Great cook, terrible baker!

thehappybutterfly

I'm looking for tips and advice from the amazing bakers out there. As the title says, I'm a pretty good cook. I'm adventurous and not afraid to try unknown ingredients etc. When I make a new dish I follow the recipe but after a couple of times of cooking it I don't need the recipe. I'm experienced enough to know what substitutes can be used etc. But baking? Nope. I follow a recipe to the letter and it never turns out right. For instance, my big cakes (loaf, sandwich etc) ALWAYS crack. No matter where in the I've I put it. Yesterday I made a courgette loaf (like carrot cake). It looked lovely and golden but when I stuck a skewer in it was still quite wet in the middle so I put it back in for 10 mins or so. Today when I had a slice it was very dry but a big raw bit in the middle! Cracked as well on top.


And bread! My god. It never ever turns out right, even simple pizza dough. It's just way too wet. Pastry's the same no matter how much additional flour I add.


I just dont know what I'm doing wrong.

Heffi1

I find if you add extra flour to the recipe this can make it turn out wrong, with cooking savoury foods, it is good to experiment with flavours and adding extra ingredients, but with baking it is more of an exact science and adding extras in can end up ruining the result.

If your mix if too dry then try adding the liquid a bit at a time until the consistency is about right.

I used to add in extra flour to scones if I was heavy handed with the liquid and they were always horrible, so I tried adding it slowly a bit at a time and have had more success.

S-Iam

Hi,
Have you tested your oven temperature? Both of the examples you cited could be because the oven wasn't at the right temperature. And, as I'm sure you're aware, in baking there isn't as much wiggle room as there is in cooking.

Our cooker is awful, firstly no5 gas is 200c, not no6 which seems to be the industry norm. But even then it still varies. So I always use a oven thermometer.

Anyway, Just a thought.

lessonlearned

Another hopeless baker here. I'm a good cook, imaginative and creative however my baking skills are non existent. . Doesn't matter what kind of oven, whether it's cakes or pastry.... The results are always disappointing.

My fruit cake is always referred to as sunken treasure cake. Biscuits are just about edible.:rotfl:

Never mind - we cant be good at everything.;)

suki1964

Can't help with cakes but I do make pastry and it sounds to me you are using too much liquid.

Flour reacts to its envoirment. A damp one and less liquid is needed Also the milling process can make a big difference. When we moved here ( NI) my dad couldn't stomach the bread Follow the ingredients for fat and flour but add the water a table spoon at a time. I use just enough to bring 90% of it together then just wet my hand to bring the rest. And a hand is the best tool Got to be quick and cool

When adding flour to a sticky dough you are going to make a tough dough. I will use the food processor to add the fat, but always my hand to add the water. Leaving it to rest for 30 mins in the fridge is also a nessecary step

PasturesNew

To stop your cakes cracking, add each egg in ONE at a time and beat each one in REALLY well until it's combined.

rosie383

I think things like loaf cakes can be tricky to get right if you are not a good baker. Once they are golden on top, but a skewer comes out wet, I cover them with a hat of tin foil so that the top doesn't burn before the rest is cooked.
TBH if I were you, if you have a shallower tin use that. You are more likely to get an even bake. And have a go at some all in one recipes, Mary Berry ones are the easiest IMHO. Less chance for things to go wrong and less disheartening if it does all go pear shaped. Nowt worse than standing for ages in the kitchen doing everything oh so carefully only for it to be a disaster. It's not quite as bad if you haven't invested all the time trying. to make the perfect cake.
Bread I can't bake well at all apart from irish wheaten soda or other quick breads so I can't help you there.
I could never do pastry until I discovered Trexx and it worked! No idea why a change of one ingredient did it, but it did.

thehappybutterfly

Thanks for the replies guys. The tips about the oven temp definitely ring true. I've always said it's a slow oven'. Oven thermometer is on the list!


I live in Scotland so it's permanently damp so the tip about liquids makes sense too! I'm in the habit of just throwing everything in the bowl. Ok, so I'll ca' canny on the liquids.


Eggs one at a time? That's another problem entirely! I always manage to curdle the eggs but I've managed to solve that issue by tossing in a spoonful of the dry ingredients with each egg. Learned that one from my daughter.


My son forced a hm bone dry but tasty muffin down last night, bless him but did say that my cookies are always delicious!


I'm also not bad on desserts like cheesecake. Anything that doesn't require a sponge base!

natlie

I was going to say oven thermometer too, I find if you want to stop sponge becoming dry substitute 25g of your flour for cornflour, make sure you are using the right size eggs too if you use home produced eggs you can get weights for eggs small, med etc online and everything should be room temp when making a cake but cold when making pastry hope this helps
Nat

splishsplash

Making bread and pastry just takes practice, practice, practice.

I think it's a bit like learning to get to know a new toaster - toast is either pale or burnt until you figure out exactly where to put the timer. Dough and ovens are a bit like that - you have to figure out exactly how your own particular combinations work, and they'll be different for everyone. There's really only one way to do that - keep trying until you get the result you want.

Ask anyone who gets a new oven, they'll probably tell you everything goes pear-shaped for a bit until they familiarize themselves with the new oven's hot spots, optimum temps and shelf spacing.

Cakes cracking sounds like your oven is too hot, or you're putting the cakes too close to the top of the oven - try easing off the temp 10 degrees, giving it 10 minutes longer and maybe trying a slightly lower shelf.

Butterfly_Brain

The best bread dough is on the wet side, you just have to keep kneading until it comes into a lovely silky dough.