Moist cakes?!
Answers: I quite often make cakes but they never turn out as moist as the ones you buy from the shop or the cake mixes you can buy for that matter. Does anyone know the secret to moist cakes? Or is it just some chemical they put in shop cakes? Thanks!
The "secret" to moist cakes is not to overbake them. If you leave the cake in the oven until the toothpick or bamboo skewer comes out w/ dry crumbs or clean, then the cake is over baked. The cake should be removed from the oven as soon as there is no wet batter on the toothpick and any crumbs are still moist.
One bread (includes cakes) recipe faux pas I continuously see is in recipes that call for oil. Oil should always be the last ingredient incorporated. And it should be gently mixed or folded into the batter. The other liquids need to be absorbed into the dry ingredients, especially the flour, first. Then the oil will coat the wet granules and retard moisture evaporation during the baking. This is not an hypothisis. It is baking lab derived information. [Note: For the same reason, you should add the butter after milk or broth is incorporated into mashed/whipped potatoes. You'll use less butter for the same butter taste.]
Some cakes are more moist than others because of the recipe ingredients. Any cake that needs cream or some other liquid to make it palatable has either been improperly prepared and baked, or it is a bad recipe. If you've prepared and baked the cake correctly and it is dry, don't use the recipe again. Or if you wish to tinker w/ the recipe you can add moisture via fruit purees, an extra egg or maybe a tad more oil or by removing a tablespoon or two of the flour. If you add more milk or a juice or water be careful, as a too-wet batter puts you in the danger zone of having the cake collapse after it cools.
I know this might sound yuck but you can;t taste it at all trust me I do it all the time. When you make the cake mix add not only the oil thats called for but add a tablespoon of mayo . I have been doing this for nyears and the cakes always turn out real moist and yummy ... My husbands grandma told me about it .. .
First - don't overbake your cakes. Bake for the shorter of the two times listed on the box - for instance, if it says 40-45 minutes, do 40 and check it - don't bake to the maximum time. Keep in mind that, much like everything else there is a bit of 'after cooking' from the time you take it out of the oven to cool.
Also, add a box of pudding to your cake mix - it really works to make your cake super moist and delicious.
Try this recipe just once, it never fails. i found it on the net n tried it myself, definate winner in the moistness stakes!
SUPER MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
1. 5 cups of all purpose flour (can substitute with wholewheat flour)
3 tablespoons of sifted good quality cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white or vegan brown sugar
0. 5 teaspoon salt (optional)
5 tablespoons canola oil (can substitute with any veg. oil or even olive oil)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water
1. Put your flour into mixing bowl, add cocoa, baking soda, vegan sugar and salt and mix well.
2. Make three deep holes in the dry mixture. Into one, pour the oil, into the next, pour the vinegar into the next, pour the vanilla.
3. Pour the water into the bowl, over all of this--- making a great big mess.
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until there aren't any more lumps and pour into a 9 inch by 9 inch baking pan, two inches deep, it doesn't even have to be greased.
5. Bake at 350 for about half an hour, test with a fork.
JM
I agree w/ Bonnie....if you think about it...mayo is just oil and eggs....I have often used it in place of oil....
Bake at 300
Here are somethings not to do, that my aunt who owns a bakery said, to have a moist cake. Do not overbeat or overbake, nor put too much or too little water.
As simple as this looks- it creates moist and great cake. serve it with chocolate buttermilk icing
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the milk and vanilla, add alternately to the creamed mixture with the flour, ending with the flour. Mix only as much as necessary. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cake will pull away from the sides of the pan slightly when done. Allow cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely
pour kahlua all over it.
pudding in the mix will make it more moist.
My Grandma's Moist Cake
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the milk and vanilla, add alternately to the creamed mixture with the flour, ending with the flour. Mix only as much as necessary. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cake will pull away from the sides of the pan slightly when done. Allow cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Use a "moist " style cake mix, instead of water use most of a can of apple sauce, until it reaches the right batter consistency, if you make it too thin, add a bit of flour.
Bake only until the cake begins to pull away from the side of the oiled and floured pan, and tests fairly dry with a toothpick in the center.
You WILL like the results.
Heres some recipes,i hope this may help.Bye : )
http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.asp...
OK, not over baking is a good thing to NOT do...also using something to compliment the cake & make it moist...like recently I made a coconut cake....to make it moister, I took coconut milk ...used a wooden skewer to poke holes in it then drizzled the coconut milk over it...iced it & YUM...was it moist & good......you can use liquers, coconut milk or flavored simple syrups to moisten cakes...then when you frost, it seals in the moisture.Remember to refrigerate tho.
I love reading all the answers you had up there. It's all perfect. But I do mine simply by adding 1 cup boiling water. and thats it.
Right you are Bonnie!!!!
Our Grandma's sure were good cooks........
Along with the ones that said... no over mixing or over baking...........