Tip For Baking A Better Cake

Here are some tips from Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of “The Cake Bible,” for baking better cakes:

Use superfine sugar for better texture. To make it yourself, process granulated sugar in a food processor.

Use cake flour, which is made from soft winter wheat, for a more tender cake. Do not, however, use self-rising cake flour, which contains baking powder and salt.

Line bottom of layer cake pans with a round of parchment. This is especially important for chocolate cakes, which often stick.

Spray parchment and sides of the pan with Baker’s Joy, a shortening spray mixed with flour that’s sold in supermarkets and cake supply shops. Or use solid vegetable shortening, not butter, for greasing pans, then flour them.

The sides of a cake bake faster than the center, which continues to rise to a peaked surface. To even out the baking and create a level top, wrap the outside of the pan with Magi-Cake Strips. The reusable strips, made of aluminized fabric, can be purchased at baking supply stores.