Baking the perfect cake every time takes passion and practice, but if you are not using the correct techniques, you will sooner or later get frustrated. The blog discusses some of the most important considerations to take care of while baking a cake. Read on.
Baking a cake is an art. However, when we look at the steps involved — precisely measured ingredients, mixed in the right order and direction, cooked at the right temperature, cooled to the perfect degree — all this makes it seems more like a chemistry experiment.
And if you think of it that way, that actually makes it possible to dole out perfect cakes every single time. If its a chemistry experiment, it can be perfected with practice, isn’t it?
So, if you get jitters while even thinking to bake a cake or are perennially apprehensive of how it’s going to turn out, here are a few tips you need to know by heart:
1. Follow the recipe to the letter. The order of mixing ingredients as well as the manner are of extreme importance. Therefore, you need to do exactly what the recipe asks you to. If there are no clear instructions, find a more detailed recipe. If the book seems too confusing, go online and find a trusted source. Tried and tested recipes will almost always have a photo of the finished cake.
2. Choose the correct baking pan. A simple, sturdy aluminum pan is perfect. It can be either with or without a non-stick coating.
3. Items like eggs and butter should be at room temperature while mixing in. However, take care of what the recipe wants. If it calls for softened butter, adding melted butter will ruin the texture.
4. Mix all the dry ingredients — flour, baking soda, salt, etc. — together first. To get a tender texture, beat the butter (medium speed for stand mixer and high for hand mixer) for 30 seconds and then gradually add little amounts of sugar so that a good amount of air is incorporated in the mix. Break the eggs first into a custard bowl and remove any pieces of egg shells that might drop in. Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mix, one at a time, and beat continually.
5. Place the cake on the middle shelf of the oven to ensure even cooking. It is always recommended to pre-heat the oven for at least 10 minutes before placing the mixture in. While you place the cake tin inside, do it in a swift and quick movement so that no heat leaks out. Peek in to test only close to the finish time so that cold air does not escape inside and let it collapse.
6. Allow the cake to cool for at least one hour so that it firms up well for frosting. While frosting the cake, first use a pastry brush to remove all the loose crumbs so that the frosting remains clean and free of stray particles.
When you finally place the cake prepared with all precautions on the cake stand, It’s going to be a magnificent view. Perhaps then no one will dare say that baking a cake is no art.
Is there anything we missed here? Tell us in the comments section.