Baking Tips: Ten Secrets to a Great Cake

1. Beat the eggs and butter (or ingredient of choice) extremely well. Put them in the mixer and get everything else ready – mix it until it is pale and fluffy.

2. Line the pan with parchment paper – the bottom won’t scorch as easily and it always comes out of the pan. With parchment paper in the bottom, do not grease the sides of the pan. This will allow the cake to cling to the pan and rise evenly. Use a metal spatula and carefully go between the cake and pan immediately when it comes out of the oven.

3. Do not over cook the cake. A little moisture in the middle is ok when removing it from the oven. It continues to cook a little longer when cooling. The top should spring back when touched lightly with your finger – it shouldn’t make a dent in the top of the cake.

4. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes max! After 10 minutes it will start to sweat on the bottom. Hold a cooling rack over the top of the pan with oven mitts on and flip everything over. (Make sure the cooling rack is the same size or bigger then the cake otherwise it will break.)

5. Let it cool completely before frosting. The frosting will melt if attempted to soon and slide off the cake.

6. Make sure the cake gets the middle rack of the oven. Bake a cake with the rack two levels up from the bottom. This keeps it from getting too hot on the bottom or the top and cooking evenly.

7. If your cakes get the mound in the middle (rise faster in the middle), lower the oven temperature by 25?F and extend the time by 10 or 15 minutes. Cake pan wraps are available to insulate the edges from over cooking before the middle is done. A slower cooked cake will rise more even. If you are having trouble getting things to bake consistently, buy an oven thermometer to check your oven temperature. Trim the mound off before stacking a layer cake (if there is one). The cake will stack without looking like a leaning tower.

8. Place a pan of water in the oven while baking the cake. Gluten-free flour can use all the moisture it can get. Place an ovenproof pie pan or casserole dish with several inches of water in the oven on the lower rack.

9. Let the cake mix sit before putting it into the pan. Gluten-free flour will absorb moisture while waiting to go into the oven. It can sit in the mixing bowl or in the pan – 15 minutes of letting the flour absorb can make an even moister cake.

10. Keep track of what works (and what doesn’t)! Make notes in a book and keep it with your recipes. I have learned from experience that consistency pays off and getting good results every time is rewarding.