The middle of winter can be a tough time to get through, but it is an ideal time to sit back and go over the basics. When it comes to baking, there are several techniques that are indispensable, and Chef Jerry Pellegrino is here to take us back to culinary Boot Camp.
Jerry has identified five basic techniques in baking that cover most recipes you’ll come across. They are the whisking method, the creaming method, the melt and mix method, the rub it in method, and the mix it and make it method. Here are some ideas we borrowed from Hamstech.com.
The whisking or beating method is majorly used for sponge cakes, meringue, Pavlova, and chiffon cakes. As we know, sponge cakes mostly use sugar and butter, which must be whipped constantly while adding eggs. So that the cake rises without the use of a chemical rising agent like baking soda. Options for equipment are the hand-whisk which requires muscles and stamina, or the electric beaters which simplify the process.
Next, the creaming method. This is considered to be technically the most accomplished method of baking. Here sugar is added with butter and beaten constantly till it loses its color and increases in volume, this mixture then becomes softer in texture after beating constantly. These are simply the air cells that are formed in the mixture while beating it together. These air cells make the batter softer and increase the volume while beating. While sugar and butter are beaten eggs are added slowly so that they get thoroughly mixed, and no bulky parts of eggs are present in the batter. After adding eggs, the other dry ingredients are added and mixed well with the batter. This may sound complicated, but the only tricky part is to avoid mixing curding while eggs are added. Experts during baking classessay that if this step is skipped or neglected, it can result in dry or hard baked cakes.
Melting and mixing is the next method. In this method, butter is melted and then mixed with the other ingredients. This is often done to save time and effort while beating the batter. Butter is often melted in a pot then eggs and other dry ingredients are added to it. After adding the other dry ingredients, it is mixed well, but make sure that you do not over mix the batter which can lead to cracks in the cakes. This method is often used by beginners who have trouble beating butter and other ingredients together. We add a chemical agent like baking soda to raise the cake and bake it well. This makes sure that the cake is baked properly, and it rises as expected.
Rubbing in is a method well known to makers of flaky pastry dough. The rubbing-in method is also known as the cutting-in method. During this, butter is mixed with flour using the fingertips. Butter is divided into small parts and put in the flour and then mixed with the fingertips till it is mixed completely forming a sticky dough. This method looks simple, but there are a few tricks to make it easy and accurate. You can freeze cold butter, which is easier to cut, use your fingertips only to mix the fat in the flour, giving accurate consistency to the batter.
Mix it and make it may be the first method we all learned as kids. As the name suggests, all the ingredients used in making the cake are mixed together at the same time. So, this is known as the quickest and easiest methods of baking as the time taken for completing each step separately can be done together in a single step. This may sound easy but needs lots of care and attention while making the batter. If you lose concentration while doing this step, everything may go wrong. Any lumps in the batter or a dry and hard batter may result in tasteless cakes. And this way, the entire hard work will be in vain. This is the reason this method is mainly used in making cupcakes, as they are easy to make but if done separately may take time. So, experienced chefs use this method of baking to save time and energy.
