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10 Success Tips For Making Great Cakes For Your Cake Business


Is there a secret to making great cake? Absolutely!

Baking has often been described as a science. Baking is an area of cookery that doesn't take kindly to artistic licence. A cake is essentially a chemistry experiment—a series of ingredients mixed in a specific order to cause reactions that produce specific effects.

If you feel that all the measuring, sifting, and mixing involved in cake-baking seems more like science class than fun, then with this 10 tips to cake baking, you will conquer the cake, and have fun cake success doing it.

#Tip 1: Use A Good Recipe

It’s important to follow baking recipes to the exact measurement for guaranteed results so your cake will only ever be as good as the recipe you use. Start with a recipe from a source you have tried and tested and stick to it.

Most layer cakes, get their soft texture and moistness—called a crumb—by first creaming together fat and sugar, adding eggs, and slowly incorporating dry ingredients into the mixture while alternating with a milk. sponge cakes get their airy, textures when whole eggs or egg whites (depending on the cake) are whipped until voluminous, then folded into the batter. The air incorporated by whipping the eggs gives these cakes volume.

So whatever cake you’re making, be sure to follow the recipe instruction closely. The order and method described really counts when cake baking.

#Tip 2: Use the proper tin size stated in the recipe Your recipe calls for two 9-inch round cake pans, but you only have 8-inch pans. What to do? Go get two 9-inch pans. Pan size is specified in recipes because a cake increases in volume 50 to 100 percent during baking; if your pan is too small, the cake could overflow. If you want to use a different one then you'll need to adjust the cooking time.

Color of the cake tin is also important, too; glass or dark nonstick pans usually require a 25-degree reduction in baking temperature versus silver-colored aluminum pans.

For lining cake tins. Use Baking parchment for lining as it's non-stick. Softened butter is good also. However, don't use too much butter as this will fry the sides of the cake. If you're cooking a cake for a long time (rich fruit cake, for example), it's worth wrapping the outside of the tin too using brown paper and string to stop the edges from burning.

#Tip 3: Preheat The Oven

If you put a cake into an oven that's not hot enough, it will affect the way it rises. Fan ovens can dry a cake slightly so for a longer shelf-life use the conventional setting.

To prevent an under- or overdone cake, get an oven thermometer—it’s the best way to be sure your oven is at the correct temperature. Bake the cake in the middle (too close to the top or bottom can cause over browning). Gently close the oven door—a hard slam can release air bubbles trapped in the batter.

To check for doneness, lightly press the center of the cake; if it springs back, it’s done. Or insert a toothpick; it should come out clean.

#Tip 4: Be accurate with weights and ingredients

Make sure you use the exact measurements and ingredients as stated in the recipe. You can't just add more baking powder if you want your cake to rise more or substitute self-raising flour for plain. Use measuring spoons rather than regular cutlery to ensure accuracy.

#Tip 5: Make sure ingredients are the right temperature

The intimate chemistry among key ingredients delivers the foundation for good cake. Most recipes require the fat and eggs to be at room temperature. If you take the butter straight from the fridge it doesn't cream well and cold eggs are liable to curdle the cake mixture.

Flour thickens the batter and provides gluten, a protein that gives the cake structure. It forms when flour is combined with a liquid and agitated. Don’t over mix, which can cause your cake to turn tough. Leaveners like baking soda or powder, produce carbon dioxide bubbles, which are trapped by the starch in the batter and expand during baking, causing the cake to rise.

Fats, like butter, shortening, or oil, help hinder gluten formation while providing moisture for the cake. This ensures a tender texture.

Sugar breaks up gluten, keeping the texture tender; it absorbs liquid, keeping the cake moist; and it caramelizes in baking, enriching flavors and helping the cake brown.

Eggs firm up when cooked, helping cake batters set in the oven. Egg yolks contain fat, as well as lecithin, an emulsifier that allows fats and water to mix smoothly and ensures even texture.

#Tip 6: Get as much air into the cake as you can

Cream butter and sugar until the mixture lightens in texture and colour. This increases the air and volume of the cake, giving you a lighter result.

Sift flour and other stated ingredients together to mix, add air and make them easier to fold in.

Don't be tempted to whisk vigorously as this will knock out the air and result in a heavy cake.

#Tip 7: Once the cake mixture is made put it straight into the oven

The raising agent will start working as soon as it comes into contact with any of the 'wet' ingredients so to ensure a good rise your cake mixture should go into the oven right away.

#Tip 8: Put the cake on the correct shelf and keep the oven door closed

Cakes are generally best placed on the middle shelf to ensure even cooking.

Once the cake is in, avoid opening the door until it's almost cooked. If you allow cold air into the oven the cake is likely to collapse, you need to wait until it's properly set before taking a peek. Similarly, when you're putting the cake into the oven, don’t delay so as not to let all the heat out.

#Tip 9: Stick To Baking Times

If you've used the correct cake tin and you've got a good oven, the timings stated in the recipe should be accurate. As ovens do vary, check the cake just before the end of the cooking time.

A cake that is cooked through should feel the same if pressed around the edges or in the middle. Also, a toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean.

If your cake is not properly cooked in the centre but looking brown, a good tip is that you can cover it with a bit of dampened greaseproof paper.

#Tip 10: Cooling Cakes

Recipes will usually give instructions for cooling but as a general rule, most sponge cakes are best left for a few minutes and then turned onto a cooling rack.

Rich fruit cakes are better cooled in the tin. Cool cakes in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pan.

Once cooled, place a plate on top, invert the pan, and gently tap or shake it to release the cake. When it has cooled, run a narrow spatula around the edges, and release onto a plate.

For more tips and information about setting up your own cake business, make sure to check out my E-Course ‘The Baking Business School Cake E- Course‘. From the rules surrounding getting your business registered, marketing and business strategies as well as pricing guides including Templates, guides, Workbooks and checklists to help you build your cake passion business dream.

Enrollment for the Baking Business School E- Course is still ongoing. Don't miss this chance to start and to take your cake business to the next level.

Register Now here ( just type in BBS Course in the subject area).

Lets make your cake dreams a reality

Happy Caking.

Talk to you next week. ​​

RotimiCakeLady

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