CAKE MAKING TUTORIAL

Whether you're making a towering skyscraper of buttercream or a one-bowl wonder, baking a cake is an investment in time, in ingredients, and in pride. And with so much on the line, it's only logical t  [...]

Pick a reliable recipe from a book, website, or author you trust, and make sure you're using that book its front matter, it's headnotes, and its ingredient list as it's meant to be.
Before you g  [...]

prepare the pan: Depending on the recipe, you may leave the pan bare, line the bottom with parchment and grease the sides, or grease and flour the whole pan.
Properly position your oven racks  [...]

It's more important to be vigilant with your baking powder than your baking soda.

Cold butter and eggs and no time to wait for them to warm up? No problem. There are fast and safe ways to bring these ingredients up to room temperature.

If you're not using a scale to weigh flour, it's especially important that you're measuring the flour the right way: Never shake or tap the measuring cup to settle the flour, or you may end with a den  [...]

Alice recommends a toothpick rather than a metal cake tester.
It will be hard to wait, but you'll need to cool your cake according to the recipe's instructions. Most cakes baked in parchment-l  [...]

Detach from the sides of the pan using a knife or spatula, then cover the pan with a rack, hold the rack and pan together, and flip the everything over. Remove the pan and peel off the parchment liner  [...]