Breakdown assistance when baking: The 7 best SOS tips

“I’ll never bake again!” I’ve probably sworn that to myself a hundred times. If the, the muffins or something elseIf it doesn't come out of the oven as expected, the frustration is great. But hey, practice makes perfect and besides, you can save even the most failed cake. At least most of the time.

We therefore want to take a look at what breakdown assistance is available for messed up pastries. By this I mean simple SOS tips that work when the child has already fallen into the well or the cake has charred. To limit the damage, so to speak, so that no one notices the mishap.

In addition to classics like cake that is black on the outside and moist on the inside, here you will find out how you can turn the cake out if it seems to be stuck in the pan. And I'll show you how you can use leftover cake - just in case all other first aid methods fail.

Important:As is often the case in life, when it comes to baking it also means:Read the fucking Manual!You can save yourself the most trouble if you read the recipe carefully before baking and stick to the ingredient quantities - and also know your oven.

Cover the cake with baking paper.This will prevent the upper heat from catching it cold or hot and causing it to become even darker. If you don't have any baking paper to hand, you can put another baking tray on the oven rack above it so that the cake comes out of the "sun".

Place the cake one shelf level lower.With this special kind of tuning, you increase the distance to the heat source from above. Be sure to wear oven gloves or use kitchen towels to do this, otherwise it won't burn the cake, but your fingers will.

Reduce the temperature or cooking time.This is the emergency plan if the cake is already very dark. Before you take the cake out of the oven, you should definitely test the chopsticks if the cooking time is shortened. Only pull out the pastry when there is no more dough sticking to the stick.

Most cakes are baked using top/bottom heat. The poor pastry can get too warm not only from above, but also from below. Here are the best baking tips for cake that turns black at the bottom.

Push under the second tray.This is basically the counter model to top heat. Since cakes should never be baked completely on the stove floor anyway, you still have space under the cake rack for another oven tray that buffers the heat upwards.

Create a buffer with newspapers.Alternatively, you can place a stack of newspaper between the cake pan and the rack to increase the distance to the heat from below.

This way you can avoid the baking problem:It's best to always bake the cake on the middle shelf, then there's a good chance that it will cook evenly and you'll still have room for improvement when things get tough.

Perfect cake is beautifully tender and juicy inside. But if the cake comes out of the oven dry and rock hard, you can do something about it.

Soak cake in liquid or syrup.Grab a toothpick or kebab skewer and use it to poke a few holes in the top of the cake. Drizzle fresh lemon juice over it. The juice seeps in through the holes and freshens the dough inside. You can use milk for a neutral taste.

If the cake is stuck in the pan and cannot be turned out, it's time to stay calm. Don't get nervous and shake the cake, he doesn't like that at all.

Loosen the edge of the cake with a knife.Carefully run the knife around the inner edge of the cake pan to loosen any caked-on cake residue. Then turn the cake with the opening facing down onto a kitchen rack. Now gently tap the bottom of the mold. Then the cake should come off.

Place a damp kitchen towel on the cake pan.To do this, moisten the towel with water and place it on the back of the cake pan. Alternatively, you can try a cold compress. The temperature shock supposedly causes the cake to slip out of the mold.

Shock therapy in the freezer.Place the cake and pan in the freezer for an hour. The cold causes the dough to contract, the cake shrinks and is easier to remove. But please don't freeze it for too long, otherwise the cake will become soggy.

This way you can avoid the baking problem:ALWAYS grease the cake pan and dust it with breadcrumbs. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the mold and getting stuck. So that the chocolate cake doesn't have any light flour edges later on, you can use baking cocoa to "flour" dark cakes.

Tipp:Have you lined the cake pan with baking paper (e.g. for sponge cake bases) and can you no longer remove the paper? If you coat the baking paper with water, it should be easier to remove.

Some cake tins such as the Gugelhupf have a built-in breaking point where the cake breaks easily when falling. Not a big deal, because such damage to the cake can be easily repaired.

Casting or jam as an edible putty.Cut the broken corner of the cake out of the mold and stick it back in place with fruit spread or chocolate icing. You can hide the break by icing the cake. You can also hide brown spots (which you should first scrape off with a grater, like you would with burnt toast).

Flat muffins are nothing to cry about, even if you would have hoped for more visually. With this trick you can make small cakes appear larger.

Halve the muffins and fill them.Simply cut the muffin horizontally. Spread or pipe the bottom half thickly with cupcake frosting and place the other half on top like a hamburger. This means the muffin is taller and at the same time easier to eat than normal muffinswith topping on top.

:If you follow the recipe information for raising agents such asIf you have kept it, the reason for the flat muffins can only be the shape.

Have you tried baking cupcakes in paper cases? This always goes wrong because the paper doesn't have enough strength to hold the dough together. This causes it to spread during baking and become flatbread. So it's better to use a real muffin tin or use sturdier cardboard tins or reusable silicone tins(here on Amazon)* fall back.

Tip for muffins of the same size:Professionals measure the portion with an ice cream spoon. One filled spoonful is the perfect amount for a muffin. And hey presto, you no longer have to explain to anyone why one muffin is bigger than the other.

Sounds nasty and it is:The klitsch is the death sentence of any cake.This refers to the moist, sticky consistency that a cake can have on the inside if it has not been baked properly. There is usually too much liquid - either from too many fruits or if you meant too well and used more milk or eggnog (I admit guilt!) than in the recipe.

Another possible reason for soggy cakes: an oven temperature that is too high. This causes the outer crust to become too hard and the moisture essentially remains trapped in the cake. The mean thing: Klitsch only shows up when it's too late for breakdown assistance. Then you have to bite the bullet and can only enjoy the parts of the cake that are not soggy.

If there are visitors on the mat and you can already smell the delicious smell of cake, you can simply help yourself. Mix the leftover cake with quark and form balls out of it. If you have more time, you canGlaze with icing and decorate. Nobody will notice that you originally had something completely different in mind!

Clever alternative: Use the leftover cake as a base for a cheesecake. You may also need to mix the cake mixture with melted butter so that everything sticks together. Now add a cream cheese filling on top, put it in the fridge and you're done.