FLAT cake layers??

[tiredflamingos]

I'm a useless baker but want to attempt a cake for my daughter's birthday.. Whenever I've practised, the layers come out a little too thin and dense!

This is the recipe I've been using: https://www.thecookingfoodie.com/recipe/Classic-Vanilla-Cake-Recipe--How-to-Make-Birthday-Cake#google_vignette

It tastes okay but I want the cakes to be taller and lighter... Any ideas where I might've gone wrong??

Cake!

250 g unsalted butter
250 g caster sugar
250 g self raising flour
5 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

This is the recipe I have used from the Jane's Patisserie website

https://www.janespatisserie.com/2019/02/09/vanilla-cake/

This was my version with nice fat Cake layers

Just make a normal sized cake and cut the layers flat. No-one knows when it's covered in icing.

Much easier than baking individual layers and hoping they will be simultaneously light, moist and flat.

Are you using the right size cake tin?

I'm sure you can gently press them down when freshly baked to make them flat

She wants the layers LESS flat.

OP I wonder if your oven temperature is off? Might be worth turning it up by 10-20C and seeing if that makes a difference?

It might just be worth trying a different recipe. Baking strips help a bit too - slows down how fast the edge cooks so tends to mean a more even rise overall and you don't have to trim as much off to get a flat layer. Haven't tried but apparently you can DIY them using an old tshirt and foil.

The OP wants thicker layers not thinner ones!

@tiredflamingos It's probably the recipe. Try a different recipe like the one I posted and then use the icing from the original recipe if that's what you want to use

You might like Nigella’s Buttermilk Birthday cake (from how to be a domestic goddess book) the first time I made it in one big tin and it rose up into the next oven shelf! You can split the mix into two sandwich tins as well for 20ish mins. Think this is the same recipe: image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2008/10/13/Birthday_Cake.pdf

Not the best recipe, look at the pic, it is a dense cake! Use a traditional victoria sponge type recipe like one quoted that is geared towards the ingredients and flour types we have here in UK. Any recipe that beats in the flour too much will give a dense cake as you develop the gluten.

For the height of the layers make sure you are using the right size tins and even size up the recipe to get a better height as in use a 6 egg mix for example rather than 5 for same size tins adjusting the other ingredients as well. With victoria sponge it's usually 50g butter/sugar/flour to 1 egg so easy enough to vary the quantity.

little update: still struggling
i used the recipe @dementedpixie used and mine did not turn out as good😭
i have an oven thermometer too so i know it's my fault and not the oven's - i just don't know where i went wrong!

Hi @tiredflamingos your cakes look a little overbaked. What temp did you bake at?
I would say 165'c fan for about 30mins (for the 250g recipe split into 2)

Edit to add - all ovens are different so it may be that yours runs hot. Set it a little lower next time and lastly...cover it all in icing it will taste amazing!

@tiredflamingos How old is your flour? If you don't bake much and it's been hanging around a while the raising agents may no longer be effective. If not that are you over beating the mixture or opening the oven door during cooking?

Would never spend money on them-you can use several layers of newspaper or wallpaper folded to the height of the tin and tied round with string….what bakers have done from the year dot!

And are you using the tin size stated in the recipe? Even a 1 inch difference will have a big impact on how deep your cake is.

Is the flour old? Thats sometimes an issue.

There could be several reason's including the age of the flour, check your tin size and oven temp. I've had much better results dropping the temp a little.

Also, try using stork rather than butter (soft stork in a tub) it's lighter than butter and don't over beat when adding the flour.

However, as others have said, cover in buttercream and it'll be delicious!

I have recently been using the Best for Baking type spreads (like stork but cheaper!).
I mix spread and sugar together first for a few minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat between each addition. Lastly add in flour and don't over mix.

I have the oven at 160⁰C for fan. And don't open the door until it's time to check it's done.

Your baking powder might be out of date

Also you really need an electric whisk otherwise you'll never get a decent cake

It's worth using caster instead of granulated sugar in a sponge, and definitely try using Stork as PP suggested.

With your eggs first. So 4 eggs will be around 240g. Then put them to the side and weigh 240g sugar and best for baking. Cream then together until very pale and fluffy. Add 1tsp vanilla. Then weigh out 240g of sr flour and add 1/2tsp baking powder. Sieve it thoroughly. Add one egg into the creamed butter and one tablespoon of the flour. Mix. Then another egg and 1tbsp a the flour. Mix . Etc etc. then gently mix in the rest of the flour.

If the eggs weigh 60g, everything else weighs 60g. If they weigh 300g everything else weighs 300g. Up or down scale it depending on how many layers you want. If the cake goes pointy in the middle, the oven is too hot.

Divide between tins so each layer is 1 1/2 inches deep. Ideally you need multiple tins as the longer you leave the mix sitting around the flatter it will go. I cook mine in 160c and it's perfect every single time.

What size tins did you use? For an 8" tin and a good deep layer I would be using 3/4 eggs per layer. A 5 egg mix of the recipe mentioned to me would be 6/7" tins max, I use a 2 egg mix normally in 6" tin.

Do you knock the tins on the table or anything like that to flatten out the cake mix before baking? I did that once and it knocked all the air bubbles out of the mix and it came out flat.

Other than that - is the cake tin size exactly the same as the recipe says? Check the oven temp?

That recipe is really complicated!

Honestly, baking a cake is so simple and you definitely don't need all of those ingredients.

Weigh out 5 eggs in their shell - this should be plenty for two cake tins. (or however many eggs you have or how big you want to cake to be)
Crack eggs into bowl and add the exact same amount of self raising flour, Stork or similar baking margarine (not cheap marg though) and caster sugar.
Mix all together until a nice smooth batter.

Place in greased and grease-proofed baking tins. Bake at about 170 for around twenty minutes until a skewer or toothpick comes out completely clean.

I bake lots of cakes and use this recipe all the time and it always works.

If the cake rises in the middle just chop off the pointy top before you decorate.

When did everyone start over complicating baking ?

No idea of weights in grams as I was taught in Oz.
8oz butter. Cream with electric whisk.
Add 8oz caster sugar. Whisk.
Add 4 eggs. Whisk.
8oz self raising flour. Whisk. But don't over mix.

Bake on about 170 for 25 mins.

You can scale up or down as needed. 1 egg per 2 oz of everything else.