Cake Baking Tips - Part II

This newsletter is the 2^nd installment from the cake baking tips series which will focus on baking temperature and cookware. So bake that cake and eat it too!

• If your oven temperature is questionable, invest in an oven thermometer. Some ovens can be off by as much as 75°.
• Before mixing the batter, prepare the pans, turn the oven on, and make sure the rack is in the center.
• Shiny pans reflect the heat, and are your best choice for cake baking.
• Reduce the oven temperature by 25° when using glass pans.Substitute 8-inch square pans for round if you want, or use 2 to 3 8 X 4-inch loaf pans. The baking time will be less, so begin checking about 15 minutes before the time suggested.
• Have all ingredients at room temperature for best results.
• Grease pans with about 1 tablespoon of fat per layer pan.
• Use cocoa (or carob powder) instead of flour for dusting a greased pan when making a chocolate cake.

Tips for Baking with Flour

No matter what you decide to bake, the dynamic duo of your baking pantry consists of flour and sugar. Each of these essentials comes in a variety of forms, and knowing which to use is essential to baking success. This blog will focus on flour and the next will focus on Sugar.

Flour is the primary ingredient for most cakes, cookies, pastries, and breads. Although it is one of the most basic baking ingredients, it also can be the most confusing, because of the wide variety available on grocery store shelves. Several different kinds of flour are available for baking but you should become acquainted with three basic types of flour: all-purpose flour, cake flour, and bread flour.

• All-purpose flour is a blend of hard and soft wheat flours. The presence of more and tougher gluten in the hard wheat results in a rather elastic product. This produces the texture you want for cakes and cookies. Bleached and unbleached all-purpose flours can be used interchangeably, but unbleached flour has a higher nutritional value.
• Cake flour is made with soft wheat, producing less gluten when mixed, so your cake will be more delicate, with a slightly crumbly texture. When purchasing cake flour, don't buy self-rising cake flour unless the recipe specifically calls for it. If you do buy it by mistake, omit the baking powder or baking soda and salt from the recipe.
• Bread flour has a higher gluten-forming protein content, making the dough nice and elastic. This makes it ideal for bread-making.

NOTE : Don't store any of your flours in the paper sacks you buy them in. Instead, transfer them into airtight canisters and store them in a cool, dry place to make sure your flour won't absorb any odors or off-flavors and label the containers. Flour can last up to six months if stored properly in the pantry and indefinitely if stored in the freezer.