Main Reasons For Baking Disasters

There are three main reasons for baking failures, I’ve discovered, when readers complain about a cake recipe that hasn’t worked.

One is substituting diet margarine, or whipped margarine, for regular butter or margarine. Diet and whipped margarines have too much water and not enough fat for baking.

The second most common problem is pan substitutions. A round 9-inch pan, for example, has only three-fourths the volume of a 9-inch square pan. An 8-inch round pan has about 25 percent less capacity than a 9-inch round pan. If you have to make substitutions, use less batter and make more layers, and reduce cooking time, or otherwise compensate for the change in volume.

The third problem is the use of ancient baking powder. Particularly in a humid climate, baking powder can lose its punch. I wouldn’t trust my baked goods to baking powder more than a year old. You can test your baking powder by putting teaspoon on a saucer, then drizzling on about teaspoon of vinegar. If it doesn’t foam madly, it has lost its fizzle.