Baking Academy

From the chemistry of leavening to the structural integrity of a layer cake — the technique that makes every kind of baking reproducible.

Cupcake Academy

All Baking Academy Posts

Overhead shot of several cake batters in containers that used different mixing methods.

The 5 Main Cake Mixing Methods

Various baking pans on a marble counter.

Baking Pan Sizes & Conversions

Cupcakes frosted with pink frosting in different styles.

How To Frost Cupcakes

A chocolate cupcake being filled with caramel sauce, with more filled cupcakes in the background.

3 Ways to Fill Cupcakes (And What to Put Inside)

Cookie dough balls on a lined cookie sheet, some in a container, and others in freezer bags.

How To Freeze Cookie Dough

Some decorated and some plain cookies on a countertop and on a wire rack.

How To Decorate Cookies: A Beginner’s Guide

Overhead shot of chocolate chip cookies on plates.

The 4 Cookie Textures

Three different cupcake pans with baked cupcakes filling some of the cavities.

Cupcake Pan Sizes & Types: A Baker’s Guide

Vanilla cupcakes on a wire rack, as well as a few on a counter wrapped in plastic wrap.

How to Freeze Cupcakes (And Thaw Them Without Sogginess)

Cookie dough in a bowl with a cookie scoop, with scooped dough just behind on a baking sheet.

How Long To Chill Cookie Dough

A pie crust in a pie dish with a classic crimp. Leftover pieces of pie dough scattered around.

How To Crimp Pie Crust

Bundt cakes on cake stands and plates set on a marble countertop.

Bundt Cake: A Baker’s Guide

A cheesecake with one slice cut and placed on a plate, and the other slice still with the rest of the cheesecake. A bowl of berries and vase of flowers also in frame.

A Baker’s Guide To Cheesecake

Various cake pans lined with parchment paper.

How To Line A Cake Pan With Parchment Paper

Kneaded dough on a countertop with flour sprinkled around, plus a measuring cup with more flour.

How To Knead Dough

Two jars of different yeast side by side with a spoon in one jar and a spoon next to the other. Flour and a measuring cup of milk behind.

Active Dry vs. Instant Yeast: A Baker’s Guide

A jar of bloomed yeast with a foamy head.

How To Activate Yeast

Proofed dough in a loaf pan with a bowl of melted butter out of focus in the background.

How To Proof Bread

Cake layers on a wire rack with plastic-wrapped cakes in the background.

How To Freeze Cakes

An unbaked double crust pie on a counter with a table linen and measuring cup of flour behind it.

How To Freeze A Pie: The Rules For Unbaked, Baked, And What Not To Freeze

A pumpkin pie on a baking tray with half the edge shielded with foil.

How To Make A Pie Crust Shield

A pie with a lattice top on a counter with baking tools surrounding it.

How To Lattice Pie Crust

Two discs of wrapped pie dough partially stacked, with a measuring cup of flour and a prepared pie crust in a pie dish in the background.

How To Freeze Pie Crust

Pie dough laid in a pie dish with a rolling pin and a container of flour behind it.

Pie Crust: The Complete Method

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