Mom's Cooking Help: Question for Mom

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Question for Mom

Chocolate Cheesecake

If you open the oven door when a cake is baking, will it hurt the cake? --Emily F.

Possibly it could. Keep the door shut until you can actually smell the cake—that means it has baked for at least 2/3 of its suggested baking time. An open door lowers the temperature of the oven and can cause the cake to sink in the middle. This is one reason most ovens have a light inside and a glass panel on the door. If you want to see how a cake is coming along, switch on the light and look through the glass window.

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About Me

To me, becoming a food expert meant spending lots of time in the kitchen getting meals ready for my friends and family. When my children were small, I had the time to experiment. Back then I was an American living in London. I worked part-time as a journalist interviewing celebrities. We didn't have a lot of extra cash to eat out.

I now know my way around my kitchen and can help you navigate yours. In fact, I may have been helping you already. “Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), which I co-wrote with my son, Kevin Mills, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. It has sold more than 200,000 copies and has helped many people learn to cook. In addition to my work on this blog, I am a contributor to The Huffington Post, the New York Times Syndicate and The Costco Connection.