Baking tips

1. Always pre-heat your oven. You can not let your pastry wait for your oven.

2. Buy the right ingredients. If you're a first-time baker, follow every ingredient down to the dot. If the recipe says butter, use butter and not margarine. If it says brown sugar, do not use white, powdered or caster sugar. If the recipe says use iodized salt, do not use sea salt or rock salt.

3. Measure all your ingredients properly. Use measuring cups for the dry ingredients and use liquid measuring cups for the liquid ingredients.

4. Use measuring spoons and cups. Measuring spoons are not the same as your table ware spoons.

5. After measuring all your ingredients, place them in separate mini bowls and make sure you have the complete ingredients before starting to mix.

6. If your recipe states you have to cream the butter, you have to use a hand-held mixer or a professional mixer (like Kitchen Aid) for that. If you are using a hand-held mixer, you have to use the wire attachment. If you’re using your Kitchen Aid, you have to use the paddle attachment.

Hand held mixer with wire attachment.

Kitchen Aid with paddle attachment.

7. Crack your eggs in a separate bowl before combining them to your mixture. Do not crack eggs directly unto your mixture because you're not sure if the eggs are rotten or not. If in case you cracked the eggs directly unto your mixture and it turns out to be rotten you have to discard the whole mixture and re-do the whole thing.

Happy baking mommies!

- Mommy Raquel

Ps: I will send more tips soon. If you have questions send them over and I will try my best to answer your cooking and baking problems.