You can be a star baker!

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The Claire Byrne Show 10 min 2 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 4 hours ago

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How can beginners avoid common baking disasters?

Clare Byrne 0:01

The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk with Aviva Insurance. Well, if you're a keen baker but prone to the odd baking disaster, we have help at hand now because chef and author Shane Smith is here to solve your problems. Hello, Shane. That's a big statement. I hope I can solve all the problems. That's a big statement. But you're solving my problems. Because during the bre break, I was telling Shane that I have, for the first time ever, dams and plums, and I'm struggling to use them all up. But you've you've told me now how to make the jam. So I'm going to I'm going to go away and do that. Something off

Shane Smith 0:34

your list for the weekends.

Clare Byrne 0:35

Well, yeah, maybe. I'm I'll try, I'll do my best. So we have questions coming in. Um, we'll get to them. Will we do this one on the lemon drizzle tray bake? This is from Ali and Tipperary. It's amazing when it comes out and it's when it works. But often it just collapses completely in the oven. It looks like it melted. And she wants to know is that from having enough flour it not having enough flour in it? And she ah measures by the eye as opposed to using the scales. Allie

Shane Smith 1:01

Allie, every time you don't use a weighing scales, a pastry chef loses their wings. Do you use a scale? Oh, religiously. Do you? Okay. I think um uh knowing your oven temperature, so investing in like an oven thermometer, they're pretty inexpensive as well. So knowing what your core temperature of your oven is and a good set of weighing scales will really set you up because if your ingredients are good, that's half the battle really. So doing it by eye because the worst thing is if you do make something and it's beautiful, you mightn't be able to recreate it again because you don't know exactly how much sugar or flour or butter that you've put in.

Why is using a kitchen scale essential for consistent results?

Shane Smith 1:32

So I definitely would say uh for anyone that's out there that's um starting off baking or enjoys baking, just uh buy a pair of scales. You can buy a pair of weighing scales for now for under ten euro. You know, they're not super expensive, but definitely a gadget I would recommend. Super expensive.

Clare Byrne 1:44

But in general, if your tray bake is sinking in the middle, what's going on?

Shane Smith 1:48

A couple of things going on there. So it could be obviously the weighing up, I'd say first and foremost. Secondly, as well, um under baking. So if it's under baked, the outside obviously will cook first. And as it works closer to the center, it takes longer to cook. So if it dips in the middle or falls down, it could be a under baking. That could be reason number one. So increase the um the baking time. Opening your oven door too early. If you open your oven door, what happens is all that lovely hot air that's in there that's baking your delicious cake is escapes and the cold air goes in and then it causes the structure to collapse and then you get a dip in the middle of the Could it

Clare Byrne 2:18

be that your oven is just not hot enough?

Shane Smith 2:20

As well. That that's another thing. So again, you can buy these um um oven thermometers because I know my oven runs ten degrees hotter than what it says on the on the digital reed. So it's important that you can buy these, you can get them online and you just put the the wire into your oven and you have a digital reed outside and it'll tell you exactly what the core temperature is because every oven will differ. If the seal is broken or if it's older oven or a newer oven, it might run hotter or colder. So understanding the temperature of your oven is really important. So you

Clare Byrne 2:43

can catch your oven out on the lie of the temperature that it's telling you on its own readout. Um okay, here's another one. When I make a Christmas or fruit cake, it always cracks on top. What's the solution, says Margaret in Cork? I've had that happen to me. Very disappointing because an awful lot of work goes into those cakes.

Shane Smith 3:00

And it's expensive.

What causes a tray‑bake to sink in the middle and how can it be fixed?

Shane Smith 3:01

You know, Christmas cakes are expensive to make the amount of dried fruit that you're putting in there and alcohol as well. Um so what I'd say to you is again, oven too hot. If your oven is too hot, what happens is the outside of your cake starts to cook um and the middle uh doesn't cook obviously as fast and then it can crack on top.