Five Baking Tips to Keep You Sane

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I love baking, I really do. However, some days I find myself on the kitchen floor, covered in flour, dough, and who knows what else, sobbing while looking at the mess I have to clean up or the flop I have to get rid of. Believe me, every baking enthusiast has been there.

With the self-isolation happening now a lot of people will take on the kitchen to bake up a storm. It could result in a huge success or something like the scene I described before. Tread lightly baking-pioneers, or face the consequences. Here are my five humble baking survival tips:

1. Read, re-read
Some recipes are complicated and hard to understand. Read the recipe, re-read it, and read it again. Make sure you have a good understanding of what needs to happen. You can even simplify it for yourself by writing down the main points or tasks. The thing is, you don't have time to peruse the recipe when you're already busy mixing frantically, trying to keep your mixture from burning or separating or exploding violently.

2. Prepare
Do your mise-en-place: a fancy way of saying you should make sure you have everything ready so that you don't have to stop in between and so that you can just add prepared components when needed. This will make the entire process quicker and easier. Take out all the utensils and ingredients you will need and weigh them, sift the flour, chop up the chocolate, pour in your wine, and so forth.

3. Warm, soapy water
Fill the sink with warm, soapy water. Having this at the ready is very useful when you quickly need to clean up. Usually when I bake it results in a lot of washing-up. So I've learned to take action to make it easier for myself. Even if you just rinse an oily bowl or the pot you used to make caramel, it'll save you from scrubbing a difficult dried-up layer later.

4. Put it away
Are you done with something and you don't need it anymore? Put it away. Especially if you have a tiny kitchen, opening up workspace will make a big difference. Decluttering your workspace will help you think clearly and also help you see what still needs to be added so that you don't forget an essential ingredient.

5. Wipe as you go
Flour everywhere, cracked eggshells dripping egg whites, spilled milk on your recipe book- it'll make you go crazy. If you just continually wipe off the counters it'll make cleaning up post-baking so much more bearable. And you know, it's really not great having to clean up a big mess afterwards when you are exhausted from your baking excitement.
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It's like any hobby- even if it's just for fun, if you are prepared and know how to do it efficiently it will just make it so much more enjoyable. Be that as it may, if you do find yourself on the kitchen floor covered in flour, dough, and who knows what else, sobbing while looking at the mess you have to clean up or the flop you have to get rid of, don't despair. This is how you learn to change your approach. Here's to my fellow clumsy, forgetful, messy bakers! May we better ourselves, just to stay sane enough to do what we love.

Share this post if you know someone who could use some of these tips to make their lives easier. Happy baking!