How to make good cake?

Question

How to make good cake?

Answer 1

scratch cake:

The recipe is not necessarily what makes a cake better. It's the techniques and quality ingredients.

If you get the hang of making scratch cakes, it really doesn't take much longer than making a box cake, especially if you prep your dry ingredients ahead of time. I like to bag up my dry ingredients in a zip-lock bag so when I need to make a cake, they're all measured out already like a mix Smile

Ingredients:

Flour:

Use the right kind of flour for the job. If you're making cookies, AP (all purpose) flour is fine but if you are making a cake, get cake or pastry flour.

1 Cup AP flour = 1cup + 2 Tbs cake flour

Sugar:

While it's not that big a deal, I've discovered that bakers' sugar is really nice for cake. It's finer grained and produces a finer texture for the cake. Just remember that since it's a finer texture, you'll have to take off a couple Tbs per cup when measuring because it's more compact.

Butter:

Butter is the way to go. It has so much more flavor than shortening and people will taste the difference, even if they don't know what it is.

Vanilla:

Use real vanilla. Same as the butter, people will notice it's better with the real thing.

Preparing

Get all your ingredients out ahead and group them together. It'll make it all go smoother.

Mixing

Just about all cakes are mixed by the same 4-step process: 1. Sift the dry ingredients, 2. Cream the butter/sugar, 3. Add the eggs, 4. Add the liquid/dry ingredients. You have to be a little careful in how you do it to make a perfect cake though.

1. Sift dry ingredients:

The main thing you have to remember when doing this is to make sure that you get the baking powder, soda or other leavening mixed in well throughout the flour. That way, you won't have unevenly baked cake.

If you have a flour sifter, that's the best but you should still stir up the mixture in a bowl to make sure it didn't all settle in the same spot in there. If you don't have a flour sifter, just make sure you get any lumps out of the flour

2. Cream together the sugar/butter:

This is a step that you definitely don't have in a cake mix, which calls for oil, not butter. Butter is so much better-tasting than oil! What is creaming? It is when you mix the butter and sugar together until it's nice and creamy

You will want to make sure the butter is softened but not melted.

It is important to cream the mixture a good, long time. This step is what gives cake its fine texture. It beats tiny air molecules into the butter which expand in the oven and help the cake rise. If you don't cream it enough, your cake may become heavy or uneven. *It's also important to not cream it on high speed because that will make bigger air pockets, which is undesirable.

3. Add the eggs:

You just want to make sure to add the eggs one at a time and make sure they're well-mixed after each one. I always break each egg into a separate small bowl first just in case I get a bad egg...I've seen some weird eggs and wouldn't want them in a cake

4. Add the liquid/dry ingredients:

The most important thing to remember at this point is to not over mix the cake! It will toughen your cake, which you definitely don't want.

Your liquid could be milk, water, blended strawberries or bananas, etc...

Always start by adding 1/4 of the dry ingredients and mix on low until they're just barely mixed in. Then add 1/3 of the liquid until barely mixed in. Keep alternating until the liquids/dry are mixed in...barely. Take a rubber spatula and scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl and then mix that in too. As long as the batter is smooth, you don't have to mix any more!

Pour the batter into your pans. If you're doing a layer cake, make sure you get the same amount in both pans. Hit the bottom of the pans on the countertop a couple times and put them into the oven.

Baking:

Make sure the pans as close to the very middle of the oven as possible without touching. There should be at least an inch or two between the two pans. If your oven is hotter in the back, carefully turn the cakes after about 20 minutes (It usually takes 25-40 minutes, depending on what size/type).

How to know when your cake is done baking:

There are a few indications. A cake tester is nice but a wooden toothpick is better. Stick it into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, it's done. Also, if the cake is starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, it's done.

If you go to check your cake's doneness and it's still wobbly in the middle and you don't even need to stick a cake tester in, add about 10 more minutes. If the tester indicates that it's not done, just add about 5 or less, depending on how much batter stuck to your toothpick. Keep a close eye on your cake at the end because over baking will make it dry.

Cooling:

Make sure you cool your cake in a cool place (not on top of the oven Embarassed )

Don't take out the cake until the bottom of the pan is mostly cool...it should take around 10-15 minutes but could take longer. You should be able to touch the bottom of the cake pan without it scorching you but you want to take it out before it gets cold or it'll stick then too.

Put a cooling rack over the cake pan and flip the pan and the rack at the same time. Carefully and slowly lift the pan off the cake. Put another cooling rack over the bottom of the cake and flip it all over again so the flat side is down.

Answer 2

By following the directions?

Perhaps there is someone in your family that makes a cake you like. Flatter them by asking for their recipe. Otherwise, you'll end up making  bunch of cakes from the suggestions here not knowing if you'll really like it each time. Better to go with a known quantity.

Answer 3

im a huuuuge chocolate fan so chocolate it is

1 cup margarine

1 3/4 cups white sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt



DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.