What's your secret to moist, tender cake?

[Anonymous]

I just made a cake from scratch. It was tasty but it was not as fine as the cakes you buy from the bakery. It was a bit on the "chewy" side if that makes sense. The cakes from the bakery are so fine they almost feel like pudding in the mouth. How do you they do that?

[Anonymous]

What kind of flour did you use and did you overbake the cake at all? Use a good pastry flour and make sure not to overbake.

[Anonymous]

Weigh your flour.

[Anonymous]

A tender cake??

[Anonymous]

Add sugar.
Add oil (which limits the production of gluten in the flour).
Cut out an egg white or two. They are drying agents. The protein (flour and eggs) makes the batter set up. The sugar and fats make it tender and moist. It is important to keep the elements in balance.

[Anonymous]

It seems as if you may have slightly over baked your cake. Try taking it out of the oven three minutes earlier next time.

If the cake in question is chocolate, I like to add in a handful of chocolate chips. It really aids in keeping the cake moist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Add sugar.
Add oil (which limits the production of gluten in the flour).
Cut out an egg white or two. They are drying agents. The protein (flour and eggs) makes the batter set up. The sugar and fats make it tender and moist. It is important to keep the elements in balance.

I thought eggs added moisture? The Silver Palate's Decadent Chocolate Cake is made with two egg yolks, with two whipped egg whites folded in -- and the cake is super moist.

OP -- Did you bake the cake too long? That could dry it out.

[Anonymous]

Applesauce instead of oil.

[Anonymous]

OP here - the recipe called for baking the cake for 30-40 minutes. I baked it for 20-25 minutes. It looked fine and the edges were not overcooked. However, the inside was not as moist as I would have expected. I used regular flour and did not sift or weigh it. I also made no substitutions. Does cake flour make a big difference?

[Anonymous]

Never use oil - it tastes gross! Use butter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A tender cake??

]

OP here again - I know...a weird choice of words! I was trying to describe a cake that was moist, and almost melt-in-your mouth "tender". I'm at a loss to find a word to describe the ideal cake. Soft perhaps?

[Anonymous]

OP here....again (sorry!! :oops

I also want to add that the crumbs on the cake were large and less refined. On the bakery cakes, they are small....like large grains of sand. Again...how do they do that?!

[Anonymous]

Use cake flour
Add a pudding mix (with extra egg and water)
Use recipes with sour cream.

[Anonymous]

Buttermilk is another good one that makes for a moist cake.

[Anonymous]

Weigh your flour.

Baking is a science. Buy a scale, look for recipes that use weight, not cups/volume.

I grew up learning how to measure dry ingredients the way I’m sure just about everyone else did – scoop and level. Scoop the measuring cup into the flour, then take the straight edge of a butter knife and level off the top. Seems easy enough, right? Well, it might be easy but it is certainly not always accurate. For the most part, precise measurements are not necessary in cooking, but are a critical part of baking success. In fact, incorrect measuring is one of the biggest reasons that most baking endeavors fail. A bit of extra flour can lead to rock-hard cookies, tough bread, and less-than fluffy cakes. Too much granulated sugar and your cookies will be crispy when you wanted them soft and chewy. It’s been a little over a year since I embraced the joy of measuring by weight, and I just realized that I had never talked about weighing ingredients here on the blog. Continue reading to find out about my little experiment, kitchen scale recommendations, and a list of resources.

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/07/16/volume-weight-baking-why-should-weigh-ingredients/