Doughs, batters and the chemistry underneath them.
126 guides in Food & Cooking
Fondant cracks because it dried before it was smoothed, was rolled too thin, or was stretched over a shape it could not follow. Elephant skin, tearing at the corners and cracks on the board have distinct causes.
Every soufflé collapses — the question is whether it lasted long enough to reach the table. A collapse in the oven is a fault; a collapse two minutes after it comes out is physics.
Browning needs sugar, protein and dry surface heat. A pale cake is short of one of them — usually because the oven is running cooler than the dial says, or the fan is drying the top before it can colour.
Shortbread is up to half butter, so the margin between rich and greasy is narrow. Greasiness comes from butter that melted before the flour set around it — warm hands, over-creaming, or a cool oven.
More than most people expect, and in specific ways. Damp air stops sugar work drying, makes flour heavier and slackens dough; hot weather speeds fermentation and softens fat. What to change, and what not to worry about.
A little pulling away at the edge is the normal signal that a cake is done. A cake that has visibly shrunk all round and lost height has been over-baked, over-greased, or baked too hot at the edges.
Dough hydration and fermentation schedules, flour selection, oven types and bake profiles.