How to moisten the cake? - The complete guide

There is nothing worse than a dry cake. It’s unappetizing and unpleasant on the palate, not to mention completely overshadowing the flavor and filling. Most recipes always claim to be moist but somehow keep coming out dry.

But don’t worry, because we’re here to help you spare your cake the same crunchy, crumbly fate and give you some extra tips and tricks for taking it off the edge when it’s oven-dried.

How can you moisten a cake?

The best ways to salvage a dry cake and make it moist are to add a moist filling, coat the layers with sugar syrup, or revive it by steaming it before decorating. Dry cake can also be avoided in most circumstances by using the right ingredients and monitoring the cake throughout the baking process.

These preventive and saving methods are infallible and very easy, but above all they require patience and concentration.

In today’s article, we’ll talk about the main reasons why your cake may turn out to be dry, so you can easily identify what went wrong and know how to avoid it.

We’ll also look at other methods to revive a cake that’s gone dry, either by using additional ingredients or simply serving it with something else.

Why is my cake dry?

There are many, many reasons why your cake might come out dry. It can be anything from the recipe itself to using the wrong filling.

Here are some of the most common reasons and how you can identify them. If you are able to identify the problem, you can more easily find the correct solution.

1. Incorrect proportions

No one has ever said that making food is easy, and baking is definitely one of the hardest categories to master. Baking cakes (and other products) is a science and requires very specific amounts and methods to achieve perfect results.

With baking, unfortunately, there’s a right way and a wrong way, and it’s also not that easy to fix once it’s done. Luckily, over the years we’ve learned a few tricks when it comes to cakes.

One of the biggest culprits when it comes to dry cakes is the recipe itself. It’s sad to say, but unfortunately not all cake recipes are moist (or even delicious).

Plus, we’re willing to bet that the recipe you found online didn’t take into account things like the temperature drift of your particular oven, the moisture content in the air in your area, or your altitude.

All of these things can significantly affect cooking.

The ratio of dry to wet ingredients is what will ultimately determine the texture (density) and moisture of the cake.

Dense cakes are generally rarely moist unless of course something else has been made with them, a sugar syrup for example (more on this later).

If you want to know if your recipe will give you a wet or dry cake, the best way to go is to check if the dry and wet ingredients are nearly equal in quantity.

By this we mean check to see if there are more wet or dry ingredients. This ratio should be at least very close to equality, and the dry ingredients should be slightly more (bearing in mind that it should be a dough).

To determine the amount of wet and dry ingredients, simply add up all the amounts for each category separately.

There are some important things to keep in mind:

• You don’t have to include small amounts like a teaspoon, tablespoon, pinch, or pinch - they’re too small to be meaningful.
• Each egg makes up about a third of a cup in volume.
• All your ingredients should be in cups (volume). Adding the weight of the ingredients will not be as accurate as different ingredients have different densities and therefore different weights.

If it turns out that the dry ingredients far outweigh the wet, you may end up with a dry cake, especially if you live somewhere with low humidity.

However, be careful with modifying the recipe, as you can end up with the opposite problem. In that case, we have another article that will tell you what to do if your cake turns out to be too wet.

2. Wrong Substitutions

This is another of the great mistakes when baking. Too often, we find people complaining that cakes are dry after using butter instead of milk, or water instead of buttermilk.

Some ingredients have very specific functions and cannot simply be substituted for something similar.

For example, if a recipe calls for melted butter, milk is not a correct substitution just because both are dairy products and are in liquid form. Butter has many qualities that milk does not.

For example, butter is a fat (milk only contains fat). The fat in a cake recipe works as a tenderizer.

It adds richness, helps prevent gluten formation, adds color and flavor and, when in solid form, aids in the formation of air pockets that create an airy, fluffy cake.

Another example that is given all too often is home bakers substituting cake flour or all-purpose flour for bread flour. This is a pastry mistake.

Bread flour and cake flour have very different characteristics. The biggest difference is the gluten content. Bread flour is high in gluten and therefore best for items that require gluten formation, such as bread and pasta.

If you absolutely must substitute cake flour, we have another article on how to do it correctly.

3. Incorrect mixing method

Again, baking is a science, and therefore the mixing method is just as important as the actual measurements. This is due to how the ingredients react with each other.

The best example we can think of is yeast (which isn’t actually used in cakes, but it’s a good way of explaining the importance of following the correct method).

Yeast must be activated before being added to a recipe. If yeast is added to cold ingredients, it will not activate and cause the dough to rise. But, if added to ingredients that are too hot, it will kill it and it won’t help the dough rise either.

Also, if the recipe contains too much salt, it will inhibit the yeast and not allow it to work as well as it should. The amount of sugar (the food that helps yeast work) can also inhibit yeast if there is too much or too little.

You see it? The science!

This principle also applies to all other ingredients. You have to follow the recipe to get the best results. Rushing through the method, skipping steps or combining them just doesn’t work.

If you’re not sure which method, this is usually the best:

1. Combine softened, room temperature butter with sugar. Cream until mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
3. Add the aroma (vanilla extract) and mix well.
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well. Add the dry mixture to the wet and fold it in with a wooden spoon.
5. Lastly, add the milk (or buttermilk) and mix well.
6. If there are chopped nuts, chocolate, sprinkles, etc., add them now.

If there are none of these ingredients, just leave it out and continue the process.

4. Overbaking

Even if you follow all the steps perfectly, the cake can still dry out if it bakes too long.

Most cakes are baked at 320-350?F (160-180?C) for 12 minutes (for cupcakes and smaller cakes) and up to 40-60 minutes for bigger cakes.

A good rule of thumb is that the larger the cake, the lower the temperature should be so that it can bake longer without the edges drying out or burning.

There are a couple of things that can be done to prevent overcooking:

• If you gently shake the pan and the dough continues to wobble, your cake has not finished baking. The mixture is still raw and you need to continue baking the cake.
• The tart is fully cooked when the edges of the tart begin to peel away from the pan.
• Another good indicator is when you hit the bottom of the mold and it sounds hollow. If the pan also seems much lighter than it appears, the cake has gone through a fair amount of cooking and should be done or soon.
• The cake is ready when you insert a toothpick or cake tester and it comes out clean or with a little dry crumbs.
• You can also touch the top of the cake; when the cake bounces back after being gently pushed, the cake is ready.

However, these methods are only useful if you haven’t baked the cake yet. Let’s look at some methods to prevent and moisten the cake that has already been baked dry.

How to moisten the cake

Now that we’ve looked at some of the most common ways cakes end up dry, we can look at ways to fix it. We’ve already covered some of the solutions, but let’s recap ways to prevent dry cakes.

1. Choose the right recipe

Before you start baking, make sure the recipe you choose has the correct proportions. Almost every cake recipe claims to be “the best moist cake ever,” but they rarely are.

Make sure that the proportions of the wet and dry ingredients are almost equal, with the dry being a little more. If the recipe has too many dry ingredients, you can choose another recipe or experiment with this one.

The best way to start experimenting with a recipe is to reduce the dry ingredients and increase the wet ingredients by equal amounts.

We recommend that you start by reducing the flour by ½ cup and increasing the milk or eggs. This option is much more difficult and more for very skilled and experienced bakers, but you can try it anyway.

Be sure to take notes after each test to remind yourself and adjust the recipe until you get perfect results.

2. Use the right substitutions

Before substituting an ingredient, make sure that what you want to use is appropriate and won’t affect the recipe differently. It must be capable of performing the same functions as the original ingredient.

There are plenty of articles online that can help you with substitutions in general or to fit specific dietary requirements.

Also, make sure you know how to substitute these ingredients. Many have different characteristics and will require slightly different amounts.

For example, vanilla beans are much tastier than vanilla essence, so you’ll need more vanilla essence.

3. Follow the instructions

Since baking is a science, many ingredients must react with each other in specific ways.

This means that if you skip or combine steps, the dough might not do what it’s supposed to (as the original recipe intended) and end up dry.

Follow the steps to the letter (unless you’re compensating for an excess of dry ingredients), especially if you’re new to baking or don’t bake much.

4. Don’t overbake

Overcooking is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to dry cakes. Some home bakers are so concerned with making sure the center of their cake is cooked through that they forget to make sure the outside doesn’t end up dry.

Your test stick or needle may come out with a few crumbs, but as long as it’s not raw dough, your cake should be done!

In fact, if you really want to prevent the cake from being dry, it may be better to take it out a bit sooner than too late. You can always pop it back in the oven for a few more minutes, but you can’t undo a cake.

5. Sugar syrup

This is one of the best baking hacks ever invented – literally every professional baker and pastry chef does it to moisten their cakes.

It is not a difficult step by any means, and it does not take too long to do it either.

Here’s how to make the sugar syrup:

1. Combine equal parts sugar and water in a medium saucepan. The more cake you have or the bigger the cake, the more simple syrup you will need.
2. Over low to medium heat, allow the sugar to dissolve completely by mixing with a spoon. Once the sugar has dissolved, allow the mixture to simmer for 5-10 minutes without stirring or stirring.
3. To prevent sugar crystals from forming, you can brush the sides of the pot with hot water to melt those crystals.

Once the sugar syrup is complete, you can cool it slightly before using it on the cake.

It is preferable that your cake is warm so that it absorbs as much syrup as possible. Using a pastry brush, brush the syrup all over the cake layer (only one side is necessary) and cover with plastic wrap or a cake dome.

Let the layers rest for 2 or 3 hours so that the syrup soaks into the crumb of the cake. This will not only bring back some moisture, but it will also add some extra sweetness and complement your cake perfectly.

6. Choose the right filling

The filling can make or break a cake. Choosing a moist filling will distract from a dry pie and make up for moisture lost in the oven.

In fact, a drier cake can be the perfect complement to a moist filling, as it will absorb some of the moisture and dilute the sweetness a bit to create a nice balance.

These types of filling include a cream-based filling, jelly such as strawberry or raspberry, or a very moist and fluffy buttercream filling.

7. Heat the cake in the microwave

This is a very unusual method that we’ve only tried once (and it worked).

Moisten a piece of kitchen paper and place it on a microwave-safe plate. Place the cake layer on top and microwave on high power for 20 seconds.

This method works even better if your cake fits under a microwave-safe plastic lid.

Wet kitchen paper creates steam. This method only works if you plan to serve the cake immediately. You can also do this with pre-assembled, glazed or frozen cake slices to revive them.

8. Steam the cake

This works in the same way as the microwave. Place the cake layer in an oven-safe dish that is slightly larger than the cake itself. Then place that container inside a larger one.

Fill the bottom container with boiling water and let it steep for 5-8 minutes. Remove the cake layer and wrap it in plastic wrap to trap moisture.

9. Serve it moist

When all else fails, you can try serving the cake dry with something wet, like cream or ice cream. This will add the moisture separately, but will make the cake a little less appetizing on its own.

Something like ice cream is also great to accompany the cake in summer, as it provides that refreshing sensation that you so desire on hot days. The ice cream also comes in various flavors that can be combined with the pie and filling.