How to Make a Cake at Home

The cake is a dessert widely preferred by people of all ages. It is a soft creamy dessert with fruit filling and icing that add to the already mouthwatering taste of the cake. The fragrance of freshly-baked cake is indeed heavenly. To be able to eat it will be bliss. Though a cake is inevitable in celebrations starting from birthdays to corporate events, not many will know about the history of cakes. The national cake day is on November 26th. The term cake, previously known as KAKE, refers to pastry and tart. Previously cake was a baked dish that was slightly hard with icing around and on it. However, it has evolved, and you now have soft and creamy cakes that serve as excellent desserts. This has raised the interest among people interested in cooking to bake cakes at home. Reports from Google suggest that How to Make Cake at Home is most searched in the search engine.

Baking a Cake at Home

A freshly baked cake with smooth frosted icing is hard to resist. You will feel proud if you can replicate the cake you see in the recipe books. It would be mouthwatering. Also, you can’t resist eating it. However, baking a cake is not something that you can’t master. All you need is a proper mix of ingredients and a proper step-by-step approach to ensure the best results. Let us consider the easy-to-make Homemade Cake Recipe and the tips to follow in the step-by-step process to ensure that the cake comes out as expected. Also, there are different cakes, and the preparation method will be slightly different for different cakes. It includes angel food, chiffon cakes, sponge cakes, pound cakes, etc.; therefore, choosing the recipe for the type of cake you want is the first step.

The steps involved :

Let us consider the steps involved in making a simple homemade cake includes

1. Preparing Baking Pans

This is the first step in the baking process. Let us consider the reason behind the preparation of the baking pans. You do not want to deal with a cake that is stuck to the bottom of the pan. Therefore, you need to prepare the pan before pouring in the cake batter. It would include greasing the pan with fat or flour or both.

Further, you may line the pan with wax or parchment paper. However, before you grease the pan, ensure that the size of the pan is as required for the cake you are about to bake. Also, remember that you would have to reduce the temperature for baking to 25degree Fahrenheit and check for doneness about 3-5 mins before the actual cooking time to prevent browning.

2. Use the Right Proportion of Ingredients & at the Right Temperature

Generally, the ingredients for making a cake include eggs, refined flour, butter, and sugar. But when you are blending the ingredients you would have to ensure that they are at room temperature. This is unless the recipe calls for warm milk or something. Also, remember not to use melted butter instead of softened butter. This is likely to change the texture of the cake.

3. Preheating the Oven

Preheating the oven is a must. If you overheat it and the cake bakes too quickly, you would find that cake develops tunnels and cracks. However, if you place the baking dish before preheating, the cake will be hard as the air in the batter will be released before the oven gets heated. You can ensure that the oven temperature is just right using the oven thermometer.

4. Blending the Dry Ingredients

The dry ingredients used for baking a cake include refined flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The recipe calls for mixing these ingredients and sifting them. However, you might be tempted to skip the sifting process. But, equal distribution of these dry ingredients is important to ensure excellent results. If you are following the recipe for How to Make Chocolate Cake at Home, you would have to add cocoa powder mentioned in the recipe also.

5. Combining the Butter & Sugar

Once you combine butter and sugar, you must proceed quickly. That is why blending the dry ingredients is done before this step. Now you will combine butter and sugar and blend it till it is creamy and soft. It will call for the use of an electric mixer. Alternatively, you may use the medium and high-speed beaters for about 30 seconds each. You can expect to get the fluffy texture that is scheduled for 3-5 minutes. If you see tiny bubbles in the mixture, it is an indication that the butter-sugar mixture is ready for the next step.

6. Adding Eggs

The next step is to add the eggs into the butter-sugar mixture one by one. This will help keep the texture. However, ensure that you keep beating well after adding each egg. This will help the protein in the egg create a structure that will bind the air bubbles and help maintain them as well.

7. Adding the Dry Ingredients

Next, the tip to bear in mind while blending the dry ingredients to the beaten egg butter and sugar mixture is that it has to be done using clockwise motions. Avoid using anti-clockwise motions. Alternate the addition of dry and wet ingredients until they are combined well. You should begin and end with the flour mixture.

8. Ready to Bake

The next step is to pour the batter evenly into the baking pan. Generally, the mixture must not spread to the edge of the pan. This is because the cake would fluff up when it is baked. There should be space for the cake to fluff.

9. Checking the Homemade Cake

You will have a well-baked cake when you have followed the steps and baked it at the right temperature. But, before you remove the baked cake from the oven, check that the cake is completely done. You can do this by passing a toothpick. If it comes out clean, you can be sure that the cake is ready.

The steps that will follow include letting the cake cool, assembling it, and going ahead with the icing to make the cake attractive. You can give wings to your imagination and creativity.