The Clueless Baker. Evelyn Raab

yard or down to the basement. You think you’ll remember to take the muffins out of the oven, but honestly, you won’t. Not until you smell smoke. At which point it will be, alas, too late.

      9 Do the toothpick test; tap the top of the loaf; stick a knife in the pie. Do whatever the recipe tells you, to make sure your whatchamacallit is baked to perfection.

      10 Ta-da! Done. Remove your delicious baked item(s) from the oven, carefully remove from the baking pan(s) and let cool on a rack for as long as you can stand.

      11 Enjoy. You earned it.

      Bare Necessities, Electric Gizmos and Extra Added Widgets

      Baking equipment tends to be pretty simple. You’ve got your pans, your bowls, your spatulas. Most of the things you need are inexpensive and easy to find. If you’re on a really tight budget, you can shop at secondhand stores and garage sales. If you recently inherited a fortune, you can blow it all at a fancy kitchenware store. Either way, your muffins will turn out just fine.

      Bare Necessities

       two 8 or 9-inch (20 or 23 cm) round cake pans

       one 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) rectangular baking pan

       one 8 or 9-inch (20 or 23 cm) square baking pan

       two 9 x 5-inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pans

       two 10 x 15 inch (25 x 38 cm) cookie sheets with 1-inch (2 cm) sides

       one muffin pan with 12 cups (or two with 6 cups each)

       one 8-cup (2 liter) bundt or tube pan (approximately 9 inches/23 cm diameter)

       one 9 or 10-inch (23 or 25 cm) springform pan with removable sides

       one or two wire grid cooling racks

       one set of Official Measuring Spoons (imperial or metric or both)

       one set of individual steel or plastic measuring cups (in graduated sizes: ¼ cup, ⅓ cup, ½ cup and 1 cup, or metric equivalents)

       heatproof glass measuring cups (1 cup/250 ml and 4 cups/1 liter)

       mixing bowls — stainless steel or glass — at least 2 really big ones (4 quarts/4 liters) and as many smaller ones as you have room for

       a bunch of small glass or plastic bowls for organizing ingredients

       whisk

       rubber bowl scrapers (spatulas)

       wooden spoons

       flour sifter

       pastry blender (that chopper thingy for making pastry dough)

       pastry brush

       wooden rolling pin

       cookie cutters

       baking parchment paper

      Electric Gizmos

       electric mixer — either handheld or countertop model

       blender — traditional or stick type

       food processor

      Extra Added Widgets (for the seriously motivated baker)

       pastry bag and decorating tips

       one 10-inch (25 cm) tart pan with removable sides

       one 10-inch (25 cm) two-part tube pan (angel cake pan) with removable sides

       electronic digital scale (to weigh ingredients)

      The Essential Clueless Baking Cupboard

      It’s three in the morning. It suddenly occurs to you that you can’t possibly get through the night without chocolate chip cookies. Homemade ones. Warm. Right now. Aren’t you glad you keep ingredients in the house?

      Absolute necessities

       all-purpose white flour (regular or unbleached)

       all-purpose whole wheat flour

       granulated white sugar

       brown sugar (golden or dark brown)

       icing (confectioners’) sugar

       baking powder

       baking soda

       quick-rise instant dry yeast granules

       butter

       vegetable oil

       solid vegetable shortening (preferably trans-fat free)

       eggs

       milk

       semisweet chocolate chips

       semisweet baking chocolate

       unsweetened baking chocolate

       unsweetened cocoa powder

       quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)

       pure vanilla extract

       peanut butter

       cinnamon

       raisins

       walnuts

       nonstick baking spray

      Noncompulsory ingredients

       cake and pastry flour

       cornmeal

       cornstarch

       graham cracker crumbs

       chocolate wafer crumbs

       natural bran

       honey

       corn syrup

       molasses

       whipping cream

       sour cream

       buttermilk

       yogurt

       cream cheese

       cream of tartar

       ginger

       nutmeg

       pecans

       almonds

       hazelnuts

       dried cranberries

       dates

       coconut

       lemons

      Specialty ingredients

       white chocolate chips or chunks

       poppy seeds

       sesame seeds

       instant coffee powder

       phyllo pastry

       gluten-free flour mixture

       brown or white rice flour

      Emergency substitutions

      Can it be true? You’re out of chocolate? Baking powder? Brown sugar? Don’t panic — help is on the way. Not every ingredient is replaceable, but the following substitutions will allow you to continue baking despite the missing whatever-it-is. In some cases, the finished product will be almost identical. Some subsititutions can produce a slightly different flavor or texture in the finished product. Maybe a better one — you never know.

      1 oz. (28 g) unsweetened chocolate

      3 tbsp. (45 ml) unsweetened cocoa powder + 1