• Recipes from Baking and the Meaning of Life

Baking is as much about intuition as it is about precision. While recipes offer structure, it’s the quiet skills – reading carefully, preparing with care, adjusting when things don’t go quite as planned – that set good bakers apart.

These 10 simple tips, drawn from my years of kitchen practice (and failures), will help you bake with more confidence, joy and ease.

1. Read twice, bake once

Read through your recipe before you begin. Anticipating each step helps you gather what you need, slip into the rhythm of baking, and avoid last-minute surprises.

• Strawberry ricotta crostata

2. Mind the temperature

It may sound repetitive, but butter, eggs, and dairy should usually be at room temperature, unless otherwise specified. The proper temperature allows your batter to emulsify smoothly, guaranteeing an even bake and preventing your chocolate from seizing.

3. Understand butter

Butter behaves differently depending on its state. Cold butter is essential for flaky pastry, while softened butter traps air during creaming, giving cakes their lift. Use common sense to decide whether you should take the butter out of the fridge the night before (in winter) or an hour ahead in warmer kitchens.

Melted butter produces tender crumbs in muffins or loaves, while browned butter brings nutty complexity to cookies and financiers. Remember: when browning butter, you lose about 15-20 per cent of its weight, so always measure after cooking.

4. Prepare your tins with care

Lining and greasing tins might feel tedious, but it is essential. Brushing butter into every crevice of a bundt tin or lining sponge tins neatly with baking paper is the quiet, meditative start that sets you up for success. When you’ve worked hard to create it, a cake that is stuck to the tin and won’t unmould is a very depressing thing.

• Banana, coffee and cardamom bundt cake with coffee caramel

5. Don’t fear yeast

Dried yeast works just as well as fresh: use one-third the amount specified (5g dried for 15g fresh). Active dried yeast needs to be dissolved in warm liquid until foamy, while instant yeast can be stirred straight into flour. Store yeast in a jar in the freezer to prolong its life.

6. Clear as you go

Another boring but life-changing habit: wash and tidy up along the way. A clean bench keeps your mind uncluttered and the process calm and pleasurable.

7. Trust your instincts

Look at the recipe as a guide, rather than a rule. If your cake batter isn’t quite light and airy after the two minutes specified in the recipe, increase the speed of the mixer or beat for a little longer. If your pastry has softened too much, return it to the fridge. If the dough sticks, dust the bench with flour. Use your instincts to make small adjustments.

8. Be patient

Don’t rush to unmould a cake. Let it rest in its tin on a wire rack before turning out. And if you’re icing the cake, wait until it is completely cool, or your buttercream will slide right off.

9. Honour your bake with good presentation

After all your effort, give your cake the stage it deserves. A beautiful plate, cake stand or dish elevates the simplest crumble or sponge into something special.

• Pandan and coconut butter cake

10. Be playful with flavour

Finally, when you’re ready to make a recipe your own, remember that familiar recipes are canvases for your own creativity. Swap water for coffee, orange for tangelo, or almond meal for hazelnut. Crush herbs or tea leaves into sugar, infuse milk with zest or spice, or replace a little caster sugar with muscovado for depth of flavour.