Making a cake using a recipe you’ve never tried before might be nerve-racking. Even if you carefully follow the instructions and measure everything out exactly, you may get puzzled since you have no clue what the batter should look like.
I’m Angie, and when I first started baking, I had a vague understanding of what cake batter looked like and freaked out when I couldn’t get mine to that consistency. I’d try adding extra water or milk to thin it down, or more flour to thicken it.
My key takeaway Don’t try to improvise! Particularly if you’re new to baking. Baking is all science, as I discovered the hard way. Instead, conduct your homework since each cake is unique.
The good news is that you’ve arrived at the correct location. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been making cakes. As a side business, I prepare various cakes and get requests for them. In this essay, I’ll show you precisely how various varieties of batter should appear.
We’d better get started.
Thin Batter
Is your batter coming out too thin? Please do not panic just yet.
It is usually assumed that a thin batter would produce a thick, unrisen cake. This is true if no leavening agent is used in the batter. If your cake recipe calls for a chemical leavening ingredient to rise, it doesn’t matter whether your batter is liquid or not.
Deflated egg whites, on the other hand, will result in a liquid and thin batter, resulting in a rubbery, thick cake if you’re preparing a foam-style cake that depends on eggs as the major leavening agent.
These are several cake recipes that don’t call for a thick batter.
1. Chocolate Cake
My heart sunk the first time I cooked a chocolate cake. I can’t remember the specific recipe I used, but the batter was quite sloppy after I had finished adding everything to it. I was certain I had ruined everything and that there was no rescuing it, so I popped it in the oven anyhow.
In the oven, something magical occurred. The next thing I knew, my cake had filled the pan and that bleak-looking liquid had transformed into a lovely, delicious chocolate cake.
I should clarify that I’m not talking about a chocolate-flavored sponge or a devil’s food cake. I’m referring about Matilda’s flawlessly rich, crumbly, and delicious chocolate cake. In order to balance out the dryness of the cocoa powder, oil is often used in lieu of butter in the preparation of such a cake.
Since oil does not harden like butter, oil-based batters consistently provide moist results. But, because to the absence of butter, the batter will be runny and moist. Most chocolate cake recipes use warm water or coffee to help dissolve the cocoa powder and occasionally coffee in the batter, which helps thins down the batter.
In the case of chocolate cakes, a liquid, thin batter is acceptable since the leavening of your cake is mostly accomplished via the use of chemical leavening agents such as baking soda and vinegar. The same is true with chocolate cupcakes.
10. I urge that you look it up for future reference. Try Preppy Kitchens’ recipe for chocolate cupcakes. One of my favorite chocolate cake recipes comes from The Stay at Home Cook. As previously said, the batter is thinner and runnier, but the end outcome is always a ten.
2. Cheesecake
If you’ve ever baked a cheesecake, you’ll be aware of how little flour is used in the recipe. Sometimes no flour is used at all. Cream cheese, cream, and eggs are the main ingredients of a baked cheesecake. Yogurt is sometimes added as well.
After a few minutes of mixing, the components get looser and seem rather runny. As you lift the cheesecake batter out of the bowl, it should be silky smooth and simply run off your spatula. Thus, if your cheesecake batter is a little runnier than usual, don’t worry.
Check watch this YouTube video to ensure you have the appropriate consistency.
Thick Batter
It is often assumed that thick batter produces a dense and stiff cake that dries quickly. Although this is true in certain circumstances, other cake batters are inherently thicker, and a suitable batter thickness results in a light and fluffy cake with tight crumbs.
These are some examples of cakes created using a thicker batter.
3. Butter / Pound Cake
When butter is used, you know you’re getting a thicker batter. This is because the optimal temperature for butter in cake baking is between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point the butter will be soft and spreadable.
As the mixture is creamed with sugar and eggs, it becomes aerated, and the individual components emulsify to become thicker and creamier.
Pound cake is traditionally baked with equal quantities butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. One pound of each, to be precise. To make a thicker, more balanced batter, the dry and wet components are mixed in identical proportions.
In terms of components, butter cake is quite similar to pound cake, except that it often utilizes more butter than eggs, making the mixture even thicker.
Pound cake batter may result in a bready cake if over-mixed, therefore don’t over-mix. The ideal consistency for pound cake batter is thick, similar to pancake batter. It’s acceptable if it’s a bit clumpy; you could see butter particles, but they’ll melt when cooked. Overmixing the butter
I strongly suggest checking out Sugar Spun Runs’ recipe for pound cake since it is quite simple to make.
4. Victoria Sponge
Although it is named Sponge, the Victoria Sponge is not the same as foam-style sponge cakes. The most noticeable distinction is that it does not depend primarily on eggs for leavening.
A soft, delicious, and buttery yellow cake, Victoria sponge. The batter is folded very gently until it is barely combined. It is only slightly loosened with a very tiny quantity of liquid, resulting in a very thick batter. Since the batter is so hard, smoothing it out will feel like spreading buttercream.
For video directions, see the cupcake Jemmas victoria sponge recipe. Take attention to 02:54 for the batter’s consistency.
5. Madeira Cake
Madeira cake is a traditional British butter cake. It has a similar feel to a Victoria sponge but a little greater flour content. Before adding the dry ingredients, softened butter and sugar are creamed together, then eggs are added to the aerated mixture.
After adding the flour, beat for the least period of time feasible to make the Madeira cake. This is due to the fact that we do not want gluten to develop. Stop mixing when there are no more clumps of flour visible.
The batter should be frothy, light in color, and smooth. It’s thick, but it’s more on the fluffy side of the range, like whipped butter.
I just discovered a basic cake recipe on Go Bake Yourself. Here’s a simple madeira recipe.
Cupcake Jemma also has a full video about Madeira cake that you should watch for reference.
6. Carrot Cake
Technically, the carrot cake batter is in between thick and thin. Since moisture is essential for carrot cakes, most carrot cake recipes use oil rather than butter.
As previously stated, oil-based cake batter is often rather thin in consistency. In the case of carrot cake, however, a big quantity of carrot, nuts, and occasionally pineapple pieces are added to the batter, adding texture and greatly thickening the batter.
Some recipes instruct you to add all of the dry ingredients at once, while others instruct you to alternate between the dry components and the carrot to avoid a too thick batter, which may lead to overmixing.
Carrot cake batter does not seem to be the most appealing. It’s clumpy, thick, and brown. Yet, the end product is always a moist, crumbly, and tasty cake.
For more information, see the Tasty recipe.
7. Red Velvet
Red velvet cakes are notable for their silky fine crumbs in addition to their forcefully brilliant red hue.
The sponge has a large amount of fat, generally butter, to produce its peculiar delicate feel. Using the creaming technique, the butter is combined with the sugar before the dry and wet components are added.
The red velvet cake’s leavening agent is a mixture of bicarbonate soda and an acid (typically vinegar or buttermilk). The reaction may cause the batter to seem frothy and aerated, in addition to thick and crimson.
You may find this red velvet cake recipe useful.
Airy Batter
Batter in the foam style. This mixture produces a wonderfully light and fluffy cake that is so soft that you hardly need to engage your jaw muscles. The third form of batter is what I refer to as airy.
Eggs or whites are often pounded at high speed with sugar until they achieve a soft to stiff peak stage. A little amount of flour is added to the batter to ensure that it is light enough to be held up and pushed towards expansion by the egg whites without the need of any additional leavening agents.
8. Sponge / Genoise Cake
Sponge cakes, as the name implies, are spongy and bounce back when squeezed. Eggs are beaten at a very high speed for at least five minutes, or until you can raise the whisk and form definite designs on the surface of the batter without it fading in instantly.
The dry ingredients are softly but rapidly mixed in with the liquid components at this step. It is critical not to deflate the egg whites when baking cakes with an airy batter; otherwise, the cake would be flat.
Check watch the video below to see how your sponge cake batter should appear.
9. Angel Food Cake
Sugar, cake flour, salt, egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract are the only six components in angel food cake. This cake has no artificial leaveners and is simply made with egg whites stabilized with the acidic cream of tartar.
Preferably, all of your dry ingredients should be very fine so that they do not clog the eggwhites. The egg whites should be beaten until they are thick and firm peaks form. The batter should resemble marshmallow fluff after folding in the dry ingredients.
This recipe contains photographs for each step for your convenience.
10. Chiffon Cake
Except for the inclusion of egg yolks, chiffon cake is extremely light and has a texture similar to angel food cake.
To make a chiffon cake, whip your egg whites until they are glossy and fine. Gently fold in the egg yolks and the other ingredients, being careful not to deflate the mixture too much. The finished batter should be pale, fluffy, and shiny.
11. Japanese Cheesecake
As previously stated, cheesecake batter is often runny. The Japanese cheesecake, on the other hand, is an exception.
The texture of the Japanese cheesecake is comparable to that of a souffle. Consider eating a cloud; it is Japanese cheesecake for you. Since it is largely steam baked, it is very moist and not thick and heavy like classic American-style cheesecake.
The beaten egg whites give the cheesecake its fluffiness. The ideal Japanese cheesecake batter is shiny and light. It should be uniform in appearance, with no clumps of cream cheese or flour.
Before you bake it, watch this video to make sure you got it properly.
FAQs
In this section, I’ll address some of the most often asked questions about cake batter.
Is cake batter supposed to be thick?
It depends on the kind of cake you’re making. Certain cakes, such as chocolate and cheesecake, have a fluid batter, while butter-based cakes have a thicker batter.
What happens if the cake batter is not thick?
If your batter is intended to be thick but isn’t, first check to see if you misjudged the number of dry ingredients required. If you make a mistake, add additional dry ingredients to compensate.
If you think it’s a little looser than it should be, add additional flour to the mixing bowl and mix for a few minutes longer to integrate the flour.
Can you let the cake batter sit overnight?
Allowing your cake mixture to remain overnight before baking it is not suggested since baking powder and baking soda lose their leavening function when exposed to moisture. As a consequence, your cake will not properly rise.
If you leave your batter at room temperature, the eggs will likely go bad. If you refrigerate your mixture overnight, the chilly temperature may cause your cake to create a dome when cooked.
It’s OK for a few hours, but overnight? Do not attempt it.
How long should you beat cake batter?
It is usually a good idea not to overmix your mixture while baking a cake. The actual time varies depending on the kind of cake, but it should be somewhere between two and six minutes.
Final Thoughts
You got through it! I hope that after reading this post, you understand what various varieties of cake batter should look like. Remember, don’t pass judgment on a cake batter too quickly; it may not appear right to you, but it might turn out to be a great cake.
If you have any additional queries about cake batter, please leave them in the comments!
Angie’s Bio
