10 Tips to Successfully Baking Cake from Scratch with Recipe

10 Tips to Successfully Baking a Cake from Scratch with Recipe

Baking in a science in which each ingredient plays an important role and has the ability to alter the end product. It requires a certain process and procedure that we must follow for best results. Here are 10 tips to successfully baking cake from scratch with recipe included that I use and follow.

The baking Encyclopedia 

There is a whole encyclopedia written on baking. What you must do and what you must not do. Rightfully so. There is nothing worst than spending an hour baking only to remove a flat or under baked, sometimes over baked cake from the oven.  There are zillions of things that can go wrong with baking and over the years I’d had my own share of those misfortunes.

However, I will still say that I am very grateful to have had a mother who taught me the basics of baking. From my grand mother to my mother both of whom were excellent bakers and cooks I am truly fortunate to say it is in my blood.  I truly love baking and cooking so much that I have over the years created many of my own creations and shared them with family, friends and now here on my blog.

10 tips to Successfully Baking a cake from Scratch

I – The ingredients

Always measure the ingredients properly.
If it says one cup then use one cup not a few tablespoons more or less. It does make a difference.
For example – a few tablespoons of extra flour can make your cake denser as well as crack on the top and a few tablespoons less can cause the cake to sink.

I have a post that explains the advantages of – measuring ingredients by weight and volume in more details

II – Temperature of your ingredients

Make sure your butter is room temperature but not melted unless the recipe specifies.

• Butter – If the butter is not room temperature it will not cream well with the sugar and stay lumpy.
• Eggs – Start with room temperature. This will help them combine well with the rest of the ingredients and not give you a curdled batter.
• Sugar – use fine grain sugar that will cream well. Coarse granulated sugar takes  longer to cream and ends up staying grainy
  Tip – If you cannot find – fine grain sugar just place the coarse gain sugar in a  food process for a few seconds.

III – Over-mixing and Under-mixing

I know this is very confusing. What does it mean? How do I know when it’s enough?
Most recipes will tell you how long to mix and if you’re still not comfortable use a kitchen timer. (I do it all the time, mostly because I’m multitasking)

Most cakes have a simple formula – cream the butter and sugar and you will know when this is done because it will appear light, fluffy and creamy. (Usually about 3 minutes.) You see this is well creamed.

Add eggs in 20 sec intervals and beat them until they are well combined and this you can see if they are well combined by just looking to see not traces of egg. It is important to mix the eggs well as this can give your cake that lovely light texture.

Next, add dry and wet ingredients.  Always alternate the dry and wet, starting with the dry and ending with the dry. It is important to just stir until they are incorporated.

In most traditional cakes this is how the cake batters would look.  Some batters such as Chocolate cake batters have more liquid but the batter should look smooth without any lumps and traces of flour.
You can do this by hand or use the mixer on low. Here is where you do not want to over-mix and activate the gluten in the flour.

Fill your pan 2/3 full leaving enough room for the cake to rise. If your pan is not lined at least grease and flour it so the cake will be released. If you grease but don’t flour the pan it does effect the rise of your cake.

IV – Temperature of the oven

I know most professionals say buy an oven thermometer. It is a great investment.
If you do not own one then keep track of your oven. If you notice that your recipe says cook for 20 minutes and your chicken is done in 15 or 30 minutes, you can guess how far off your oven is. The next time make adjustments and keep track again. When baking the oven temperature is very important and can affect the end result of your baked goods.

V – Always preheat your oven

A good practice is to have you ingredients ready, switch on the oven and start mixing. This gives you approximately 15 minutes of preheating time.

VI – Prepare your cake pan

Some people buy special spray for their baking. I personally like to use the pan spray and then use baking paper on the bottom as well as sides.
Also note – that if you do not prepare the sides of your pan – it affects the rise of your cake.

VII – The use of cake strips and heating core

You can buy these ready made now days so it saves you a lot of hassle.
Trust me it does bake your cake level and saves you the extra work of leveling later on. Plus a heating core for larger cakes will bake your cake evenly and you won’t have a wet center with dry exterior. I use large flower nails as heating core.

VIII — Do not over crowd your oven

Overcrowding the oven can cause too many problems with uneven baking as well as sinking. Its best to place the cake on the middle rack and away from the side of the oven. Pans should not touch each other when baking.

IX — Do not open the oven door while baking

Opening the door when baking can cause your cake to sink. Most recipes will tell you how long to bake it. A great indicator is smell. You will know when you cake is baked by the lovely sweet smell permeating through your home. Once there, open the door, do a toothpick test to make sure. If the toothpick comes out clean take it out of the oven.

X — Do not leave the cake in the pan to cool for more than 10 minutes

Remove the cake from its pan and let it cool on a wire rack. If you have greased your pans properly this will be an easy job. Leaving your warm cake in the pan for long can cause the cake to sink.

• Organize you self. Try not to multitask. (I know, easier said than done).
• Get all the ingredients ready  before you start so you don’t forget anything.
• Remember baking is food science, unlike regular cooking where you can add more salt or have the luxury of forgetting something. In baking each ingredient plays a key role and can affect the end result of your hard work.
• Baking can be fun and exciting it all depends on the way you approach it.
• So take care of the basics and the rest is fun.

Simple Basic Vanilla Cake Recipe – Baking from Scratch Series for Successfully Baking a Cake from Scratch

Ingredients.

• 250 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter. (room temp.)
• 250 grams (1 + 1/8 cup) white granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs (about 60  to 70 grams each – room temp.)
• 250 grams (2 1/2 cups )sifted cake flour (measure for sifted cake flour is different from unsifted cake or all-purpose flour)
• 2 tsp. of Baking Powder
• 200 ml milk
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170 C or 340 F. Prepare two 8” cake pans. Either grease and flour it or line it with baking paper.
• In a bowl, measure your dry ingredients, add the baking powder, salt and set aside. Measure the milk and set aside.
• Start by creaming the butter and sugar in your kitchen mixture (or by hand) for about 3 to 5 min. until light and fluffy.
• Next, add eggs one at a time, beat until well combined.
• Add the vanilla extract
• Add the flour and milk in three batches, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix until just incorporated. Here you do not over mix.
• Take the bowl off the mixture – give it one last stir scraping the bottom of the bowl. Pour into your prepared pan and place in the oven (middle rack) for 20 to 25 min. Or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Variation to this recipe

This recipe is so simple; so easy to master and take to the next level,  you can create so many different variations.

• Sour-cream Vanilla cake  –
  sour-cream adds a lovely softness to your cake and don’t worry you will not taste the sour cream. Reduce the butter to 200 grams, reduce the milk to 50ml and add 150 grams of sour cream and add ¼ tsp. of baking soda.
• Lemon Cake
  reduce the quantity of milk to 140 ml and add about 60 ml of lemon juice plus the zest of one lemon. (zest if optional)
• Orange Cake
  replace the milk with 150 ml of orange juice. Replace the vanilla extract with orange extract.
  
• Chocolate Cake
  reduce the flour to 200 grams and add 50 grams of dark coco powder.
• Chocolate Mocha Cake
  reduce flour to 200 grams and add 50 grams of coco powder. Dissolve 2 tbsp. of coffee in 2 tbsp. of hot water. Add to the batter before you pour into the baking pan.

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Recipe Card – Basic Vanilla Cake Recipe with Variations

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