My cakes are rubbish please help me.

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They just don’t rise enough. No one else seems to mind. They say they taste great. I don’t eat cake but am endlessly making them for dc/ family birthdays. My heart sinks when I am asked to make one.
I can cook well in all other areas but have NEVER been able to make a light and fluffy sponge.
Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of methods - nothing works.
I had a friend at secondary school who could make the most amazing sponges. We all had the same ingredients and used the same equipment- mine were rubbish, hers were huge.
Can anyone give me tips?

I use a microwave to soften the just out of the fridge butter till it is malleable - not runny just nice and soft. I do not use margarine can't stand the stuff. Beat in (by hand) the sugar, whisk the eggs separately then add in and add the flour/baking powder and mix well till even, and add enough milk or water so it's softly plopping off the spoon. If I've a non-fan oven I find it cooks far more evenly, but would definitely check the temperature with an oven thermometer. I cook mine at 180, and find you've more leeway with a non-fan to getting it cooked nicely and not dried out. Don't bang the oven doors or continually open them till within 5 mins of time (I reckon about 25 mins) . Also light weight aluminium pans cook best (Silverwood), loose bottom are easiest and I line the bottom with baking paper.

Finally check how old your self raising flour/baking powder is as over time it can absorb moisture and become less effective. Repurpose old baking powder for cleaning duties.

@leavesthataregreen

Ime, don't use real butter. Or only use 25g of it for flavour. Stork makes a lighter, fluffier cake. And don't use all in one method. Cream sugar and fat together until the yellow butter or Stork turns almost white. Then add eggs and flavouring, then fold in the SR flour (special sponge flour is way better than cheap own brand I find). Add a level tsp of baking powder too if you like.

Bake in middle of the oven.

Also, I find 3 parts sugar, butter and eggs to four parts flour makes a lighter cake, especially if you are adding rich butter cream.

Thanks Very interesting re the flour ratio. So if using say 6oz sugar and fat would I use three eggs and then 8oz flour? I will try some special sponge flour. Maybe Aldi’s own SR is rubbish. Can I add baking powder to SR flour?

Thanks SO much for all your tips and ideas. I will abandon the all in one method next time then.

Delia's all in one method is great. I always add a tablespoon of Luke warm full fat milk to the recipe.
Make sure all ingredients are room temperature too.
I then wrap in foil immediately one done to keep the moisture in.

If they taste great and look great then sounds like you're doing it right!

I use Nigella's recipe, and add an extra teaspoon of baking powder to normal SR flour.

Recipe as follows:

Tins are 8 inches.

225g butter
225g sugar
Good vanilla extract 1/2 to 1 tsp
4 eggs
225g SR flour
I add an extra TSP baking powder.

Grease and line tins.

Cream butter and sugar together with an electric whisk, add the eggs bit by bit so they don't curdle, and the vanilla - I keep on whisking with the electric whisk here, and then add the flour (sifted really is best), keep going til it's just combined. Add milk if it looks too stiff.

I bake at 160 degrees fan for 25 mins.

Example Victoria sponge attached, produced with this recipe.

I am skeptical of anyone who says not to use butter. I'm also not a fan of the all in one method if you want the lightest cake. For chocolate I use a totally different recipe/method and that deals with all in one perfectly, but for a Victoria sponge I think lots of whisking with an electric whisk is the way to go.

I do 100g butter, 100g sf flour, 100g and 2 eggs. I usually double it, sometimes triple Cream the butter and sugar then add one again at a time with a spoon of flour. Mix very well each time. Add remainder of flour and mix until just incorporated.

I can recommend pkt sponge mix.

Make sure when you're baking the cake you don't open the oven door for at least 22 mins. The middle will sink. As pp said an oven thermometer would be a wise investment. My oven was burning everything, I bought a thermometer and found that it was 20 degrees over what it said on the dial!

I think you arent making enough mixture to fill the tins. I always do a mix using 4 eggs. A friend once commented on how big my cakes were as she hadnt realised i was using double the mixture she was using.

My secret is that I always add an extra egg white, it really makes such a difference with the rise. Say it’s a 2 egg sponge, I would use 2 eggs and an additional egg white.

I also weigh the eggs to determine the weight of the other ingredients like others on this thread. And I use half butter and half stork.

I like the idea of weighing the eggs and basing other amounts round that.
Ok- so to fill an 8” tin I need more ingredients- makes sense😮
An extra egg white sounds good too.
😃

The WI suggest weighing the eggs in their shells and using the same quantity of fat, sugar and flour e.g eggs = 4oz ,flour=4oz, fat=4oz, sugar =4oz plus a half teaspoon of baking powder. Cream fat and sugar til fat becomes pale then add eggs (don't worry if it starts to look like scrambled eggs this will changeonce flour is added) then the flour and baking powder. As previously mentioned don't open the oven door until nearly ready say 20/25 mins

OP - I was baffled for ages as to why MIL's cakes were so much lighter and fluffier than mine even when I used her recipe. After much questioning, I found out she uses a specific sponge flour (MacDougall's, but I expect there are other brands). Hey presto - light fluffy cakes!

@lazylinguist I will try some special sponge flour.
Thanks so much for all your help- it’s given me confidence to try again this week.
My dp works in our local hospital ( a small one) and I occasionally make a cake for the nurses as they are so beleaguered atm and need something to cheer them up.
🙂

I recently had a sunken cake after years of having no problems. The only thing I could think that was different was the fact I had to hunt around and use some very old baking soda instead of my normal relatively freshly opened pot because I had to use it all to soak up DC’s sick

I’d never really believed raising agents would expire and make a difference but there’s no reason they shouldn’t

I haven’t read the full thread op, but you need to make sure you are using the right size cake tin. Check out Mary Berry’s victoria sponge, it’s fab and has never failed for me.

@Ihopeyourcakeisshit

Check oven temp, the right tins, in date flour and ignore my user name.

2 other tips I picked up on a similar thread on MN - add a splash of boiling water instead of milk (makes the mixture a bit mousse-like) and I no longer use the fan setting as it seemed to dry the cakes out a bit.

A few tips which really improved my cake baking:

• add leavening agent at the creaming sugar and butter stage. This ensures even distribution
• for each 100g of flour, take out one tbsp of flour and replace with 1 tbsp of corn flour - this lowers the gluten content of the flour and makes for a softer texture
• all of the heavy work on the cake must occur before adding the flour - this means spend a good amount of time on the creaming stage. Treat the batter like fragile porcelain one flour is added (I hand fold the flour in)

@Tangledtresses - you didn't specify what type of flour!

OP - I think you are making too small a mix for your tins. You don't need special flour, an extra egg white, etc, etc. Try 3 eggs and 150g each of butter or marg, self-raising flour and caster sugar. If you use the all in one method when mixing add a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour.

Don't mess with your oven temperature without having tested it with an oven thermometer first.

You cannot go wrong with Delia Smith's recipes. She explains everything and includes every step. Bloggers often miss out crucial steps and even ingredients. Delia's recipes are tried and tested.

Which flour brand are you using?
I always stick to Be-Ro flour, my DM and Granny both used that.
I sieve it twice, and as others have said, cream the butter and sugar together, then add the beaten eggs a bit at a time before the flour is folded in.

Anyone have any tips for scones? Mine always spread and never rise properly!

For a 3 egg basic sponge I use 2 x 7" sandwich tins.
Buy an oven thermometer and check the settings are correct.
Bake on the middle shelf at 180 degrees with the fan off.
Measure ingredients exactly, and have your eggs at room temperature.

I always weigh the eggs and have the same weights in SR flour, sugar and tub Stork (butter makes a heavier cake) plus a teaspoon of baking powder. I also add some vanilla paste to plain sponge mixes.

I always use the all in one method, the key being not to overmix the mixture. I have done comparisons between the the creaming method and all in one and butter vs Stork, and TBH the all in one using Stork gives just as good results. I did a blind taste test on my family with cake made with butter and cake made with Stork, and the Stork cake won.

I also have a gas oven.

Another one for oven temp - I got a thermometer from Dunelm for £6 and found out mine was running 40c too hot! Make sure you get an oven one - my other half came back with a meat thermometer…

I was told by a food scientist that you should add a tiny bit of acid eg lemon juice or vinegar to any baking powder in order to "activate it" and promote rising. No idea if that's true.

A couple of minor additions to the great suggestions you’ve had (from which I’m learning loads!):

1. you are pre-heating your oven, right? So long as the oven is within an ok range you should still be getting some rise, even if it’s not perfect. But flat and dense every time? Unless the cakes are also quite singed on top, suggesting violent heat, that sounds like the oven isn’t hot enough during the early stages of cooking.
2. have you tried Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess? I’ve had mixed success with Mary Berry but never a dud —not even once — with Nigella.

Good luck!