Hello Everyone. I would love to be able to bake my own cakes but I don’t know where to start. Can all you experienced bakers out there tell me where to begin?
First, would be the equipment of course. Please keep your suggestions as economical as possible. Can you tell me what I need to start off? Please start from scratch or zero. At the moment I have none.
Will I need a mixer? What type should I get? Is it very costly? An oven? Can I get a portable oven? A really small one to start off with? Just in case I am not successful? Haha. I don’t want to buy the best only to have it collect dust afterwards. At the same time, thinking long term perhaps its wiser to invest? Space wise, I have very little space left for any oven. I have a convection microwave oven at the moment. Can I use that? See? I’m really a novice in this. Please help.
I do know how to bake from school days but that was a long time ago. I think that was back when I was in lower secondary school and we had homescience classes. I really enjoyed those classes. I remember cycling to my friend’s house to try out our baking skills whenever we can. Oh those were the days. Ok, enough reminiscing. This is not about my homescience classes. (I’ll write a separate post about that another day. Hehe.)
Thanks for any suggestions. I may not be able to take up the suggestions immediately or run out straight away to get the items and start baking but this is for future reference as something I would like to do when I have more time. Otherwise hubby will “scold” me for trying to take on too much. Really got a lot of things up my sleeve at the moment and baking will have to wait but I still like to dream. 🙂
Hahahaha! You are now just like me several months ago! But yeah, dont need anything expensive. Not sure if your MW can bake – you need to check and see whether can change temperature setting or not, if yes, then I think can bake lah. If you wanna buy a cheap oven, get those table top for RM150 or so. For mixer, can get those like RM29 or Rm39 elec handheld mixer. And maybe a weighing scale for RM19 or so. Then any bowl big enough to mix the dough and ingredients – that’s it! This is all i have at home too and it works for home baking. See my peach upside down cake in my blog. Minimal investment!
Eh RM150 plus RM39 plus RM19 not minimal ler… Haha.
And oh ya, if you can find recipes in cups rather than grams, then even cheaper, no need weighing scale – plastic measuring cups even cheaper RM3.90 for one set!!!!!! But you may need to do some calculation and conversions lah if your recipe in grams … its ok … its fun!
Wuah, need weighing scale sumore ah.
I’m no baker myself but recently oso trying to play with baking on weekends since my unpay leave. I notice u can get various types of specific flour for specific cake like orange poppysees, butter cake, cheese cake, fruit cake, etc from TESCO , COLD storage or JUSCO. Then easier and economical as you just need to add other ingredients to the flour. Good luck. Keep me posted once you finish baking ya!
Are those kinds of flour good I wonder. I mean do they add anything artificial in them etc.
Fret not, I baked my 1st cake only recently. That was not an easy admission on my part even more so when I am surrounded by friends who baked their first cake when they were 10.
Basic tools:-
functional oven
hand mixer
big bowl
hand whisk
baking tray/tin
baking sheets
Reading blogs by others who love to bake or cook for tips and encouragement helps too. Good luck and I am sure you will have a lot of fun baking.
Walaueh, that seems like a lot of stuff to get started with! 🙂
Instead of baking a cake…how about baking muffins first. See how that goes. U don’t need a mixer for that one, as you can’t overmix muffins.
But, that being said, if you really want to bake, invest in a good mixer. Not a hand mixer (wasting time).
Muffins eh? Ok ok. I will remember that.
I would love to do this too! After I could afford an oven…*sigh*
That is the biggest thing standing in our way. Boo Hoo Hoo.
MG,
the very very important and basically you should have is PASSION to bake 🙂
Every kind of baking recipe/methods would be easy if you have PASSION. haha….
Btw, take the good advice from familyfirst’s comment. She’s definitly right. I’ve practiced that with Cups would be more easy than Grams. I’ve just recently bake a delicious brownies . It was our favorite, quick, easy and affordable dessert, and the kids like to top it with plain vanilla ice cream.
The more easier is macaroni schotel, both of them are no need mixer.
Good luck!
Brownies topped with vanilla ice cream. Ooooh. you’re making me hungry!
No need to get the mixer unless you intend to do serious baking. Otherwise if just trying out or a once in a while baking, can use your hand muscles!!
Muffins are easier to make than cookies or cake. Cake, you really have to follow the pan size (which you can get from Tesco) else it will not cook properly. Muffins are easier to bake (less time) and also there are less varieties in terms of sizing.
Conventionaly microwave oven in good enough. Try to start out by looking for recipies that give mocrowave oven settings (temperature and baking time).
Good luck and happy baking.
Hmm… I wonder where I can find some recipes that uses microwave oven to bake.
Forgot to mention….you definitely need a measuring cup – for ml/ounce and gram.
And if you ever need butter, note that usually on the butter covering paper, there are small lines that divides the butter up into 50gm sections.
A measuring cup too? So many things ah..
Hi! I am a new baker too. Never baked in my life until I joined my hubby in US and he bought me a mixer. So now I am trying to make. It’s not that hard, just find some recipes that you like or start with something easy like butter cake or marble cake, check a few recipes, get the materials and just do it. Usually it will turn out well…beginner’s luck 🙂
Visit my blog for some simple recipes, I have also posted my few baking experience 🙂
I like your step by step instructions! BTW, what does it mean put it into a preheated oven. How do you preheat an oven and for how long? Hehe. I’m even more of a virgin than you when it comes to baking. Forgotten everything I learned in homescience class oh so long ago.