Beginner Baking Recipes (Simple & Easy Treats)

Beginner Baking Essential Guide

Be patient –

Baking cannot be rushed and sometimes it is meant to slow you down. Don’t get me wrong there are express recipes which are done in no time but the beauty about baking is enjoying the process so be patient. 

Check the recipe –

This might seem very simple and stupid but the thing is many times we star a recipe and then realize we don’t have a certain ingredients (I speak from experience). Hence it is wise to read through the recipe and get all the necessary ingredients you would need and equipment. 

Ingredient preparation is key –

Weigh your ingredients and prepare them. What does that mean? Keep them at room temperature or fridge cold as the recipe requires it. We call it mise en place which literally means everything in its place. This ensures you don’t miss out on any ingredients while baking and are set up for success. Some recipes suggest the dry ingredients need to be sifted which is part of the preparation as well. 

Equipment preparation is also key –

When baking you need to prepare your baking tin/any bakeware. Lining the tin with baking spray or brushing them wet oil/butter and lining it with baking paper or parchment paper. This is essential – this helps removing the baked goods easily once baked as it donuts allow the goods to get stuck to the tin. 

Preheat the oven –

All recipes most often than not will ask you to preheat the oven to a specific temperature. It is important that you do this ahead of time. Whether you bake in an electric oven or a gas oven you need to bake in a preheated oven or else the results will not be successful. 

Do not get creative –

Hear me out, I am completely for customizing recipes and adding your own personal touches to them, in fact I endorse it. However, if you are baking recipes for the first time or are a beginner baker then I would suggest following the recipe to get s successful outcome. One you are confident you can get creative.

Baking accurately –

So you are baking in a gas oven and the recipe is baked in an electric oven, will it affect your baking? Short answer: yes. Long answer: the recipe will work, however the baking may take lesser or more time to bake. Hence I always suggest looking for tips in recipes that tell you what to look for once the baked good is done. Eg: tooth pick test for cakes, a tooth pick inserted into the center should come out clean to know it is baked all the way through. 

Cool down/ Eat immediately –

Different baked goods are served differently. We would need to cool a cake but we would serve a cookie warm. In saying this we would not want to col the cookie on the hot baking tray as it will over cook the cookie, we would want to cool it on a wire rack to allow it to cool down a little. 

Residual heat –

Something that a lot of bakers do not talk about is residual heat, baked goods might be baked until a little underdone so they can get finished in the residual heat of the baking tin/tray. Sometimes this can over cook a recipe so I would recommend baking it as per the recipe and following and allowing it to cool as needed. 

Don’t be afraid to fail –

If you bake a recipe for the first time and it doesn’t turn out perfectly, don’t beat yourself up about it. I would suggest to use it as a learning. Think back to all the steps you did and the ones you missed, what might have gone wrong and find your mistake. This will make you better the next time and unstoppable with practice.