Baking Tips:
• Center the rack in the oven, preheat your oven and prepare your pans prior to mixing any of your ingredients.
• Invest in a $5 oven thermometer to test the accuracy of your oven’s thermostat. Once you know your oven’s ‘true’ temperature, you’ll save yourself from a lot of frustration and failed cakes.
• The shinier the pan, the better for baking cakes. Shiny pans reflect heat protecting the sides of your cake from over-baking.
• Refrigerated cake ingredients such as eggs, milk, sour cream and butter should be warmed to room temperature for best results.
• To lower the cholesterol in your cake, substitute two egg whites for every 1 whole egg.
• Your recipe calls for buttermilk or sour milk but you’re fresh out? You can make your own! Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before using.
• To soften butter or margarine, microwave on high for 10 seconds or so until soft, but not melted!
• Cream butter or margarine and sugar according to the directions provided in your recipe. Different cakes require different creaming and beating times.
• For a mocha chocolate cake, substitute cold brewed coffee in place of the water in a regular chocolate cake recipe.
• To keep chopped fruit, raisins and/or nuts suspended in the cake batter, toss them with some flour before adding to the batter. A light dusting of flour will help them ‘float’ and not ‘sink’ to the bottom of the batter.
• To lighten the color of a whole-wheat flour cake, add 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch for every 1 cup of flour.
• To protect your cake from cracking, add one envelope of unflavored gelatin powder to the dry ingredients.
• Never fill a cake pan more than half-full.
• After pouring the batter into the cake pan, tip it slightly from side to side to settle and level the batter to make for a more evenly baked cake.
• Never open the oven door during the first half of the baking time. Any disturbance to the circulation of heat may interfere with the cake rising and cause it to sink in the middle.
• If the top of your cake starts to brown too early, place a pan of warm water on the oven rack above where the cake is baking
• If you’re out of toothpicks, you can use a piece of uncooked spaghetti to check the doneness of your cake.
• When possible, bake your cake one day before icing and decorating. Fresh cakes are less settled and more difficult to work with.
• If your layer cakes bake to different heights, you can level them once fully baked and cooled by slicing off any extra height with either a serrated knife or a cake leveler.
• Cake layers must be completely cooled before they are stacked. Stacking warm layers may cause them to crack and break apart.
• Dust your cake platter with powdered sugar to prevent the cake from sticking.
• Use a clean paintbrush to gently brush away any crumbs on the cakes surface prior to icing.
• To cleanly cut through a cake, dip your knife in water to keep the icing and cake from sticking.
• To slice a light and fluffy Angel Food cake and keep it from either crumbling or sinking, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to slicing.
• For loaf cakes, rather that begin slicing from one end, make the first cut through the middle. After slicing off the desired number of pieces, slide the remaining two ends together and wrap in plastic.
• Most cakes (except cheesecakes) can be frozen (un-iced) up to three months.
• Center the rack in the oven, preheat your oven and prepare your pans prior to mixing any of your ingredients.
• Invest in a $5 oven thermometer to test the accuracy of your oven’s thermostat. Once you know your oven’s ‘true’ temperature, you’ll save yourself from a lot of frustration and failed cakes.
• The shinier the pan, the better for baking cakes. Shiny pans reflect heat protecting the sides of your cake from over-baking.
• Refrigerated cake ingredients such as eggs, milk, sour cream and butter should be warmed to room temperature for best results.
• To lower the cholesterol in your cake, substitute two egg whites for every 1 whole egg.
• Your recipe calls for buttermilk or sour milk but you’re fresh out? You can make your own! Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before using.
• To soften butter or margarine, microwave on high for 10 seconds or so until soft, but not melted!
• Cream butter or margarine and sugar according to the directions provided in your recipe. Different cakes require different creaming and beating times.
• For a mocha chocolate cake, substitute cold brewed coffee in place of the water in a regular chocolate cake recipe.
• To keep chopped fruit, raisins and/or nuts suspended in the cake batter, toss them with some flour before adding to the batter. A light dusting of flour will help them ‘float’ and not ‘sink’ to the bottom of the batter.
• To lighten the color of a whole-wheat flour cake, add 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch for every 1 cup of flour.
• To protect your cake from cracking, add one envelope of unflavored gelatin powder to the dry ingredients.
• Never fill a cake pan more than half-full.
• After pouring the batter into the cake pan, tip it slightly from side to side to settle and level the batter to make for a more evenly baked cake.
• Never open the oven door during the first half of the baking time. Any disturbance to the circulation of heat may interfere with the cake rising and cause it to sink in the middle.
• If the top of your cake starts to brown too early, place a pan of warm water on the oven rack above where the cake is baking
• If you’re out of toothpicks, you can use a piece of uncooked spaghetti to check the doneness of your cake.
• When possible, bake your cake one day before icing and decorating. Fresh cakes are less settled and more difficult to work with.
• If your layer cakes bake to different heights, you can level them once fully baked and cooled by slicing off any extra height with either a serrated knife or a cake leveler.
• Cake layers must be completely cooled before they are stacked. Stacking warm layers may cause them to crack and break apart.
• Dust your cake platter with powdered sugar to prevent the cake from sticking.
• Use a clean paintbrush to gently brush away any crumbs on the cakes surface prior to icing.
• To cleanly cut through a cake, dip your knife in water to keep the icing and cake from sticking.
• To slice a light and fluffy Angel Food cake and keep it from either crumbling or sinking, place it in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to slicing.
• For loaf cakes, rather that begin slicing from one end, make the first cut through the middle. After slicing off the desired number of pieces, slide the remaining two ends together and wrap in plastic.
• Most cakes (except cheesecakes) can be frozen (un-iced) up to three months.