About cooling cakes

Appears in
Katie Stewart’s Cookbook
Katie Stewart’s Cookbook

By Katie Stewart

Published 1983

  • About
  • A newly baked cake is fragile. Leave cake for at least 2 minutes in the tin before turning out.
  • Loosen round sides of a layer cake with a spatula or palette knife, then turn on to a wire rack and immediately invert it on to a second wire rack so cake top is not marked with indentations from the rack. Or, invert cake on to a cloth-covered hand and turn right way up on wire rack.
  • Place a baked sponge cake layer while still in the tin on to a damp cloth for a few moments and you will find it turns out more easily. Or, give a series of sharp taps all round the tin to loosen the base before turning out the cake.
  • Rich fruit cakes are soft when newly cooked and should be cooled for at least 30 minutes in the tin. Very rich fruit cakes can be left in the tin for 24 hours until cold – this also keeps the crust soft.
  • Do not peel baking paper from rich fruit cakes if they are intended for keeping; the paper helps keep the cake moist.