My 7 Fall Baking Tips (The Ones I Actually Use)

The second the mornings get cool in Chicago, my kitchen turns into a pumpkin-and-cinnamon factory. After a lot of practice (and a few cracked cake rolls), these are the tips I come back to every fall.

1. Roll cakes while they are still hot

The moment a pumpkin or chocolate sponge comes out of the oven, flip it onto a clean kitchen towel and roll it up right away. The cake sets in that curled shape, so when you unroll it later to fill it, it will not crack.

2. Use real pumpkin if you have the time

Boiled or roasted fresh pumpkin, drained well, gives a softer flavor than canned. The one rule: squeeze out the extra water, or your batter will be too wet and your cake will be gummy.

3. Room-temperature cream cheese, always

Cold cream cheese is why frostings turn lumpy. Leave it on the counter for an hour. Beat the cream cheese and butter first, then add the powdered sugar — never the other way around.

4. Warm your spices

Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger wake up with a little heat. If your recipe melts butter, stir the spices into the warm butter for a minute before mixing everything together.

5. Do not overbake

Fall cakes are full of pumpkin, apple or zucchini, so they look wet longer than they are. Start checking 5 minutes early — a toothpick with a few moist crumbs is done.

6. Let apples sit with sugar and cinnamon

Fifteen minutes with sugar and cinnamon pulls the juice out of the apples. Drain that juice off (or cook it down and brush it on top) and your apple cakes stop coming out soggy in the middle.

7. Bake the day before

Almost every fall dessert tastes better on day two. Pumpkin roll and apple cake soften and the spices settle. Wrap tight, keep it cool, slice the next day.

What I am baking this month

• Pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling — always first
• Chocolate zucchini bundt, to use up the last of the garden
• Something with apples and cinnamon almost every Sunday