National Cake Day: Piece of Cake! (Or not?)

Today for National Cake Day, @SleepyShyCat & I want to help you avoid or overcome some of the common mistakes when baking a cake!

[image consists of a cat eating a piece of special “cat food cake”]

Dry Cake?

• Usually the result of either using too much flour/too little butter and/or eggs.

  • Prevent: Measure flour carefully by spooning it into the measuring cup instead of scooping directly with the measuring cup to avoid packing the flour.

  • Salvage: If it’s dry but edible, add a heavy layer of buttercream frosting. Too dry? Crumble and mix with frosting to make cake pops!

Dense Cake?

• Often the result of too much liquid or sugar, or too little leavening agent (such as baking powder).

  • Prevent: Make sure you're carefully weighing out your wet and dry ingredients, and combining them when the recipe states. You should also ensure your oven is hot enough, so that it doesn't fall and become dense.

  • Salvage: Adapt! Dense cakes can be used to make trifle or cake pops.

Overflowing Cake?

• Too small a pan or too much batter, ultimately a lot of mess!

  • Prevent: Avoid filling your pan all the way to the top with batter, it should only be ⅔ full to leave room to rise. You can additionally place a baking sheet under your pan to catch any 'drips' or overflow.

  • Salvage: Some simple creativity will fix this - trim the edges and cover with an icing of your choice and no one will know!

Cake Didn’t Rise?

• May mean that you forgot the baking powder, used expired baking powder, over mixed the batter, or maybe just used a pan that was too big!

  • Prevent: Ensure your baking powder is fresh and that you add it in properly, don’t overbeat your mixture, it just needs to be combined, and use the pan size listed in the recipe.

  • Salvage: As long as it’s not over done, a flat cake isn’t the end of the world, you can always use a bit of icing to mask any imperfections.

Soggy Middle?

• A soggy middle usually means your cake is not finished cooking inside!

  • Prevent & Salvage: If your cake is looking otherwise done, cover with foil or parchment to avoid burning the top and continue to bake until the center is done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Sunken Middle?

• This can be a result of too much leavener, opening the oven door early during baking before the cake has set, or letting the batter sit too long.

  • Prevent: Measure leaveners carefully, make sure to preheat the oven so you can put the cake in as soon as it is ready, and try not to peek too much.

  • Salvage: If it’s a slight dip, you can easily frost over it. If you have a very deep sunken middle, you can scoop out the center and fill your cake with fruit and frosting for a delicious rescue!

[Image consists of a collage of different close ups of frosting]

Uneven Cook?

• If your oven has hot spots, or is crowded while you are baking you may get browning that is uneven.

  • Prevent: Ensure to place cakes in the center of your oven and rotate the pan halfway through the baking time.

  • Salvage: Fortunately here frosting can quickly cover any uneven colour, if there are any overcooked or birth bits they can be trimmed away before frosting.

Stuck in the Pan?

• Pan most likely wasn't greased well enough.

  • Prevent: Ensure to properly grease your pan, you can also line it with parchment paper to prevent any sticking.

  • Salvage: Run a rubber spatula around the edges of the cake and give the pan a pat around the edges and on the bottom. You can cover any imperfections with icing or cake decorations.

Crusty Edges?

• If you find your cake has hard, dark edges, it usually means you've overbaked. This could be from leaving it to bake for too long, having the oven too hot, or uneven baking.

  • Prevent: You can use lighter coloured aluminium pans as they are not prone to creating darkened crusts, or 'uneven' baking. Using an oven thermometer can be useful in checking your oven doesn't run hot (as ovens can give inaccurate temperatures).

  • Salvage: Use a bread knife to cut away the outer layer and as always, layer on the icing to hide the evidence!

Cracked Top?

• Some cakes naturally crack, pound cakes are a good example of this. Otherwise it may be that your oven was too hot, or you couldn’t resist taking a peek too often causing the temperature to fluctuate while baking.

  • Prevent: Get out the good old oven thermometer again, and try to resist the urge to take a peek.

  • Salvage: Good news is cracks don’t really affect the quality of your cake, just mean a bit more work when icing it.

Greasy Cake?

• Often the result of using too much butter or oil, or letting the butter get too soft.

  • Prevent: Be careful to measure fats according to the recipe, and remember that softened butter is not melted butter.

  • Salvage: This will depend on how greasy your cake is, if it’s just on top can usually be blotted and then covered with icing. Unfortunately if it’s greasy all the way through, it may have passed the point of no return. 😭

Burnt Cake?

• Safe to say what happened here was a function of time and or temperature, it was cooked too long and/or at too high a temperature

  • Prevent: Set a timer for slightly less time than your cake needs to bake, and once again, consider investing in an oven thermometer. You may also tent or cover your cake with parchment/foil if you notice the top is done but it needs more time to finish baking.

  • Salvage: If your cake truly is burnt, sadly it may be inedible and destined for disposal. (Eating burnt food isn’t recommended) 😭😭😭

    
    

[Image consists of a cat in a chefs hat sitting among cupcake and tea in front of a stand mixer]

As you can see most mistakes don’t really wreck your cake, and there’s always frosting! Occasionally there is no salvaging a burnt or overly greasy cake, but even that can be part of the learning process. Most importantly have fun, and eat cake! 🥳

Questions:

1. Even though it’s national cake day, do you vote for cake or pie?

2. Do you frost your cakes? What’s your favourite kind of frosting?

3. Have you ever had a dessert disaster? Will you share your story with us?

Like cake? Want more cake day fun? Check out this post in General Support to share your favourite recipes or maybe find a new one to try!

Source: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cake-fails/

*Co-written with my wonderful teammate @SleepyShyCat*

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