Ina Garten has mastered baking over the course of her career, which includes getting her measurements right. To do so, she likes to scoop flour with old-fashioned measuring cups.

Before she scoops, she aerates the flour by fluffing it with the cup, then she dips it into the powder. Instead of packing it down, she levels off the flour with her finger.

While some might be used to packing as much flour as possible into their measuring cup, this can easily lead to an excess of flour in your bowl and an overly dry baked good.

To avoid this lackluster final product, find some balance in your recipe by aerating your flour first. This is especially important for relatively fragile baked goods.