Heatwave Baking Advice
How To Bake In A Heatwave. Don’t Do It.
There is baking weather, and then there is weather that turns chocolate soft, buttercream loose and the kitchen into an incinerator. My first bit of advice is still the same: if you can sensibly bake before the heat arrives, do that.
Start before the building heats up
On genuinely hot days I would rather start at 5am, finish the oven work early and let the kitchen recover before the hottest part of the day. That is an operational preference, not sacred pastry law; use the forecast and your own kitchen conditions.
Open windows or doors early while the outside air is cooler than the kitchen. Two openings on different sides of the room can create useful cross-ventilation. Once the outside is hotter than inside, close them. It will not keep the kitchen cold, but it can slow the rate at which it gets warmer.
Keep buttercream and ganache workable
Work in smaller batches and chill components between stages if necessary. In our kitchen, sitting the mixing bowl over ice can help keep buttercream or ganache workable. The aim is not to freeze the mixture; it is to stop it becoming too warm to decorate cleanly.
Protect chocolate from extreme heat
Normally chocolate prefers a cool, dry cupboard. During an extreme heatwave, sealed refrigeration can be the lesser evil if the alternative is the chocolate melting. Put it in an airtight container or sealed bag to reduce condensation and fridge odours, then let the sealed container come back towards room temperature before opening.
If chocolate softens or melts and later sets, it may lose its original temper and develop bloom. That does not make it unusable or impossible to temper again. Depending on what you are making, it can be re-melted and properly tempered, or used perfectly well in ganache, brownies and other recipes where a glossy snap is irrelevant.
Pre-bake what you safely can
If the forecast gives you warning, bake suitable sponge layers on the cooler day, cool them completely, wrap them properly and freeze them if the tested recipe is suitable for freezing. Our Hero Sponge recipe is designed to work well as a make-ahead sponge.
Plan the hot jobs
Write down every task that creates heat and move it earlier where possible: ovens, toasted nuts, pastry, caramel and anything else that warms the room. A simple prep list is more useful than heroically discovering at 3pm that you still need three trays in the oven.
Finished-cake storage is not one universal rule
Do not use a heatwave as a reason to invent a blanket storage rule. Store the finished cake according to its actual filling, frosting and current product guidance. Some fillings require refrigeration; others are handled differently. For an Anges de Sucre cake, follow the label supplied with the cake and our current cake information.
So, how do you bake in a heatwave? Preferably before it gets silly. Protect the chocolate, keep the decorating components workable, minimise oven time and plan like a mildly obsessive pastry chef.
Love,
Reshmi xoxo
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