How To Make The Very Best Almond Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a secret ingredient for cakes? ›

To summarize, applesauce is a secret weapon for creating moist and healthier cakes. Its natural sweetness and moisture make it a great substitute for high-fat ingredients like oil or butter. So go ahead, embrace the power of applesauce and elevate your cakes to new levels of deliciousness!

Most cakes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy cake. No properly creamed butter = no air = no fluffiness.

Baking powder is mixed with the flour. When water is added to this flour to make dough, baking powder undergoes a chemical reaction during which carbon dioxide gas is produced. This carbon dioxide gas gets trapped into the dough and bubbles out which causes the cake to rise making it soft and spongy.

The milk adds fat, which results in a better flavor and density in your cake. If you want to make your cake extra rich, swap out the milk for buttermilk. Because buttermilk is extra thick, use a few more tablespoons than the recipe calls for.

Flour is perhaps the most important ingredient in a cake mix, as it creates the basic structure of the entire cake. A major component of flour is gluten, which is a protein that provides a way for the cake to bind to itself.

Leavening Agents

Since we're talking about cake and not yeast bread, we'll focus on chemical leavening. The reaction of baking soda or baking powder with the liquids in the batter releases carbon dioxide, which forms air bubbles to help your cakes be light and airy.

USE VEGETABLE OIL. While butter undoubtedly imparts excellent flavor, vegetable oil can really elevate a cake when it comes to moisture. Replacing butter with vegetable oil in your cake recipes typically yields moist results.

Sour cream is a great fat ingredient that will add moisture to your cake without changing the flavor or color (i.e. if you're trying to make a white cake). You'll see that I've started adding sour cream to some of my recent recipes, like my Classic Vanilla Cake.

baking powder: When to use each ingredient to get light and airy baked goods. Baking soda reacts with an acid to cause batters and doughs to rise and spread while baking. Baking powder reacts with liquid and heat to create a light, fluffy texture in baked goods.

How can I make my cake rise higher? ›

To make a box cake mix rise higher, try using a smaller pan, adding an extra egg, using milk instead of water, adding baking powder, mixing for longer, using room temperature ingredients, baking at a higher temperature, or using cake strips.

Most cakes will call for a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda. These create the bubbles you need for the cake to rise. If the flour you use is self-raising, it already has a leavening agent in it. Make sure your butter is room temperature, and beat the butter and sugar together until properly creamed.

Combine ingredients as gently as possible without overmixing. Creamed butter and sugar should be pale and fluffy, never yellow and gritty. Butter temperature is a vital detail that should not be overlooked. Don't open the oven door until goods are done baking.

To make it, start by combining tomato soup and baking soda together in a bowl. This will help neutralize the acidic taste of the canned ingredient. Next, beat together sugar, butter, egg, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Mix in the tomato soup mixture, then stir in flour and raisins.

Fat, in the form of solid shortening, margarine, or butter; or in the liquid form of oil contributes tenderness, moistness, and a smooth mouthfeel to baked goods. Fats enhance the flavors of other ingredients as well as contributing its own flavor, as in the case of butter.