Using parchment paper to line your cake tins serves two purposes. Firstly, it prevents the cake from sticking so it's easier to get it out of the tin. Secondly, lining the sides of the tin prevents the cake from becoming too dark. Brush the tin with a flavourless oil such as sunflower. Then trace out the base on parchment paper and cut out the shape, then cut a long strip for the sides. If that's too much of a faff, you can buy pre-cut and measured liners from specialist kitchenware stores.
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Baking powder is not the same as baking soda (also called bicarbonate of soda) and cooks are often confused. The former is a combination of bicarbonate of soda, an acid, cream of tartar and something like cornflour which acts as a filler. Check if you are on a gluten-free diet. Baking powder reacts when added to liquid to create carbon dioxide which makes the mixture expand. You should get your cake into the oven quickly once added. Make plain flour self-raising by adding a level teaspoon to 110g (4oz) flour.
Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is an alkali used as a raising agent for soda bread and robust cakes such as gingerbread, carrot cake or fruit cake. You'll see it combined with an acid, such as buttermilk or yogurt, which helps to activate it and give off carbon dioxide to make a lighter cake. Always use the amount specified as over-use can give a strong, bitter flavour and your cake may collapse or peak too high.
To test if your cake is fully cooked through, it should be slightly shrunk away from the sides and springy to the touch. Double-check with a thin skewer through the centre, which should come out clean. If it's the correct colour on the outside but still a little raw in the centre, use a piece of foil to lightly cover the cake and continue to bake, checking it every five minutes or so. Open the oven door as little as possible to keep the heat constant.
Pure vanilla is pricey but you use such small amounts, it's worth splashing out. Vanilla essence is a synthetic flavouring and lacks the complexity of extract. Vanilla is a "balancer" like salt or lemon juice, which brings out other flavours in a recipe. It's often used in chocolate cakes to enhance the richness of the chocolate. Try our vanilla cake with rose buttercream – the vanilla boosts the scent and flavour of the rosewater.
Before you begin to make your cake, it's important to have all your ingredients at room temperature. Take eggs and butter out of the fridge ahead of time, though how long depends on how hot it is in the kitchen. If the butter is too hard, weigh it out then cut into small pieces and leave it for 15 minutes or so. It needs to be soft enough so when you're creaming it with the sugar, it combines well to incorporate enough air to give a light end result.
Cracked cake? It could be the wrong-sized tin or a too-hot oven. Sunk in the middle? There could be too much raising agent in the mixture or you've opened the oven too often. Soggy in the middle? The oven could be too hot or you didn't check it was cooked through with a skewer. Too dense and heavy? Probably not enough air beaten into it. Alternatively, you bashed out the air by being too heavy-handed when folding in the flour or banged the side of the bowl with your whisk.
If you need to measure out quantities of honey, golden syrup or treacle, it can be tricky and sticky. The easiest way to do it is to have a jug of boiled water straight from the kettle to hand. Heat the measuring spoon in the water before dipping into the jar and the honey will fall off the spoon. Keep putting the spoon into the boiled water to heat it. Then try our lovely honey cake with honey buttercream.
Who can resist a home-baked carrot cake? It's such a forgiving cake which doesn't require much technical skill, but the trick is to get the frosting right. Make sure to use full-fat cream cheese as anything else goes to liquid once you add the icing sugar. Also use the best butter you can – cheaper butters contain more water and won't make a thick, rich icing. Our carrot and walnut cake will be a winner.
Get the recipe for carrot and walnut cake with cream cheese frosting here
Melting chocolate can be tricky. The biggest mistake is to overheat it which makes the chocolate stiffen, then curdle when cream is added, if for example, you're making a ganache. Melt chopped chocolate very gently in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, without allowing the bowl to touch the water. Cool for a while before adding any cream. Check out our chocolate and salted caramel cake to give ganache a go.
Get the recipe for chocolate and salted caramel marbled cake here
Butter and eggs are such an integral part of baking, so it's a challenge to make vegan cakes – but by no means impossible. Our vegan salted caramel cake uses almond milk and almond butter. Just check that any chocolate used in a recipe is labelled as suitable for vegans, because some may contain animal fats.
Get the recipe for vegan salted caramel cake here
This blackberry Bakewell cake uses almonds and a puréed, cooked orange to add moisture to the cake, instead of using butter. When fresh blackberries are out of season, you can substitute them with frozen blackberries or raspberries, but thaw them before adding to the cake.
Get the recipe for blackberry Bakewell cake here
While you're staying home and spending more time in the garden at the moment, you may want to think twice before throwing those nettles into your compost bin. This nettle and lemon cake with a lemon buttercream contains a purée of blanched nettles in the sponge. The boiling water removes the sting. However, ensure you only use the young top leaves as the lower ones will be too bitter.
As a general rule of thumb, most sponge cakes freeze really well. Allow the cake to cool completely, wrap in cling film, then in foil to freeze. Allow to thaw at room temperature. Fully decorated cakes don't freeze well, but fillings such as buttercream will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to four days. Try our malted chocolate cake, where both the sponge and icing can be frozen separately.
A bundt or ring cake is a thing of beauty and something to attempt when you have a little more confidence in your baking. The tins can be notoriously tricky due to their shape, with so many nooks and crannies to thoroughly grease. The best way to avoid bits of the cake sticking to the tin is to use a cake release spray which does the job perfectly. Ready to give it a go? Try our gorgeous marbled coffee ring cake.
In 2016, The Great British Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain, made Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday cake, an orange drizzle cake with orange buttercream. Here's her smaller (20cm/8 inch) version adapted to make at home. It's a bit of a challenge, but what a wow-factor cake. If you're decorating the cake with real roses, check they're unsprayed first. In spring, edible pansies or violas would look pretty. Alternatively, you can buy sugar roses online.
Get the recipe for orange drizzle cake with buttercream here
Everyone loves a drizzle cake with glacé icing (a mix of icing sugar and liquid of some sort). It's easy to make but sift the icing sugar thoroughly to remove any lumps. If your sieve isn't fine enough, you may have to do it a couple of times to avoid unsightly lumps over your perfect cake. Add the liquid (often water) gradually to ensure it isn't too runny. Our lovely lemon drizzle cake will certainly hit the spot – the glaze uses lemon juice and icing sugar for an extra citrusy note.
Cake recipes inspired by Middle Eastern cooking often contain olive oil instead of butter. The oil gives a more dense, heavy texture but it also results in a very moist, squidgy cake. You can't swap in olive oil in a cake where butter has been used without several attempts to get it right. It's better to use a tried, trusted recipe specifically developed using olive oil, like one of our favourites which is a spiced pumpkin, olive oil and orange loaf cake.
Get the recipe for spiced pumpkin, olive oil and orange loaf cake here
This classic tea cake is usually based on butter and eggs, so vegans would normally miss out. Not here! This recipe has a light, airy sponge thanks to a mix of plant-based milk, yogurt and butter, and apple cider vinegar. There's also a (vegan) buttercream filling with raspberry jam. You'd be hard-pushed to guess it wasn't the original.
Can you do a straight swap of wheat flour for gluten-free flour? Well, it depends on the recipe. For cookies, it just makes them softer. However, in cakes, it may change the structure and the rise. You're better off tracking down a recipe which has been developed using gluten-free flour, such as our hot chocolate cake recipe. It's very simple and has a pleasing kick from a dash of hot sauce.
A genoise is an Italian sponge which contains no raising agent. The light texture is achieved by beating eggs and sugar until pale and thick. You will definitely need an electric hand whisk! The trick to getting it as light as possible is to beat the eggs and sugar over a pan of gently simmering water, without the bowl touching the water. The gentle heat makes the eggs foam up and results in a light cake, like our mojito cake.
Melting sugar for caramel strikes fear into many cooks but there's a simple trick. Start by very gently heating the sugar – some recipes ask you to add water, some don't, but the theory is the same. Once the sugar is warm, it will dissolve. Do this really slowly then once it has melted, turn up the heat to make the caramel. Don't stir it but swirl it around the pan. Our show-stopping cake with Baileys Irish cream liqueur and salted caramel is worth the effort.
If you're looking for an easy recipe which you can make with children, and one which they will love to eat, look no further than this clever twist on an upside-down cake with bananas and maple syrup. It's also a good go-to recipe when the bananas in the fruit bowl are ripe and need using up.
We're seeing a trend towards incorporating nuts and seeds in cakes, together with wholemeal flour, to add a bit of feel-good factor with extra minerals, fibre and nutrients. They can still taste great, though. Our seedy almond cake recipe is perfect with a coffee, but could be a dessert or indulgent breakfast served with yogurt and fresh berries.
If you're looking for a cake for larger numbers, this dark chocolate and cherry sheet bake could be the one. It easily serves 12 and takes just 15 minutes to prep for the oven. As an added bonus, the recipe calls for frozen cherries, rather than fresh, so you can bake it all year-round.
Get the recipe for dark chocolate and cherry sheet bake here
A simnel cake is a quintessential Easter bake. It's topped with 11 or 12 balls of marzipan which are said to represent the 12 apostles minus Judas, or Jesus and the 12 apostles, minus Judas. It's a fruit cake topped with marzipan, and though our recipe shows you how to make the nutty confection, feel free to buy a ready-made block.
A Victoria sponge is a classic English bake. A light, airy cake is achieved by beating butter and sugar together, and using extra baking powder in addition to self-raising flour. Once mastered, you can make the sponge chocolatey with cocoa powder or give it a caffeine hit with dissolved coffee granules. Fill with raspberry jam and whipped cream. Our recipe is foolproof.