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These baking mistakes are ruining your dish

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on - Jan 24, 2020, 11:46 IST

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Baking mistakes you should avoid

One can find several books and online courses for “The Art of Baking.” However, most of them are misleading. When training to become a baker, the most important lesson taught is that baking is a science, which is decorated or made to look pretty with art. When baking a loaf of bread or making sponge cake which is later going to be adorned with ganache, butter cream and pretty flowers, if the base is not prepared using the correct techniques, then all goes wrong. The base should be prepared with utmost precision and technique.

When done right, baking can be an incredibly gratifying and calming process, yielding stacks of hard-earned, fresh baked goods. However when the baking process goes astray, it can lead even the best bakers to the brink of madness. After all, baking is a science and the tiniest mistake or miscalculation can result in a disappointing finished product that fails altogether or does not hit the mark.

Read below a list of common baking errors and tips for fixing them:

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Inaccurate Measures

Assuming baking is an art is a crucial mistake made by bakers. Measuring accurately is the first step of baking. Instead of using cups and spoons, ingredients must be measured in grams and kilograms. Cups are manufactured using different metric systems worldwide, and therefore always create confusion.

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Incorrect method of mixing

Incorrect mixing is one of the other common errors made by bakers. Whether it’s preparing the dough of bread or the batter of pastries, it’s imperative to follow the correct order of mixing ingredients, instead of adding all of them together. It’s essential to understand that some ingredients are required to be incorporated, whereas others require a good mix for aeration. Whisking eggs and sugar or creaming butter and sugar usually require aeration whilst dry ingredients like flour in pastry require only a gentle incorporation.

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Skipping the binding agent for gluten-free baking

Not including a binding agent is one of the most common pitfalls for gluten-free bakers. Some alternative flours have a binding agent whereas, others do not. Therefore, when baking with these flours, make sure to check the ingredient list for a binding ingredient, like xanthan gum or guar gum, or else the gluten-free bread and cake recipes will face a tough time coming together.

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The dough does not rise

If the dough has been given ample time to rise and it still doesn’t grow in size, give a boost to the yeast with this trick. Heat a cup of water in the microwave, then turn it off and place the dough next to the water and close the microwave to use it as a makeshift proof box and speed up the rising process (just make sure not to microwave the dough and the water, together). If your dough still doesn’t rise, chances are the yeast you used is expired and you’ll need to start over.

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Shorter proving process

Another error made by bakers is skipping the multiple proving steps. One long proving method instead of three short ones can never give the same result. Bread is made up of 4 basic ingredients i.e. flour, water, yeast and salt. The correct mix of ingredients and a timely proving process renders bread all its flavor. Therefore, a slow proving, at the required temperature, does the trick.

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Bottomline

Luckily, the most frequent baking mishaps can be easily prevented by following a list of guidelines. Use the above tips and tricks to correct some of the most common baking mistakes and ensure that the next batch of breads, cakes, cookies and beyond make the time and effort you spent worth the while.

By: Aditi Handa, Chief Baker, Fourgrain Fanatic and Founder-owner of The Baker’s Dozen

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