Have you ever wondered how some people get the layers in their cakes so perfectly even? Well I’ve got the answers for you right here. Today I want to give you 5 tips for baking up the perfect cake layers.
Tip 1 – Mix your cake batter properly
We’ve gotta start with the basics; Make sure you’re mixing cake batter properly!
If you don’t mix you batter properly, it’s more likely that your cakes are going to bake unevenly. You might end up with wonky looking layers, you might get little pockets that bubble up and spill over, or you could even find tunnels in your cake. All of which is why you really want to take the time upfront and make sure you’re mixing things carefully.
This means you’ve got to read and follow the recipe instructions carefully, especially when you’re directed to use room temperature ingredients.
And if “room temperature” has ever confused you, typically that means somewhere around 68-70 F or around 20 C. So if you live somewhere really warm or really cold, it might not be your actual room temperature.
The reason this temperature is often so important, especially with butter cakes, is because it strikes a perfect balance. At this temperature range the ingredients are warm enough to mix together easily, but cool enough to still maintain some structure.
If you think about an ideal cake batter, it’s a batter where everything is perfectly combined without the need to overmix. So that’s where the temperature is important.
And along the same lines, it’s always a good idea to stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl with a spatula and make sure nothing gets left unmixed.
Tip 2 – Use the Right Cake Pans
You can totally bake your cakes in whatever pan you like, but if you’re trying to bake perfect layers, the pan really does make a difference!
The best cake pans in my opinion are anodized aluminum pans. They are sturdy but lightweight, and aluminum is a great heat conductor, which will help your cakes bake evenly.
You do want to make sure you get anodized aluminum, which basically just means the aluminum has gone through a finishing process that makes it resistant to corrosion. This allows you to bake cakes with acidic ingredients like lemon or chocolate without getting any metallic taste in your cake. You also won’t have to worry about the pans rusting.
As far as the size and shape of the pan, I actually prefer to bake in pans that have taller sides. Again, the taller sides just help the cake bake more evenly. They help support the cake so it can rise higher and they sort of protect the top crust.
Also, this might seem obvious, but if you want cakes with straight sides, you need a straight sided cake pan. Which is why I don’t recommend pans like these, they have angled sides so you would either have to trim them, or frost over a really uneven side.
The brand of pans I like to use is Fat Daddios brand. They make regular cake pans, or they also have these cheesecake pans with removable bottoms which are really nice and work just as well for cake.
Tip 3 – Grease your pans and line them with parchment paper
If you want perfect cake layers, you need to make sure they are going to come out of the pan in one piece!
Now I feel like the classic or maybe old fashioned advice is to grease and flour your cake pans. This definitely works, but not 100% of the time.
What I like to do is just lightly grease my pan, and then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. It might seem annoying, but in my experience parchment paper is 100% fail proof. I’ve never ever ever had a cake stick to my pan using parchment paper!
You can by pre-cut circles, but i usually cut them myself. Just trace around your pan to get an exact match. You can even fold the parchment paper so that you’re cutting out a bunch of circles at one time.
Once your cakes are baked and slightly cooled, just run a spatula gently around the edges and flip the pan over. Your cake should come right out, nice and neat.
Tip 4 – Use a scale to measure even amounts of batter into each pan
Not only do you want each individual layer to be even, you also probably want every layer to be the same exact size.
This is where a scale comes in handy, because it makes it really easy to weigh the same exact amount of batter into each pan.
You can total up the weight of your recipe and divide by the number of cake pans. Or you can use this trick: take note of the weight of your mixing bowl when it’s empty, then you can subtract that out later to get the actual total weight of your batter, because it usually doesn’t match the recipe exactly.
Tip 5 – Use baking strips to help your cakes bake more evenly
Baking strips are like a collar for your cake pans. You soak them in water and wrap them around your cake pans before they go in the oven. The baking strips help cakes bake more evenly by keeping the sides of your pan cooler.
Without baking strips, the edges of the cake tend to bake faster than the center. This can cause unwanted browning on the crust, and it can also cause some cakes to dome rather than bake flat. This happens because the sides of the cake crust earlier, forcing steam in the cake to rise in the center.
With baking strips, the sides of the cake are held back and bake evenly along with the center.
You can buy pre-made baking strips, but again, I just make my own with some old towels. All you have to do is cut the towels into long strips, then before you bake your cakes, get the strips wet and wrap them around the base of your cake pan.
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