Cupcakes collapse. Cake fall in the middle. Banana bread turns out lopsided. What the heck happened to your delicious treat? Well, many factors can explain what happened to your baked good. What is a main factor in most failed baking attempts? The batter was not uniform. It does not matter if you are baking vanilla cupcakes, rich chocolate cake, or cinnamon bread, your batter must be uniformly mixed to properly bake!
What is an uniform batter?
All the ingredients are properly mixed together. The sugar and butter are properly creamed. There are no flour chunks. It looks nice and shiny!
Why does it need to be properly mixed together?
Think of it this way: Your car needs to be properly "built" to run smoothly. If oil is leaking, your muffler is dead, or out of gas, your car won't start. If your cake batter is not properly mixed together, it will not "come out" like planned.
What are some tips to make sure my batter is properly mixed?
1) Cream the butter and sugar together, very well. I make sure I scrape the entire bowl, with a spatula, at least 3 times, during the mixing process.
2) Room temp ingredients "bind" together well versus cold ingredients. Make sure your butter is soft and your eggs are room temp as well. (Just microwave 'em for 10 seconds to take the chill off!)
3) Always sift the flour and dry ingredients to avoid flour chunks.
Something went wrong, and my baked good came out look horrible! What happened?
Ekk, it is hard to pin-point exactly what happened to the cake. Make sure you:
-Used the correctly ingredients.
-Baked it at the properly temp.
-The batter was mixed uniformly. It was not UNDER or OVER mixed.
-You used the right cooking tools.
There are so many baking/cooking blogs and advice on the internet, you can easily detect what happened. Sometimes, it is the recipe itself that is wrong! Make sure you write small helpful notes on the side of your recipes.
What does a uniform batter look like?
-Smooth
-Shiny
-No clumps
-Not "broken." It is easy for the sugars and butter to "break" when liquids are added. Add the liquids slowly.
What other factors can lead to a failed baked good?
-Wrong oven temp (too hot versus too cold)
-Over mixing the batter
-Under mixing the batter
-Wrong ingredients
-Wrong size pan
-Expired ingredients
-Using the wrong kitchen tools (like a paddle attachment versus a whisk attachment)
-The amounts of the ingredients are wrong
A uniform batter is key to a delicious baked good. Know your steps and ingredients to make sure your sweet treat comes out RIGHT.
Happy Baking,
SC
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