Tips For Making The Perfect Cake
Have you ever watched a cooking show and envied how easy the hosts made it look to create a delicious cake? For some of us, even store bought ingredients can’t help us put together a final product that is lovely to look at while tasting great.
It turns out there are some simple tricks to ensuring that your cake comes out just right. Remembering them the next time you opt to make a cake can increase your baking confidence. So whether you then decide on a birthday cake or a wedding cake, what you make will turn out wonderfully.
Follow The Directions To The Letter
Having made so many cakes that you can do it in your sleep is one thing. But for the rest of us, there is that lifeline known as a recipe. The recipe is set up to tell you exactly what you need to make your cake and how to do it step-by-step. Many of the mistakes that lead to cake baking disasters occur when people accidentally or intentionally deviate from the list of directions.
If you avoid doing this and take the recipe seriously, it can really help you create a cake you’ll love. Eventually, when you get comfortable with the recipe, you may find that you want to experiment. But it’s a good idea to wait until you know what you’re doing and have made the cake a few times.
Be Sure To Test For Doneness
To avoid undercooking or overcooking your cake, remember to test by sticking a toothpick or fork into the center. If the item reveals no gooey cake mix and comes up clean, or with a few cake crumbs, the cake is done. This is a simple method for ensuring that you don’t have a cake that is dry or a cake that is half-baked. If you find that your cake isn’t done yet, give it a few more minutes and then test it again.
Let Your Cake Cool Completely Before Frosting
This is a very important step that novice cake bakers can run into trouble with. If a cake has not had adequate time to cool, it will melt the icing that is applied and ruin the overall texture of the cake. If you wish to cool your cake in a hurry, put it in the fridge or freezer.
Create A “Crumb Coat” Layer Of Frosting
A crumb coat is a layer of frosting that keeps the final look of the cake free of crumbs. This is done by taking a completely cooled cake and adding a very thin layer of frosting. This is meant to keep all the crumbs down. The layer should be thin enough so that the cake itself is still visible, as are any crumbs. After this layer of frosting is applied, the cake should be left alone. Only after the crumb layer is completely dry to the touch should the actual frosting begin.
While the above tips are fairly simple, they can definitely help to make your next cake absolutely delicious.
