Baking Cakes: Problems and Tips

If cake falls:

• Oven not hot enough
• Under mixing
• Insufficient baking
• Opening oven door during baking
• Too much leavening, liquid, or sugar

If cake peaks in center:

• Oven too hot at start of baking
• Too much flour
• Not enough liquid

If Cake sticks to pan:

• Cake cooled in pan too long
• Pan not greased and floured properly

If cake cracks and falls apart:

• Removed from pan too soon
• Too much shortening, leavening, or sugar

If crust is sticky:

• Insufficient baking
• Oven not hot enough
• Too much sugar

If texture is heavy:

• Over mixing when flour and liquid added
• Oven temperature too low
• Too much shortening, sugar, or liquid

If texture is coarse:

• Inadequate mixing or creaming
• Oven temperature too low
• Too much leavening

If texture is dry:

• Over baking
• Over beaten egg whites
• To much flour or leavening
• Not enough shortening or sugar

Measure accurately. Extra sugar or leavening causes a cake to fall; extra flour makes it dry.

Have ingredients at room temperature for maximum volume.

Beat softened butter, cream cheese or vegetable shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy usually 1 to 7 minutes. Gradually add sugar continuing to beat until light and fluffy.

Use name-brand ingredients. Store brands of sugar are often more finely ground than name brands resulting in more sugar per cup. This can cause a cake to fall. Store brands of butter can contain more liquid fat. Store brands of flour usually contain more hard wheat, making the cake heavy.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating the batter just until the yellow yolk disappears.

Always add dry ingredients alternately with the liquid to prevent the batter from curdling. Begin and end with dry ingredients. Mix until just blended after each addition. Over mixing will result in a tough, rubbery cake.

Always use the correct type of cake pan. For instance, a Bundt pan and a tube pan don’t necessarily hold the same amount of batter.

Grease cake pans with solid vegetable shortening and dust with flour. A non-stick spray is often to slippery. A slippery surface keeps the batter from rising to its full volume.

Calibrate your oven to check for temperature accuracy.

Bake cakes in the center of the oven and keep the door closed. Check cake at minimum time suggested if more cooking time is needed gently close the door as quickly as possible after testing.

Fill cake pans 2/3 full and spread batter into corners and sides, leaving a slight hollow in the center.

Cake is done when it shrinks from the sides of hte pan or if it springs back when touched lightly with the finger.

Afer removing a cake from the oven, place it on a rack for about five minutes. Then, the sides whould be loosened and the cake turned outon a rack in order to finish cooling.

Do not frost cakes until thoroughly cool.

Icing will remain where you put it if you sprinkle cake with powdered sugar first.

Happy baking!