I love to cook and bake for my family. Desserts are my favorite and I thought I'd pass along some baking tips that I've learned over the years that help make my scratch cooking all the better.

1. Always use an oven thermometer. Most baking failures are due to faulty oven temperatures. How do you know your oven is ~really~ at 350 degrees unless you have an oven thermometer? Be sure to get one and leave it in there!

2. For lighter, fluffier made from scratch cakes ~ the key is to have all ingredients at room temperature.

3. The purpose of creaming butter when making a cake from scratch is to get air into the butter. This takes time. Don't rush it.

4. When you incorporate sugar into your creamed butter, the goal is to coat every single sugar granule with butter. Again, this takes time. Don't rush it.

5. When adding eggs to your cake batter, add them only one at a time and allow them to mix well.

6. Break eggs into a separate bowl first - it makes it much easier to get out any small shell fragments if necessary. And, if you use farm fresh eggs like we do, on the slight chance you gathered one that is a little old, you won't ruin your whole recipe!

7. Cakes that are too high when baked are that way because your oven was too hot.

8. Cakes that are sunken when baked are that way because your oven was too cool - or- You Peeked Too Much (that's why most ovens have a door with a window and a light - be sure to peek there instead of opening the door! ;-)

9. Always start out with the lowest baking time and increase only if needed.

10. Cooling racks are an essential in my book and should be sturdy. If you cool a cake directly on the stovetop or countertop you'll end up with a soggy cake bottom.

11. Cake testers are wonderful little devices. You can also use wooden skewers, which are longer than toothpicks and won't get lost in your cake!

12. Be sure to use proper utensils for measuring wet versus dry ingredients. Glass measuring cups with graduated measurements are for Liquids. Measuring cups designated as 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup that we're familiar with are for Dry ingredients.

13. Use a pastry cloth for working dough instead of the countertop or cutting board or waxed paper. A pastry cloth is designed to hold flour and keep your dough from sticking without incorporating any extra flour into your dough. If you just use the countertop or other surface, the flour you put there will eventually work into your dough and could make it tough or rubbery. I LOVE my pastry cloth!