Cake Baking Hints

 Preheat oven at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes before placing cake pans in oven, check temperature
with oven thermometer.  Baking cake at a lower temperature will help the cake to bake more evenly.
 When preparing cake pans for baking, grease only “Bottom” of cake pans, never grease the sides, unless
unusual shaped pan is being used; this will allow finished cake layers to rise much higher when baked.  Make
sure to cut around edges of cake pan immediately after removing from oven, to release baked cake
layer from pan.
 Unless you have an exceptionally wide oven rack, never place two layer cake pans on the same rack while
baking;  allow at least 2″ between cake pans layers and the oven wall, this prevents uneven rising in finished
cake layers. 
 Baked cake layers are usually done when they start to pull away from cake pan sides; cake layers spring
back when lightly touched with finger or a toothpick is inserted in the center of cake and comes out clean.
 To release cake layers, simply cut around the edges of pan, to loosen the cake, this will prevent cake from
sticking to pan sides.  Place cake pans on cooling rack; allow to cool in cake pans for 15 to 30 minutes, for 8”
to 12” layers, slightly longer for larger cakes. Cooling cake layers on a cake rack, allows air to circulate and
prevents the layers from being “wet” on the bottom. 
 Turning a warm or hot cake out of a baking pan too quickly, will crack and fall apart. Cake layers that cool in
the pan too long will stick unless lined with parchment paper. 
 If your cake has cooled in pan and was greased with shortening & flour, this will cause the cake layers to
stick in cake pans.  If this occurs, simply heat the bottom of cake pan over a low flame on stove until cake
releases from pan. 
 When ready to turn cake layers out of pans, loosen edges with a knife or cake spatula, invert rack on top of
cake pan and flip over. If cake layer has a hump in the middle, immediately flip over onto another cake rack
so cake is resting on flat bottom and not on hump. This will prevent the cake from cracking in half.
 Cakes that are to be split, filled or frosted should be fully cooled or baked one day ahead, for ease in
handling.
 Iced cakes may be frozen six months to one year, if placed in air tight container (or) cake box wrapped with
freezer wrap or heavy duty foil, then place in plastic bag. When defrosting, keep cake wrapped until
completely thawed.
 Un-iced cakes should be stored at room temperature no longer than 24 hrs.
 All cakes should be refrigerated to keep their freshness.  When serving buttercream cakes, they are best at
room temperature, whip cream cakes are best when served cold.
 Common Cake Baking Problems and Causes
 Dry Cake: Causes include baking too long or at too high a temperature; too much flour, baking soda or baking
powder was used; or there was too little sugar, butter or shortening.
 Tacky Top Crust: Causes include a too-low oven temperature; too short baking time, humidity, too much liquid, or
the cake was covered before it was completely cooled.
 Coarse Texture: Causes include not enough liquid ingredients, the sugar and butter were not sufficiently creamed, or
the mix contained too much baking soda or baking powder.
 Tunnels or Holes: Causes include mixing the cake batter either too much or not enough or the temperature in the
oven was too high.

 Flat: Causes include over- or undermixing the batter, using a pan too large for the cake or the oven temperature
was either too high or too low.
 Peaked in the Center: The cake was mixed too much, or the oven temperature was too hot.
 Fallen Cake: Causes include using too small of a pan; mismeasuring the wet ingredients; using expired baking
soda or baking powder, or the oven temperature was too low or the time too short, resulting in a cake that is not done
 .Shrinks From Edges of Pans: Causes include over-greasing pans, crowding pans in the oven, underfilling pans,
not enough liquid, the batter was mixed too long, or the cake was baked too long or at too high a temperatur

 Trouble Shooting Cake Baking Problems 

 Cake Did Not Rise
 Pans too large
 Oven temperature too low- under-baking
 Older cake mix or baking powder
 Under-beating batter
 Added too much liquid       
 Batter sat too long before baking
Cake Fell or Dipped /Was Soggy, Compact or Heavy

 Oven too cool – under-baking

 Cake removed from oven before completely baked
 Too much liquid
 Extra ingredients added to batter
 Excessive over-beating
 Used too much batter per pan
 Didn’t use cool water/cold eggs during hot weather
Cake Overflows Pan

 Oven temperature too low

 Pans too small-too much batter per pan
 Batter unevenly divided between pans
 Too much liquid
 Oven racks not level
 Pans not place in center of oven
Cakes Stick to Pan/Difficult To Remove

 Pans not greased properly

 Used vegetable oil spray – Use only bakers spray with flour & grease combo
 Cooled improper length of time (if cake is still hot and tender, it will break easily.  If too cool the shortening
begins to harden and will cause cake to stick to pan; heat bottom slightly to help remove
 Cake not loosened from pan with knife or spatula, prior to removal
Cake Wet/Moist/Weeps When Stored
  Under-bake
 Not completely cooled before frosted or store
 Frosted a frozen cake
 Freeze a frosted cake
 Stored in too warm/humid area
 Sheet Cakes Split/Cracked – Egg White Cakes

 Not enough batter in pan

 Stored at too warm of a temperature
 Turned cake out of pan onto top hump/cause cake to split on bottom; trim top of cake layer, before turning
upside down onto rack or cake board
 Cake Split, Humped, Peaked Too Much, Shrank, Had Holes and
 Tunnels, Dry, Crumbly or Burned
 All of these problems can indicate over-baking which results from too hot an oven or too long a bake time
 Holes and tunnels can also be caused by failure to scrap bottom/sides of bowl when mixing batter
 Excessively lumpy mix (blend dry mix at low speed for about 30 seconds to break up lumps, before adding liquid
Custard-Like Streak Across Cake

 Streak across bottom of cake – too much liquid

 Streak across top crust of cake – under-baking
 Extra ingredients added to the batter
 Excessive over-beating
 Failure to scrape or improperly scraping bottom /sides of bowl
Layers Uneven

 Range or oven racks not level

 Pans not centered in over
 Too much liquid
 Under-beating
 Oven temperature too high
Uneven Browning

 Oven not preheated

 Used dark, dented or warped pans
 Range or oven racks not even
Cake Difficult To Frost

 Cake not removed from pan properly

 Cake cooled in wrong position – cakes should be cooled right side up on a cooling rack (or) left in the cake pan
and cooled on rack; cut around cake and heat bottom of pan, before removing cake
 Cake not completely cool before frosting; refrigerate to make easier to frost
 Excess crumbs not brushed away
 Frosting not a good spreading consistency; should be thin enough to spread without pulling or tearing at cake
 Apply a thin frosting crumb coat; allow setting, or refrigerating; applying final coat of frosting
 Cake Broke/Crumbled When Assembling

 Cake Stored in too warm or humid area

 Cake not supported with rack when turning cake over
 Cakes not stacked with adequate supports
 Cake UN-level

Prepared by: Jaztine Cinco