copies so all of the participants have one. Don’t hand them out until the bake off actually begins, though.
You may also want to make copies of the recipe for the judges to consult.
3. Gather baking supplies if necessary. If participants are baking their entries at the bake off, you’ll need to have supplies on hand for them to use. You’ll need ingredients, such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla, as well as bakeware, such as mixing bowls, electric mixers, cookie sheets, and cake pans.
If participants are using their own recipes, you should ask them if there are any special ingredients or equipment that they’ll need so you can be sure to have them on hand for the event.
4. Gather decorations for the venue. To make the event feel more festive, it helps to decorate the venue. You don’t have to go crazy, but some colorful disposable tablecloths, decorative bunting, and simple balloons can help dress up the space.
It's a good idea to match your decorations to the theme of the bake off. For example, orange, red, brown, and gold decorations work well for a fall-themed bake off.
Part 4 Overseeing the Bake Off.
1. Verify that the venue is set up properly. The day of the bake off, take a walk around the event space. Check that any necessary ingredients and equipment are on hand and there are tables for the contestants to display their entries. Make sure that you have all the necessary recipes and/or scoring sheets as well.
2. Time the entries. If participants are baking their entries at the venue, you’ll need to give them a set amount of time to prepare their baked goods. Use a countdown clock that is visible to everyone at the venue, and don’t allow anyone to submit an entry that isn’t ready after it ticks down.
If guests are preparing their entries at home, you should still have a set time when the entries have to be on the judging table.
3. Have the participants place their entries on the table with no names. All of the participants should put their entries on tables in a designated judging area. However, the participants’ names shouldn’t be placed with their entries to ensure that the judges are objective. Just number the entries and keep a list of which entry belongs to which participant.
4. Give the judges time to fill out the voting cards. Once the entries have reached the judging table, allow the judges to look at and taste each one. After they’ve tasted the entries, they should be given some time to fill out their scoring sheets so they can be as thorough as possible.
The amount of time that the judges will need depends largely on how many entries there are. The more baked goods they have to judge, the more time they’ll likely need. In general, you'll want to give the judges at least five minutes to evaluate each entry.
5. Collect the scoring sheets and tally the votes. After the judges have had some time to evaluate the entries, gather up their judging sheets. Add up the scores for each participant so you can determine who the first, second, and third-place winners are.
6. Announce the winner(s). Once you’ve counted all the votes, it’s time to announce the winner. If you’re naming the top three vote getters, start with the third and second-place winners and save the first-place winner for last. Hand out the prize(s), and take some photos of the winners to remember the day.
Tips.
Holding a large-scale bake-off is difficult to pull off. It is best to start small, and eventually build to a bigger, better contest.
A bake off doesn’t have to be a formal event. You can hold one with friends for fun.
