How to tell if your pastry is baked

Submitted by Zoe Zeballos

A toothpick about to be stuck into the top of a cake

Baking sweets like cakes and brownies is exciting and mouthwatering, but it can be difficult to tell when it is done cooking. That's where this simple toothpick trick comes in.

Method

Only a single toothpick is needed for this easy test.

  1. Open up the oven and pull out the grill that the pan rests on.
  2. Grab a single clean toothpick and poke it into the middle of your pastry.
  3. Remove the toothpick and examine it. Is it damp with batter or did it come out clean.
  4. If there is batter or a lot of pastry stuck to the toothpick, stick your dish right back in the oven to bake for a few more minutes.
  5. If the toothpick came out clean, congrats! Your pastry is fully baked and ready to be removed from the oven.