Essential Baking Tips to Help You Become a Skilled Baker

Certainly, some women have a natural talent for baking wonderful desserts all the time. However, for others, baking remains a challenging task. If the cake doesn’t burn, it means there’s a problem, and if the cookies aren’t hard enough (hard enough to break your teeth) but stick to the baking tray, it means you’re not quite hitting the mark. Know that mistakes often happen during baking attempts. But by following the best tips and proper guidance, you can prepare delicious and tasty desserts. Here is a brief summary of the most important baking tips to help you become a skilled baker.

Stick to the Flavor

A general rule of baking is to "achieve the perfect flavor and texture" for your dessert. If the cake doesn’t taste good or have the right texture, then the beautiful appearance is pointless. Flavor, whether good or bad, stays in our memory long after tasting the cake. So, it’s advised to focus on selecting the right mix of flavors and textures.

After getting the flavor right, you can then focus on decoration.

Don’t Rush Baking

As in most aspects of life, rushing the baking process spoils everything. Don’t start baking if you only have one hour but the process takes 80 minutes. Instead, do it another day when you have enough time. It’s wiser to enjoy the time you spend baking rather than rushing around the kitchen without a clear goal.

Mistakes are also more likely when rushing. Additionally, you may not have enough time to prepare all ingredients properly. As a rule of thumb, allocate 25% extra time for any baking mixture to allow for redoing a step or preparing special ingredients like egg whites.

Read and Follow the Recipe

Although this seems obvious, it makes a huge difference. Following the recipe is the most important baking advice you’ll hear but is often neglected. Even experienced bakers make mistakes by not reading the recipe carefully or sticking to it.

Sometimes the excitement of trying a new dessert or unjustified rushing leads to overlooking the recipe. Many just skim through it while baking. While this may work for some recipes, it usually causes baking failures or at least waste of ingredients. Reading the recipe beforehand helps you understand how, why, where, and when to do each step.

For example, imagine realizing late that the sugar needed to be sifted and divided into two steps, or that cookie dough requires two hours in the fridge.

Read the recipe two or three times and prepare well, unless you don’t mind a recipe disaster (like a sudden trip to the store or substitutions).

Avoid Substitutions

There’s some room for improvisation in cooking, but baking is a precise science where this doesn’t apply. In your next baking project, avoid reducing sugar, substituting eggs, replacing all-purpose flour with cake flour, or baking soda with baking powder, etc.

Baking experts recommend avoiding substitutions unless the recipe clearly suggests alternatives. Cakes often fail because the recipe isn’t followed properly — baking ingredients interact in specific ways to produce the best result. For example, adding fresh blueberries may taste good but adds moisture that changes the dough.

Different types of chocolate behave differently when heated, and baking soda is not the same as baking powder. Like math, the right amounts of ingredients ensure success. If you want to make changes, follow the recipe exactly the first time, then adjust next time.

Also, don’t swap a 9-inch cake pan for a 6-inch one unless stated. Using the right pan size helps avoid dense, uneven, sunken, or crumbly cakes.

Don’t Skip Measuring

The saying “measure twice, cut once” applies to baking. Take time to measure all ingredients accurately. Great baking requires tested techniques, proven recipes, and precise proportions.

Random measurements or adding a handful of chocolate chips is the best way to ruin your recipe. For consistent results, measure everything carefully.

Use a scale to weigh ingredients instead of volume measurements. Ask any professional baker — they prefer weight measurement. Volume is less accurate and often causes inconsistent results.

Use Quality Ingredients

Though natural and organic ingredients can be pricier, they significantly improve your desserts’ quality and flavor. You don’t have to overspend; choose high-quality (preferably natural) ingredients within your budget.

If possible, use good-quality chocolate, cocoa, and organic eggs as much as you can.

Maintain Perfect Oven Temperature

Nothing ruins your baked goods like the wrong oven temperature. An oven that’s too hot can burn your desserts or cause rapid rising, while an oven that’s too cool can cause insufficient browning. To get the perfect oven temperature, follow best practices such as using an oven thermometer — every oven is different, and some run hotter or cooler than their settings.

Even a 2-degree error can ruin your bake. If you suspect your oven runs hot or cold, use an oven thermometer to check and adjust.

Preheat the oven thoroughly and don’t put your batter in before it’s fully heated. Baking at uneven temperatures leads to poor results — burnt edges or tops while the inside stays raw or moist. Some recipes suggest preheating for at least an hour. Start heating the oven while preparing ingredients to ensure it’s ready.

Most importantly, don’t open the oven door during baking. Opening and closing changes the air temperature and circulation, causing your bake to collapse. Sudden temperature changes cause cracked cheesecakes. If you must open the door, do it gently and sparingly.

Let Cookie Dough Rest

Prepare cookie dough and refrigerate it for a day or two. This firms up the dough and reduces spreading.

Chilling also dries out the dough slightly, producing thicker, firmer cookies with better flavor and texture. Chilled dough is also easier to handle and shape.

Line Your Baking Trays

Line your trays with parchment paper or silicone liners. Wetting baking trays with hot water is more effective than greasing, allowing you to remove baked goods without breaking.

Also, cakes baked on butter-greased trays tend to brown more, while parchment or silicone liners help bake more evenly.

Check for Doneness

Don’t forget to watch the time. Following the recommended baking time is the difference between a light, beautiful cake and a hard, overbaked one. Test doneness with a toothpick — insert it in the center, and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.

If you don’t want to use a toothpick, gently press the cake after removing it. If it springs back, it’s done; if it leaves an indent, bake longer. This trick also works for cupcakes and muffins.