Q&A for How to Bake

Keeping track of dry ingredients when baking can be made easier if you measure the amounts out before baking. For small ingredients, this can be done in little piles on a tray or baking sheet lined with parchment paper, for larger ingredients you can use bowls. If you're really forgetful, make laminated labels for placing in front of measured-out ingredients to remember easily when adding the ingredients in the right order. By doing this, you won't forget to add an ingredient to the mixing bowl.

Check the date of manufacture first; if it's past the use-by date, then it's no longer fresh. To test the baking powder if you cannot find a date or suspect it's gone off anyway: Pop 2 teaspoons of the baking powder into a cup of hot water from the tap. If the powder foams up and bubbles or fizzes straight away, it's still good to use. If this reaction is slow to happen or doesn't happen at all, the baking powder is no longer viable and should be thrown out. After opening baking powder, label it with the date: it's good for 6 to 12 months after this date and then it should be thrown away.

There are recipes available online that are specifically meant to be made in the microwave; you can do an online search to find a list of these recipes. Unless a recipe specifies that it can be baked in the microwave, don't attempt to do so.

A microwave uses microwaves to cook food more quickly than you can in a conventional or toaster oven. A toaster oven uses conventional heating techniques to cook the food and takes much longer to cook than a microwave or, in some cases, a conventional oven.