5 Common Cake Baking Mistakes to Avoid
It’s great to be able to serve a homemade cake on a special occasion like a birthday. You can easily find the perfect recipe from a friend or online. At the same time, baking cakes is not an easy task. You have to follow the instructions provided in the recipe precisely. You should also make sure to avoid the following common mistakes.
Using Cold Ingredients
This is one of the biggest cake baking mistakes people make. If the ingredients are cold, this can lead to lumps and other problems with the texture of the dough. You certainly don’t want your creation to be ruined by such a silly mistake. All ingredients should be at room temperature when added to make the dough. To do this, you have to take out those that are stored in the fridge, such as eggs, milk and butter, about an hour and a half before you start cooking.
Getting the wrong baking temperature
You have to make sure that you bake the dough at the perfect temperature. Otherwise, you may end up with a hard, flat, or lumpy cake. Be sure to use a recipe with an accurate baking temperature. Usually the envelope has to be preheated. You should not slide the pan with the dough before.
It’s better to rely on an oven thermometer than the appliance’s control knob and lights, as they aren’t particularly accurate. Another very important thing is not to open the oven too often during the cooking process. In fact, you should refrain from doing this.
Overbaking leading to dry cake
This mistake can really ruin the flavor no matter how good the recipe is. To avoid this, you should never bake the dough for too long. If the recipe does not come with a fixed baking time, you should check the dough after half an hour of baking. Open the oven, insert a wooden toothpick into the dough and carefully pull it out. If there is no trace of the mixture on the skewer, then the cake is ready. If more baking is required, you should check after another ten minutes.
Adding frosting to a warm cake
If you make this mistake, the frosting will simply melt and lose its original texture and appearance. Cooling to room temperature usually takes between one and two hours. You have to anticipate this time when you start preparing the recipe. You can speed up the process by leaving the pan on a cool counter. However, you should not put it in the fridge while it is still warm.
Leave the cake without decoration
You can come up with a creative decoration even if you are in a hurry or not very good at it. One of the simplest techniques is to add pieces of fruit in an interesting pattern. You can also use raw ground walnuts. Even if you don’t have a decorating bag, you can take a clean plastic bag and poke a small hole by removing one of the corners. Then you can fill it with the icing and set your fantasy free.
You are now ready to bake the perfect cake.
