Cake Baking Tips

How about immersing yourself in a pool of sweet indulgence? Sounds great, isn’t it! And, what if we say that the saccharine treat is prepared at home? This might sound greater. Talk about satiating the sweet tooth and cake is the first thing that strikes the mind. Just with the utterance of the word cake, saliva gushes into the mouth and a desire to devour upon the delicacy pangs the stomach. Homemade cakes are a great way to entice and tantalize the taste buds, without bothering much about the freshness. However, you might argue that cakes baked at home, though are enriched with flavor, do not have the finesse that is seen in cakes available in the market. But not anymore though! Homemade cakes can be as good as or even better than ones found in bakeries, if you adhere to simple tips and techniques. These tips might sound ordinary but if followed, can lead to the creation of a perfect dessert for your family. Read on the following lines to get easy tips & tricks for effective cake baking. Enjoy Baking!!

Tips & Tricks For Cake Baking

Temperature & Cookware

Oven is one of the quintessential products required in the cake baking process. So, in order to bake a cake, you need to first ensure that your oven is in proper condition.
At the time of choosing cookware, go for shiny pans. These pans reflect the heat, thereby making it the best choice for baking the cake.
Before making the batter, you need to prepare the pans. Grease the pans with liberal amounts of lard or butter. Using a pastry brush, spread the butter evenly making sure that all inside surfaces are well covered.
As for the positioning of the pan, place it at the center of the oven. Pans should not touch sides of oven or each other.
In case you are making a chocolate cake, using cocoa or carob powder instead of flour for dusting a greased pan would be the ideal choice.

Ingredients & Techniques

At the time of measuring the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup. Use a knife for proper leveling of the flour quantity.
Substituting buttermilk for regular milk, in the cake recipe, would ensure a better texture for your cake. However, make sure that you add ½ tsp of baking soda for each cup of buttermilk, to the dry ingredients.
When it comes to beating the butter and sugar mixture, make sure that you mix it as long as the recipe demands. Remember, the more you beat, the better would be the result.
In case your cake recipe includes nuts, raisins and chopped fruits as its ingredients, make sure you add them to the flour first. This will help keep the chopped nuts and fruits remain suspended in the batter.
To check for doneness, place a toothpick, wood skewer or a piece of raw spaghetti into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
For removing the cake easily from pan, place double thickness paper towel over wire rack. The towel would prevent the wire bars from breaking the crust or leaving imprints on top of cake. Invert cake and rack at least one hour before decorating. Then brush loose crumbs off cake.

Frosting

It is extremely important to ensure that the cake is completely cool before you start the frosting process.
For icing the cake, you should first add a thin layer of frosting and refrigerate it. This is mainly done to ensure that the outer frosting layer is crumb free. After an hour, you can completely frost the cake.
Though this might sound unusual, but using a hairdryer, after the frosting process, would be a great option to extend your cake a glossy look, as it would slightly melt the frosting. You can use an ice spatula or knife to smoothen the icing further.
To avoid flaking or cracking of the frosting, add a pinch of baking soda at the time of mixing the frosting.

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