It’s time to solve that cake problem once and for all! You know the one I’m talking about. It’s the dark crust on your layer cake that you carve away with a knife. It’s the chewy or dry texture that you’ve tried to overcome so many years now, but haven’t.
Stick out your tongue and say “ahhhhh”. Yes, I see a case of cake-envy. You’ve seen cakes in magazines, on television and even appearing in the local bakery and you want to know how YOUR cakes can be so high, fluffy and moist.
Whether you’re at home or in baking classes, study your ingredients first to diagnose any cake problem. Every ingredient plays a specific role in the final outcome of your baked good. Some are tougheners, others tenderizers. Some ingredients add moisture, others dry your mix. Knowing the role each ingredient plays is the first step to curing your cake envy.
One of the 7 basic categories of cake ingredients is Leaveners. Chemical leavening usually means the addition of baking powder or baking soda, but can also refer to mechanical leavening where egg whites trap steam and rise your cake.
If you consistently have poor volume on your cake, AND you understand how baking soda reacts with moisture, heat and acids to release carbon dioxide, then you can cure the dense cake with more leavening agent or more acid to activate the chemical reaction.
Any cake problem can be solved with the background knowledge of the hows and whys in baking. Sugar in a cake formula acts as a tenderizer, shortening the gluten strands that are developed during mixing that could make your cake chewy.
However, sugar also aids in crust formation and browning. When your favorite cake always comes from the oven with a dark crust that you have to carve away with the bread knife, you should examine the amount of sugar in the formula to solve this issue.
The secret to di agnosing any cake problem is to look it like Dr. BakeGood does. He wants to know what is going on behind the scenes in any baking recipe. He’ll cure your ills with an understanding of the HOWs and WHYs behind baking, or empower you to cure yourself.
Chef Todd Mohr helps home bakers worldwide understand the HOWs and WHYs of baking to make their hobby or profession more successful and enjoyable. You can discover how MIXING is more important than BAKING in his FREE online baking class.