Our brilliant pastry chef, Natasha Wilson, shares her tips for baking the perfect cake.
Use a Good Recipe
If you’re not a confident baker, it’s important to follow the recipe to the letter. Your cake is only as good as your recipe, so always use one from a source you trust.
Make Sure Your Ingredients Are at Room Temperature
When butter is softened, it easily incorporates air – the secret to a fluffy cake! Butter straight from the fridge won’t cream well and cold eggs may cause your cake batter to curdle.
Know Your Oven
The temperature inside your oven may not match the number on your thermostat. I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer. Always trust the temperature inside your oven. If you put a cake into an oven that’s not hot enough, it will affect the way it rises.
Be Accurate with Your Weights & Measures
The secrets to the perfect cake are part art and part science. The sciencey part comes in by being as accurate as you can when weighing and measuring your ingredients. Accurately measuring ingredients will make the difference between a light, moist cake and a gummy dense one. A digital scale and a good set of measuring spoons are essential!
Choose the Right Size Pan
So your recipe calls for a 23 cm tin, but you only have a 20 cm tin. What do you do? Go and get yourself a 20 cm tin. Using a too-small tin could cause your cake to overflow. Likewise, a too-big tin could mean your cake could bake too quickly and dry out.
Make Sure Your Ingredients Are Fresh
Old or expired ingredients can make or break a cake. If that baking powder’s been lurking in the back of cupboard for months (or even years?!) it may be time to invest in a fresh bottle.
Have Fun!
Baking should be fun! So remember to relax and enjoy it!
