Bake cakes to perfection with these tips

Chocolate cakes, plum cakes with dry fruits and several other cake varieties are all set to offer a lip-smacking treat this Christmas-New Year season. To prepare the tastiest cakes and become a celebrity among your family and friends, the following tips would prove useful.

• The measurement of various ingredients needs to be precise to prepare the best cakes. Instead of using a cup to measure, choose to weigh the items. When using a cup it may be remembered that the same measure of various items would have different weight. For example, while one cup of refined flour (maida) would weigh 130 grams, the same amount of cocoa powder would have a weight of only 82 grams. Meanwhile, a cup of butter has a weight of 230 grams.

• If the recipe says that butter and sugar have to be mixed thoroughly for ten minutes, ensure that they are beaten together for that same amount of time. It is this beating that gives the cake its texture.

• However, after adding refined flour, do not beat for long.

• Both oil and butter are used in cake-making. While oil turns the cake moist, butter gives a better taste. Canola and sunflower oils are ideal to make cakes. If olive oil is used, its taste would be evident even after the cake is ready.

• Apple sauce and pineapple sauce can be chosen instead of oil. A more healthy cake can be prepared by preferring fruit sauce.

• Before adding chocolate chips and fruit slices, coat them with maida. Otherwise, they may end up at the bottom of the cake tin.

• A cake needs to be allowed to cool for at least for 30 minutes before it is taken out of the mould. If a cake is cut when it is warm, it may crumble.

• Cakes made with fruits like banana, carrot or apple have to be kept for at least eight hours to savour its best taste. When covered with a cling film, it will not turn dry.

• Icing on the cake is done by adding butter, cream, cheese or whipped cream. In case the quantity of the sugar is not precise, the icing may melt. If this happens, keep the cake in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes before serving. Icing has to be applied only after the cake cools to room temperature.

• Many recipes specify the time needed to bake the cake. However, the actual time may differ depending on the setting of each oven. While baking a cake check whether it is ready every 15 minutes. For that, look at its sides. If it gradually separates from the tray, then things would turn out fine.