How To Bake Cakes

Nothing can be more tempting than a thick, rich slice of freshly baked cake. The very word ‘cake’ is enough to water your mouth and you start imagining cakes laden with red strawberries, rich layer of whipped cream, the crunchy nutty flavor, and slices of fresh pineapple. However, the only problem that most cake lovers come up with is baking a perfect cake that is soft, moist, evenly colored, and simply irresistible. And if you aren’t able to get a delicious cake, decorating the cake will be of no use. Hence, to get and gorge on a wonderful decorated cake, you should master the basic baking techniques. Now for this, you do not have to steer through different cookbooks and magazines and seacrh for those tips and techniques that will help you bake a cake that is perfect. Simply scroll through the lines herein and find some simple and useful tips for baking cakes. Time to go yummy instead of yuck!

 

 

Even before you start baking your cake, you need to make sure that the ingredients you put in the cake recipe are fresh. Even the eggs should be the freshest ones available. Considering fruit fillings, chocolate and nuts, pick up ones of the best quality. The better the ingredients, the better will be the output. Further, fruits and flavoring should be added to the batter in the end.

 

To get a wonderful cake, always use a good quality baking pan. Discard all your old or burnt pans and replace them with new ones, as a shiny pan will produce a better and perfect cake. Taking into account the pan size demanded by the recipe, use only those recommended. Opting for a larger or smaller pan can affect the quality and quantity of the cake. Also, the right position of the pan in the oven is another factor to be considered. Place it in the center to ensure it does not touch the sides of the oven. In case of baking 2 or more pans together, place them about 3 cm apart for even heating.

 

Greasing the pan correctly is also an important factor to be taken into account. Use butter or vegetable oil shortening and cover all the sides of the pan thoroughly. For even greasing, you can also use a vegetable shortening spray.

 

Dusting is equally important while baking a cake to enhance and bring out the flavor of the cake. Using flour to dust the pan while baking a chocolate cake can give you a white base instead of brown. Thus, why not use cocoa powder for dusting instead of flour. Similarly, opt for powdered vanilla while baking a vanilla cake.

 

The batter you prepare should be of the right consistency. Add a little whiskey to thin the batter in case it is too stiff. For every 3 eggs you use in the recipe, add 1 tbsp of whiskey. Many people use rose water instead of whiskey which adds its own flavor to the recipe, as against whiskey which does not do so. Also, for a layered cake, your cake batter should be thinner than that of a normal cake.

 

Those bakers preparing a cake to be layered with a dollop of thick, delicious cream, this tip is of utmost importance for you. Though making clean layers in a cake is not at all difficult, most people end up making a mess out of their neatly baked cake. Take a long strand of waxed dental floss and while holding the ends with both your hands, pass it through the cake at the place where you want to slice it. This will give you a clean and perfect cake layer without sticking to the cake.

 

Baking time is yet another important and successful tip for a perfect cake. Always preheat the oven for at least 10-15 minutes. After you have completed baking the cake, do not remove it for at least 15 minutes. Always check the cake by inserting a toothpick or flower nail in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready. Else, bake it for some more time. Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely before you invert it onto a rack.

 

Decorating
Never start decorating your cake before it has completely cooled down. To get a soft icing without cracks, add a pinch of baking soda into the icing recipe.