Baking advice

[mama2girls0]

Hi there, I need to bake a birthday cake but I would like it to rise evenly and not be higher in the middle/have a peak. Does anyone have any tips for where I'm going wrong and how to ensure it's fairly even and flat at the top? Thanks!

It’s the temperature they’re baked at - drop it to a lower temp and it’ll rise slower and more evenly, so aim for 150-160c.

Thanks @HeartshapedFox, that's really helpful!

@HeartshapedFox sorry, just to check, the recipe advises 170 degrees fan for 30-35 minutes so would you change that to 150/160 degrees for around 40 minutes perhaps? Thanks

Hi, if you’re worried about the cake rising because of decorating it.
What you would normally do is carefully cut the raised bit off the cake, then turn it over and the cut edge would then become the bottom of the cake.
You use the original bottom of the cake to decorate as it will be perfectly flat.
Hope that helps and it makes sense. 😊

@mama2girls0 Yes - low and slow! Just keep an eye on it.
Also excellent advice from @GenerallyGreenerGrass - good luck!

You can use a cake leveller like this.

Thanks so much all, makes total sense and is super helpful. One last question...if I open the oven towards the end to check if it's baked through could that ruin the cake and make it sink or anything? I'm just worried about getting it out and then realising it's still a bit soft in the middle.

It only affects the rise if you open the oven early on in the process. It will be fine towards the end if you're just checking it's cooked through.

If it's a large cake, it can also help to tear up a cotton tea towel, thoroughly soak it in water til it's dripping wet and wrap the strips around the outer edge of the tin. This stops the edges of the cake cooking so quickly and going hard and crusty.

These tips have transformed my baking: If you’re creaming butter and sugar together, then adding eggs then flour, you must make sure the butter and eggs really, really are at room temperature (ie the butter is really soft). Cream the butter and sugar together far longer than the recipe tells you (10 minutes at least) - you want the mixture to look almost mousse-y. Then add the eggs gradually and continue beating air into the mixture, and when they’re combined (if the mixture starts to look curdled while you’re doing this add a tablespoon of your already-measured flour to bring it back together) fold the flour in VERY gently, just until you don’t see any streaks.

I don’t know that I’d mess around with oven temperatures because the recipe will have been tested at the temperature stated - only change the temperature if you know your oven runs hotter than normal.

You need to level off the cake in the opposite way you think before putting it in the oven. So you push it tothe edges. And leave a more slightly concaved effect in the middle.

To get a really level cake you need to use baking belts. You can buy them (amazon sell them) or make your own by using damp kitchen paper wrapped in kitchen foil. You wrap this around the outside of the tin. What this does is prevent the outside of the cake from cooking too quickly which is what causes the middle of a cake to bulge up. Keep to the usual cooking temperature but be prepared it may take slightly longer to cook. Just check a skewer or cake probe in the middle comes out clean before you take it out of the oven.

Either that or just stick to the original recipe and slice off the domed bit!

For equivalent fan/gas knock off 100 and divide by 10. 170 is getting up to gas 6, so you need 150 max