The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.
Adjusting the cooking time and temperature
If your cake has a soggy middle, the first thing to try is bringing the temperature down a little and baking for slightly longer. I'd suggest reducing the temperature by 20 degrees and increasing the baking time for 7 minutes.
Overmixing is exactly what it sounds like: the process by which a dough or batter gets mixed too much, typically yielding dense, tough, or deflated baked goods. Overmixed doughs and batters may have an unappealing look or feel, which remain just as unappealing when they're baked.
1. saturated with moisture or liquid; soaked. 2. moist and heavy; sodden. soggy cake.
When held at room temperature, fully frosted cakes will stay moist longer, and most buttercream-style icings are completely fine when kept at room temperature for two to three days. Frosting is a-okay in the freezer too. If you have enough freezer space, Sheehan says, “you can even freeze a fully frosted cake!
Condensation (or cake sweat) will happen with any big change in temperature. For example, moving a cake or cake layers from the fridge or freezer to a warm room. I always recommend chilling cake layers before frosting because they get firmer and less crumbly.
Like muffins, cakes are nearly always leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda. Starting in a cold oven gives those leaveners more time to work.
Cool Before Flipping
When you remove your cake from the oven, don't flip it out of the pan right away! Instead, let the cake cool for ten minutes in the pan. Then, placing the wire rack over the base of the cake, invert the pan. Peek under the wire rack and see if the cake has dropped out.
Make sure you follow the recipe's instructions carefully. Cakes typically bake between 325 to 450 degrees F (see chart with Tip #9).
It's important to pay attention to the specifics called for in a recipe, but in general, most cakes are best removed from the pan after cooling for 10 to 20 minutes. Try it too soon, and it may fall apart. Wait too long, and it may stick.
Warning! Do NOT store cake in the refrigerator long-term unless it includes a topping or filling that needs to be refrigerated, e.g., whipped cream, custard, and their ilk. Your perfectly moist cake, no matter how well wrapped, will start to dry out after a day in the fridge.
Some people are hesitant to freeze their cake layers, fearful that the freezer will dry them out. I promise freezing cake layers doesn't change the texture or taste at all, if they're properly wrapped!
One of the main reasons for waiting for your cake to cool is that cakes are still very fragile when hot, and so spreading the icing is likely to create breakage and a lot of crumbs, spoiling your smooth finish.
How to Make a Cake Ahead of Time. Un-iced: If you don't need to ice your cake until the day, you can bake your cake at least 2-3 days ahead of time. But you will need to store it carefully. Ensure that you wrap the cake and have it stored in an airtight container so it doesn't lose moisture.
If the cake does not contain fillings with perishables, such as dairy, eggs, or fruit, you can leave it out on the counter overnight. If it does, you will want to store it in the refrigerator.
The frosting might be slightly tired-looking, but overall, the cake will be better than if you refrigerated it, or left it on the counter for longer than three days. If you've baked a cake and want to store it for a few days before frosting and decorating it, the freezer is ideal.
You should use simple syrup on cake before you ice it. Often, simple syrup is used before the basic crumb coat. The crumb coat allows the cake to solidify, keeping all the loose crumbs in the cake. A rich simple syrup will add sweet flavor to your cakes, as well as making them moist.
A crumb coat is a baking term used to describe an extremely thin layer of icing, which bakers use to seal in a cake's moisture and provide an even base for decorative frosting and toppings. It works to trap stray crumbs in the cake's surface and prevent them from popping up later on.
I found that the 5 minute mix time resulted in a cake with a nice texture and moderately tender crumb. Anywhere between 2 and 6 minutes should suffice. The time necessary for mixing will vary with recipe but this should help give you with a ball park idea of mixing time.
A cake with perfect texture starts in the bowl. You may know what you get when you overmix cake batter: a dense cake with tough texture (and maybe some unappetizing gluey streaks as well).
To cream softened butter, beat the butter and sugar at a moderate speed for 2 to 3 minutes and you'll be well on your way to baking perfection! Undermixed butter and sugar will look gritty and chunky. This can lead to dense cookies and cakes.
If the cake batter is too thick, the heat will not penetrate the center in time to cook it. Too much baking powder or using an old pan could also lead to an undercooked cake. If the cake is cooked in a too-large pan, the heat won't reach the center of the cake in time to cook it.