Baking Delights: Baking breads and treats for your family

12 Baking Skills to Learn (or Improve) in 2008

by Marye on January 1st, 2008

Ah..the New Year..the time for making resolutions and even ..maybe…keeping a few of them.

I have noticed that the people that enjoy their cooking and baking chores the most are the ones that have honed their skills the most. Something about really knowing how to do something makes it more enjoyable. I used to hate doing fractions but once I understood it the frustration was gone and it wasn’t an issue any more.

Same with cooking. So, in the spirit of that…Here are 12 Skills that I will be working on this year and invite you to work on them along with me.

1. Bread baking- I think everyone should know how to make a good loaf of bread or batch of feather light rolls.  Once that basic skill is down then moving on to sour doughs, artisan breads,  and other yeast products is inevitable.  I want to work more with poolishes this year, as well as more sour doughs.

2. Puff Pastry- I have made it by hand but not nearly enough. It is just so darn easy to pick it up in the freezer section! But have you read the ingredients on that premade stuff? Lots of fake ingredients.  And the cost is outrageous. So…Puff pastry will be my friend this year.

3.  Choux Pastry - have you noticed that you don’t see eclairs and cream puffs on this site? At least not written by me? I am a total incompetent when it comes to choux…It NEVER comes out right. I WILL learn how to make this stuff!

4. Chocolate Lava Cake- I have never made these and I want to.

5. Phyllo Dough- I have used it. I need to perfect my use of it.

6. Plating Skills- Most of the time the presentation of the food I make is o.k. I want to see it be incredible.

7. Custards - Creme Brulee, Panna Cotta…you know…those.

8. European Pastry Techniques - the idea scares me but I want to go to that next level.

9. Souffles - I have made them before..but not nearly enough.

10.  Trying Something New- this is a skill! I get stuck in a rut making the same old stuff all the time..I am going to resolve to try at least one new thing a week this year.

11. Chocolate Making- I wrote an article this year on making chocolate from scratch. Since then I have been intrigued with the idea of making chocolate from the roasting of the cacao beans to the final molding. I have a fantasy about creating a chocolate cake with chocolate I have created myself.

12. Organization- I used to be very organized but over the years, not so much. Stuff happened, kids were born, life went wild and got off track. I used to do Once A Month Cooking and it worked for me at the time. I plan to do more of that this year, and be better about having ready to bake cookies in the freezer and things like that.

So, those are my goals for this year. You will be sharing them with me over the next 52 weeks and hopefully by the time 2009 rolls around we will be deftly turning out croquembouche at the drop of a hat.

Share This

Related Stories

January Poll Results: Honing Your Bread Baking Skills
If the Presidential Vote was Based on Cooking Skills…
Saturday Blogsurfing
Couldn’t YOUR Baking Use a White Thumb?
Grandparents:Lifestyles theme day

POSTED IN: Inspiration, challenges