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Questions tagged [baking]

Questions about cooking by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven.

Most questions in this tag will be about some type of leavened product: cakes, pastries, breads, and so on. However, any food cooked by convective heat at moderate temperatures may be considered baking.

If your question is about cooking meat, vegetables, or other non-rising food, especially at very high heat, consider using the tag instead. Other common oven techniques that are not baking include and .

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Can one bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one?

This recent question about a person who wanted to bake a cake but only had a cooked egg left suggested me an even stupider one: is it possible to bake a cake with a cooked egg instead of a raw one? After all, the egg is going to end up cooked inside…
Federico Poloni
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How can I tell the difference between unmarked sugar and stevia?

My wife just started back on her doctor-recommended ketogenic diet (due to a medical history of high blood pressure and Crohn's disease in her family). She's to have reduced carbohydrates and sugars, and to use artificial sweeteners for anything she…
Zibbobz
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Why does my glaze soak into my doughnuts?

I fried up some yummy doughnuts and let them cool. Shortly after glazing them, I noticed that the glaze has soaked into the doughnuts. How can I prevent this from happening?
MegaMark
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When is it necessary to cover food with aluminum foil during baking/roasting?

Often a recipe calls for covering a dish while it bakes. I understand that this can help to trap steam. How do you know when it's necessary to use aluminum foil when baking a dish without a recipe? What are the other advantages of using aluminum…
Jacob R
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When to use convection/fan bake vs bake

Are there any general rules to follow when choosing between bake and fan bake to cook something in the oven? What effect does each have and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both?
ajbeaven
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How can I curate ingredients for my child to do foolproof self-directed sensory play + baking?

My 6 year old child really likes to play "spices" where we put various herbs, spices, flour, and other ingredients into small jars, set those on a baking sheet, and give her a mixing bowl. She mixes them and, usually, makes some sort of dough she…
Steve V
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Does resting the dough for a long time reduce the need to knead the bread?

In this article by Chef Michael Smith, he mentions a recipe where leaving the dough to rest for 18 hours removes the need to knead the bread. Is this a viable alternative? I've tried the recipe and found that the bread was more dense than a properly…
Curry
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Shiny side or not for foil?

Does it make any difference when you wrap food with aluminum foil for grilling or baking or making a steam pouch whether you put the shiny side in or the shiny side out? I've seen at least one answer to a questiong about grilling that made mention…
Jay R.
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How can I get my bread to be more fluffy and less dense?

I've been making bread for a while now, but I can never get it to rise enough. The bread comes out really dense, so it's not very useful for sandwiches. I give it ten minutes after kneading, bash it down again, then another hour before baking. I've…
Tom
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Is there a trick for softening butter quickly?

I often don't realize a baking recipe requires softened butter until after I start adding in the other wet ingredients and it's too late to wait for butter to soften the normal way (with time). So, I will usually microwave the butter until it…
JMann
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What to use instead of cling film to wrap pastry

I'm trying to stay away from single use plastics for the environment. The only kitchen thing I have not yet managed to find a substitute for is wrapping pastry in cling film to let it rest in the fridge before rolling and baking. What can I use…
user141592
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Is there any way to bring an egg to its natural state (not boiled) after you cook it?

This is probably a stupid question, but I'm curious now after I opened the refrigerator looking for eggs to make a cake and there was only one and it was cooked. Is there any way to undo that, whether at home or an industrial way?
Suhany
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Why are there no recipes combining both yeast and baking powder?

I've never seen anything with both yeast and baking powder. What's the reason for that? Shouldn't e.g. muffins get even more fluffy by adding some yeast? Or bread by adding baking powder? I know there are differences in flavor, but there are cakes…
cee
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How do I ensure that pita forms a nice big, even pocket when baking?

I have the opposite problem as Amir's question about thick, fluffy pitas. Whenever I make pita, it's nice and thick and fluffy, but the pocket is small or nonexistent. I would like to use my pita for sandwiches, so the pocket part is…
Laura
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How to prepare butter for baking when time is limited?

From my experience, the best way to use butter when baking is to let it soften to room temperature. However, sometimes one is short on time and must use the microwave to soften the butter. I always felt that cookies are better when the butter is a…
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