COMMON FAULTS IN CAKE

Cake baking is a tricky task that requires some expertise and experience, even a beginner can come up with a perfect baked cake, if he/she uses the right proportion, right utensils and follow instructions.

But some people repeat same mistakes and believed baking cakes is not their cup of tea some even say, is it not just to mix flour, egg and sugar?

I will be giving some guidelines regarding the common problems we face while baking cakes

1.    When you have COARSE TEXTURE CAKE, it may be due to excess use of baking soda, in some cases a low oven temperature may result to this. It can also happen if the butter and sugar are not properly mixed.

2.    If your cake STICKS TO THE SIDE OF THE PAN, adequately grease the pan, leave the cake a few seconds after baking before removing from pan/cooling the pan on a rack.

3.    DRYNESS OF CAKE: this can be caused by excess of flour or baking soda, insufficient amount of butter or oil, inadequate sugar can also cause this. High oven temp or over baking can also cause this. Taking note of these will prevent it.

4.    Why CAKES SINK: frequently opening of oven door during baking or too much baking powder. I suffered from this when I first started baking, I'm always tempted to check on my cakes thereby ending up with a cake that sink in the middle.

5.    Why cakes HAVE SOGGY TOP: This can occur when you expose your cake in a very humid environment thereby absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. It can also occur when you add too much liquid e.g milk or eggs.

6.    Why cake BURNS UNDER WITHOUT BEEN COOKED PROPERLY: check your oven temperature because when the temperature is too hot, your cake will be undone, yet burn. When your oven is over crowded with too many things, this will result to poor air circulation.

7.    Why FRUITS SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CAKE: it occurs when your batter mixture is too light and when u mixed fruit too large.

8.    When cake is TOO DENSE: this may be excess use of eggs or insufficient baking powder. Even over mixing can result to a dense cake. An inactive baking powder or baking powder that has been stored for a very long time can cause this too so, please always check your baking powder expiry dates and activeness before use.

These are just overview about some of the common baking problems that can spoil your effort. A little bit of care, a basic knowledge about the right cake making method can be of help.