Adding 1 tablespoon of honey to any cake batter keeps your cake moist. The honey draws moisture to the cake and it stays moist from first slice to last. You do not need to change any ingredients and it can be added to a box cake mix or a homemade cake.
Source: A master beekeeper in PA.
By Lisa from Alexandria, VA
Eighteen frugal and time saving tips for baking cakes and cookies.
Many times a cake recipe will tell you to use 2 round pans. I eliminate using 2 and use only 1 deep pan. Then when the cake is cool enough to handle I take a piece of sewing thread about 16" long and wrap it a finger on each hand.
I have been baking for a home industries shop for 3 years now and lately my cakes are not rising properly in the center. They seem to rise nicely, then after 3/4 time has elapsed, they sink in the middle. I have changed my flour and baking powder, and reduced my oven temperature. I am now at a loss as to what to try next. Please can someone throw some light on this problem.
If your cakes were baked in the same oven and you
used same recipes before and they turned out all right
(before you switched flour, etc), sounds like element is going out and maybe cooking unevenly, if it's electric.
I agree with PIKKA, it sounds like your oven isn't heating evenly. I don't know about electric or convection ovens, but I do know that gas ovens clog and need to be cleaned out. This is a messy, somewhat difficult job. Call a repairman.
Thank you to both PIKKA and Perfumed fan. I actually have 2 ovens in which I bake (as it is my business), both electric, and it is happening in both of them. I cannot for the life of me understand what is happening.
Grandmas old trick was to hollow the centre of the cake out slightly might be worth trying sounds as if the element is faulty and is not cooking evenly one advantage with the fan bake style even temperature on all levels.
I think before you call a repairman, try going back to your original flour and baking powder (and baking temp) and see if it may be them. I know it does make a difference in flours and the baking powder may not be good (even tho you may have just bought it).
If your cakes are not rising, in the middle, it is one of two things. One, the rising/leven agent may be bad in your mix. Test your mix by adding a tablespoon of mix to a tablespoon of vineger, if it bubbles or foams it is ok. Second, most likely it is the thermostate or temperature control in your over is not right.
It is rather curious why this is happening. Try using a cake tin with a hole in the centre and see what happens. Also check the seals around the oven door, maybe they have been damaged and letting in cool air? Good luck, Kay from country NSW OZ
Dear Carolyn,
I agree that the oven is not working properly. If you have changed the flour, baking powder, etc, it has got to be the oven that has gone bad.
Thank you to all who responded. I found the problem. EGGS! I have my own chickens as we live on a farm. I changed their feed a while ago and they produced smaller and inferior eggs without me really noticing. Needless to say, have gone back to the original feed and whalla - cakes are perfect once again. Hope this might help anyone with the same problem.
You can try to add a little more flour .I have found that some recipes from the coastal towns don't rise and if you add a bit more flour it seems to help not too much or you will have to adjust the liquid as well in some cases.Also check if your raising agent is fresh as stale raising agent can cause cakes to flop too.
Cut old towel the height of the cake pan and length of the circumference or perimeter of the pan. If the towel is thin, make it twice the height and fold in in half lengthwise.
This is in response to baking a flatter cake. All you have to do is either torte the mound off, torting means to cut the cake in several layers or just the top or in half horizontally (not up and down).
I have a recipe that calls for baking a cake in a skillet. I don't have a skillet that I can put in the oven. Can I use a regular cake pan?
Yes, just be and check the last few minutes to make sure it wont burn. Cast iron holds heat a little differently that regular bakeware. Good luck!
My pound cake came out dry, although I used 7 eggs as the recipe called for. My oven cooks slowly and I had to leave it in 15 minutes beyond the recommend cooking time. Could this have caused the dryness?
By Pamela from Philadelphia, PA
Add a cup of sour cream to cake batter to help make it moist and fluffy. Really good in a chocolate cake. Also lemon cake.
When baking layer cakes, I cut pan liners out of brown paper bags. I lay the pan down on a bag and draw around it, then cut it out. If there is any printing on the bag, put it face down.
Why did my cake stick to the greaseproof paper that I lined the tin with? Can anyone help me please? This happens every time I bake a cake, even though I grease the paper before I put the cake mixture in.
By Susan C from Shrewsbury, England
Why does a new pound cake pan not do as good as my old one?
I just picked up a heart shaped pan at an estate sale. The size looks like it would hold 1 box of cake mix, but it has a hole in the middle (6 inches) in diameter. What kind of pan is this?
By Meryl R. from TN
