Baking is one of those things that often looks easier than it is. ‘guess-timating’ the amount of flour or failing to weigh off your butter is not recommended, and will only lead to a waste of your time and expensive ingredients.
Baking a cake is – I believe, something of a life skill. It doesn’t have to be grand and overflowing with fancy icing and decorations. A simple chocolate sponge cake will stand you in good stead forever and let’s be honest… sometimes less really is more.
Here are a few flops that often occur when baking a cake, together with possible reasons why they happen:
1. Your cake has sunken in the middle
– The temperature is too low
– The cake was taken out of the oven too early
– There was not enough flour in your batter
– There was too much fat (butter), sugar or baking soda
2. Your cake is browned on the edges
– The cake tin was touching the oven walls or was too close to another baking tin
3. Your cake shrank in the oven
– The temperature was too high
– There was not enough baking powder
– You over-mixed the batter
– You used a cake tin that was too big
4. Your cake has a crumbly and coarse texture
– The temperature was not high enough
– There was too much baking powder or flour
– The batter was over-mixed
5. Your cake has cracks in it
– There was too much flour or baking powder
– The temperature was too high