How to bake a perfectly risen cake

A perfect cake is one that is flavourful, moist, evenly baked. Yet, one of the most common problems new bakers face is their beautiful cakes collapsing after they are taken out of the oven and there is nothing more disheartening than that. Here is what you can do to make sure your cake holds its shape even once cooled. Read on.

Preheat well - Wait for the oven to heat up properly before you put your cake in. A lot of times the dial can show a certain degree but inside the cavity the temperature can be lower. Also don’t leave the door open too long when you put your cake inside the oven. Proper temperature is essential for your cake to bake evenly.

Quantity Check – Baking cake is not the best time to skim on calories. Follow recipes to the T and put the exact amount of butter and sugar the recipe calls for. The perfect balance between fat and sugar content is what makes a brilliant cake.

Baking Powder – Your recipe might call for just a tiny little pinch of this rising agent, but it makes all the difference. Make sure your baking powder isn’t stale or expired. Add a teaspoon of baking powder to one fourth cup of hot water, if the mixture bubbles, baking powder is active and fit for use.

Skewer Test – When trying the skewer test, make sure the skewer is inserted just off the center off the cake. The corners of the cake will bake faster than the center, so if the center is cooked you can be rest assured that the rest of the cake is too. If it comes out with batter clinging to it, it needs to be baked for some more time.

Over beating your batter – Mixing you cake batter may be a form of therapy, but over mixing it will ruin your final baked dish. By over mixing cake you end up removing all the air that is incorporated in it, which is what makes the cake a fluffy, light perfectly risen one.

If you follow these tips to the T you shouldn’t have sunken cake, but just in case you do, here is how you can cover it up!

Cover it up – One of the best things to do to make a sunken cake look beautiful is to cover it up with chocolate! Make a simple ganache using chocolate and cream and just pour it over your cake. Problem solved!

Slice and switch - Cut in half and use the cut side on top and go about making your cake as if there was no oven mishap.

Innovate – If your cake doesn’t look like cake, as long as it has the flavours you can do a ton of things with the. Just let your imagination run. Use the crumbs to make dessert jars or ever-popular cake pops!