Baking and Cooling

Appears in

Published 2008

About

Cake structure is fragile, so proper baking conditions are essential for high-quality products. The following guidelines will help you avoid cake failures.

Preheat the ovens. To conserve expensive energy, don’t preheat longer than necessary.
Make sure ovens and shelves are level.
Do not let pans touch each other. If pans touch, air circulation is inhibited and the cakes rise unevenly.
Bake at the correct temperature.
Too hot an oven causes the cake to set unevenly with a humped center, or to set before it has fully risen. Crusts will be too dark.
Too slow an oven causes poor volume and texture because the cake doesn’t set fast enough and may fall.
If steam is available in the oven, use it for creamed and two-stage batters. These cakes bake with a flatter top if baked with steam because the steam delays the formation of the top crust.
Do not open the oven or disturb cakes until they have finished rising and are partially browned. Disturbing the cakes before they are set may cause them to fall.
Angel food and chiffon cakes should be cooled upside-down in their pans, so they won’t collapse back into the pans. Because they are baked in ungreased pans, they won’t fall out of their pans. When completely cool, they are sturdy enough to be pulled out of the pans without breaking.