Baking a cake can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s all too common to pull a cake out of the oven and find that it’s risen unevenly, sunk in the middle, or has overcooked edges. Fear not! With a few straightforward techniques, you can ensure that your cakes bake evenly each and every time, leaving you with perfect results.
Here’s a simple guide to help you bake evenly and achieve that professional finish.
1. Prepare Your Ingredients Properly
It all starts with the ingredients. Ensuring they’re at room temperature makes a huge difference. Cold ingredients don’t blend as easily, and this can cause uneven texture or baking results. Butter, eggs, and milk should all be at room temperature before you start. This allows them to mix smoothly and helps your cake batter rise uniformly.
Tip: Pre-measure all your ingredients before starting to bake. This ensures everything is ready when you need it and helps maintain consistent results. (And why not store your baking essentials in some stylish kitchen canisters?)
2. Grease Your Cake Tin Correctly
Ensuring your cake tin is properly prepared will help prevent sticking and promote even baking. Grease your tin with butter or cake release, and line the base with parchment paper or cake liners. This creates a smooth, non-stick surface for your batter to rise against.
If you want a quick and easy solution, check out our non-stick cake tins at Kate's Cupboard, perfect for hassle-free baking every time.
3. Use the Right Cake Tin
Not all cake tins are created equal. The size and material of your tin can have a significant effect on how your cake bakes. If the tin is too small, the batter will overflow, and if it’s too large, the cake may not rise properly. Always follow the recipe’s tin size recommendation. Additionally, darker tins absorb more heat and can cause the edges of your cake to cook faster than the centre.
4. Mix Evenly, But Don’t Overmix
Once you’ve combined your ingredients, mix them just enough to blend. Overmixing can cause too much air to be incorporated into the batter, leading to uneven baking, or a cake that sinks in the middle. Mix until the batter is smooth and lump-free, but avoid overworking it.
A good-quality cake mixer can make this step much easier by blending efficiently without overbeating.
5. Level Your Batter Before Baking
To prevent your cake from rising unevenly, level out the batter once you’ve poured it into the tin. You can do this by simply using a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the batter evenly across the tin. For an extra step, tap the tin gently on your counter a few times to release any trapped air bubbles that might cause uneven baking.
6. Bake at the Right Temperature
One of the biggest reasons cakes bake unevenly is incorrect oven temperature. Always preheat your oven to the correct temperature before placing your cake inside. Using an oven thermometer can help you double-check that your oven is running at the right heat. Even a slight variation can affect how evenly your cake cooks.
If your cakes often come out uneven, try lowering the oven temperature by 5-10°C and extending the baking time slightly. This helps the cake bake more gradually and evenly throughout.
Older ovens can sometimes have temperature discrepancies compared to what the dial shows. It's a good idea to invest in an oven thermometer to accurately monitor your oven's internal temperature.
7. Position Your Cake in the Centre of the Oven
For even baking, it’s essential that your cake sits in the centre of the oven. If it’s too close to the top or bottom, it may cook unevenly, with one part cooking faster than the other. Place your cake tin in the middle of the oven on the centre rack for the most consistent results.
8. Resist Opening the Oven Door
We all love to sneak a peek at our cakes as they bake, but opening the oven door during the process can cause sudden temperature changes that affect how your cake rises. It’s best to wait until the last few minutes of baking time to check on your cake and test for doneness.
9. Cool Your Cake Properly
Once baked, it’s important to allow your cake to cool evenly as well. Let it rest in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack. This prevents the cake from sticking and ensures it sets evenly as it cools.
10. Give cake strips / baking belts a try!
When a cake bakes, it rises and loses moisture at the same time. Ideally, this happens consistently throughout the cake, but often the edges set too quickly while the middle is still rising. This can result in a dreaded domed top or uneven surface. The key to avoiding this is insulation. By wrapping the outside of your pan with damp cake strips, you help the batter rise and set at a steady pace from the edges to the centre. Simply soak the strips in water, wring them out slightly, and wrap them around the tin before baking. While this might extend the bake time a bit, it will help ensure beautifully even layers every time.
Baking cakes evenly isn’t as tricky as it may seem. With a few adjustments to your process, you’ll be on your way to consistent, professional-looking cakes every time. From ensuring your ingredients are at the right temperature to cooling your cake properly, each step plays a vital role in creating that perfect bake.
Key Tips Recap:
- Use room temperature ingredients
- Grease your tin properly
- Choose the correct cake tin
- Mix your batter evenly without overmixing
- Level your batter in the tin
- Bake at the right temperature
- Position your cake in the centre of the oven
- Avoid opening the oven door too soon
- Let your cake cool properly
- Try using Baking Belts
By following these tips, you’ll ensure your cakes bake evenly, every single time.