Baking and cake decorating can take a lot of time and effort. I often get asked how long this cake takes me to make. And it’s usually an hour of baking, from preparation, baking, and cooling, and another three to four hours of cake decorating. So it takes a minimum of four hours to create a decorated cake. To make this process easier and so I don’t spend every waking hour in the kitchen, I break down the job and make sure I’m very well organized. You can read another post about The Secret To Planning A Layer Cake and see my examples of breaking the work into three and four days.
Now you’re ready for baking, let’s talk about mise en place. This is a French term commonly used in professional kitchens, and it means preparing your workstation for baking and setting out all the tools and ingredients you need in the recipe before starting. This is an essential step of baking that I teach in all my cake classes. Applying the practice of mise en place is a lot easier than the name may make it sound, and you may be doing it anyway when you cook. To properly use mise en place, follow these simple guidelines that can be applied to any cooking, not just baking cakes.
- Read your recipe from start to finish. That way, you know all the ingredients you need and can anticipate the next steps.
- Gather all of your ingredients, utensils, and equipment needed.
- To do it right, you should measure all of your ingredients. If that’s too much, set all your ingredients on the table without measuring them.
- If using, wash your veggies or fruits, cut, dice, and chop.
- Heat your oven in advance. I tend to preheat my oven for at least 30 minutes before baking.
So whether you’re baking a decadent chocolate cake, an easy marble cake, or a batch of chocolate chip cookies, follow this simple idea and make your life easier in the kitchen. Doing some prep work before you begin cooking saves you a lot of time and helps you seamlessly move through the steps of your recipe.