Cake Baking Tips - Common Cake Problems and Cures
External Cake Appearance
| Symptom | Causes |
| Crust too dark |
- Oven too hot. - Excessive top heat. |
| Cake too small |
- Scaling weight too low. - Oven temperature too high. - Batter temperature too high. - Batter temperature too low. - Incorrect amount of water. |
| Cake burned on top |
- Oven temperature too hot. - Incorrect amount of water. |
| Crust is shiny and sticky |
- Oven temperature too cool. - Not baked long enough - Too much sugar in recipe. |
| Crust too thick | - Excessive baking time. |
| Cake falls during baking |
- Excessive jarring or moving of the cake during
baking. - Oven temperature too low. Excessive mixing of the batter. |
| Top of cake peaks and cracks |
- Oven temperature was too hot. (the outside of
the cake baked to form a crust too quickly. As
mixture in center of the cake continued to cook
and rise, it burst up through the top of the
cake.) - Cake wasn't baked on the center rack of the oven. |
| Cake shrinks |
- Excessive liquid. - Batter too cold. - Oven too hot. - Improper mixing procedure. - Baked too long. |
| Cake rose unevenly |
- Flour was not blended sufficiently into the
main mixture. - Temperature inside the oven was uneven. - Oven temperature too high. |
| Cake stuck to the pan |
- Improper greasing/flouring of pan. - Layers were cooled too long before trying to remove them. |
Internal Cake Appearance
| Symptom | Causes |
| Coarse and irregular grain |
- Improper mixing procedures. - Stiff batter. - Careless or poor depositing in the pans. - Oven too cool, (baked too slowly). |
| Dense grain |
- Excessive liquid in the batter. - Improper mixing procedure. |
| Off-color cakes |
- Improper mixing procedure. - Oven too cool, (baked too slowly). - Unclean equipment. |
| If raisins, nuts or dried fruit sunk to the bottom |
- Pieces of fruit were too large and too heavy. - Sugary syrup on the outside of the fruit was not washed off- causing the pieces of fruit to slide through the mixture as it heated. - Washed and dried fruit was not dusted with flour before being added to the mixture. - Cake mixture was over beaten or was too wet so it could not hold the fruit in place. - Oven temperature was too low, causing the mixture to melt before it set to hold the fruit in place. |
General Cake Faults
| Symptom | Causes |
| Batter over-flowed the pans |
- Wrong adjustments to recipes (too much liquid,
flour etc.) - Wrong size pan used. Mixture should fill 2/3 of pan. |
| Poor flavor |
- Improper mixing procedure. - Improper cleaning and greasing of the pans. - Faulty baking conditions. - Improper cleaning of the equipment. |
| Cakes too tough |
- Excessive mixing. - Batter too stiff (insufficient water). - Batter too thin (excessive water). |
| Lacks body/structure |
- Excessive mixing - Insufficient liquid. |
| Dries out too soon |
- Excessive baking time. - Insufficient liquid. - Improper mixing procedures. - Cooled in a drafty location. |
Baking Hints for Cakes
| Symptom | Causes |
| Baking |
- Set your ovens about 20 minutes before baking.
Use an oven thermometer to test the temperature
inside. - When you use a spray release agent on your cake pans, be sure the spray contains flour, or if it doesn’t, light dust your own flour over the sprayed pan. - Bake cakes at 350 to 360 degrees in regular oven. - Bake cakes at 330 to 335 degrees in convection oven. - Handle the cakes carefully when removing from the oven. - Place cakes on the center rack in the middle of the oven. - Pans should not touch the sides of the oven. - If your oven bakes unevenly on one side, do not pick up the pan, but rotate it about 2/3 into the baking time. - Make sure the batter is level in the pans. - Cakes will spring back when touched, when they are done. The sides will shrink slightly away from the pan and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. - Baking times will vary with pan size and batter weight. |
| Mixing |
- Batter temperature should be 70 to 75 degrees. - ALL equipment should be clean and grease free. - Make sure your measuring cups and spoons actually hold the same volume if you are using them from different sets. - Measure all ingredients as accurately as possible. - Pans should be greased properly. - When using a stand-up kitten mixer, use a paddle (not a wire whip) to mix the batter. - Use a rubber or soft plastic spatula to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition of ingredients. (Scraping ensures proper ingredient distribution.) - Follow the formula exactly as to mixing times. - Always use fresh, high quality ingredients. - Follow the formula exactly as to method. Use precise mixing times. If not, disaster may result! |
| Handling |
- Cool cake in pan 10-15 minutes before
loosening the edge and turning it onto a wire
rack. Hint: To easily remove a cake form the pan, place a double thickness paper towel over the wire rack. The towel prevents the wire bars from breaking the crust or leaving imprints on the top of the cake - Turn hot cakes out gently. - Cool cake at least 1 hour before decorating. Hint: When frosting a cake, chill the cake before spreading filling and/or frosting. (Cake will be much easier to work with.) Also, apply a thin layer of frosting to the cake and then refrigerate until it is set before applying the final, heavier layer of frosting. This will seal in the crumbs and ensure a clean final appearance. - Make only enough to last 3 or 4 days. |
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Great Recipes | Firenza Irresistible Baking Mixes
P.O. Box 0647, Beaverton, OR 97075
Firenza offers cake mix, bread mix, brownie, muffin, cornbread mixes and more. Our products are available online and through select retailers throughout the United States.
