The Basics of Baking for Beginners

Baking may seem hard to some people, but it is actually really easy once you get the hang of it! When I first started baking I would mess up on the amount of ingredients needed, or it would be overbaked. However, once I started practicing more and baking other things, I started to finally get used to it and the things I was making would come out how I wanted it to come out! So, today I will help you learn the basics of baking, and what to remember while baking.

First off, when baking you always want to be precise when measuring your ingredients, while you also make sure you have the right materials that you need for the recipe you are making. You should start in a clean kitchen/area so there is enough space, and other things aren’t touching your ingredients. 

Before you start to bake, read the ingredients and instructions of the recipe so you know if you need to take your ingredients out to be room temperature. While your ingredients are sitting out, you should get your materials that you might need; for example, spoons, bowls, pans, mixer, whisk, kitchen scissors, rubber scraper, etc.

Other things that are a must have for every baker are flour, eggs, yeast, baking powder and baking soda, salt, dairy, oil/ shortening or butter, flavoring extracts and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. You also need types of sugars like syrup, honey, molasses, white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar.

There’s a lot of things to remember about baking, but my mom, Laura Galvez, states: “The number one thing to remember while baking is to follow the recipe precisely.  Yes, that is very important because if you don’t, the recipe won’t turn out how it is supposed to, plus, knowing how to read and follow a recipe is a beneficial skill to have in general.”

Some skills every beginner baker should try to have are organization, communication, attention to detail, composure under pressure, curiosity and creativity, patience, and dedication.

Pitman High School freshman, Jullisa Aguirre, believes that “having patience is important when baking, because you have to wait for when it is [done] baking, and for when it is [finished] cooling off.”