Baking Tip

Granny and I were talking the other day about baking and how instantly forgetful we can be.  You know you've done it!  When you get ingredients out and begin tossing them in a bowl and lose count on the sugar.  Was that six-quarter cups full to make one and a half cups of sugar or was that five?  Or a half panic as the decadent Hummingbird Cake goes into the oven... I forgot to put the pecans in the cake mix! 

While I am sure there is some fancy ingredient ap on those fancy phones everyone but Shaun and I own, I obtained my tip from the one and only Julia Child.  I received The French Chef (one and two) DVD series for my birthday and pop them into watch while I am in my kitchen at least twice a week.  A week or two ago she was baking her Queen of Sheba chocolate cake and threw a tip at me.  Place all of your ingredients out on a tray or cookie sheet before you begin baking.  Go ahead and measure out the flour and other dry ingredients in separate bowls.  I know these steps take more time but really it adds to the fun and I know for sure I have everything out and measured before I begin. 

I tried this last weekend when I made a cake for the BBQ place.  And Lord knows I look for any excuse to use my enamel trays I adore so much!  I have mentioned my enamelware fetish haven't I? 
Anyway, I did just as Julia said and guess what... the pecans were in the cake this time.  Just as the recipe calls for.  If you are going to bake, try not to get in a hurry and enjoy the entire process and if you make the proper preparations you shan't forget or mis-measure a thing! 

The next step in this baking tip is to remove the ingredients from the tray and put them away as you use them.  Put the empty bowls in the sink and the vanilla bottle in the cabinet.  That way when you think you are done and you look over at your tray and something is still there..... guess what?  It's not too late to add it because the cake has not entered the baking zone yet.  Brill Julia... brill.

This tray is stained from another place in time before I got it.  But it is old and I love it!  I hadn't exactly premeasured at this point nor does it look like I had the flour out.  But I promise you, it did happen and it took a teeny bit of stress out of the whole process because I knew I wasn't going to forget a thing.