For those who like to cook sweets, but still face some difficulties with the cake process, check out some fundamental steps so you can improve your skills and master the cake science. A perfect cake needs more then just a great recipe and I’ve prepared 10 tips that will guide you to bake a cake like a pro. Come with me!
▪ Before starting ANY recipe, make sure you read everything with care. This will allow you to prepare ahead some very important steps, like for example, remove eggs, butter and milk from the fridge so they can be at room temperature the moment that you decide to start;
▪ Prepare your Mise en Place ( from french school this term means to organize and separated all the ingredients and mesure everything). BELIEVE ME this step will save you time and YES, IT IS THE RIGHT WAY OF DOING ANY RECIPE, specially pastry recipes;
▪ Do not change the quantity of ingredients on your recipe: pastry is an exact science, it is important to respect the proportions indicated and it is recommended to use a scale to weigh the ingredients and a measuring cup for liquids when making your Mise em place. The recipes that you are using, were previously balanced by a professional or someone that really understands the subject. Changing a recipes is a later stage in your pastry life;
- Use ingredients like butter, eggs, milk and water at room temperature. The whites grow firmer and more structured and the butter acquires a creamy texture, which facilitates when adding to the other ingredients and leaves the dough velvety.
- For cakes with fruit and pieces of chocolate, pass in the flour to help leave them suspended in the dough and well distributed in the cake.
- It is very important to preheat the oven for 15 minutes before starting the cake recipe. The oven heat activates the baking powder (rising agent ), and keeps the dough aerating. Very important thing to consider: Oven is just like husbands – everyone has their own and understands how they work. So, before trusting 100% in the recipe’s indication, always consider possible variations according with your equipment. If you dont know your Baby oven yet, We will make sure that you guys have a perfect relationship from now on ????
- NEVER, AND I MEAN IT, NEVER open the oven door before the smell of the cake is in the air – it indicates the point that all chemical reaction happened and that means you can start testing your cake to check if its already fully baked without compromising it.
- The ideal is to fill the cake pan with 2/3 of the cake dough.
- Like I said before, your cake is ready when the smell os cake is in the air and the crust is light brown. Stick a toothpick in the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, remove it from the oven. There is another technique that I’ll tell you later.
- ALWAYS wait for the cake to cool down a bit before removing from the pan.
If you follow the recipe step by step, pay attention in your equipment, you will guarantee better texture and success with any cake.
Now that you have some knowledge about this amazing thing called cake science. How about going to the kitchen and bake a cake. You can start with our simple cake: a cake to call mine or the best carrot cake bundt in the world.
I hope you have found useful and have learned somenting new with our 10 tips to bake a perfect cake! Let’s put a challenge here, shall we?!
Bake a cake, Take a picture and post on Instagram and tag us: @mypastrylife_blog I’ll check and comment there!
