Bet you didn't know

The tips and secrets behind every recipe: why things go wrong and how to make them turn out right.

Whenever I bake something it comes out raw or burnt. What am I doing wrong?

There are many types of ovens: gas, electric, convection, ones that heat from the top, from the bottom, with a temperature dial, with a broiler. But what they all have in common is that their job is just one thing: Heating! -And if my oven only has to do one thing, why does it do it so badly? When a recipe doesn't turn out right, the most likely reason is...

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Are my ingredients at the right temperature?

When you're about to make a loaf cake, a cake, muffins, or any other baked treat, it's very common to wonder whether you can use the ingredients straight out of the fridge. In baking, people talk a lot about "room-temperature ingredients" — why is that? The properties of the ingredients we use change a lot depending on...

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How do I substitute oil for butter, or vice versa?

Butter and oil are two very similar but not identical fats. Their main differences are, first and most obvious, that one is liquid and the other is solid; and the other, less well known, is that butter contains a certain percentage of water that oil doesn't. The first difference affects a recipe in...

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Chocolate cake or loaf cake — with coffee?

One ingredient that's often used alongside chocolate is coffee, since it really brings out its flavor. They're excellent partners, and there's a very good reason for it. The production of both chocolate and coffee...

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How can I make better decorations with a piping bag?

The piping bag is widely used both for making delicate decorations and for filling a baking sheet with cookies or choux pastry to put in the oven. The problem is that learning to control it properly takes a lot of practice. How do I practice with a piping bag...

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