• Glass dishes bake things faster than metal. All Rogers recipes have been tested in metal baking dishes, unless otherwise stated. If using glass, reduce the oven temperature by 25°F, and watch carefully.
• Muffins, quick breads and pancakes need to be handled carefully so that they don’t become tough – you should stir until the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated. Further stirring causes too much gluten to develop, and the final product won’t be tender.
• Have all ingredients ready and at room temperature before you start baking.
o To quickly warm an egg, let it stand in warm water for 5-10 minutes.
o To quickly soften butter, cut into cubes and roll between two sheets of parchment paper.
o To quickly bring milk or other liquids to room temperature, microwave gently on 50% power, stirring often.
• Preheat your oven. The oven needs to be at baking temperature before you put your product in, otherwise it will not rise or brown properly, or bake evenly.
• When using baking powder, move quickly. As soon as the wet ingredients hit the dry, the baking powder starts working. When it hits the oven, it gets it’s 2nd round of activity. For maximum height, giving light textured cakes, muffins, loaves, etc, you want to get the batter into the oven as quickly as possible.
• For chewy cookies, remove them from the oven once the edges are golden but the centre still appears slightly under-baked.
They will continue to firm up on the baking sheet before you transfer them to wire cooling racks.
• Heavy cream should be very cold to whip properly. Placing your bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before whipping can make it easier. Egg whites, on the other hand, should be warm or room temperature to beat to their maximum capacity.
