By REESE AMOROSI
This article outlines the easy steps for how to prepare a water bath for baking.
Some items such as baked custard (including our Pots de Crème recipe – see below), cheesecake and other delicate bakes require a water bath. This adds moisture to the oven that keeps the baked items from cracking, and helps them cook slower and more evenly without lumping or curdling. If you’ve never used a water bath before, don’t worry, the process is easy.
Steps to Prepare a Water Bath
- Start by heating a kettle of water until it’s hot but not boiling.
- Next, fold a clean kitchen towel and place it in the bottom of your baking pan. (The towel is to keep things from sliding around – not everyone uses it). It has to be large enough to put the items you’re baking inside of it with a bit of room around the sides.
- Add the pan with the item you’re baking with on top of the towel. Then, pour the hot water into the pan. Add it until it reaches the halfway up the sides of the ramekins, then proceed with baking.
Tips
- If the items I’m baking are light, a couple of custards, perhaps, I set up the water bath on my counter, then move it to the oven. But, if I’m making something heavy like a large cheesecake, I set the water bath up right inside the oven. I also remove the finished cheesecake from the water bath while it’s all still in the oven. This way I don’t have to move a large, heavy vat of hot water across the kitchen.
The water bath photo that accompanies this post was taken while I was making pots de crème, a silky, rich, French custard. If you’d like to give using a water bath a whirl, try this recipe: Chocolate Chai Pots de Crème.
