Any suggestions for a heavy dry cake?!


Question:

Any suggestions for a heavy dry cake?

Many of my cakes I make turn out to be very dry. I add a simple syrup, but many times it just makes my cakes heavy. Any ideas/recipes? Thank you!


Answers:
If you are consistently ending up with heavy dry cakes, one of these things might help:

1. Are you measuring incorrectly? Always use nested metal or plastic cups expressly designed for measuring dry ingredients. Always use a glass/plastic measuring cup for liquids (i.e. Pyrex) Do NOT dip your measuring cup into a bag of flour and scoop it out. You SHOULD spoon flour into the cup and lightly level off the surface using a knife. This inadvertently prevents you from adding way more flour than you realize (hence, dry and heavy.)
2. Is your oven too hot? Most domestic ovens run at least 25 degrees off. Buy an inexpensive oven thermometer and check yours so you can adjust if need be. Do not rely on the oven dial. You may be overbaking.
3. Consider using cake flour. It is available in many supermarkets and truly does make a difference. In almost all circumstances, it can be substituted for all-purpose flour. The box will list directions/measurements on substitution. However, buy PLAIN cake flour - do not buy self-rising unless you also want to adjust your leavening.
4. Rely on tried and true recipes. Does someone you know make a great cake-ask for their recipe. Also, many standard old cookbooks are great for this purpose. You can seldom go wrong with "Joy of Cooking" or "Fanny Farmer".
5. Are you are making your cake in advance? Unfrosted cakes should be stored airtight, securely wrapped with plastic wrap.
6. Consider your own taste. Are you used to boxed mixes? Commercially made cakes from a bakery? Homemade cakes are quite different in consistency. Search the web (Epicurious.com) for recipes for a "Genoise" cake-very light and spongy.
7. Simple syrups will make a cake heavy (but wet) and are seldom necessary unless you are making a cake days in advance, or are intent on adding a flavor, such as rum or lemon.

Happy baking!

Source(s):
Professional baker

Things You'll Need
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Steps

1Step OnePreheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2 Step Two Click to enlargeGrease and lightly flour two round 8-inch cake pans and set aside.

3 Step ThreeCombine flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

4 Step Four Click to enlargeBeat butter or margarine with a hand mixer at medium speed for 30 seconds in a large mixing bowl.

5 Step FiveAdd sugar and vanilla and beat well.

6 Step SixAdd eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

7 Step Seven Click to enlargeAdd dry flour mixture and milk alternately, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined.

8 Step Eight Click to enlargePour batter into prepared cake pans.

9 Step NineBake 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

10 Step TenCool cakes in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

11 Step Eleven Click to enlargeRemove cakes from pans and cool thoroughly on racks.

12 Step Twelve Frost with your favorite frosting. (See related eHows for suggestions.)

It will be heavy, but soaking it in rum will make it not too dry.

Lol you can't go wrong with a bit of cake mix

I stopped making regular sized big cakes for this reason.

I discovered that you can make the batter and put a small amount in a small bowl and make it individually in a microwave. It works for cupcakes as well and the cake turns out so moist and delicously warm.

If you must make whole cakes though i'd suggest first trying to lower the temperature and cooking a little longer. If that doesn't work try using a different pan. Some pans really suck for cake baking.

Ignore all of the above though if you live in a high altitude though. If you do just give up on baking cake completely.

Try making cakes that have grated fresh fruit or vegetables added. For example carrot cake, zucchini bread, apple cake, banana cake
The added fruit or veg helps to give the cake moisture, especially if there is a minimum of butter or oil in the recipe.

Carrot cake
INGREDIENTS
2 cups white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 tin of crushed pineapple ( drain the pineapple before adding to mixture )
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.
Combine the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, soda, oil. With an electric mixer beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the carrots and the walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour 20 minutes. Note: this cake can be made in two 9 inch layer cake pans just change the baking time to 40 minutes.
To Make Frosting: With an electric mixer blend the cream cheese and cream. Add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Frosting can be spread and a still warm cake.

I never make a cake from scratch unless it is supposed to be heavy, i.e. red velvet, carrot, cheese. It is very difficult to make them cook evenly and be light. One of the reasons for this is because most people don't have ovens that cook well. That is my case. Most non-commercial ovens leave a little to be desired for cake baking.

One thing my aunt does, she bakes cake from scratch, is turn the cakes throughout the baking process. The key she says is right before you open the oven turn the heat to broil, and right after you close it turn it back to it's normal temp. She says it maintains the heat in the oven. That could be an old wives tale, who knows?

For a box mix I follow the directions on the box, then I add a about a 1/2 cup of mayo. I know it sounds nasty, but you can't taste it and it makes the cake so moist.

I never use simple syrup on my cakes, it does make them heavy and a little too sweet for me.

Try creaming your butter and sugar together & then adding the flour mixture a bit at a time. Beat it until it is just combined, but do not over mix. Also, try using a lighter flour like cake flour. If you are using all-purpose flour, remove about 2 Tbsp. of the flour to make it a little lighter. I would not recommend bread flour for cakes, it is much too heavy.

Lastly, you can also try separating your eggs. Add the yolks to the creamed mixture and beat the whites seperately. Once you have the creamed mixture & the flour mixed in, fold the whites into the combined mixture. Then spoon (do not pour) the mixture into your prepared pans. The key is to fold in the whites or they will break down.

Make sure you are creaming the fat (butter or shortening) and sugar until they turn light in color. When you measure your flour sift it first, spoon it into the measuring cup, never just scoop using the measuring cup. Make sure you sift all of your dry ingredients. Then remeasure the flour. Skipping this will make a dense cake and will mean you are probably adding more flour than you need. The only time you will be able to incorporate air into the cake is when you cream the butter and sugar and when you sift the flour. Also check your oven to make sure the temp is right, some ovens can read higher or lower than what you set it on.

If you are using a Teflon coated pan, because they are dark they tend to get hotter than uncoated aluminum pans so you might want to try to either reduce the temperature by 25 degrees less than what the recipe says.

If you don't feel confident in doing that simply check the cake 10 min before the time to see if putting a skewer in it comes out clean, it will not make the cake fall. I've never had a cake fall on me.

Also never, ever let the cake cool in the oven. Because it is hot it will dry out the cake. Let it sit on a cooling rack for 10min, then turn out and let completely cool. The only time you would let a cake stay in the oven to cool is with most cheesecake recipes.

Also check your baking powder; it could be old and night rising enough. To do this, take 1 tbs of baking powder and an equal amount of water, if it foams it's good, if it doesn't buy more.

Sift your flour and then measure it.
Don't over bake............... your oven might be baking to hot so try reducing the temp about 25 degrees and bake the regular time.




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