my cakes always turn out to b rock hard cn u ppl pls suggest sum remedy so tht my cakes turn out to be softer?

Answer 1

Tough or dry cakes have a few causes. I assume you are talking about a home-made from scratch cake, not one from a packet. First, you probably should consider using cake flour, rather than all-purpose or regular flour, and definitely not flour for bread. Cake flour is made from a softer wheat with less gluten, making for a more tender cake. Second, watch your mixing time. Once you add liquid to flour and start beating, you start developing gluten. You really only want to mix until you have a smooth batter, without lumps- and that shouldn't take a lot of mixing. The more you mix, the more gluten is developed- which is great for making bread but makes a tough rubbery cake. Dry cakes are usually due to overbaking or using too high temperature. Most cakes bake at 170-180C, or 350F. There's no way you can specify an exact baking time, but as a rule when you can smell your cake in the oven, you are nearing the end of the baking time. Use the time honored toothpick test, and as soon as it comes out very nearly clean, with just a crumb or two sticking to it, your cake is done. If you wait until it comes out completely clean, you have an overdone cake- dry and hard when cooled. Your cake should actually finish up the last of the baking while it rests in the pan for about 5-10 minutes out of the oven, before you tip it out of the pan to a rack to cool completely.
In some cases, the liquid to flour ratio can be off and need adjusting. If you have very dry flour, the batter may end up a bit on the thick side. Cake batter is usually thick but pourable, and if your's is a bit on the thick side, you can add a few tablespoons more of whatever liquid- usually milk, to thin it out a little. Also, be careful how you measure the flour out. If you are measuring with cups or scoops, and you just scoop it out of the canister or sack, you may be adding in too much flour to start with. You should always spoon or scoop flour into your measure, lightly filling it, and then even off the top. Then you can use a sieve to sift your flour and other dry ingredients together before you add them into the mix.
If you are making a cake that requires you to cream butter and sugar, take your time on that to make sure it really gets creamy and lighter in color. Also, when you beat in the eggs, have them at room temperature. Room temp eggs beat up lighter, and give a bit more lift to the finished cake. It's really best to have all the ingredients at room temperature with cake baking, even the milk needs to be lukewarm. You can give the liquid a whirl in the microwave to get it to baby bottle temp. If you mix all your liquid ingredients, and all the dry ingredients in seperate containers, and then mix the two, you will spend less time mixing to get a smooth batter- which will also mean a more tender cake in the end.
It's really a matter of looking at what you are doing, and trying a few things to see what you need to fix. Usually, it's a matter of mixing too long, baking too long, or having things at the right temperature to start with. And in case of a tough cake- make crumbs and stir them into pudding, or use them to make a trifle. Then nobody will notice, because it will moisten up and taste just fine- and nobody will be any the wiser. You can also poke holes in the cake with a toothpick, and brush on a bit of juice, liqeur, or warmed jelly/jam. Let the cake sit a bit to soak it up, then add a filling between the layers. Frost as you like, and let the cake sit a few hours to soak up some of the moisture, and it usually does just fine. Happy cake baking!

Answer 2

For a soft, moist cake, I've always had great success with a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in the batter.

Answer 3

*Use milk instead of water
*Add plain yogurt to soften and moisten
*Add a little pudding to moisten
*Put a pan of water below your cake so it doesnt harden the outside of the cake before the inside get done
*you my also want to use cake flour
*You may also want to put a tblspn of vegetable oil this really soften the cakes
I run a cake buisness so i really kno all the cake tricks from the back of my hand!

Answer 4

Well - one big tip is that you beat yr egg till they are firm, but after you put in yr flour and sugar and butter and the baking powder and stuff u have to put - do not beat for long, just lightly.
that way the cake does come out light and soft.

Answer 5

Try adding coke/pepsi (any carbonated drink) to the mixture just before putting it in oven.

Answer 6

my grandmother taught me to use milk instead of water and it really makes a difference.also make sure not to overcook or cake gets harder.