As a cursory glance at the viewing figures for Channel 4's Great British Bake Off will attest, people in the UK love a bit of baking.
With National Baking Week 2022 taking place from October 14th - 20th and a few more weeks of GBBO still to go, now is the perfect opportunity to improve your home baking skills with our handy how-to guide.
What is National Baking Week?
Launched in 2007 by a group of baking brands, National Baking Week encourages people of all skill levels to get in their kitchens and start baking!
While the ultimate goal is to make a tasty treat, there are plenty of other reasons to get your apron on, with baking well known for getting the creative juices flowing and positively stimulating the senses, both of which are great for boosting mental wellbeing. Baking also has meditative qualities, making it the perfect activity to help you unwind at the end of a busy day or over the weekend.
And if your baking skills aren't quite up to scratch, don't let that stop you. Just follow these hints and tips and you'll be a kitchen master in no time!
Stay positive
Confidence plays a key role in baking so try to approach every recipe with a positive mental attitude. Of course the odds of you creating a culinary masterpiece every time are against you but so what? Slightly undercooked cakes and biscuits with icing that hasn't properly set are still going to get eaten.
Practice makes perfect, so leave your doubts at the door and get cracking!
Stick to the recipe
Recipes are there for a reason - they tell you exactly how to make the thing you want to eat - so stick religiously to them, especially if it's your first attempt. Cutting corners by not weighing or measuring ingredients properly or adding extra ingredients on a whim is asking for trouble.
Wait until you're making consistently delicious bakes before you start tweaking the recipe!
Be patient
If the recipe requires the use of a mixer, it can be tempting to stick it on a high speed to hurry things along. This, however, is a bad idea - all that will happen is strands of your mixture will end up all over the sides of the bowl, reducing the amount you have to work with. Instead, keep things slow and steady; this has the added benefit of allowing more air into your mix, which will make the finished product lighter and fluffier.
Waste not, want not
Got some mixture left in your bowl? Go get it! Plastic spatulas are perfect for scraping out every last drop and when you've gone to the effort of making a dough or mixture, you should try to incorporate as much as possible.
Pick the right bowl
Just like sticking rigidly to a recipe, it's important to use the correct type of bowl when baking, so get to know your options. The last thing you want is to realise mid-bake that the bowl you've chosen is too small to fit all your ingredients or too big to sit on top of a saucepan without the bottom touching the boiling water inside it!
Pay attention
Don't get distracted when baking. Watching, listening, smelling and touching are the keys to success!
Cafe2U goes great with a bake!
Whatever you'll be baking this National Baking Week, it's guaranteed to taste even better when paired with one of our coffees.
Contact your nearest Cafe2U van here and we'll bring some of our top quality blends straight to your door!