Tips for Making Cake Compilation Videos

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I only looked very briefly at one video.

1. No educational or entertainment value. Watching a time lapse of icing applied to a stacked cake is neither informative nor entertaining.

Understand that social media is now part of every business. As such, professional pastry chefs and cookbook authors have a presence on YouTube, Instagram, and/or TikTok. So the standard for content is pretty high.

Her work is beginner/intermediate home baker, so her audience will be the beginner baker.


example of informative video




Just an aside...a properly baked cake should not have a dry brown crust on it. And professional pastry chefs always torte their layers. There are a few rare exceptions, but those thick layers she is stacking into tiers is not something a professional does with cake.


The order in which a cake is judged is 1) how a cake tastes; 2) how it looks sliced and plated; 3) decorated on the cake stand. If the cake does not taste good, and it is not visually appealing on the plate to the guest, it doesn’t matter how beautiful that cake looked on the cake stand.

Baking at 325°F, using a non coated, light metal pan, and cloth baking strips will produce a soft crust and a level cake.

On what flavor the cake is, it should never have a dry brown crust on it.
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I only looked very briefly at one video.

1. No educational or entertainment value. Watching a time lapse of icing applied to a stacked cake is neither informative nor entertaining.

Understand that social media is now part of every business. As such, professional pastry chefs and cookbook authors have a presence on YouTube, Instagram, and/or TikTok. So the standard for content is pretty high.

Her work is beginner/intermediate home baker, so her audience will be the beginner baker.


example of informative video




Just an aside...a properly baked cake should not have a dry brown crust on it. And professional pastry chefs always torte their layers. There are a few rare exceptions, but those thick layers she is stacking into tiers is not something a professional does with cake.


The order in which a cake is judged is 1) how a cake tastes; 2) how it looks sliced and plated; 3) decorated on the cake stand. If the cake does not taste good, and it is not visually appealing on the plate to the guest, it doesn’t matter how beautiful that cake looked on the cake stand.

Baking at 325°F, using a non coated, light metal pan, and cloth baking strips will produce a soft crust and a level cake.

On what flavor the cake is, it should never have a dry brown crust on it.
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1. Your overall tone is condescending

I posted as a student, not as a professional… and did not see a requirement that posts in this forum be educational or entertaining… We understand where we are at on this journey.

Thank you however for the advice. Baking strips should be here in 2-days. Her cakes are very moist and her buttercream is amazing…this should help as she works toward “how it looks sliced and plated”. Thanks again.

I do not see anything on Amazon, but do they make strips or anything that would help a bundt cook evenly?

We currently have no plans to make tutorials, so if anyone has any advice on time-lapse videos, I would appreciate any tips.
 
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1. Your overall tone is condescending

I posted as a student, not as a professional… and did not see a requirement that posts in this forum be educational or entertaining… We understand where we are at on this journey.

Thank you however for the advice. Baking strips should be here in 2-days. Her cakes are very moist and her buttercream is amazing…this should help as she works toward “how it looks sliced and plated”. Thanks again.

I do not see anything on Amazon, but do they make strips or anything that would help a bundt cook evenly?

We currently have no plans to make tutorials, so if anyone has any advice on time-lapse videos, I would appreciate any tips.

No I an not condescending. Your post specifcially asked for professionally feedback. I’ve studied cooking and baking for over 20 yrs. My training includes cake specific classes with noted pastry chefs, including James Beard award winners and at CIA. So I can say with certainty that her cake is over baked just by looking at it. Insofar as how it looks sliced and plated, it is not just the aesthetics. Since she doesn’t torte her cake, anyone eating her cake just gets mouthful after mouthful of dry cake. There is no balance of cake to icing to filling ratio. Each forkful should have a equal amount of cake, filling and icing. Her cake is 80% cake. Torting is standard procedure in professional baking. When I saw the tier made of whole stacked layers like that, my first inclination was to bring it to the baker’s attention so she could correct what is a major problem with her work.

You may not like my tone, but you don’t have to like it. The information I’m providing can make her a better baker. Because right now her work is on the low end of amateur. And just these few things that I’m telling you to do can elevate her work to a higher level. You can take it or leave it I don’t care I have no skin in this game.

Here’s how to torte


  • Tools: serrated bread knife; silpat mat; confectionary bars (optional): two pastry bags; two 1/2” round piping tip; two cake board; cake stand; non-slip mat; off-set spatula; cake lifter; level; straight edge cake scraper
    • Fit both pastry bag with 1/2” round tip (Ateco 806); fill one bag with buttercream 2/3 full; fill second pastry bag 2/3 full with filling.
    • Place cake board on top of the cake stand lined with a nonslip mat smaller in diameter than cake board. In the center of the cake board, pipe a 1⁄4” size dollop of buttercream in center of cake board and secure the first layer of sponge cake on to the cake board.
    • With soft pastry brush generously brush top of cake with soaking syrup.
    • Pipe a ring of buttercream on the outside edge of the cake layer. This will prevent the filling from seeping out of the cake.
    • Pipe a légère spiral beginning in the center to the buttercream edge.
    • Place a cake layer on top; place cake board on top of cake an level by lightly pressing on cake board. Make sure to always stack the layers straight.
    • Place level on top of cake board to ensure cake is level.
    • Remove cake board; use straight edge cake scraper and and true ups sides, checking at least four points around the cake
    • Then repeat each step for second and third layers
    • For the fourth and final cake layer, add the soaking syrup on your work surface. Flip it over and place with the soaked side down on the other layers.
    • Level by lightly pressing with a cake board, then true up the sides.
    • Smooth any excess buttercream that has seeped out the sides with an offset spatula.
    • Then cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until the buttercream is firm before icing.
    • While the tier is chilling, torte and fill remaining tiers.

And if she is going to focus on cake, Parrish Magic Line cake pans. That cake pan has a cult like following among event cake bakers because when a bride orders a wedding cake, she does not want that ugly brown crust line like the one on your wife’s cakes.
 
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Hi Nora,
I am unsure of where to write my questions so please forgive me if it is not being typed in the correct place.
I came across this when I typed how to have a leveled cake in the search bar. I would appreciate your kind advice very much.
I have tried Wilton’s baking strips. Yes, they do give a leveled cake however I have just accidentally discovered a big problem that baking strips create. There is no problem using them with any dark batter cake that, for example, has brown sugar in, dates or red velvet but if the batter is light colored like a cinnamon tea cake or apple almond cake, the cake color turns white! I have personally tried this several times and tried so hard to find the answer as to why the cakes are sometimes turning white even though they were baked in dark non stick pans (have tried pans from Chicago Metallic and USA Pans) and other times, turning a beautiful deep golden color. Using the same dark pans without the baking strips made the color turn into a beautiful golden but when I used the same pans (for the same cake recipes) with baking strips, they turned into an unsightly white color! I have tried this a several times.
My question is, how to get a leveled cake without using baking strips and without slicing off the dome? Is there any other method/technique to use?

Thank you very much.
 

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