Gayathri Kumar - Delicious Eggless Cakes

Mostly Indian ovens have Celsius markings whereas US ovens have Fahrenheit. So most of the online recipes will give you Fahrenheit temperatures. Make sure to convert it into Celsius and then set it in your oven. Oven temperatures vary from oven to oven and it would be wise to invest in an oven thermometer. Switch on the oven and let it heat for 10-15 minutes. This is called preheating.

Once the inside temperature of the oven comes to the suggested temperature, you can place your prepared batter in the oven. Make sure to measure all the ingredients as per the recipe. While baking a cake accuracy is much needed. If the recipe says 1/2 cup of milk, add only 1/2 cup and not more than that. If it asks you to add one teaspoon of baking powder, then add one teaspoon, not less and not more. Baking a cake is not like cooking.

In cooking we just add ingredients as per our taste, but for a cake the measuring should be accurate. Invest in a weighing scale, measuring cups and spoons. This will make baking easier. Always sift your dry ingredients twice or thrice. If the recipe asks you to cream butter and sugar for five minutes, set a timer and beat for five minutes. This is the base for a spongy cake.

Make sure to use the perfect sized tin for the cake. If it is too small, you will end up with overflowed batter and if too large, then you will end up with a thin cake. The batter should fill 2/3 rd of the cake tin, so that there is enough room to rise with out over flowing. Always grease and line a cake tin. I prefer greasing with butter (I hate to grease the tin with oil) and dusting with flour or you can use goop/ pan release . Lining a tin is very important.

Even though you grease the tin, your cake may stick in the base of the tin which will result in broken cakes. If you line the base with a butter paper, the cake slides out of the tin with out any problem. So never feel lazy to grease and line a tin to avoid wastage. Baking is the next important step in the cake preparation. Place the cake tin in the middle rack unless specified. Do not open the oven door for the first 20 minutes.

Any variation in the temperature because of open door will cause your cake to collapse. If after 30 minutes, the cakes starts to brown too fast, place a piece of aluminium foil on the tin (this is called as tenting) and close the oven. This will prevent the top from turning black. Once the suggested time is over, open oven and insert a sharp knife or a skewer stick in the centre of the cake. Insert it straight and not at any angle. Pull it out.

If the stick is clean, then your cake is done. If there are crumbs or batter sticking to it, then you need to bake the cake for another 5 minutes before testing it again. Once it comes clean, transfer the tin from the oven to a wire rack. Do not flip it immediately. The cake which is fresh out of oven is very soft and if you flip it immediately, it will collapse (many of you might have gone through this) Let the tin sit on the wire rack for 5 minutes. You will see the cake shrinking and pulling away from the sides.

It will also firm up a little which is enough to hold the shape without crumbling. Run a knife along the sides of the cake. Any portion of the cake sticking to the sides need to be loosened so that it comes out of the tin in a single piece. Do this gently. Place a towel on the counter and place the tin on the towel. Now place the wire rack upside down on the cake tin.

Now holding the towel along with the tin and rack, flip the whole set up and place on the counter. Do it gently and cautious. If you somehow come in contact with the hot tin, there is 90% chance of the tin slipping away to the floor (it has happened to me so many times) Give a gentle tap on the base of the tin and remove the tin. Remove the butter paper carefully. Allow the cake to cool completely before handling it. Once cool, wrap the cake in two or three layers of cling wrap and store in refrigerator until firm.

Now you cake is ready for frosting.