This week I’m continuing with my Baking Tip series. Today we’re talking about muffins and cakes! If you missed the last baking tip post about cookies, you can find it HERE.
Muffins
- Always preheat your oven before baking muffins.
- Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use a little shortening on a paper towel. ( Spray tin OVER the sink so it doesn’t get on your floor!)
- Use paper muffin cups for easy clean up
- For beautifully domed muffins, grease only the bottom and half way up the side of the muffin tin.
- Muffin batter will be lumpy, don’t over stir.
- Use an ice cream scoop or a large scoop to pour batter into the tin for consistently sized muffins.
- Spoon batter into muffin tin about 2/3 full.
- If you have some empty tins when baking, fill them with a little water so muffins will bake and rise more evenly.
- Remove from oven when muffins are golden brown on top, and then test to see if they’re done with a tooth pick or even a piece of raw spaghetti. Toothpick should come out clean.
- Allow muffins to rest in tins for 5 minutes before removing from pans onto cooling rack.
Cakes
- Preheat your oven.
- Using a metal pan is best! If you use a glass pan, lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees.
- Use room temperature ingredients. (eggs and butter)
- When combining butter and sugar, mix for at least 5 minutes, it ensures a lighter cake by adding air pockets to the batter.
- Measure flour properly, using the scoop and sweep method.
- Lower fat and calories in your cake by replacing half the oil with applesauce.
- Use a pastry brush to butter the pan. (I sometimes use the leftover butter wrapper to grease the pan.)
- Use parchment paper in the bottom of a round cake pan for easy cake removal. Works for loaf pans too.
- Bake your cake on a rack in the center of the oven.
- Don’t open the oven door until the cake is almost done.
- Test for done-ness by using a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s done!
- Cakes should rest 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Bundt cakes should rest for 15 minutes.
- For a round cake that you are using for layering, place cooling rack on top of cake and then flip the pan to cool.
- Angel food cake should be taken right out of the oven and inverted. (I usually balance it on top of a 2 liter soda bottle.)
- Add decorative touches like whipped cream, fruit or powdered sugar right before serving.
- For crumble free slices of cake, run your knife under hot water, wipe dry and then cut cake.
I feel pretty confident about baking cookies, muffins and cake, but please don’t ask me how to bake bread or anything with yeast- I’ve had too many baking disasters in that realm!
Feel free to add more baking tips in the comment section or feel free to volunteer to teach me how to make homemade bread!!!
Good suggestions, Jill. I learned a few things from your tips….Guess I didn’t know it all! =)
I learned most of it from you, Mom!!