Help me bake a cake!

July 6, 2009 5:00 PM

I have never baked in my entire life. Now I must bake an amazing cake. Halp plz n thnks!

I am making a cake for a special someone's birthday. It will be a white vanilla layer cake (I'm thinking two layers? Three?) with raspberry buttercream frosting.

I will be using very good quality ingredients from a local health food store, so if I do it right, it should come out pretty good.

As I am so utterly clueless when it comes to making baked goods, I would really appreciate any "tricks of the trade" that experienced bakers would be willing to share.

I don't have more than a couple days to make this cake, so I pretty much get one go at it. Anything I should watch out for? Tips for avoiding dry cake, flavorless/over-sweet frosting, and burning my house down?

Thank you!

posted by DeltaForce to food & drink (40 comments total)

I'm a new baker, so YMMV, but follow the recipe EXACTLY. Baking is the only method of cooking that I've noticed that using the exact amounts really counts.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:03 PM on July 6

I bake a lot, but not usually layer cakes, so I'll defer to the expert on this one. Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs, has some great tips for making layer cakes.
posted by geeky at 5:04 PM on July 6

Baking is generally exceptionally simple. Follow the recipe exactly and do not under any circumstances forget an ingredient, forget to grease the pan, set the oven at the wrong temp, etc. Even a fool like me can get compliments on baked goods, it's mostly just a matter of finding good recipes.

A skilled baker can, of course, do all kinds of amazing things that other people can't, but in terms of just making a cake there's not much to it.
posted by Autarky at 5:10 PM on July 6

Yep, precision is really the key to baking. I'll usually eyeball my measurements for most types of cooking (half a cup of wine? two-thirds? whatever!), but for baking, out come all the measuring cups and spoons. (Speaking of measuring cups, be sure to use a liquid measuring cup for liquid ingredients and a dry measuring cup for dry ingredients. Here's why.)
posted by scody at 5:10 PM on July 6

Forgot to mention: you might want to get an oven thermometer, so that you can know for sure when it hits the right temperature while you're preheating. (You can get a basic one for 5 or 6 bucks at places like Target.)
posted by scody at 5:13 PM on July 6

Here's a plan just for you.

I made it for someone who swore up and down that she could not bake. It even has a flow chart. [Yes, I had a lot of time on my hands.]

This is the result. Enjoy!
posted by foooooogasm at 5:16 PM on July 6 [10 favorites]

Are you in a high altitude place? 'Cause if you are, you should make sure you have high altitude directions :)
posted by NoraReed at 5:17 PM on July 6

If you have literally never baked anything, do a test run today/tomorrow of the layers to be sure you don't over-bake the final product. Check the texture/dryness frequently around the end of each unit of the recommended cooking time (i.e., if the recipe says 35-40 minutes, check at 30, 35, 40)--this may not be proper baking technique in general (letting cool air rush in) but you want to get a sense of your oven and this recipe. Your oven may run hotter or cooler than you think, or the times indicated on the recipe could be inaccurate.

Also, roomthreeseventeen is right: follow the recipe. Do not improvise. At all. Not even a little bit.

Do two layers. It's enough. It'll be impressive and tasty and less likely to fall over.
posted by Meg_Murry at 5:17 PM on July 6

Oh damn, you already know what cake you want to bake. Please ignore me. [slinks away]
posted by foooooogasm at 5:18 PM on July 6

You have a few days?

You need to do this four or five times. Buy LOTS of ingredients, and keep notes on what you change from test to test.

Lucky for you, you can test a single layer at a time.

Make twelve and keep the best two.
posted by rokusan at 5:20 PM on July 6 [2 favorites]

Hints for the frosting of the cake. Assuming you do 2 layers, you split the icing into 3: 1/3 goes between the two layers, 1/3 on the top, 1/3 on the sides. Let the cake cool completely before icing.

You will have uneven layers. Make extra icing to even things out. It's much easier to deal with extra icing than insufficient icing. If you make three layers, you absolutely need to make more icing.

Sit in the kitchen while your cakes bake -- you can smell them and won't forget. You probably want to rotate the cakes about 2/3 of the way through. The cake should be just beginning to come away from the sides of the pan when it's done. If you stick a knife into the cake, it should come out clean.

As a novice baker, do not improvise at all, from amounts to order of ingredients. Once you're adding in the flour, be careful not to overbeat: really beat until it's just mixed in. (I have recipes that can avoid this issue, if you want one.)
posted by jeather at 5:29 PM on July 6

Get pastry or cake flour, not just all purpose flour. And for the sake of all the cake gods, do not get whole wheat flour. I know, you wouldn't, but you're shopping at the health food store so I had to make sure.
posted by mygothlaundry at 5:29 PM on July 6

Seconding the oven thermometer. Ovens can vary greatly and can ruin your yummy treat. Good luck - baking is addictive (says the girl who made 36 homemade blueberry muffins today!)
posted by quodlibet at 5:30 PM on July 6

Tips from a semi-pro.

General Baking Tips
-
Read the recipe a few times before you even start to buy ingredients just to make sure there's no hidden ingredients not listed. It happens.

Sift the flour - measuring by volume for flour is a tricky prospect, and recipes are often written for sifted flour whereas flour in bags can pack itself down. (You can also sift the sugar, but it's really not going to give you any appreciable improvement in results for the increase in time and mess.)

Preheat your oven. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Also yes, get an oven thermometer. I've had 3/4 ovens LIE to me about how hot they really are in various apartments I've lived in.

Mix all your dry ingredients first (gently, you don't need to go crazy with it), THEN add the wet.

When adding eggs, add them one at a time to the batter and mix them in before adding the next. (Also break them into a cup or small bowl beforehand to make sure you don't get shell in, and that the eggs aren't accidentally double-yolked or fertilized. If you're going for farm eggs this is a vital do-not-skip step.)

Layers
-
There are two main ways to make layer cakes.

1. Make 2 or 3 or howevermany layers you like cakes. Fill and stack.
2. Make one big-ass thick cake and slice it. Fill and stack.

Don't do number 2. I beg you, you will hate yourself, cake, your friend and all desserts for all time.

With filling layers, don't add the (frosting/jam/fruit spread/whatever) all the way out to the edge of the layer. Leave a gap. I usually go with about an inch, your needs may vary depending on what you're using.

If you're not comfortable moving around the layers, freeze them overnight after you make them and THEN do all the filling-and-stacking. But really, if a layer breaks - and I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH - you are the only one who will know unless you tell someone. Just use a little bit of frosting to 'glue' the pieces together.

Frosting
-

For frosting the cake - if you're going with commercially bought frosting, let it sit at room temperature for about an hour before you use it. That stuff gets crazy stuff in the fridge. If you're making your own (which is pretty darn easy and it looks like you are), you can cut that down to about half an hour if it's warm where you are.

Since you're probably making frosting, let the butter soften for about an hour at room temp before you use it. If you don't, it is NOT the end of the world, nor will it ruin anything, but you'll need to cut it into half-inch thick chunks before putting it in the mixer - and it will make alarming clunking noises as it goes through the blades.

I hope this helps! Feel free to mefimail me if you have any questions.
posted by FritoKAL at 5:32 PM on July 6 [5 favorites]

Oh, and no loud noises in the kitchen while it's baking. That might make it fall, theoretically, although I've baked tons of cakes in all kinds of noise and never had it happen yet, but still, why take the risk? Also, to figure out if it is done, take a bamboo skewer or a broom straw and insert it into the center of one of the layers. It is done when the skewer comes out clean. If one of your layers is all lopsided - it happens - dental floss is the easiest tool to cut it evenly across and make it flat. Hold a long piece taut and pull it through the cake. Then put the cut layer on the bottom. If you wait for the cake to cool completely before frosting, it won't get all crumby up in the icing. You can eat the part you cut off with the dental floss while you wait. I have never really managed this feat of patience myself but I hear it works well.
posted by mygothlaundry at 5:34 PM on July 6

FritoKAL is full of sage advice and you should listen to her.
posted by jeather at 5:45 PM on July 6

Get an angled icing knife for the frosting - it makes spreading icing much much easier.
posted by GuyZero at 5:47 PM on July 6

I am a really inexperienced baker, but I have managed to pull off perfectly successful layer cakes. You can do it! Cake isn't hard to make (and neither is frosting) but a layer cake just looks beautiful and it's a really satisfying project. The only tricky part is the assembly, so here are a few tips:
1. Make the layers in two circle pans. People say that it's easy to cut cake into layers, but they are lying.
2. Let them cool COMPLETELY before you tip them out of their pans. They are more likely to fall apart when they are warm - leave them be until they are no longer warm to the touch.
3. Recognize that you aren't going to be able to move the cake from the surface you frost it on - so figure out how you're going to transport it and make it on the plate or cake carrier base that you plan to bring to the party.
4. Your layers are going to be rounded on the top, so I find it's best to put the bottom layer upside down (so the flat side is facing up and the curved bottom is getting smashed flat onto the plate) and then put the top layer right side up (so that the two flat layers are touching). This minimizes sliding.
5. Remember with frosting to do a thin layer first (to seal in crumbs) and only then do you start applying for thickness.
Good luck!
posted by moxiedoll at 5:52 PM on July 6

Second the 'doing it multiple times' suggestion.

The ingredients are cheap, so do it a couple of times to get it right. Wisely someone mentioned altitude, and there are other conditions that could throw you off, but practice will get you there.

Lastly, have fun and follow the recipe.
posted by fluffycreature at 5:53 PM on July 6

Also:

You really don't need to make a ton of cakes before hand. If you've never used your oven, making one small test cake's not a bad idea, but since you have a solid recipe, you don't need to do more than one and even that one is not strictly necessary. A novice baker shouldn't be changing anything at all on their first time out, and does not need to go through the Scientific Method school of baking experiments. Normally I wouldn't be this argumentative in AskMefi, but honestly, this is such a huge waste of time and money that I can't not speak up. PLEASE do not do make 4 or 5 cakes to test.

The loud noises thing is probably also not necessary. Cake batter is too thick to be affected by anything quieter than say, a truck backfiring right next to the kitchen. Angel food, souffles, those can be affected by noises but a regular white cake batter is much too thick and sturdy. Certainly don't go stomping around the kitchen pretending to be Godzilla, but as long as you're Godzilla or Big Monster Truck free you're perfectly safe to talk, have music, etc. A rock concert in the living room's probably right out though.

The angled/offset frosting spatula/palette knife is a very good idea - most craft stores and homewares stores will carry them. In a pinch, the flat side of a butter knife will do, but not as well. The spatula will make things smoother and prettier and easier.
posted by FritoKAL at 5:59 PM on July 6

You need to do this four or five times.

Oh, for Pete's sake. No, you do not need to do this four or five times, although a test run is certainly fine if you want to do it. Simple baking is quite easy if you have the ability to follow written directions, and it looks like you picked out a great recipe for a beginner. Read the recipe slowly and carefully several times before you begin so that you know the steps and ensure that you have all of the ingredients. Gather all of your ingredients and get all of the measuring devices set up in one area so that you are cool, calm, and collected while you bake. Read the recipe slowly and carefully two more times before you begin. Follow the recipe slowly and carefully. You will be fine. Baking is not scary.

My only tip is to have a pretty plate or cake stand to set your creation on - it's quite frustrating to create a lovely dessert, only for it to be showcased on a cutting board or dinner plate.
posted by gatorae at 6:06 PM on July 6

Oh wow, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you, everyone, for such great baking wisdom! I reallyreallyreally appreciate it! Most of this stuff never would have crossed my mind. Seriously, the whole wheat flour I'd be eyeing at the store would have doomed me from the start.

And foooooogasm, regardless, that _is_ impressive.
posted by DeltaForce at 6:19 PM on July 6

I would bake 3 layers for a 2 layer cake. In other words, I would trial one layer the day before you prepare to really bake. Since you are not a baker, you are baking in an untested oven and it may run hot, which sucks.

Tips:

- When they say "pre-heat" they mean it. Let the oven warm for an hour.
- If one layer burns at the edges or top, do not panic. You can slice it flat by shearing off the top and make that the bottom layer.
- You may need to do this anyway if the layer(s) domes. If you end up having to shear the top layer, flip it upside down - it's a lot easier to frost baked surfaces.
- I'd bake one layer at a time. It only takes an extra 30 minutes and you end up with much more evenly baked layers.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:24 PM on July 6

For tidiness' sake, when you tip the lower layer onto the plate it's going to be frosted on and served from, put some narrow pieces of waxed paper around the edges of the plate.

Frosting slops will disappear when you gently remove the paper.
posted by reflecked at 6:40 PM on July 6

Since you're obviously putting a lot of effort into this for someone special, do make sure the recipient has a chance to see the cake before any half-wit guests put their paws in it (assuming the cake will be presented at a party-like event).
posted by ellenaim at 7:23 PM on July 6

Read a lot of tips on putting the frosting on - techniques I've read about include doing a first layer to contain crumbs, placing four small pieces of waxed paper partly under the bottom layer then removing them after frosting (to remove the inevitable plate smears), etc. There are useful tricks out there, and frosting can be hard.

Maybe you could make a 1/2 recipe as an earlier poster suggested, and practice frosting just that one layer.

The cookbook "The Best Recipe" has an excellent section explaining things like why cake flour is important, why baking powder is different from baking soda, etc. It's just a section, so it's only a few pages, but they are great pages.
posted by amtho at 7:49 PM on July 6

Great advice here!

Try to assess whether your oven sits level on the floor. I don't know any great tricks for that but a test cake will tell you (the layers will be sloped if it's not level).

There is real vanilla extract and imitation - I've read that imitation is actually tastier (!) but only buy the real stuff myself.

I am pretty lazy about sifting flour - you'd probably get away fine without it in this recipe if you stir first and measure gently into the cup - but definitely sift the powdered sugar for the frosting. And as long as you're having to invest in a sifter, might as well use it on the flour too.

The cake calls for large eggs - take this literally, not medium or extra-large. Similarly, as noted above, do get cake flour, not all-purpose flour, since that's what the recipe anticipates.

This frosting seems like the kind that will not tolerate a lot of standing around in the heat, fyi.

Have fun!
posted by lakeroon at 7:51 PM on July 6

By "first layer to contain crumbs" I wasn't trying to explain how to do this... I'm not sure that what I'm remembering would even work. And I'm using layer to mean something different from "cake layer" ... in other words, it's not worth explaining here, but frosting is difficult sometimes and it's worth looking for tips because there are multiple ones out there.
posted by amtho at 7:53 PM on July 6

I agree with everything above except for making five practice cakes. You could do one practice cake with a mix, to practice buttering and flouring the pan, and to get used to what a cake looks and feels like when it's done.

How to measure flour using a measuring cup: it should be the flat-topped kind of cup that will allow you to scrape excess off the top with a knife. If you don't have the cups you need, buy some cheap ones. Aerate the flour first. Do this by sifting or by spooning it into a strainer and shaking or tapping flour into a bowl. Or just fluff the flour by picking up large spoonfuls and scattering them back into the bag or bowl. Next, spoon the flour into your measuring cup, and level with a knife. (Don't scoop the flour with the measuring cup itself.)

You need real measuring spoons. Level the salt, baking powder, other small amounts of dry ingredients.

When you frost the cake, the frosting might not look so great on top. You can smooth it out by dipping your knife in hot water and then running the wet knife over the surface.

If you don't have a cake plate, you can use a piece of cardboard covered in foil.

The cake is done when: you press it gently in the center and it springs back; you stick it in the center with a toothpick and the toothpick comes out with nothing stuck to it; the sides of the cake are just letting go of the pan. Don't wait till the cake shrinks and leaves an eighth-inch space.

It okay to make your layers, de-pan them, let them cool, and then wrap and refrigerate; then do the frosting the next day.

The yellow cake mixes labeled as 'extra moist' are quite good, in case of emergency. Don't buy cake mixes at the health-food store.
posted by wryly at 8:05 PM on July 6

amtho – I think the term you're looking for is crumb coat.

To the OP – it may seem like a fussy extra step, but it's so worth it. Unless you like the idea of tearing your hair out when you skip it and wind up with crumbs migrating through your frosting. Not that I speak from experience or anything. Ahem!
posted by Lexica at 8:05 PM on July 6

You need to do this four or five times.

Oh, for Pete's sake. No, you do not need to do this four or five times,

Yes, you do. You really, really do. The upside is that you get better at it, and your giftee receives the best possible cake you can make!

The downside is.... more cake. How awful!
posted by rokusan at 9:05 PM on July 6

No, you really really DO NOT need to make four or five cakes. Yes, lots of cake, yay. We all love cake. Four of five cakes in three or four days is tiring unless you know what you're doing, is a ridiculous number of dishes to wash, is a lot of groceries and is going to basically mean a lot of leftover cake that is going to go stale fast. Cake from scratch's shelf life is maybe a week at best, and it's going to be hard and dry at the end of that week.

This is a brand new baker who has never baked before. This is someone who does not have a fundamental education in what the various parts of a recipe DO or what they are for. Making four or five cakes will do nothing except produce a whole lot of excess cake that is consistent with the -existing recipe- that he or she is not going to be messing with.

Someone who has not baked before, ever, is not going to be able to look at their cake and know why it's not browning fast enough, or why it's heavy and flat. And the odds are very very good that with the recipe that the OP -said he-or-she was going to be using in the post- that there is not going to be significant variation in quality unless the OP ignores said recipe. Making a whole bunch of cake is going to be a giant waste of time and effort and money and teach them NOTHING.

Recipes largely exist so that people can bake/cook consistently without significant variation in quality. That is what a recipe is FOR. That is it's purpose. It is so that the average person who does not have the means, knowledge or desire to learn what the hell an emulsifier does can bake a damn cake without having to make four or five!

OP has a recipe. It is a already tested recipe that does not need tweaking. It is presented by the web of a cooking/food/lifestyle/homemaking magazine. They probably have test kitchens that already worked all the nonsense out and made it so that Jo Newbie Cakebaker could make it without needing a test kitchen.

Please, please, please, please stop making this process more complicated for the poor OP by suggesting unnecessary steps that are just going to waste their time, money and energy.
posted by FritoKAL at 9:41 PM on July 6

The whole 'measurements for baking must be precise' thing is a total myth. Ask anybody in a metric country who has converted a US recipe and used 30g to the ounce, 450g to the pound, 110g to a stick of butter, 250ml to a cup and 1 litre to a quart. Maybe you've used 55g eggs instead of 60g and so on. In ages past people made perfectly wonderful food using ingredients like "butter, the size of a walnut" or "2 teacups of flour". Nobody can even agree on how much a cup of flour weighs, and even if they did, humidity would make the measurement meaningless.

Near enough is more than good enough - don't stress about it.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:50 PM on July 6

Near enough is more than good enough - don't stress about it. (Mostly true, but it has to be more precise than say just tossing things into a nice pasta sauce)

Nobody can even agree on how much a cup of flour weighs, and even if they did, humidity would make the measurement meaningless. (true, but baking should be by weight, and not by volume to get consistent results.)
posted by FritoKAL at 10:00 PM on July 6

I would say, if the appearance of the cake is mission-critical, maybe do one practice layer so you can practice frosting. It's not brain surgery, but there is a little bit of a trick to it. If things start going wrong with the frosting, clumps of the top of the cake can come off, and one's first instinct may just make that problem worse. So yes: look for good "how to do simple frosting" tutorials online. The advice about smoothing things out with a knife dipped in hot water is good. Dip often.

Also: when the recipe says to let the butter soften by sitting out, do that. DON'T try to shortcut it by microwaving it or melting it; melted butter will do different things in the recipe than merely soft but still solid butter.

Also note: baking POWDER and baking SODA are different things. Double check that you're using the right one.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:39 PM on July 6

Call a friend who likes baking, buy something to drink, and let them show you how it's done.

I really do recommend making a practice cake. Give it to people at work.

If you don't have good quality anti stick pans, I recommend grease and paper. Grease the pan with a little butter, then cut a circle out of non stick baking paper using the pan as a guide. Cut a strip to line the sides. Stick these pieces of baking paper to the greasy area in the pan so the cake will not come in contact with the pan.

It's a bit redundant in the days of teflon and silicone baking pans, but I always bake this way because there is pretty much zero risk of the cake sticking, and my cake pans are stainless steel.
posted by tomble at 3:19 AM on July 7

(true, but baking should be by weight, and not by volume to get consistent results.)

100 grams of your flour may have a completely different moisture content to 100 grams of my flour, or even the same flour at a different time of year. It will perform differently in a dough or batter, require the addition of more or less liquid, and so on. The other variables in baking will make a mockery of any precision at the prep stage - geometry of the mixing bowl, kneading technique, oven temperature and dimension variations, how much you lick off the beaters...

Baking is chaos theory incarnate. Scoop it up with the cup, scrape the excess off with your finger, eyeball fractions of a cup, move on.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:37 AM on July 7

I don't recommend layer cakes. Growing up, our oven wasn't level and the layer cakes were always sliding apart. And it's tricky to not break them.

I like to bake, but apparently, I am also lazy.

A bunt pan is great (It's the pwn with the hole in the middle)
posted by Gor-ella at 6:27 AM on July 7

Just a few details to add.

1. Sugar is a wet ingredient, even though it isn't. It's just one of those things that bakers know, and needs to be taken on faith. Don't throw the sugar in with the flour, dissolve it in the eggs and other wet ingredients.

2. The toothpick test works for regular, pie pan height cakes. But, when you test the cakes, try not to keep the oven open for too long - you lose a lot of heat.

3. Don't overfill your containers with cake batter. Cakes rise! Go over 3/4 of the height of your pie pan, and you may end up with an all-fired spilly mess in your oven. If you made your recipe with x amount of batter, and 3/4 of the height of your pans don't hold it all, don't use it all.

4. All the stuff about "follow exactly" simply means that you shouldn't use your intuition to modify the recipe like experienced cooks will do for other types of food. It's the ratios that are important in baking. You can be off by a few grams here and there, and get good results. However, don't assume that adding an extra egg will make things eggier, and thus better. That's all the "follow exactly" stuff is about.

Good luck! Let us know how it comes out. :)
posted by Citrus at 8:10 AM on July 7

Do not under any circumstances skip the step of freezing the cakes or at least refrigerating them overnight before frosting.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:11 AM on July 7