Nothing can compete with the beauty and lusciousness of a perfectly baked cake. Everyone knows when they eat the perfect cake but few know how to create one of their own. Fortunately, baking perfection can be yours by following these five simple tips.
Tip One: Proper Ingredients
Whether you bake from scratch or a mix, the quality of your finished cake will never exceed the quality of your raw ingredients. Baking is unforgiving of low-quality ingredients or poorly chosen substitutions. For the best results use the exact ingredient your recipe calls for and always insist on freshness and high quality.
Tip Two: Mixing Technique
Using the best ingredients won’t mean much if they aren’t mixed correctly. Most cake recipes use the creaming method for mixing batter. In rare cases, a recipe may call for some other mixing technique. If mixing instructions aren’t provided, the creaming method will get the job done with the best possible results. Never over mix your batter! This will result in a cake with a tough bread-like texture.
Tip Three: Proper Cookware
Most recipes will call for a specific size and shape of the pan. When attempting a new or unfamiliar recipe you will achieve the best results by using the cookware indicated in the recipe. Additionally, invest in good quality cake pans. Cheap cookware can flex and bend as it heats up and often results in lopsided or improperly cooked baked goods.
Tip Four: Know Your Oven
Even the best of ovens have their quirks. To achieve cake perfection be familiar with your oven’s unique characteristics and be prepared to deal with them. Halfway through baking turn your cake pans 180 degrees to help even out their heat exposure. If you are baking on more than one rack at a time, switch pans from one rack to the other when you rotate them. Start checking for doneness 7 to 5 minutes before the planned cooking time has elapsed to prevent drying out your cake.
Tip Five: Frosting Technique
If frosting is called for then a little planning will help it add to your culinary masterpiece. To keep your serving plate clean, try lining the edges of the plate beneath the cake with wax or parchment paper before frosting. After it sets, you can simply pull the paper free and leave the serving plate nice and clean. To keep cake crumbs from ruining your frosting job, coat your
