In this article we’ll learn how to create a great cake recipe using the “Baker’s Formula”. The information in this post is the culmination of all our Cake Batter classes, but can also stand alone. If you’d like to follow the classes in order visit the Baking School/Science of Cake Batter page.
The secret of how to make a cake moist & soft:
Before we start creating our perfect recipe, I’m going to introduce an important concept; the “Baker’s Formula” or “Baker’s Percentage”.
The Baker’s Formula
A successful cake recipe balances the ingredients that strengthen the cake structure (flour and eggs) with the ingredients that weaken and tenderize the cake structure (sugar and fat).
The Baker’s Formula is used to calculate the proper percentage of each ingredient for a successful recipe. The flour in the recipe is designated at 100% and all the other ingredients are designated relative to the flour. This is a very important point, so keep it in mind as we get deeper into it.
Lean Cakes:
Some of the earliest cake recipes, called “quatre quarts” (four fourths), were simply equal weights of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. I find that a cake made following the traditional recipe is less than ideal. It’s fairly dense, a little chewy and has a slightly flat taste.
That quatre quarts recipe produces a so-called “lean cake”. A “lean cake” has a very simple 1:1 formula balancing the structure-builders with the tenderizers.
The only liquid in the original recipe comes from the eggs (egg whites are 90% water). Liquid brings together the structure builders and the tenderizers in the batter. The liquid activates the gluten and swells the starch in the flour. The liquid also dissolves the sugar and helps disperse the fat throughout the batter and, of course, provides moisture.
High Ratio Cakes:
Because we’re using cake flour, with it’s finely ground starch that absorbs extra moisture, we can change the Baker’s Formula to allow for more liquid.
We can also use an emulsifier in the batter to help bind the liquid and fat in the batter. This allows for even more liquid in the recipe, and thus more sugar since you need liquid to dissolve sugar.
A cake made with cake flour and an emulsifying agent is “High Ratio” because the ratio of sugar to flour can now be higher than 1:1 without compromising the structure.
Adjust the Percentages for A Better Pound Cake
I used the original quatre quarts recipe as the basis for all the cake batter classes because the simple 1:1:1:1 ratio makes it very easy to measure changes. So that is the recipe I will use to show you how to use the baker’s formula to improve a cake recipe.
I wanted to lighten the crumb a bit, make it taste a little sweeter and produce a cake that is tender and rich enough to be eaten without buttercream. But I was careful to keep the characteristic even crumb and melt-in-your-mouth texture of a really great pound cake. I was not going for “light and fluffy” with this cake.
The first step was to lighten the crumb a tiny bit, so I added a little baking powder to the recipe. A pinch of salt and a teaspoon of real vanilla extract were added to enhance the flavor.
Now that the cake was lighter I wanted to sweeten things up a bit. The Baker’s Formula for a high ratio cake allows for up to about 140% of the weight of sugar to flour. I found in my testing for the “sugar” class that I like pound cake with a ratio of 125% sugar to 100% flour. With this in mind I increased the sugar in the recipe from 8 oz to 10 oz.
I also wanted to add a little extra liquid for moistness, so I needed an emulsifier in the batter. Vegetable shortening will act as an emulsifier, but I prefer an all-butter cake for the unparalleled flavor.
Instead of using shortening in the batter, I used a few extra egg yolks because yolks are great emulsifiers and also add a little extra fat and flavor to the batter. I changed the 8 oz of eggs in the recipe to 4 whole eggs and 3 extra yolks.
Now that we have cake flour and emulsifying eggs yolks in the recipe we can add a little more liquid for additional moisture. I added whole milk as the liquid for a basic pound cake recipe.
The revised recipe makes the perfect melt-in-your-mouth buttery pound cake.
Adjust the Percentages for A Lighter Vanilla Layer Cake
Of course the Baker’s Formula is not only useful for perfecting pound cake recipes. We can continue to test the limits of the structure builders and tenderizers to create a whole world of cake recipes.
I’ll give you another example. As I said, the perfect pound cake should have a dense, buttery texture that doesn’t need any icing at all. But a Vanilla Layer Cake is meant to be filled and iced with frosting. So a great Vanilla Layer Cake should be a little lighter and softer than a pound cake.
As a comparison, let’s look at the Baker’s Percentages for my Pound Cake Recipe vs. my Vanilla Butter Cake Recipe: (Both recipes can be found, in full, at the end of this post)
| Pound Cake | ||
| Flour | -8 oz | 100% |
| Fat | -9 oz | 112% |
| Sugar | -10 oz | 125% |
| Eggs | -9 oz | 112% |
| Liquid | -6 oz (w/eggs) |
| Vanilla Cake | ||
| Flour | -9 oz | 100% |
| Fat | -10.6 oz | 116% |
| Sugar | -12 oz | 133% |
| Eggs | -9 oz | 100% |
| Liqui | -12 oz (w/eggs) |
Ok, that’s a lot of information. But lets look at the percentages. (Remember: all percentages are relative to the weight of flour in the recipe.)
By just looking at the percentages you can guess that the vanilla cake will be a little more tender (more sugar and fat), a little sweeter (more sugar) and a little more moist (more liquid) than the pound cake.
The vanilla cake recipe also has more leavening and I whip the whites before adding them to the batter. So the vanilla cake also has a more open and light crumb than the pound cake.
Whew!!! So, all those small changes to the basic formula created a lighter, sweeter and softer cake. That’s just what I want for a cake that will be filled and iced with buttercream.
The takeaway here is that every cake recipe in the universe is some variation on this formula. The type of fat or liquid can change, additional ingredients can be added, but it’s always about the balanace between structure and softness.
It’s the variations that create the myriad of cake recipes that we can invent and perfect.
Pound Cake Perfection
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs plus 3 yolks (9 oz, 255 g) room temp (112%) See Note #1
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (2 oz, 60 ml) whole milk , divided
- 1 ¾ cups (8 oz, 225 g) cake flour (100%)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups (10 oz, 285 g) granulated sugar (125%)
- 2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (9 oz, 255g) unsalted butter, room temp (112%)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to at 350°F. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan or 12 cup bundt pan.
- Combine the eggs, vanilla and half the milk in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar to the flour and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter to the flour and mix until combined. Add the other ½ of the milk and increase the speed to medium high. Mix for a full 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and texture. If your using a hand mixer add another minute or two to the mixing time.
- Scrape the bowl and paddle thoroughly. On low speed, add the egg mixture in 3 increments, scraping the bowl after each addition.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to an even layer.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 55 minutes).
Notes
#1 The percentages listed for each ingredient represent the baker's formula percentage. Flour is set at 100% and the percentages listed for the other ingredients are in relation to the weight of the flour. Please read the full post for details about baker's percentages.
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KitchenAid KHM7210CU 7-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater II Accessories and Pro Whisk - Contour Silver
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Vanilla Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 6 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 1 cup (8 oz, 230g) sour cream at room temperature, divided
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (9 oz, 252g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (12 oz, 336g) granulated sugar, 1/4 cup separated
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons (9 oz, 255g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 large egg whites at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 8" round cake pans with a circle of parchment paper or butter and flour the bottom of the pans only, not the sides.
- Combine the yolks, 1/2 the sour cream and the vanilla in a small bowl, whisk to combine, set aside.
- Into a mixer bowl put 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, sift in the flour, leavening and salt. Mix on low speed for 10 seconds to distribute the leavening. Add the butter to the flour mixture. Mix on low until the butter is incorporated and the batter looks like a paste. Add the other 1/2 of the sour cream to the flour and butter mixture. Increase the speed to medium and mix about 3 minutes until the batter lightens in texture. If you're using a hand mixer add another minute or two to the total time.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer on low, add 1/2 the egg yolk mixture. Mix until mostly incorporated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the rest of the egg yolk mixture. Scrape the bowl and mix until incorporated.
- In another bowl, whip the egg whites on medium high until they form soft peaks. Turn the mixer to medium low and slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Turn the mixer to medium high and whip the whites to full peak. Fold the whites into the base in 2 parts, folding just until there are no streaks of egg whites.
- Divide the batter between the 2 pans and spread so it's level.
- Bake until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack. When fully cooled, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight before filling and assembling the cake.
Notes
The cake is very soft the day that it's baked. If you'd like to trim the crust and split the layers allow it to chill in the refrigerator until it's firm enough to handle without breaking. The filled cake can be kept at room temperature for several days (unless it has a perishable filling). The cake cake be frozen for several months.
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KitchenAid KHM7210CU 7-Speed Digital Hand Mixer with Turbo Beater II Accessories and Pro Whisk - Contour Silver
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KitchenAid KSM150PSCU Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield - Contour Silver
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Check out the companion eBook to this series. My Perfecting Pound Cake eBook includes 6 exclusive pound cake recipes not available on the blog, including Chocolate Pound Cake, Whipped Cream Pound Cake and an Improved Gluten Free Pound cake.
More from the Cake Batter Series:
Namita
March 15, 2019 at 1:25 amHello Eileen,
I came to your site to comment on the BreadBakers event but got lost in the lovely post on the basics of baking cake. For the last one hour, I have been intently reading the posts on baking. Your posts are so helpful, giving technical aspects of baking. Can’t thank you enough, Eileen.
Eileen
March 15, 2019 at 10:42 amOh, thanks so much Namita! You have no idea how happy that makes me. Sometimes we spend all the time researching and writing this stuff and don’t know if it’s helping! You’ve made my day!
Suzette
March 15, 2019 at 4:28 pmHello Ellen,
I found this place on Pinterest and have been enjoying this very much. I was wondering about banana cake. Would you use the reverse mixing method or the regular method for a banana cake? Also how about the egg white method for this as well?
Thank You
Eileen
March 15, 2019 at 4:32 pmIt depends if the banana cake uses butter or oil as the fat in the recipe. I’d really have to see the recipe to say. Do you have a recipe already or are you looking to create one?
Ruth
March 16, 2019 at 8:32 amEileen,
Is it possible to make a lemon pound cake (that has the same taste and texture as Starbucks lemon loaf) by replacing the vanilla with lemon oil and/or lemon juice
in your Perfect Pound Cake Recipe?
Eileen
March 16, 2019 at 9:24 amHi Ruth. I’ve never tasted Starbucks lemon loaf so I can’t say for sure what the texture is, etc. But you can certainly turn my pound cake recipe into a lemon cake by adding lemon flavor. I like to use fresh lemon zest (that’s where the oil is) and a little lemon extract. The juice of the lemon has more acidity than lemon flavor. But I do like to use the juice to make either a syrup or a glaze for the cake to give it a puckery finish.
Michael
April 30, 2019 at 4:58 pmPlease forgive me for writing a book in your comment section. I absolutely love your posts that get into the science of baking. I’m a HUGE nerd and am consistently unsatisfied with nearly every cake I bake. I’ve spent the last few weeks reading up on all this stuff. I’m putting spreadsheets together to collect recipes and calculate numbers for each. Many of the rules are simple enough, but there are a few things that aren’t clear to me and I was wondering if you’d be willing to provide some insight?
First, how do you determine how much liquid a cake needs? I know that there must be enough liquid to dissolve all of the sugar, but many recipes have MUCH more than that. In my list of 36 white cakes, the baker’s percentage of liquid ranges from 100% to 213%. Comparing liquid to sugar, they range from 94% to 167%. Your own white cake recipe comes in at 147% and 109%, respectively.
Second, for layer-type cakes (not pound cakes), is there a guideline of how much fat should be used, compared to flour? Again, I see huge variations here between recipes ranging from 35% to 90% Your white cake recipe is actually the chart-topper at 90%. Does having too much fat in a cake make it crumbly? I’ve made the 35% cake before, and it was probably the worst, driest cake ever to come out of my oven. So obviously there is such a thing as too little fat.
It’s really interesting to me how these recipes are just all over the place, ratio-wise. One other trend I noticed is that the majority of recipes exceed 100% of sugar to flour. Modern tastes must be for sweeter, high-ratio cakes. Apparently I dislike the firmer texture of “eggy” cakes where they outweigh the fat. I am actually excited to try your white cake recipe, because it seems to fit my preference for a sweeter (sugar is 135% of flour), less eggy (fat is 115% of eggs) cake. Although the numbers seem to indicate a higher probability of collapse due to too many tenderizing ingredients and not enough structure.
Eileen Gray
May 1, 2019 at 10:58 amPlease don’t apologize, Michael, I appreciate your passion! First to address the fact that modern cakes mostly have more sugar than flour. As I noted in my recipe testing, I personally found a slightly higher percent of sugar to flour improves the cake texture and flavor. So I agree with you there. Instead of addressing each of the other questions I refer you back to the last line of this post, “It’s the variations that create the myriad of cake recipes that we can invent and perfect.” As I always say “baking is an art and a science.” The cake formula explains the science of the how the ingredients work, but the art of baking is figuring out how to manipulate those ingredients and the technique to get the best results. The cake formula is not a set of “rules” really so much as a way of explaining how a cakes texture is affected by the variation of ingredients. You can push the limits with any of the ingredients to get the texture you’re after. In fact, in my white cake post I acknowledge that the cake will “settle” as it comes out of the oven because it is a tender cake. I’m fine with that because I like the final texture of the cake. There is no such thing as “correct” or “perfect” cake recipe. That’s where the “art” (and fun!) of baking comes in.