Baking is basically chemistry, the recipe books you follow the result of a series of science experiments. You don’t however have to be a scientist to learn to bake. You just need to know some basic rules and tips. Chemistry was the very first subject I dropped at school, well was forced to drop by some wise teachers, thankfully it hasn’t affected the light texture of my Victoria Sandwich or the height of my Carrot Cake. There are many rules and tips I could share, here are a five to get you started, more to follow;

• Be organised, get out all the equipment you need and weigh your ingredients, cake mixture does not like sitting around waiting whilst you look for the vanilla extract
• Always get your ingredients to room temperature before you start baking, too cold and your experiment won’t be as good as it could
• Line your baking tin before you start, once your ingredients are mixed it needs to go straight in to the tin, leave it sitting around and it will begin to form air bubbles which will affect the look and texture of your cake
• On the subject of lining, whether the recipe tells you to or not line both the bottom and the sides of your tin for a more even colour
• Don’t be tempted to open the oven door, really really don’t, there is nearly nothing worse for a rising cake than the temperature to suddenly drop

If you have baking tips or photographs of your ‘experiments’ you would like to share with our readers please post them here.