The 9 most common baking mistakes you need to know about

Are you short on time and want to shorten the baking time of your cake by simply setting the oven hotter? A very bad idea! Because the baking time cannot be shortened, especially not if you simply increase the temperature. If you do this, the cake will become dark and dry on top and remain liquid on the inside.

Baking takes time and love. So stick to the specified baking time. Very important: Get to know your oven, some ovens are hotter or cooler than others at the same temperature. If you notice that your cakes quickly become too dark despite the correct temperature, you should reduce the baking temperature slightly.

If the cake has already risen and has formed a crust on top, you can also open the oven very briefly (!) and cover the cake, which is too dark, with a piece of aluminum foil. It prevents the cake from getting darker on top.

You want onebaking, but after you took the eggs and butter out of the fridge and mixed them with the sugar, did the dough curdle? Then you have made a typical mistake, because eggs and butter should always be at room temperature for batter. If one of the ingredients is too cold and the other is warm, the dough will become crispy. But that doesn't mean you have to throw away the batter!

You can save the curdled cake batter by gently heating the bowl with the ingredients in a water bath and stirring vigorously. This is how you ensure that the ingredients combine with each other again.

Yes, it's tempting to open the oven door for a moment to get a better look at the cake. But you should definitely stop doing that! The reason: The cake that has just risen can collapse due to the temperature shock.

You can only safely open the oven door in the last third of the baking time. Only then can you take a look or, for example, cover cakes that are getting dark with aluminum foil or baking paper.

Sometimes it happens that the cake is not yet fully baked despite the baking time and the correct temperature being adhered to. If you only notice this when cutting it, the cake can no longer be saved.

It is therefore important to check at the end of the baking time whether the cake is really done. There are different methods for this depending on the type of cake.

1. Stick test for sponge cake
For sponge cakes, you can use a stick test to check whether the cake is done immediately after baking. To do this, simply insert a wooden stick (e.g. a shish kebab skewer) into the cake from above and pull it out. If the stick is clean except for a few crumbs, the cake is ready. If there is still dough stuck to it, it needs to be put back in the oven as quickly as possible.

2. Knock test for yeast pastries
A stick test is difficult for yeast dough. The knock test is recommended to find out whetheretc. are baked through on the inside. To do this, tap the yeast dough with your knuckle, first from above, then from below. If it sounds hollow, the yeast dough is cooked. If the sound is still very muffled, the yeast cake needs a little more time in the oven. As a precaution, cover it with baking paper so that it doesn't get too dark.

3. Cheesecake finger test
To check whether theWhen it's ready, you should lightly press the top of the cake with your finger. If the cheesecake feels firm and only gives slightly, it is “done”. If your finger sinks and liquid dough sticks, it has to go back into the oven. Make sure that it is not set too hot. In general, the cheesecake only becomes really solid after several hours when it has cooled completely.

4. Does the cake still whisper?
If you're practiced, you can even hear whether the cake is done. My first boyfriend's grandma told me this trick many years ago. Because a cake that is not yet fully baked on the inside still “whispers” strongly. By “whisper” we mean the crackling sound that the boiling liquid makes inside the cake. Since this tip only really helps experienced ears, to be on the safe side you should do an additional one of the cooking tests described above, depending on the type of cake.

Help, I killed the yeast! Unfortunately, in my early days as a hobby baker, I made this mistake more than once. Although I followed the recipe instructions exactly, the yeast dough didn't rise and I ended up with a blackjack instead of a fluffy yeast plait on my plate.

The mistake I made: I heated the liquid I added to the yeast dough too much. Yeast are living cultures that do not tolerate heat well. At temperatures above 45 °C they begin to die. The result: the yeast dough no longer rises.

When making yeast dough, always make sure that you never heat milk, water and/or liquid butter too much. It's best to always test the temperature with your finger. It should feel warm but not hot.

Just put everything in the bowl, stir and you're done? Unfortunately no! If you want the cake to rise beautifully, it is important to stick to the order of steps in the recipe.

For sponge cakes, the butter is usually first creamed together with the sugar until the mixture is light and creamy. Only then do the eggs follow gradually and slowly, then flour or flour substitute is slowly folded in. This sequence keeps the dough fluffy.

You believe that the harder, faster and longer the finished cake batter is stirred, the better. Incorrect! Sponge cake dough in particular reacts quite sensitively to too many revolutions. If you stir or beat too much, the cake will end up tough and rubbery. No trace of fluffiness.

Use yoursor ideally just use your hand mixer to cream butter and sugar, whip cream or make egg whites. You should stir in the remaining ingredients by hand using a whisk or a spatula.

The kitchen timer beeps, the cake is ready. So get out of the oven quickly? Better not! It's better to give your new friend a little rest in the switched off oven. Because too much of a temperature shock can cause the cake to collapse. This can happen quickly, especially with very fluffy varieties such as sponge cake or cheesecake.

Therefore: turn off the oven, open the oven door slightly and let the cake cool slowly in the still warm oven.

Inexperienced hobby bakers tend to change the ingredients in the cake recipe according to their whim. After all, who has everything on the list in their house? But messing around with the recipe and replacing ingredient A with ingredient B is not a good idea. Just like turning a blind eye to the quantities given.

When it comes to flour, liquid, oil, or eggs, changing the amount can result in a baking disaster. Even a different type of flour can cause the consistency of the cake to change. Depending on the type and degree of grinding, the types of flour have different baking properties. So it's better to stick to the information in the recipe.