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Summary: You’ve made your cake, but how should you decorate it? In part 2 I show you how to achieve the maximum results from your cake…
Hopefully you had fun reading part 1 of this guide and are ready to take the next step with your baking experience.
Now in this next part I want to focus more on the finishing touches to your cake, so if you haven’t already made your cake, I recommend reading over part 1 which discusses weighing, following the recipe and using your oven correctly.
Otherwise you’re ready to take the next step:
6. It’s all about the chemistry – every ingredient you use performs an important role in the success of your cake.
- Flour – all flours contain gluten which helps to thicken up your batter and create a structure for your cake when it is combined with liquid. Because of this you need to careful about over mixing your flour. Mix too much and you can leave your dough too tough.
- Baking soda/powder – these produce carbon bubbles in your batter that expand during baking allowing your cake to rise.
- Butter/shortening/oil – not only do they provide moisture in your cake but they also retard gluten formation, enabling your cake to maintain a tender texture.
- Sugar – does multiple roles. First it breaks up the gluten (keeping your texture tender). Next it absorbs liquid (keeping your cake moist). And lastly caramelises whilst your cake is baking, improving the flavour of the cake and helping it to brown.
- Eggs – helps your batter to set.
7. Cooling your cake – you might be eager to eat your cake straight away, but to ensure it doesn’t fall apart when you remove it from the pan it is important that you first allow it to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes you can turn the pan upside down, gently tap the base and shake to release it (I often find going around the edge of the cake with a knife helps to loosen it up).
8. Just a little bit of frosting – frosting may be more of an American past time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a go at it. For simplicity, grab some frosting from your supermarket, mix it up and then do the following:
- To help your cake stick, put a dollop of frosting onto the centre of the plate and use it to fix your cake in place.
- Now if you are planning to layer your cake, cover the top of your cake with frosting, then place on your next layer. Frost the top and put into the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove from your freezer and use a spatula to frost the sides of your cake.
9. Benefits of icing – now if you’re baking a cake for a special occasion i.e. a birthday, you may fancy decorating your cake with a layer of icing. You can easily buy pre-made icing from supermarkets (this is different from your everyday sugar icing as it is firmer and be rolled out and shaped), but I also recommend getting some marzipan too.
- Simply cover your cake with a thick layer of jam (this helps your marzipan to stick), then roll out your marzipan until it is 5mm thick.
- Use your rolling pin to lift your marzipan off your counter and centralise it over your cake.
- Gently flatten it over your cake and it sides, and use a knife to trim off any excess at the base of your cake.
- Use the palm of your hand to smooth out any cracks/creases, then repeat the same process with your icing, but this time instead of using jam, cover your marzipan in a light layer of water to make it sticky.
10. Judge your altitude – I imagine you have been puzzling over this step since I first mentioned it in part 1 of my guide. Well, altitude has an important place in your kitchen as it can affect how well your cake rises and how long it will last after it has baked.
You see, there is less air pressure at higher altitudes, enabling your cake to raise more. However, at the same time this can cause your cake to dry out as liquids evaporate more quickly.
As a result if you live somewhere above 3,500 feet (above sea level), you will need to do the following: increase your oven temperature to 190C/375F; add 2tbsp of liquid for every cup measurement used; decrease each cup of sugar by 1tbsp as well as each tsp of baking powder by 1/3tsp, and reduce your baking time by 5 minutes.
Okay, you might think my last point is pretty strange – how on earth can you check the altitude of where you live – but believe me it can make a difference if you live somewhere high up.
So give these steps a go, and see what amazing creations you can come up with. Even the most novice amongst you will have fun I promise…
Okay, you might think my last point is pretty strange – how on earth can you check the altitude of where you live – but believe me it can make a difference if you live somewhere high up.
Go back to 10 Steps to Baking the Perfect Cake (Part 1)
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