The Golden Rules of Baking Cakes ...

The things you ought to know when it comes to baking cakes ... This is something that I should have written at the very beginning.You can have the perfect recipe and baking time but if you fudge up a few fundamentals all can go wrong. I was prompted to write this post when a friend was informing me about her mother's delight at the burnt overspill from The Perfect Bake's Banana Bread that she was kindly making for her father's birthday. This small oversight was entirely my fault, for which I apologise. However, follow these golden rules, along with The Perfect Bake recipes & you shall not fail!

The Golden Rules of Baking Cakes

1. When I say pre-heat, you need to give it at least 20 minutes: if you don't, your cooking time won't be correct and you could end up with a under baked cake

2. Room temperature: try and get your butter & eggs (if you keep them in the fridge) out before you bake. Trust me, it makes it easier to cream the butter and the eggs disperse through the cake mixture better and provide a more even bake 

3. Its all about your mixture: when you mix together your ingredients do so with care. Over mixing cake knocks all the air out of it & over works the flour resulting in a dense, poorly risen cake, not ideal! So when it comes to cakes:

• Cream your butter well
• When you add in your sugar, eggs & flour stir enough just so they combine, do not excessively mix

4. To sift or not to sift ... It isn't the end of the world if you don't sift your flour when making a cake. It is just beneficial two-fold: makes it easier to stir out the lumps of flour when combining & if you have old flour that's been sitting in your cupboard it is possible that you will have flour bugs (weevils).

5. Two-thirds full ... Never more, never less! When you fill a tin or cupcake case with mixture always fill it two thirds full. Over fill and your cake will spill over whilst baking creating a great mess and a flat cupcake or cake, under fill & your cake will dry out when baking and be over cooked 

6. Always lightly grease your tin: you will be incredibly stressed trying to get it out of the tin when baked if you don't!

7. Ready or not ... Check your cake at the stated time with a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean your cake is done. If there is still cake mixture on it give it another 2 minutes

So, follow these Golden Rules & The Perfect Bake cake recipes, you should have a fab cake ready for demolition!