January 15, 2022

How To Develop Recipes – Part 2: Recipe Writing and Testing

In Part 2 of this series, I’m focusing on how to actually write your initial recipe and how to test it. We will look at how to test your recipe idea, how to develop your recipe and how to improve your recipe!

So you’ve honed your recipe idea and your brainstorming muscles (?) and you’re ready to actually write a recipe! If you haven’t then, go back and read part one in this series on How to develop recipes here !

This is easily my favorite part of the process when it comes to developing new recipes. You get to test things out, read loads and loads of recipes, and eat everything! It’s honestly the best.

Step 1: Research Everything !

Before you can write your recipe down, you need to learn everything you can about your dish. If you’re making eggplant carbonara then read about the history of carbonara, what really makes a good carbonara?

What should it look like? What should it smell like? And of course, what should it taste like?

Take notes on different recipes and think about what traditionally works well. You don’t necessarily need to use those traditional steps, but it’s important to know the rules before you break them.

I also like to go back and think of times when I’ve made similar things and think about which steps were difficult, what really made a difference and what steps could have been skipped.

Once you’ve done all your research, and you’ve really understood the dish you want to make, it’s time to write version 1 of your recipe!

Step 2: Testing and editing your new recipe

Start by making your recipe as you wrote it down. As you go, take detailed notes on anything that you change or what things look like at each step along the way.

Do your best to write down or photograph the equipment you’re using and the products you’re using so that you remember all the details.

At this point don’t worry too much about taking nice photos, you’re aiming to record the details, not Instagram worthy photos!

Taste test your final product and hand it off to friends or family to taste as well. Get them to give you their HONEST opinion!

Now you’re ready for iteration 2.

Make a copy of your recipe and add in any edits you’ve decided to make. Maybe you’ve decided to try frying the eggplant for your carbonara instead of roasting it. Whatever it is, make sure you’ve recorded your planned edits.

Repeat the cooking and tasting process and the editing process until you’re happy with the result. This can take a while, so I often have multiple recipes that I’m testing at the same time. I’ll then test each one once or twice a week until I’m happy with the result.

Tips for the testing phase:

Make multiple versions with slight variations and test them all together. This is particularly helpful with things like deciding how much coffee to add to your buttercream icing, or how long to bake your cookies for. Make versions with different quantities of coffee or different baking times, and then compare them.
Take more notes than you think you’ll need. You don’t want to be writing up the final version of your recipe, and realize you’ve forgotten a key detail.
Think about storage time, freezing instructions etc. If you’re making cookies, maybe you want to keep a few to figure out how long they’ll stay crisp for. If you’re making soup, try freezing some and figure out the best reheating instructions. This extra info is helpful for your readers!
Finally – don’t rush the process. I know it’s exciting, and you want to get your recipe written, but developing new recipes is a slow process. It’s better to produce a recipe you can really stand behind than to just rush out something that’s merely okay.

Some more great posts about recipe development

There are tons of great food blogs and posts out there, so take a look around and hopefully something will help! These are some of the posts I turn to when I need a little extra inspiration!

Molly Yeh’s post (mentioned above). She talks about the behind the scenes of a blog post, and it’s a really great read!
Tips for food bloggers from Cookie and Kate – not just about developing recipes but more general advice for food bloggers!
Food 52 article by Ella Quittner – Ella is a professional recipe developer and gives some really great advice on the topic!
This article from Escoffier (the culinary school!) on recipe development is also really helpful if you’re in a bit of a creative rut.