Making cakes a little lighter

[Sherlock]

Hello,

New member here! Glad to be aboard, I'm looking for a bit of inspiration and hopefully you lovely people will be the ones to provide it!

I'm quite new to baking, having actually only learned how to make a basic sponge cake about 18 months ago. I think generally I make quite a good cake, but my biggest problem is that they always seem to be a little "heavy" - can anyone give me a few pointers as to how to maybe avoid this? I did hear that sieving flour from a height helps, but I rather think someone was pulling my leg!

 

[Becky]

Hi Sherlock, welcome to the forums!

Air in a sponge comes from a variety of sources - usually when you cream together the butter and sugar it will get paler and paler, and that is from the air incorporated into the mix. So firstly it could be that you are not creaming them together long enough (an electric whisk saves your arm here!). Secondly the raising agents (such as bicarbonate of soda or baking powder) will increase the size of the air bubbles in the mix helping it rise, so make sure you are putting enough in according to the recipe ('tsp' is a measured amount, so use a measuring spoon instead of a normal teaspoon). Other than that, do not open the oven to look at the cake until at least 3/4 of the cooking time has passed, otherwise all the air in the mix can collapse as the structure of the sponge has not yet solidified.

Of course some recipes are heavier than others, so if you think you are doing everything right then maybe try a different recipe!

 

[Sherlock]

Hi Becky, thank you! I'm glad to be here!

Maybe it's just not creaming the butter and sugar for long enough - I do think I tend to skimp on the time it takes a little bit. I really ought to get my electric whisk out. I tend to do things the old-fashioned way, which is perhaps not actually the best way to do it after all! Equally, I might not be using enough baking powder, rather than just measuring it I tend to put in a little pinch, which probably isn't enough.

Thanks for the pointers though, you've basically just doubled my knowledge of cake-baking in one simple post!

 

[Becky]

Definitely use the full amount of raising agent! Let us know how you get on