Let me start by saying that my style of baking is akin to a slightly crazed monkey. I think I’ve mentioned plenty of times before that I don’t consider myself a baker. Whereas in cooking and in life, I’m normally pretty fastidiously organized, when it comes to baking, I don’t know which way is up. Ingredients are scattered all over the kitchen, clouds of flour are kicked up as I move around, and inexplicably, there is often butter on the microwave door. And my forehead.
I’m also a big believer in tweaking a recipe to make it my own. In cooking, this often works beautifully for me. One time, I threw some ripened mangoes into a salad laden with avocadoes and almonds that I’d toasted in paprika and bam! Gorgeous lunch. The same rarely holds true, however, for me on the baking side, mainly because the chemistry involved in baking requires precision. Adding an extra half-egg or reducing the amount of baking powder only makes your cake wonky and unfortunate-looking, not to mention completely unappetizing. I can attest to that personally.
Adding one 8 oz tub of sour cream to any cake recipe always makes it incredibly moist, without ever screwing up the cake ( despite that baking requires incredibly precise measurements and exact ingredients). And, you can never actually taste the sour cream!! This little trick has earned me many complements, even though I still consider myself a very novice baker! Happy baking 🙂
Oh, and always use fresh baking soda. It expires within 30 days after the box is opened and then it screws up your cake. But, u probably already knew that!! 🙂
The bundt looks amazing. I totally agree that you can’t really improv on baking, because you will totally ruin your cake. I’ve had some major mishaps in the kitchen.
I hate that a cake might look beautiful but you can’t tell how it tastes until you slice into it, so when I make a new cake recipe for the first time I will do it as cupcakes – or at least one cupcake – that way I can taste it to make sure it tastes right before serving it up to others. And ALWAYS follow the temperature recommendations for the butter, if it says room temp leave that sucker out for a couple hours!
Thanks for the great tips, guys! I’m definitely going to try all of them the next time I’m baking, especially adding sour cream.
Dude, I am bummed that I can’t eat the cake you so handily baked in my wedding gift to you.
Tara: the next time I travel your way, I’ll be sure to bring the pan and bake you one!
Tell Miles that I’ll make him one any time!
Miles just saw the picture of the cake and said yum and tried to eat it.
Of course, John Tobey! Your chocolate amaretto cake description was actually an inspiration for me to make something similar last week — photos and post to come!
I feel your pain regarding cakes that “at least taste good.” In my opinion, cakes and pastries must be perfect. And you know I’m willing to go the extra-mile to make sure that happens!