8 Baking Hacks: Tricks to Make the Perfect Cake

For a light, dreamy cake, you need to incorporate as much air as possible in the mixing process. By sifting all your dry ingredients, you'll add air and it's why recipes tell you to "fold" in the flour. A spatula with a gentle hand is the easy option or try using a balloon whisk. Just ensure you don't bash your spatula or whisk on the side of the bowl, as you'll drum out all the air you have carefully incorporated.

When preparing parchment to line the bottom of a tube pan, the center tube can make it tricky to cut out that perfect “circle within a circle.” Here’s one simple technique.
1. Place the pan right side up and trace the outside perimeter. Turn the pan upside down, place the parchment on top of the pan, and then place a measuring cup that fits the opening of the center hole right in the middle of traced circle, where the hole is. Use it as a guide to trace the center hole. Fold the parchment into quarters and cut out the hole. Finally, cut out the circle.

To line an 8-inch cake pan when you’re out of parchment paper, try a large (8- to 10-cup) basket-style paper coffee filter. Grease the pan, place the flattened filter in the bottom of the pan, spray it with vegetable oil spray, and pour in the cake batter. This substitution works perfectly, without any special trimming to make the coffee filter fit inside the pan.

If you don’t manage to get your cake out of its greased pan before it cools, it can be hard to coax it out. Make things easier by carefully running the cake pan over low heat on the stovetop, which melts the grease that was initially spread on the pan bottom. The cake will pop out easily when the pan is flipped over. This technique also works well for flans, crèmes caramels, and muffins.

Try this easy method for turning a cake out of an uncomfortably hot pan.
1. Place the cake pan on top of a large dish towel and top with an inverted plate or oven-tray. Gather each corner of the towel and hold the ends together on the bottom of the plate. Gripping the towel tightly in one hand, lift the cake and the plate (or oven-tray) together.
3. Place your other hand on the bottom and gently invert the cake pan and plate onto the countertop. Lift off the pan to release the cake.

When you cut a cake round in half for a layer cake, it can be tricky to keep the top layer intact upon removal. Here’s a foolproof method to keep the layers neat. Use masking tape to attach a 10-inch-wide piece of parchment paper to the edge of a long serrated knife. Cut the cake layer in half, dragging the paper through the cake as you cut.
3. Detach the tape from the knife, leaving the parchment between the cake layers. Lift up the cake to move it before frosting.

After you line a cake pan, use the leftover parchment paper as a “bib” for protecting the cake plate when you frost the baked layers.
1. Use the bottom of a cake pan to trace a circle on a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the circle, to line the pan, and reserve the rest of the parchment.
2. When the cake is ready to frost, place it on a cake plate and arrange the reserved parchment around it like a bib. Discard the paper after frosting.

Many frostings, such as buttercream and ganache, soften as they warm up. This means that when you’re piping designs with a pastry bag, warm hands can cause sloppy-looking decorations. To keep rosettes and borders perky, wear latex gloves—they’ll help to insulate your hands and prevent your body heat from softening the frosting.