If you love baking you'll know that things can often go wrong, from dry doughs to sunken centers, it can be a hard feat to master the perfect cake. Lucky for you, a professional baker at Dr Oetker as baked 8 terrible cakes to show where you might be going wrong, from too much egg to being underbaked, they've photographed the results. Here is what they found:
More info: oetker.co.uk
Cakes gone wrong
Image credits: www.oetker.co.uk
1. If your cake’s a little raw in the middle, have no fear. It’s easy to avoid and also pretty simple to fix, so you can still enjoy a perfect bake without compromising. The problem: Your oven isn’t the right temperature. The solution: Stick to the temperature your recipe tells you.
2. If you’ve popped a perfect-looking batter into the oven, only to find it shrinking (shock, horror) before your very eyes, you might have made one of these common mistakes. The problem: Your mixture was too cold when it went into the oven. The solution: Let chilled ingredients (like eggs and butter) come to room temperature before you start.
3. No baker wants to pull a greasy cake out of the oven. But as long as you follow your recipe correctly, you can usually avoid this common mishap. The problem: You added too much butter. The solution: Follow your recipe carefully and don’t be tempted to add extra.
4. Crumbly cakes can be tricky to decorate and even peskier when it comes to slicing. What went wrong? The problem: There’s not enough egg in your mixture. Make sure you use the egg size in your recipe. This will usually be medium or large. The solution: Follow your recipe carefully or change to a different one if you think something’s wrong.
5. Cracked cakes aren’t so bad. Sure, it might take a little extra decoration to get the look you want, but you can fix most breaks with a smear of jam or ganache. Still, cracks in your sponge are easy to avoid. The problem: You added too much raising agent. The solution: Follow your recipe carefully and don’t be tempted to add extra.
6. There are few things better than a perfectly pillowy sponge cake. But if yours struggle to grow, don’t worry. These are some of the simple things that might be going wrong. The problem: You forgot to add the raising agent. The solution: Be sure to add all the ingredients in your recipe.
7. We’ve all been there. Your cake looks puffy and delicious for the first few minutes of baking, only to sink back in on itself right before your eyes. Rude! But why? The problem: You opened the oven door too early. The solution: Don’t open the oven until you think your cake is ready.
8. Saving a dry cake is simpler than you might think. But before you begin operation rescue-the-sponge, ask yourself why it turned out dry. The problem: Your oven is too hot. The solution: Stick to the temperature your recipe tells you.