Customer told me my cake layers were too dry, had to rethink my whole recipe

A lady at a farmer's market in Denver last June told me my chocolate cake was 'crumbly and dry' right to my face. I was mad at first but she was right. I cut my bake time by 5 minutes and started brushing simple syrup on each layer. Turns out I was overbaking everything for years because I was scared of underdone centers. Anyone else have to totally change a go-to recipe based on one piece of feedback?

4 comments

4 Comments

craig.olivia13d ago

Zarat37, I gotta push back on the syrup thing being a cover up. In my experience, simple syrup is a standard bakery trick not a crutch. Plenty of professional bakers soak layers to keep them soft, especially with dense cakes that take longer to bake. The real question is why are we so scared of admitting our recipes need tweaking? Also, @michael_williams, that "rustic" brick story hit close to home. My first from scratch carrot cake could have doubled as a doorstop.

zarat3713d ago

i mean... is a slightly dry cake layer really that deep? like yeah it sucks when someone points out a flaw in your baking but brushing syrup on layers is just covering up bad technique not fixing the actual problem. if your cake is so dry it needs a soak maybe just learn to bake it properly instead. i've eaten plenty of bakery cakes that were a little dry and nobody died.

michael_williams13d ago

Man, my buddy baked a brick once and called it "rustic.

ryan_hart3813d ago

Is a cake a little dry really that big of a deal though? Honestly I think brushing with syrup is a legit fix, not everyone is aiming for bakery-level perfection.