If you dream of baking like a professional, you’re closer than you think. Professional pastry chefs rely on a few simple techniques that make a big difference in the kitchen, and you can easily start using them too. This article shares some expert-approved tips that will help you bake better, smarter, and more confidently. The best news is that no complicated tricks are required. With just a few adjustments, you’ll be turning out bakery-worthy cakes, cookies, and pastries in no time.
Read the Whole Recipe
Before you start baking, always take a few minutes to carefully read through the entire recipe. Skimming the ingredients or glancing at the baking time is not enough — you need to understand every step before you begin. This way, you will avoid running into surprises like missing ingredients, needing a special pan, or realizing too late that the dessert requires hours of chilling. Knowing exactly what to expect helps you plan better and makes the whole process much smoother. A little preparation upfront can make all the difference between a stressful bake and a successful one.
Buy The Good Ingredients
Using high-quality ingredients can completely transform your desserts. While cheaper options might save you a little money, they often lack the flavor, texture, and consistency that good baking relies on. For example, premium flour is light, soft, and finely ground, while lower-quality flour tends to be heavier and coarse. Investing in better butter, flour, and other basics will noticeably improve your pastries. A small upgrade in ingredients can lead to a big difference in your final results.
Preheat Your Oven
We cannot stress this enough! You need to give your oven plenty of time to heat up. The average oven takes about 15 minutes to reach the correct temperature.
Trying to bake in an oven that is not preheated will lead to disaster. Professional chefs always turn the oven on as soon as they enter the kitchen. You need to do this, too!
Sift The Dry Ingredients
Lots of recipes ask you to sift the dry ingredients together, but many of us are guilty of skipping this step. Why dirty another bowl when you don’t have to?! But sifting really is essential. Flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and pretty much all dry ingredients have a tendency to clump. You don’t want small balls of baking soda in your cake or chunks of cocoa powder in your tiramisu!
Sifting helps fluff up the dry ingredients and break up any pieces that would otherwise ruin your desserts. Sifting takes about 20 seconds, so just do it! You will notice the difference.
Dust With Cocoa Powder
If you need to roll out a cookie dough or pie crust, don’t dust your work surface with flour. Use cocoa powder instead! This is a little pastry chef secret that will help make your sweets have an exciting flavor that no one will be able to pinpoint.
Cocoa powder works just like flour to prevent dough from sticking as you roll, so you don’t have to worry about that! So sprinkle a little cocoa on the counter, roll out your dough, and feel like a pro as you do it.
Add a Crumb Coat
When making a layer cake, you absolutely must add a crumb coat of frosting. A crumb coat is a very thin layer of frosting that you put on the outside of the cake after you assemble the layers.
Coating your layered cake with a little frosting will help hold the cake together and also trap any crumbs in the frosting. Chill the cake after adding the crumb coat so it sets nicely and is firm. Once the cake is cold, it will be extremely easy to add the final, pretty layer of frosting. There will be no cake crumbs showing, and the cake will be firm and not move around when you add the pretty icing.
Keep Your Butter Out
All pastry chefs keep a few pounds of butter out on their counter at room temperature. Almost all baking recipes that use butter ask for “softened butter”. Rather than microwaving cold butter (which most often makes it melt), simply keep a pound of butter on your counter at all times.
Room-temperature butter is the perfect texture for baking. It will be soft and ready to blend perfectly!
The US Department of Agriculture says that butter can be left on the counter for two days and still be completely safe to eat. This is a pro tip that will transform your baked goods!
Pro tip: Learn how to soften butter quickly
Use a Scale
Baking is a true science! You need to weigh your ingredients to truly measure them correctly. Using cups and teaspoons is fine, but it will never be as accurate as using a kitchen scale.
The way one person scoops and measures a cup of flour will be very different from how another person scoops the same flour. They can be ounces apart! Measuring your ingredients with a scale ensures accuracy and baking perfection.
Use a Scoop
A spring-loaded ice cream scoop is the perfect way to easily portion cookie dough and batter. Professional pastry chefs use scoops to make their cookies all the same size and to scoop the perfect amount of cupcake batter into pretty paper liners.
Spring-loaded scoops are the best because you can simply “click” the dough out of the scoop! They come in a variety of sizes, but a standard 2-ounce scoop is best for cookies and also the right size for standard-sized cupcakes.
Scrape the Bowl
Pretty much every baking recipe out there tells you to scrape the sides of the bowl after you add every ingredient. You need to do this! Ingredients tend to stick to the sides of the mixing bowl, and a paddle attachment or electric mixer might not blend everything evenly.
It is important to stop and use a rubber spatula to scrape everything off the sides and incorporate it into the batter.
Keep it Clean
Keep your workstation clean as you bake. A clean kitchen equals a clean mind, allowing you to focus on your baking rather than on the mess. Look at any professional kitchen, and you will immediately notice that it is spotless! Organizing is just as important to baking as ingredients!
Don't Rush!
Baking is a true science. The way ingredients interact and turn into stunning desserts is all a matter of chemical reactions. If a recipe says to "chill overnight" or "rest for an hour", follow the directions! There is a reason behind the wait time and you do not want to rush the recipe. Good desserts are worth the wait!
Use Silicone Mats
Silicone mats are one of the best ways to bake perfect cookies. The bottoms of your cookies will never burn again or stick to the pan. Plus, silicone mats are reusable. You can use them thousands of times, making them well worth the investment. They are very easy to wipe and clean. Get a set with mats of a few different sizes ,so you have one for every pan in your kitchen.
Research Your Recipes
A good recipe is essential to a good pastry. Don’t just google a dessert and pick the first recipe you see! It is important to look for a reputable website, use recipes that are well-rated, or pick a dessert from a classic cookbook.
Once you choose a recipe, be sure to read it all the way through and make sure that it makes sense. You need to be able to understand the recipe in order to make it work!
If you do not understand a step or how to make something, look it up, ask a friend or consult a pro. Everyone can bake! You just need to take it slow and follow all these tips.
Room Temperature Eggs
Adding cold eggs to a cookie dough or to a cake batter can be a disaster. The cold eggs can solidify the butter and completely change the texture of your batter. This can honestly change your whole dessert!
Take your eggs out of the fridge at the beginning of the baking process so they have time to warm up. Eggs will be safe at room temperature for several hours, so you don't have to worry!
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