Source: joyofbaking.com
If I took 100 rupees for every time someone told me that the recipe I gave them for a cake or a pastry didn’t turn out exactly like mine, I would be a very rich woman indeed. Recipes are written for a reason, i.e. to be followed! A lot of people use a recipe as sort of a guideline and then will add and subtract ingredients based on what is available at home and according to their own taste. There is nothing wrong with that, especially if you are making a savoury dish. However, when it comes to baking and pastry, it is a very different ballgame. Baking is a science in which ingredients and processes combine together to produce various chemical reactions and these, in turn, result in good (or bad) baked products.
Unlike other articles where I generally work on a theme or an ingredient and write recipes, I thought I would focus this particular piece of writing on how to follow a recipe. At this point, I will forgive you if you’re shaking your head and thinking, “Why is she writing about how to follow recipes? Surely, it is a simple enough thing to do?” And you are quite correct; however, the fact is that most people dive into a recipe without really reading through it — an approach that often results in failure.
SOURCING RECIPES FROM GOOGLE, PINTEREST AND YOUTUBE
The internet is a rich source of pastry recipes and some of them are very good. But as with all digital information, it is important to read them with a healthy dose of scepticism. My rule of thumb, when I search the internet, is to first go to the bloggers that I trust and have followed for many years. These are also people who have a large following and a reputation for producing good recipes. If I still can’t find what I am looking for and I am forced to look at a random website, I always read the reviews first. If there are no reviews I will not make the recipe, no matter how good it looks. Over the years, this has helped to reduce wastage of time and ingredients.
Following the recipe to the letter is the secret to success when it comes to baking
READ THE RECIPE FIRST
When you’ve found a good recipe, whether it is in a cookbook or on the internet, read through it first. Remember that any good baking recipe will include the following information: baking temperature and time, ingredient lists with measurements in grammes or cups (more on this later), all the processes required in the recipe along with the right tools to use at every step and storage information.
BAKING TEMPERATURE AND TIME
When you’re reading the recipe, keep an eye out for baking temperature. Most American recipes will list the temperature in Fahrenheit (F), whereas elsewhere in the world (including Pakistan), heat is measured on the Celsius (C) scale. Convert from F to C (or vice versa if you so prefer) beforehand in order to avoid confusion — this is easily done using Google but, if you are still concerned, here is a quick list of conversions based on the temperatures you will usually find in baking recipes: