1. 50 Tips for Baking Better Cakes
 Recipe Ingredients:
 1. Ingredients for cakes should be room temperature (can take out of
refrigerator approximately 60-90 minutes before needed).
 2. To check freshness of eggs, put in a bowl of water–if they
sink, they’re fresh. If they float and stand on one end, they’re not.
 3. ”Eggs” typically means Grade A, large eggs.
 4. “Milk” typically means homogenized.
 5. You can substitute milk with yogurt or sour cream, to experiment with
different textures.
 6. To create a replacement for buttermilk, add 1 teaspoon vinegar for
every cup of homogenized milk and stir.

2.  7. Weighing ingredients with a digital kitchen scale is the most accurate method
of baking.
 8. 1 large egg white = 37 grams, 1 large egg yolk = 20 grams. Eggs separate
best when cold, but whites whip best when room temperature or warm.
 9. Egg whites in carton freeze well–just pull out of freezer night before you need
them.
 10. For best results, use pure vanilla extract (not from grocery stores)–what a
difference! Heck, don’t even be afraid to double the vanilla quantity.
 11. To bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly, you can put the whole eggs
into a bowl of lukewarm water (not hot) for 30 minutes.
 12. To bring butter to room temperature quickly, you can cut into small cubes on
a plate for about 15 minutes.
 13. Semisweet Chocolate = Dark Chocolate. Bittersweet Chocolate = Extra Dark
Chocolate.
 14. Semisweet & Bittersweet Chocolate are interchangeable.

3.  Mixing:
 16. Incorporate dry ingredients together with whisk before adding to wet
ingredients.
 17. When creaming butter and sugar, get the mixture very pale yellow and fluffy–
will take several minutes (around 5).
 18. Always start and end with dry ingredients when alternating with wet
ingredients (3 dry additions, 2 wet).
 19. Don’t overmix once dry ingredients are added. Just mix on low speed until
incorporated.
 20. Kitchen stand-mixers don’t need to run at full-speed. A small mixer should run
no more than speed #4, for most things. A large mixer no more than speed #6.
You will add years to your mixer’s life!
 21. Be careful with your sugar–too much can cause a dark crust (one of several
possible causes), too little can cause too light a crust or tough texture.
 22. Watch your flour–too much can cause a cracked top (one of several possible
causes).

4.  23. Beat egg yolks with fork before adding to batter.
 24. To retrieve stray eggshells in mixture, use the emptied half-shell–eggshell sticks to
eggshell. If you don’t get them all, they will sink during baking, so you can turn baked cake
over when cool and retrieve them.
 25. A pinch of salt brings out the flavours in sweet baked goods.
 26. When folding, you should always add the lighter of the two mixtures on top, using a
gentle folding motion, to avoid deflating batter.
 27. When mixing egg whites for meringue, wipe all untensils and bowl with vinegar or lemon
juice on a paper towel before they come in contact with the egg whites (including the mixer
whisk attachment). Any trace of grease, will likely jeopordize your meringue.
 28. Keep an extra set of rubber spatulas that you use strictly for meringue.
 29. Use the electric mixer’s splashguard for liquidy batters–that’s what it’s for!
 30. If incorporating more than one flavour into a batter or icing, always start with the vanilla;
vanilla enhances most flavours.

5.  Baking Cakes:
 31. For evenly-baked cakes, no domed tops, and no-fuss assembly, bake “layer-by-
layer.” This means if you’re baking a 3-layer cake, use 3 of the same size/shape pan, and
bake 3 shorter layers at same time.
 32. Use a small offset palette knife to spread batter evenly in pans. Don’t fill more than 1/2
full–2/3 at the most.
 33. Get a separate oven thermometer for an accurate temperature reading–most ovens are
either “hot” or “cold.”
 34. Always wait for oven to reach necessary temperature before putting cakes in oven.
 35. Keep cakes away from sides of oven, and if possible a few inches from each other (when
more than 1 baking at once).
 36. Rotate cakes after 20 minutes in oven (don’t disturb before 20 minutes).
 37. Use middle rack, unless otherwise stated in recipe.
 38. Typically, when in oven, cakes are nearing done when you can smell cake in the kitchen.
Sounds weird, but you’ll see!
 39. Leave cakes in oven when testing for “doneness.” When a skewer comes clean from
center of cake, it’s done.

6.  Cooling & Frosting:
 41. Let full cakes cool in pans on wire racks for 20 minutes before removing from pans.
 42. Remove cupcakes from pan immediately, placing individual cupcakes on wire rack to cool.
 43. Once completely cooled, wrap cake layers in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes before
cutting and/or icing.
 44. Always place cake on a thin foil-covered cake board the same size/shape as the cake for ease
of icing/serving, etc.
 45. Brush away any stray cake crumbs with silicone pastry brush before icing.
 46. Apply even layers of filling using an 18″ pastry bag and large round tip.
 47. Apply thin layer of icing to seal in crumbs, then place in refrigerator for 30 minutes before second layer of
icing.
 48. Use an offset palette knife/icing spatula for frosting top of cake, and straight palette knife/icing spatula for
sides of cake. Use a bench scraper for super-smooth edges.
 49. If you don’t have time for frosting your cake, a good sprinkling of powdered sugar does wonders! Tastes
and looks great on most cakes.
 50. To give your frosted cake a glossy finish, you can use a hair-dryer on medium heat over the outside of
the cake (right before serving).

7. Sources:
 http://sweetapolita.com/2010/11/50-tips-for-
baking-better-cakes/