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What do you do if your cake layers are uneven?
Take the layers out of the oven. This is when you will notice if they have cooked evenly. Put the cake layers side by side on the cabinet to decide if they are uneven by the same degree. If so, you can turn them upside down and put one on top of the other to make the cake flat where the layers meet.
How can I make my cake more evenly baked?
Add the cake batter to the pans and smack them down on the counter a few times. This will eliminate any air bubbles. Put it in the oven and bake away. What’s happening here is that the moisture from towel is helping the cake bake more evenly, resulting in an even rise and a cake with a flat top.
What makes a cake bake uneven?
An oven that is too hot can also cause uneven baking. If the temperature is off by more than 25 degrees, it’s probably best to recalibrate your oven. Check your levels. If all of your cakes turn out as tilted cakes, an unlevel floor level could be the culprit.
Do I need to level my cake?
While it may seem like an unnecessary step, it’s important to have level cake layers to ensure the stability of your cake. A domed cake that is stacked with another domed cake can eventually put too much pressure on the center of the cake, causing it to crack right down the middle.
Is it better to level a cake hot or cold?
Leveling works best on a completely cool cake; a warm and fragile cake will shed a mountain of crumbs as it’s sliced. It also depends on having the right tool for the job—not a senseless, unitasking cake cutter, but a nine- or 10-inch serrated knife.
How many layers should a cake have?
You will need at least two layers for your cake. I think three layers is the perfect proportion but you can stack as many as you like. You can also use any cake recipe you prefer, but the cake pictured is my classic chiffon cake! It is the perfect fluffy cake that works well with virtually any frosting or filling.
Can I cover cake with foil while baking?
The oven temperature could be too hot if a cake is overbrowning, because the cake cooks from the outside in, burning the outside before the middle cooks. For the last half of cooking time, the cake does need to create a crust first, so you could cover it with foil to protect it.
Why are my cake sides not straight?
The solution to this problem is to cool and insulate the outside of the pan a bit with some water. You can do this by applying wet strips of cloth called cake strips to the vertical edge of the pans. You just soak them in water, wring them out a bit and slide onto the pans.
How long should you leave cake in pan after baking?
When a cake is freshly baked, it needs time to set. Keep the cake in its pan and let it cool on a rack for the time the recipe specifies – usually 15-20 minutes – before attempting to remove it. Try not to let it cool completely before removing it.
How do you keep a cake moist after baking?
How to keep cakes moist overnight. While the cake is still hot, wrap it with a layer of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil, and put it in the freezer. The water created by the cake’s residual heat will keep it moist (but not too moist) in the freezer.
How do I make my cake light and fluffy?
Creaming Butter & Sugar. Whisking butter and sugar together is one essential tip to make the cake spongy, fluffy and moist. Whisk butter and sugar for long until the mixture becomes pale yellow and fluffy because of incorporation of air. The process is known as creaming.
Why is my cake burnt on the outside and raw in the middle?
If you find that your cakes are brown on the outside but are still raw on the inside then it is likely that the oven is too hot. Most cakes are baked at around 180c/350F/Gas Mark 4 on the middle shelf of the oven. A properly cooked sponge cake should be golden brown and also risen.
How do you fix undercooked cake?
So how do you fix undercooked cake? If the cake is undercooked overall, put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes. If the middle part is still wet, cover the cake with foil and bake for up to 15 minutes. If the bottom is moist, turn off the upper heat or cover with foil, and cook for a few minutes.
How do you stabilize cake layers?
After the cake is stacked completely you can stabilize it further by running a long wooden dowel with a sharpened end through all the cake tiers from the top; the sharpened end should penetrate through each cake board and then embed itself into the base cake board. This will prevent any shifting.
How do you level a cake before baking?
To level a cake, you either get a huge frikken cake knife (which I bought specifically for this job and used ONCE) and go at it hoping you can cut off the dome evenly. Or you can buy a cake leveler which does the job marginally better (I do use this to torte my cakes though – aka cut them in half horizontally).
