Anyone else just a really appalling baker?

[HarrySnotter]

Or is it just me?

I'm a pretty good cook but bloody hell, I really can't bake.

Oven temp is right, ingredients always at right temperature (eggs etc), I always try to buy decent ingredients where possible but nothing ever comes out nice. At all. Family started off trying to save my feelings but when your 16 year old DS tells you 'mum, sometimes you have to just accept that you're not very good at something and you really are a crap baker', with a sympathetic head tilt, perhaps it's time to give up. But I love it and I continue in the vain hope that I will produce one of those lovely creations that everyone else seems to be able to make.

I made biscuits today and they sank in the middle. How is that even possible? Ddog, who is a labrador ergo a greedy bastard, was hanging around waiting for a treat. Did he want one of my sunken biscuits? No. He did not.

Yes me!

I'm know I'm a great cook and I love it. Spending time in the kitchen is my stress release, until I start to bake. I'm so bad at it!

Yep, I even have a Kitchenaid but I still cant bake for shit.

Ah OP I'm exactly the same. Savoury cooking I can do as long as there is a recipe (and I can be bothered) and the results are always edible. But baking? Nope.

I tried to make banana loaf yesterday. Think I've traumatised my DD with it.....

Me!!! I'm shit at baking but a good cook. My mum is excellent at both. Humph.

Yep! I’ve made some edible cakes in the past, but it’s completely unreliable. I don’t mind admitting I can’t bake for shit!

I don't understand it - it's an exact science isn't it?! My scales seem to be accurate and I follow the recipe to the letter and they still don't work out even a bit nice.

I don't use scales a lot with savoury recipes but I'm sure they're accurate. I would love a KitchenAid but it would be such a massive waste of money on me.

My friend is the most glorious baker. Lovely light sponges, squidgy chocolate cakes, scones like wee clouds. My scones could literally take someone out if I hit someone with one.

I can feel the sense of dread if DH walks into the kitchen and I'm covered in flour merrily telling him there's a 'treat' for pudding.

Baking works if you always use the same brands for flour / sugar / eggs and you have tried it once already. Nobody gets things perfect the first time. Get a recipe with step by step photos of the mix or a video so you can see what it should look like at each step. Often some brands of flour / sugar require more or less water. Some eggs are heavier than others etc.

My hands are too hot

Warm heart though

Me too! I'm a good cook and can also bake bread, but cake/biscuits/pastry invariably a disaster.

Yep , I can’t bake for toffees . Cakes either sink or burn , banana bread is always stodgy inside . Even a packet mix is hit and miss.

🙋‍♀️ me! I'm rubbish. The only thing I can cobble together is banana bread

It's weird isn't it?

I have no problems baking at all and can't see how anyone can mess up the "basic" things like a sponge and biscuits. But they do. Is there some kind of magic baking gene that some people are missing which means they don't give off the special Baking Essence or something? I don't even find baking a particularly exact science and often only follow a recipe roughly.

I wonder what the key to being able to bake is? It's not that different to cooking.

I'm ok, but ( and I'm bragging now ) my dh, being off from work has turned himself into a bread maker, and he's pretty good at it as well.

Apparently ovens can be quite a few degrees out. I got a thermometer to test this and mine is out by 15 degrees C out.

I'm with you OP. I like to think I'm a pretty good cook, I can put a meal together with a few ingredients that everyone will love, but baking defeats, nearly every time.

I made scones with DD a couple of weeks ago, the consistency was like a sponge, really runny, they were ok but not scone like at all.

My mum is a great baker and my granny was too. It's such a disappointment I haven't inherited their baking skills.

What tips would really great bakers on here give to us hopeless bakers?

Is there some kind of magic baking gene that some people are missing which means they don't give off the special Baking Essence or something?

I am definitely missing this gene ...

I've learned through trial and error is that most issues come through being a bit heavy handed.

By all means beat butter and sugar together for aaaages till pale and fluffy but the minute flour comes anywhere near the equation - go really gently. Biscuit doughs/scones/pastry bring together just enough to hold onto a ball then stop mauling!

Underbaking is slightly preferable to overbaking - things keep cooking for a while once they come out of the oven.

Good tip to test your oven temp. Measure everything really carefully, particularly baking powder - I usually weigh it.

Also, listen to your cakes when they come out of the oven...even if they look ok on top, if you can still hear them bubbling, they're not quite cooked.

I'm a pretty good baker, I never follow the times given in recipe books though, always judge by colour, texture and the skewer test.

I'm not artistic though so they dont always look pretty but taste nice.

A recommended recipe is the Mary Berry all in one sponge cake. This is pretty reliable.

Oh dear OP. You have made me laugh.
Labrador's will eat anything.

Me but I don't care. Now I just cook packet mix cakes and cookies etc. Much easier and guaranteed results.

🙋🏽‍♀️

I am a truly shit cook and baker. I buy everything in recipes, measure everything out, follow instructions precisely and it all goes to shit.

My talents lie in the eating I’m afraid!

Me.

I'm rubbish at baking.

When the lockdown started and people everywhere were touting baking as the ideal method to teach maths to children, my heart sank faster than one of my cakes.