Baking is not as simple as cooking. Cooking is about freedom and room for creativity and adaptability. Baking on the other hand involves more science, with ingredients coming together in a particular sequence, with a specific mixing technique and time employed. Mixed, kneaded, shaped, the batter or dough is then cooked in an enclosed controlled environment. It is for this reason that on most occasions, recipes for baked goods should be followed closely.
Last week, leading up to the Easter weekend, I posted on Social Media a recipe I had shared with you last year – Cross Buns 2.0. The new recipe was as a result of some research and testing to yield a bun that was soft, not just on the day it was freshly baked but the next day too. And, once reheated properly after refrigeration should be tender still. A friend who used the recipe wrote to say that the flavour was spot on, but her Cross Buns were dense, heavy, and that the next day they needed to be reheated for 30 seconds in the microwave to soften. When I get messages about a recipe that did not work well, I am always interested to find out what went wrong, what, if any, adaptions were made to the entire process, from ingredients, to mixing to temperature to cooking. It is an education and learning process for me too.