Keep your cake perfect before serving, and then get it to the party safely. See how to bake the ideal cake, then level the top and ice it perfectly smooth. We’ll even show you how to prepare a base board to present your cake like a pro.
1Check wheather egg is fresh or not
From this stage depends on the final result, so be sure to check the freshness of eggs, dropping them before cooking in a cup of water. If the eggs sink to the bottom - it means that they are fresh.
2Weigh
If you have not achieved mastery in the kitchen, then forget about how to do everything "by eye". Be sure to buy electronic scales and weigh all the ingredients.
3Get the ingredients in advance
Get much of the ingredients specified in the recipe. It should be at room temperature. Get them for 60-90 minutes before you start to cook.
4Choose unsalted butter
To prepare homemade cakes, butter is almost always required and it must be unsalted. Pay attention to this.
5Separate proteins from yolks
The easiest way is to separate the proteins from the yolks when the eggs are still cold, so do it right away, taking them out of the refrigerator. But whipping the proteins into a strong foam is best when they become room temperature.
6 Use softened butter
Test the softness of butter. If you forgot to get it in advance from the fridge, then slice the butter into small cubes and place on a plate, so that it quickly starts melting.
7 Mix the dry ingredients
In order to get the right consistency of dough, separately mix all the dry ingredients and then add to the wet. And it should be done at the very end.
8Do not overdo by kneading the dough
After adding dry ingredients, gently mix the them with a silicone spatula until uniform and stop at this.
9 Beat butter carefully
If at the end of the dough much better not to mix, then at the initial stage when you need to whip the butter with the sugar, do it as carefully as possible. You should get plenty of air.
10 Be careful with sugar
Adding sugar, observe the precise proportions. Too much sugar in the dough will result in the formation of a dark brown, and too little will not allow the baking browned.
11 Do not forget about the salt
Just adding one pinch of salt to the dry ingredients will enhance the taste and aroma of baking.
12Beat the yolks separately.
Usually this point not must. But if you want to cook your favorite baked good as desserts boss, be sure to whisk the yolks separately before adding them to the rest of the ingredients.
13Add vanilla
Using several flavors in a dough or cream, always start with vanilla, and choose only natural vanilla extract. This will help to strengthen rest of the flavors.
14Handle tools
For whipping the whites, especially for meringue, wipe the bowl or nozzles for the mixer with a paper towel soaked in vinegar or lemon juice.
15Be sure to preheat the oven
This is perhaps the most basic rule that can never be neglected. Always switch on the oven in advance so that it can reach the desired temperature.
16Do not lay out a lot of dough
When shifting the dough into a baking dish, pay attention that its level is not more than 1/2 of the height of the mold, because the dough will rise.
17 Place pan into the center of the oven
Try to put the baking pan on the middle rack in the center of the oven. This is to ensure the most uniform baking.
18 Bake the cakes separately
Having decided to prepare a multi-layered cake of several cakes? Then bake each cake individually, instead of making one large and trying to separate it later.
19Check test readiness
The appearance of an obvious aroma usually indicates the readiness of baking, but it will be superfluous to check. While piercing the cake with a skewer, do not remove the mold from the oven, but just open the door. If the skewer is dry, then the cake is ready.
20Do not remove the cakes from the oven
Instead of immediately removing the baked cakes from the oven, let it cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. The only exceptions are cupcakes that it is better to remove from the mold immediately, and only then placed on a grid.
21Place cakes in the freezer
Before you collect the cake and lubricate the cakes with cream, wrap them in a food film and put them in the freezer for half an hour. And do not forget to shake off the crumbs with a silicone brush before coating the cream.
22Cover the cake with cream in 2 stages
First, smear the cakes with a thin layer to fix all the crumbs, and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Next, you can lubricate the cake with the main layer of the cream, but make sure that the layers between all the cakes are the same thickness.
