I am by no means an expert baker; if anything, I’m only just beginning my journey in baking. However, in my previous experiences and especially in these past few months of working on my beat project, I’ve learned quite a few lessons with baking that I find to be very useful to keep in mind.

The first few lessons are just some practical, hands-on approaches that I’ve picked up on, the first being always flour your work surface (unless the recipe says otherwise) especially if working with sticky dough! When I attempted making sourdough cinnamon rolls, the dough was incredibly wet and sticky which was a nightmare to work with. Not only should I have floured my work surface more generously, I also could have just added more flour to stiffen it up, which leads me to my next practical lesson: if your dough/batter/mixture is noticeably off and you have an idea on how to fix it, it’s alright to go ahead and add additional ingredients! I was always taught that baking is a fairly inflexible practice (compared to cooking) and recipes should be strictly followed, which I guess kind of scared me into never really deviating from the instructions. While this is true to a degree, as messing around too much could completely throw the recipe off, it’s absolutely fine to alter a recipe either by substitution or the addition of extra ingredients if you’re confident it’ll improve the recipe. Even if you’re not confident, playing around with recipes and adding your own twists is an effective way in learning how different ingredients affect different recipes and overall will make you a stronger baker. Another practical tip I learned was never to take your creation out of the oven for too long unless you’re sure it’s done. In the past I’ve taken my breads and cakes out of the oven to inspect them to make sure they’re done, but I’ve learned not to marvel at them for too long! The second you remove food from the oven, it’s internal temperature starts to drop and such a large decline could have a negative impact on the completion of the bake. It’s ok to take the food out for a few seconds or a minute to check, but it’s important to return it straight to the oven so there are no baking complications at the end. It’s also very important to plan ahead and manage your time wisely, more so if you’re attempting a long and involved bake. I learned this the hard way when making sourdough bread. Bread takes especially long since it needs to rise for long periods of time, depending on your recipe. My one sourdough recipe involved me letting my dough not only chill in the fridge for 24 hours, but also required a 2-3 hour series of rising and stretching in a warm environment. While it’s great to be ambitious and go for more complicated recipes, it’s crucial to read the recipe before jumping into action! This helps you plan when to actually start and how much time you’ll need.

While these tips are super helpful and great to consider, I think the biggest lessons I’ve learned came from my grandmother and are very encouraging. Baking can seem like a difficult task to someone who hasn’t much experience, and the stigma of it being challenging certainly discourages some from even trying! One of the most memorable lessons my grandmother taught me was to never panic if a recipe seems too long or complex. Recipes can turn out easier than you expect them to if you stick with it and go step by step. We’re so fortunate to be living in an era of technology, so even if you run into issues in following a recipe, the internet is right at your fingertips to use for answering questions or looking up videos to help. In addition to not panicking over a recipe, my grandmother also always told me not to fret if I made a mess while baking. Though it can be frustrating getting flour everywhere, spills here and there are virtually unavoidable and it’s important not to obsess over getting a little messy! What’s key to baking something delicious is to focus more on actually making the food and having fun; cleanup can wait! The final, most impactful lesson I’ve taken away from my grandmother is actually what I based my school bread club on, and it’s to just get out there and try! So many people, as I mentioned earlier, withhold from baking simply because it seems hard and requires a lot of effort. Yes, some recipes do indeed require a lot of effort and skill, but there are plenty of them out there that just about anyone could manage, and the more you practice the better you’ll become! I started the Bread and Breakfast Club at school to get students to engage more in creating and to even push them out of their kitchen comfort zones a bit. When I first started out baking, I had nowhere near the amount of skill I have today and made countless mediocre baked goods… that my family only pretended to enjoy 🙁 As long as you keep trying, experiment with many different recipes, and learn from your mistakes, you’ll no doubt succeed and make some delicious goods! This beat project reminded me of how much fun baking can be, and I can’t wait to attempt more recipes in the future!