So I baked a vanilla cake recipe tonight that I’ve previously baked before and this time around, 1 of my cake layers baked nicely (good height, straight sides, flat top) and the other 3 seemed to have fallen short, literally. The sides were slightly slanted and the height was shorter, but with a flat top. I used a kitchen scale to make sure I had the same amount of batter in each pan. Although, when I was separating them into bowls (I was coloring 3 layers) I noticed the last fourth of the batter I was pouring out was a bit thicker because that batter was from scraping the sides and crevices of the mixing bowl. (This thicker batter was the cake layer that baked nicely.) I then baked two cake pans at a time, at 350 for 32 min. The other two cake pans sat on my table until the first two were done. I did this in hopes that maybe my layers would bake flatter or more even at the top. After they were done I let them cool for about 10 min, then popped them in the freezer for about 30 min to speed up the cooling process. (I did this cooling progress my first attempt with this recipe and it didn’t affect height or cause shrinkage).
The first time I used this recipe, I was using an electric hand mixer. I don’t remember having the ingredients at room temp and I baked all the cake layers at once with the oven at 350 for 30 min. I used the kitchen scale to make sure each pan had the same amt of batter. And I used the same cooling process as I specified above. The cake layers had a slight dome but was easily fixed when I leveled them.
I switched things up hoping to achieve a flatter top so I wouldn’t have to level at all or as much off the tops. I think a good indication of where I went wrong was the 1 layer with the thicker batter than the other 3. I recently got a stand mixer and I didn’t scrape the sides or crevices while I was still mixing the batter so I probably didn’t mix everything in evenly. Evidence that might back that up is that the thicker batter layer was baked alongside a “thinner” batter layer (As I was baking two pans at a time this time around instead of all 4) and the thicker layer came out fine compared to the other.
Maybe I should have baked at a lower temp for longer since I was baking 2 pans at a time instead of 4? But that doesn’t explain why one layer was fine and the other that baked alongside it was not. I have a feeling it might be from just improper or under mixing, but any insight is appreciated!! I’m new to the baking world and I’m a bit of a perfectionist so this is bothering me lol
I used four round 7 x 3 cake pans by fat daddio both times. Greased with vegetable shortening and lightly floured, with the bottom lined with parchment circle.
Im sorry if my story is all over the place or too long, I’m just trying to explain throughly what I did in hopes that someone might help! ☺️
