Dry Cake Solutions

Ask the Test Kitchen

Whenever I bake a cake from scratch it seems dry and crumbly. What am I doing incorrect? —K.M., Reidsville, North CarolinaThere can be numerous motives that your desserts flip out dry and crumbly:

Using an excessive amount of flour can motive a cake to turn out to be dry. When measuring dry substances, lightly spoon the flour into a measuring cup for dry components and stage off with a flat spatula.
Adding too little shortening or liquid also can cause dryness. Measure drinks in a liquid-measuring cup located on a level floor like your kitchen counter. Read the liquid dimension at eye level even as the cup is on the extent surface.
Batter that is improperly combined or undermixed can cause the cake to be crumbly. Careful mixing to calmly distribute the elements throughout the cake batter will give it a uniform consistency. Frequently use a plastic spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and don’t forget about to scrape the lowest of the bowl for any wallet of flour or different ingredients. (Be cautious not to overmix as soon as the flour is added, as this will cause the cake to be tough.)
Overbeating the egg whites or the usage of too many of them can lead to a dry cake. Egg whites act as a drying agent, so you could attempt eliminating one of the whites.
Too a lot sugar can motive a cake to fall apart whilst cut, at the same time as too little sugar can make a cake hard. The nice cake recipes have a terrific stability of substances.
Using a pan that is too large for the quantity of batter you've got can motive it to overbake and end up dry. The pan need to be stuffed from half of to a few-fourths full.
Finally, test your oven temperature with an oven thermometer. If the oven temperature is simply too excessive, your cake can be dry. Overbaking could also be a wrongdoer. Check your cake for doneness on the lower give up of the baking range.