Doughmakers Bakeware Baking Tips

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My family likes juicy pies but I have a hard time keeping the juice inside the pie. Is there a way?

If your family likes juicy pies then they will have to settle for messy pies as well. Thickeners in pie fillings, such as flour, cornstarch, and tapioca allow a pie to hold its shape once sliced. Maybe a single crust pie would work better for you, as the juicy fruit is scooped out and served with a piece of the top crust. Either way, don't worry, pies are only supposed to look perfect in pictures.

My cookies spread a lot when baking. Is it because I chilled my dough before cutting or it is due to too little flour?

Chilling cookies will not cause them to spread. If anything it slows the spreading down. Too little flour is usually the problem. Make sure you are spooning the flour into the dry measuring cup and sweeping the excess away with a flat edge.

My cakes look fine when I take them out of the oven. But then while they are cooling the middle sinks in a bit. Is there a solution?

There are a couple of reasons for fallen cakes that you can keep in mind.

If you are at a high altitude, you need to adjust the temperature for baking and possibly alter some measurements.

Check the temperature of your oven. The wrong temperature can cause the cake to rise too far and collapse on itself.

Make sure the cake is cooked through. It may look done, but you need to insert a skewer in the middle and have it come out clean to be sure the middle is done. If the cake is undercooked in the middle, it will cave in.

My mother would tell us to be quiet when baking a cake--what causes the cake to collapse?

When a cake is baking it releases gasses from leavening such as baking powder or soda, or uses air incorporated into the batter, ie. beaten egg whites, which expands and makes the cake light. If you took the cake out half way through baking and hit it on the counter, the air bubbles would pop and the cake would deflate and fall. If you slam the door of an oven hard at the right time, you could also deflate the cake. Also, before the invention of the more stable double-acting baking powder, cakes were more fragile. Moms did and still can use this their advantage by insisting on quiet during baking, although you'd need an extraordinary thump to really do any damage.

My brownies come out with a roll of hard crust all the way around it. How can this be prevented?

You may be overcooking your brownies or using a thin or dark coated steel pan. The latter will cook the edges of the brownies too fast, encouraging burning. Try a doughmakers pan, and make sure to cook them just until set.

How can I prevent cheesecake from splitting during the cooling period?

Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of the Cake Bible recommends buttering the sides of the pan so when the cheesecake cools the cake can release from the pan without splitting. If you are using a crust, only go an inch up the side of the pan so the cake can release. Personally, some of my favorite cheesecakes have cracks, and it doesn't bother me in the least!

What is a pastry cloth? What is it made of? How large is it? How do I use it to roll out my pastry for pies?

A pastry cloth is a large canvas mat. After dusting it with flour, dough can be rolled out easily without sticking. So as not to wear out the cloth with repeated washings, you can dust off the cloth after use, put it in the bag and store in the freezer until next time.

When baking in a gas oven, can I use two cookie sheets on two separate shelves and get good results? How far apart should they be in oven optimally?

If your oven is completely preheated, it should not make a difference whether baking in gas or electric. You can try baking on 2 levels, evenly separated so the oven is divided in thirds. Hopefully you are using Doughmakers pans or other heavy aluminum bakeware, so the heat is evenly distributed. If one level cooks faster than the other, try swapping the baking sheets half way through.

What factors determine whether or not you can double a recipe or not?

The obvious problems with doubling baking recipes is the change in pan sizes, and making sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined in order to distribute leavening agents. If you want to know if you can double a recipe, try it. Recipes which may be tricky are those with egg whites folded into a batter, the amount of ingredients being too much for the engine of a mixer, or a batter which needs to bake in batches loses leavening power because of standing time.