5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cakes Moist
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Ever wondered how to keep your cake moist? Then this is the post for you! Easy tips covering everything from baking to storing your cake. These 5 tips to keep your cakes moist are the keys to stop your cakes drying out!
Oh man, I struggled so much with the title of this post. I have this issue with the word “moist”. It weirds me out. I tried to find another word to use, I really did. I used a thesaurus (I say that like it was a real book, but nah, I used thesaurus.com) and tried to find another word I could use. But these options didn’t really sound that great either:
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Damp
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Soggy
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Clammy
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Humid
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Not Dry
It was tempting to use “Not Dry” because it sounds hilarious, but then I slapped myself, told myself I was overthinking it – not everyone is as weird about things as I am, and decided to stick with 5 tips to help keep your cakes moist. But now maybe I’ve ruined the word for you too. Sorry. Should we just talk about cake now?
There are few things in this world that are less appetising than a dry cake. Not even the nicest cake flavour in the world can make up for a dry texture in your mouth. You wouldn’t enjoy eating sawdust just because it was flavoured with the finest Madagascan vanilla beans. But what can you do to make sure you don’t end up with sawdust?
The most obvious is that you should start with a good recipe. It’s so obvious that I’m not even counting it as one of my tips (but if you’d like to give me credit for a bonus tip, then that’s ok with me). Recipes containing ingredients like oil, sour cream and buttermilk are usually particularly moist.
If you’re looking at recipes online, check out the star ratings in the recipe card, then scroll down and check out the comments section. You can pretty much guarantee that if someone tried the recipe and it was dry, then they’ll have popped online to comment on it.
But do bear in mind that possibly many people liked the recipe, and just haven’t said so. Also, they may have done something differently to the person who wrote the recipe, or stored it incorrectly (or any of the other things I’m covering in this post).
People will be sure to comment if they don’t like something, but many are happy to keep their mouths/fingers shut if they do like it because frankly, they’re too busy shoving delicious cake into their faces.
Long story short, if you’re looking at recipes online, check out the reviews, but the only way to know for sure is to try it yourself.
If you happen to have a trusty recipe given to you by a friend, a grandmother, or your favourite neighbour, then that’s even better.
Let’s rip into the tips, shall we?
5 Tips to Help Keep Your Cakes Moist
1. Don’t Over-Bake Your Cake.
This one is probably pretty obvious, right? An over-baked cake is clearly going to be dry. And crumbly. And probably a bit burnt and crusty on the outside. Over-baking a cake means that the moisture from the cake batter will evaporate rather than staying inside the cake, where we want it.
But how do you go about making sure your cake doesn’t get over-baked – apart from the obvious don’t-totally-forget-your-cake-is-in-the-oven?
First, I’d suggest buying an oven thermometer. Home ovens can often run a lot hotter or colder than the temperature dial would have you believe. They can also have hot spots and cold spots, which will change the baking time of anything you put in there.
If you have a suspicion that your oven temperature may be off or that perhaps you have hot spots, then I suggest doing a bit of a test sometime (when you’re not about to bake a cake).
Turn your oven on to the temperature you usually bake at, with your thermometer in the centre of the oven. Every ten minutes or so, move the thermometer around in the oven, then leave it for a bit, and check the reading (keep in mind that most thermometers take a little while to adjust, so give it time).
Try the oven at different temperatures, and if it is actually running hot or cold, make a note of the temperature difference, so you can factor that in then next time you bake, and crank the temperature dial up or down to compensate.
Once you know the oven is at the right temperature for the cake you’re making and the recipe you’re using, start checking your cake at the minimum baking time specified in the recipe.
Don’t be tempted to start checking before that time – if your cake isn’t sufficiently set when you open the oven door, then the temperature drop will make the cake sink, and there will be no saving it if that happens.
So start checking at the minimum time and then if the cake isn’t done yet, use your best judgement as to how much longer to leave it before checking again. Once it is baked, take note of how long it took to bake, so you’ll know for next time.
On the subject of checking your cake is done, have a look at this post I wrote a while back about checking when your cake is done. If you use those testing methods, then you will know for sure that your cake is done and you won’t be tempted to leave it in the oven “just a wee bit longer, to make sure”.
2. Use Baking Strips.
If you’re baking a dense cake, like a mud cake or a fruitcake, and it needs a long slow baking time, then using baking strips will protect the outside of the cake and slow down the browning of the crust so it doesn’t dry out before the centre of the cake is done.
You can use old towels soaked in water to wrap your cake pans or make foil baking strips. You can find my tutorial here: How to Make Baking Strips.
3. Don’t Underestimate The Importance Of Sugar.
I know in these days of “sugar is bad”, it can be tempting to look at a recipe and think “surely it doesn’t need that much sugar?!” But before you go reducing the amount of sugar in a recipe, remember, sugar isn’t only in baking for sweetness.
Sugar is hygroscopic, which means it attracts water and has the ability to hold it. This helps keeps the moisture in your cake, rather than having it evaporate while the cake is baking, or when the cake is being stored.
In fact, sugar can absorb moisture from the air (that’s the reason why your crunchy cookies can go soft if you don’t store them correctly, especially in humid environments).
If you reduce the sugar in a recipe, you are reducing the cake’s ability to hold onto that moisture, which will likely result in a drier cake.
Also keep in mind that brown sugar is even more hygroscopic than white sugar, so if you have a recipe where keeping a light colour isn’t important you could consider replacing some of the white sugar with brown.
My devil’s food cake uses both caster sugar and brown sugar, and this is part of the reason why the cake stays so moist.
4. If In Doubt, Syrup It.
If, for whatever reason, your cake is looking a bit dry when you’re splitting it into layers for filling, or even if you just want to make sure your cake stays moist during the decorating process, you can brush each layer with some simple sugar syrup. This is the easiest way to add moisture back into your cake after baking.
Making a basic simple syrup is easy – you just boil together equal parts granulated (or caster) sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, then leave it to cool before brushing it onto your cake layers with a pastry brush.
You can also use the syrup to add even more flavour to your cake. Flavourings for simple syrup are limited only by your imagination, from the obvious and easy choice of adding some vanilla extract or the seeds from a vanilla bean, to citrus zest, instant coffee, any kind of liqueur (Amaretto and Frangelico are my personal favourites, they’re amazing with a good chocolate cake).
Here’s a little video showing how I apply sugar syrup to a cake when I’m filling it, or if you want alllll the syrup info, check out my post that I very modestly dubbed “The Ultimate Guide to Sugar Syrup for Cakes“.
5. Store your cake Correctly
This is also a bit of a no-brainer, but if you don’t store your cake properly, then it can lose moisture very quickly.
After baking, depending on your recipe you’ll either need to cool the cake in the cake pan (I do this with my chocolate mud cakes, they’re cooled completely in the pan overnight, with the pan covered in foil once the cake is no longer hot to the touch) or turn the cake out onto a cooling rack after a specified time, and leave it until cool.
Then, if you’re not decorating immediately, the cake should be well wrapped in plastic wrap (clingfilm) and stored in an airtight container.
You can also freeze it stored like this. Some people say that freezing your cake layers for a few days will make them moister. I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure, but I prefer not to freeze cakes that I make for others, as I like them to have the option of freezing any leftovers.
How you choose to cover and decorate your cake will also affect the moisture. The best way to seal it is to cover the cake in chocolate ganache and then fondant. Buttercream and fondant will also have a similar effect. They will stop the cake drying out while you’re decorating it into a state of fabulousness.
Once the cake is cut and served, any remaining cake should be stored in an airtight container.
If you have used fondant then that will likely go soft (because it’s sugar, and as we know, sugar absorbs moisture) but storing the cake airtight is the best way to keep the moisture in the actual cake. And that’s the bit we care about.
Do you have any genius tips on how to keep your cakes moist? (or, not dry?) I’d love it if you let me know what they are!
~Natalie
xx
PS: This helpful tip was just offered up by my father: “Don’t let me eat the leftover cake, because I never put the lid back on the container properly and the cake dries out”.
And that’s a good tip, because he never, ever puts it back on properly. Not that that is something I complain about often. Really, it’s not.
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These are fantastic! What a great post! 🙂
Thanks Rose! 🙂
I love the way you write 🙂 It makes me smile while reading!
Thanks Trudy! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
5 Tips To Help Keep Your Cake Clammy , I laughed and laughed. Great post! xoxo
Haha, thanks lovely. You should have seen the fit of giggles I was in reading the synonyms for “moist”. Best ab workout I’d had in a while! “Dampish” and “oozy” also nearly made the cut 😉 xx
Another great tip is to wrap your cooled unfrosted cake layers in Saran Wrap overnight. Frost the next day. Moist!!!
Great tip, Mary Beth! Thank you 🙂
I do the same thing! I get so many compliments on how moist my cakes are. Plus it is easier to frost when it is frozen
Ive tried this as a well. It works perfect all the time
I like your blog! I’m glad that I found this! 🙂
Hi Nina, I’m glad you found it too! 🙂
Tq!! Useful!
I always freeze them over night. Then decorate while frozen. Never had a problem and cakes are super moist!
This is what I was going to say! Freezing the cake after cooling retains moisture. Use proper defrosting technique: Do not unwrap until fully defrosted. Otherwise, the condensation will make the surface of the baked good soggy.
How will you know when it’s fully defrosted
Same question
If you cut the cake into layers and wrap each layer individually before freezing, then they’ll thaw faster and you’ll be able to tell by touching them whether they’re defrosted or not. If you’ve frozen the cake whole, then probably the best way to tell is to insert a knife or skewer into the middle of the cake and see how much resistance there is, and how cold the implement is when you pull it out.
I keep my cakes moist after being cut by applying plastic wrap in both sides where the cake is sliced, works beautifully, may not be pretty but it definitely keeps it moist
I always freeze my cakes first! Used to work in a Bakery and customers would bring the fresh made cakes back because they were dry and crumbly stating we must have used old cake, always froze them from then on.
Would have preferred a much shorter article. Liked the 5 tips though. Thanks.
Acanof coke or at least8oz of it makes it moist.
Great post! Very funny too. I like your blog already.
I’m a learner in cake making and I wonder if pouring a specific amount of brandy(or any spirit) on the cake and wrapping it in foil paper keeps it moist.
I always use home made Cherry Brandy (the liquid from home grown brandied cherries!!!) and sprinkle it over the split chocolate cake as the basis of
Black Forest cake….no complaints of dryness x x
PS am about to start experimenting with liquid glucose
Mmmm, that sounds delicious, Cat! Black Forest is one of my favourite cake flavours.
Add glycerine to your cake recipe 1oz of glyceriine to each pound of flour used as this will attract .moisture
Hi Oti, my apologies for the delayed reply, yes you can pour brandy over cakes like fruit cakes and leave them to sit for a while. For cakes that don’t need to be stored for a long time before decorating, you can also drizzle the layers with alcohol as Cat suggested 🙂
That is great for rich fruit cakes. Also helps to mature them.
I swear by the simple syrup. I recently made my sister mini lavender lemon Bundt cakes. I brushed lemon simple syrup over the cakes while still warm. Then the next morning, brushed them again with the simple syrup before taking them to my sister. Since my sister is not much for sweets, it was a couple days before she ate them. I promptly received a text in which she raved about how delicious, fragrant, and moist the cakes were.
Ooh how do you make the lemon syrup? Tempted to make an orange one for my chocolate cake..
Hi Hannah. You can just make a “simple syrup” (equal parts sugar and water, boiled together until the sugar is dissolved) and add a squeeze of orange (or any citrus) juice and finely grated zest. Or if you want a really strong flavour, swap the water for juice and add the zest before you boil the syrup, that will draw out even more flavour. Either way, the sugar is dissolved let the syrup cool to room temperature and brush it on your cake layers as you fill them. Any leftover syrup will keep for several weeks in the fridge 🙂
Great. Thank you both!
Hi, when I have used chocolate ganache my cakes seem dry, should I used BC in between layers and simply coat whole cake in ganache? I use ratios as described but always get same feedback. Going to get baking strips as mentioned in post to help but wondered if any other ideas. Can’t find recipes specifically for 10/12″ sponge cakes ?, could anyone suggest book or recipe that works. Dream of large fluffy spong.
P.S. love your posts, like talking to a good friend x
Hi Wendy. You can definitely fill the cakes with buttercream if you prefer, and just ganache the outside. I’d also suggest trying a simple syrup as mentioned in this post, as that will get more moisture into your cake. I’m afraid I don’t make many sponge cakes these days so I can’t suggest a tried and true one, but I did have pretty good results using Debbie Brown’s sponge cake recipe before I started mainly doing gluten free cakes. If you’re baking larger cakes you will probably have more luck baking the cakes in two layers, either in two tins at the same time if you have two and a large oven, or by baking them as separate batches. Shorter cakes will bake faster and not dry out so much on the outside before the middle is baked. The baking strips are also very useful 🙂 Hope that helps!
Thanks for a super blog. Can you suggest a good recipe for a fool proof gluten free cake. And for the sugar glaze, can you substitute the sugar with honey.
Hi Belinda. My favourite gluten-free cake is this gluten-free devil’s food cake, I’ve been making it for years and it’s very popular.
You could make a sugar syrup with honey, you’d just need to thin the honey down with water and bring it to a simmer. But you might need to play around with the amount of honey and water to get a good consistency to brush on the cake 🙂
Hi there, I just discovered your site and love your witty style 🙂 I’ve been baking cakes for many, many years and have never used simple syrup on them. The one time I tried a cake which had been “syruped” lol (it was a standard marble cake from a local bakery) it tasted “wet” to me…it was practically dripping and it turned me off simple syrup forever. How do you know how much syrup to use?
I’ve heard of your brushing method, which would seem like a pretty small amount – would that just not make the top of the cake “moist”? And then there are those that appear to soak the cake using spray bottles and the like, which to me would result in a soggy cake. I guess it obviously depends on the cake recipe but the thought of ending up with a wet cake makes me nervous to even try lol.
Hi Robyn. You can definitely have too much syrup! I usually just brush a light layer over each layer of cake, not enough that it pools on the surface. Once the ganache/buttercream go on and the cake sits for a day or two while decorating, the syrup should soak into the cake layer and just keep it moist (shudder), it definitely shouldn’t be drowned in syrup. It also depends on the type of cake, sponge cakes can’t really handle a lot of syrup before they go soggy, but something dense like a mud cake can handle more, it just makes the mud cake even more fudgy. It’s really a case of personal preference though, I’m on the less-is-more side of the syrup fence 😉
Thanks for the tips for keeping my cake not dry 🙂
LOVE your posts!
I make wedding cakes for a living and always ALWAYS wrap my cakes in cling film as soon as I can. You know how mud cakes get that kid of ‘crust’ on top (potential word phobia there)? Wrapping them as soon as you can traps in the steam and prevents a crusty top.
I always sugar syrup mine too. But, even though Ive been doing this for 13 years, I always worry! Especially with a GF cake. I try to bake it as late as possible and as close to the wedding as I can manage.
Great tips.
I love the tips….in my 24 years of baking I have never had a problem with dry cakes until recently. My oven was not heating properly and I couldn’t replace it. In it’s defense I abused it for 21 years and in the middle of baking for a show it died. It was definitely time for it to go. I now have a new/used oven which is not heating properly. I invested in an oven thermometer which helps a lot. I recently learned about the simple syrup which I am looking forward to trying. My question is this…How much syrup do you use? Let’s say you have a 10″ round cake, how much would you brush onto the cake?
Hi Beth, argh, ovens can be a pain, right?! I can’t say the exact amount but I just brush enough syrup on so that the surface of the cake layer is wet, and then let it soak in for a few moments before I spread the filling on. If a cake was really dry you could add a bit more and just leave it for a minute or two for the syrup to all soak in. The cake doesn’t need to be saturated or it will make the cake soggy and too sweet. Hope that helps.
Love this, I can bake but wanting to improve and extend my skills, can’t wait to try the simple syrup on my next cake, thanks for the advice…
Hi Natalie love you tutorials I wrap my cakes while they are still warm to the touch to keep the moisture in the cake.
Although this has nothing to do with the above could you please give me the recipe for merengue but to decorate the cake (no need for oven) the recipes I see are not for decoration thanks
Hi Patricia, you can use a Swiss meringue for decorating a cake without having to cook it, you could try this recipe by The Tough Cookie . Hope that helps 🙂
I always wrap mine in plastic wrap while they are still hot and put on freezer. They are incredibly moist! Agree with your article! Thanks
Hi, does putting a small bowl of water in the oven while baking help to moisten the cake? Thanks.
Hi Noraini, the steam created would probably help to keep the surface of the cake moist. I don’t know exactly how much difference it would make (I should test it out) but I don’t think it could hurt, so worth trying it 🙂
I have just baked a cake tonight for Mother’s Day tomorrow and was wondering how I was going to keep it from drying out before then. Well I have just found this site and it is fantastic and now know what should be done. I love your hints Natalie and the way you explain what you have to do.It is so simply written. I can actually understand what you are saying instead of needing a degree. I also love how everyone leaves comments and you can learn from that as well. I am now going to wrap my cake in plastic now and give the sugar syrup a go before decorating it. Thankyou for all of your time in writing these wonderful hints.
Just found this article… love it, but I tend to have the opposite problem… Fresh from the oven, my cakes and muffins are moist on the inside and nice and crisp on the outside (a nice crunch to it). I try to wait until they’ve cooled before storing them in plastic containers… the next morning, they’re all “soft”. Any advice?
Hi Mélanie. The crust absorbs the moisture either from inside the cake or from the outside air if there is any moisture in the container, so to be honest I’m not sure if there is any way to prevent that from happening. I think if you want the crunchy crust you really need to eat it the day that it’s baked. If wanted to crisp up the whole cake the next day you could try popping it back in a hot oven for a few minutes to dry out the crust, but I’m not sure if it would dry out the rest of the cake as well so you’d need to give it a go and see what happens. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Thank You for the tips Theyvare really very useful 🙂
I find using oil in place of butter keeps cakes moist and for days too, tastes and feels fresh baked until it’s finished! ?
That’s a great tip, Gem. Oil does seem to keep more moisture in the cake than butter does 🙂
What’s the substitution rule for this? How much oil do you use, say in place of 1gram of butter?
I freeze my cakes and find they do become moister (plastic wrap, foil, ziploc bag). When I decorate, I slice the skin on all sides of the cake and spritz with warm water. Then frost
Hi Cheryl, I’ve done a few cakes lately where I’ve baked last-minute and wrapped the cakes up and thrown them in the freezer to chill, and I definitely found they were more moist 🙂
Help! I just baked a cake, checked after minimum time, and it’s overdone! Can it be saved if I add moisture after the fact?
Hi Debbie, I’m sorry for the delayed reply, I’ve been away from home this week. It’s probably a bit late, but sometimes you can save an overbaked cake by cutting off the dried out edges and adding some sugar syrup to the layers. If it’s just a bit dry then that will help.
Regarding the question of a bowl of water in the oven .. I use this technique when baking traditional fruit cakes and the steam makes them super moist. I usually place a baking tray on the floor of the oven. Another tip for cooking a large cake I place a flower nail in the base of the cake pan before adding the mixture, this method assists the middle of the cake cooking a lot quicker than normal so the sides don’t over cook keeping it nice and moist. I also use the sugar syrup method, I try and add a liqueur if possible to enhance the flavour of the cake.
Great tips, thank you Gay! 🙂
😂 I enjoyed reading this post! It made me laugh so much my husband had to ask what I was reading. Good tips too! Thanks.
Hey Valory, I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Snap! It’s 3am too
Quick question. ‘Naked cakes’ are all the rage. But that means the outside is barely frosted if at all. So….how can you keep a cake moist? I was thinking maybe the simple syrup suggestion would do the trick. Have you made a ‘naked cake’?
Hi Breezy, syrup is definitely a good idea on a naked cake. Give each layer a good brush with syrup as you’re filling the cake. You can try and concentrate it towards the edge of the cake, but just be a bit careful that you don’t saturate the very edges, as that can make it more likely to crumble and then you’ll get lots of crumbs coming off. Also with naked cakes it’s best to do them as close to the event as you can manage. I wouldn’t assemble it any earlier than the day before. Hope that helps! 🙂
HAHA I hate that word, too!!!! SO glad to hear you struggle with it too, and strong enough to post about it!
Looking ofrward to trying the tips.
Thanks!!!
Haha, I’ve been planning a follow up post to this, and I’m still struggling with the word. Clearly it’s not something I’m going to grow out of, but I’m glad other people understand my aversion! 😉 😉
Is there a way to make a white chocolate syrup? I made a white chocolate cake and I feel the white chocolate flavour didn’t come out as strong as I would have liked it and the middle looks a little dry. What would you suggest? I’m making a rose water buttercream to frost and do as filling. Any help and advice is appreciated! Thanks!
Hi Jenny. You could add a few squares of white chocolate to the warm syrup, let it melt and whisk it in. Also adding some vanilla extract will help as white chocolate usually has vanilla added to it. Hopefully that will help 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for the quick reply ? I really appreciate it!
What about using clarified butter? By removing all the milk solids you remove the moisture element but keep all the butter flavor that we all love. Thanks for all the great tips!
Really amazing information.. I love baking and always wonder how to keep the moistness of the cake.. thank you Natalie..
I am making a Red Velvet Bundt cake with mini semi-sweet morsels for Christmas Eve. I am going to try your simple syrup to be sure my cake is moist – like Nothing Bundt Cake shop!!! Their cakes are extremely moist and maybe it’s because of spreading simple syrup over them after baking. Who knows. Anyway my question is what can I add to the syrup to give it a little bit of chocolate flavor or to enhance the morsels I am using in the cake? Love your tips. Thanks.
Hi Mamabee, you could whisk a little bit of cocoa powder into the syrup to enhance the chocolate flavour, or melt in a little bit of chocolate. Otherwise even just a good splash of vanilla extract is helpful to enhance other flavours 🙂
I would love to know how this turned out! I just made some red velvet bundlets, also aiming for Nothing Bundt Cakes recipe lol and was thinking about adding the syrup!
The cake turned out fine in taste but it looked horrid because my pan was too large for the cake – need to use a small bundt for the recipe. Adding simple syrup as a drizzle over the hot cake before cooling and frosting worked fine, kept it moist.
HI there, I know this post is old, but I need tips. I’m baking a chocolate cake for a party on Friday, it’s now Wednesday here. if bake the cake 48hours before the party, cling wrap them and refrigerate and then frost the cake 24hours before the party will it be dry? Should I use a simple syrup right before frosting? The cake I normally do is moist, but normally I bake the day before the party and frost on the day of the party, but won’t have time for this occasion.
Hi Liezl. Yes, you can absolutely do that. Cakes will usually last a good few days before you frost them, so I would just wrap it well and store it in an airtight container until you’re ready to frost it, it shouldn’t need to be refrigerated. If you are concerned about it drying out then you can use a simple syrup on it if you wish, but if it’s a moist cake recipe then it should be fine without. If you haven’t already, I suggest having a look at my cake decorating timeline post, which might help you too 🙂
Hi Natalie
I was wondering about cakes that do not have any icing, fondant, or gnache. Re Naked cake for weddings. I am worried that without some sort of icing the cake will dry out, even with the simple sugar?
Does anyone have ideas for this?
Donna Porter
Hi Donna, simple syrup is definitely a good idea for naked cakes, as it helps to replace the moisture that is naturally lost through contact with the air. It’s a good idea to brush the syrup right to the edges of each cake layer, as obviously the edges are going to be what dries out first. I think the two keys to keeping a naked cake moist are using the syrup, and filling/assembling the cake as close to serving time as possible. I think one day in advance is about as far as I would push it, but it’s better to assemble the day of the event if possible. Hope that helps 🙂
Thankyou so much , and yea now moist sounds weird :p
Hello! Wonderful tips thank you so much. I read somewhere that egg whites tend to dry out the cake so its advised to eliminate one egg white from the recipe
For example if your recipe calls for 4 eggs… You eliminate one egg white and use only 3 egg whites and 4 egg yolks.
I tried this method and it really does work wonders. My cakes are always so soft and moist.
Just a tip i wanted to share.
That’s a great tip, thank you Shikha! I have added extra egg yolks to baking for moisture, but I haven’t tried eliminating an egg white. I must try it 🙂
Hi! Are you whipping the egg whites into the recipe or just adding them along with the egg yolks?
Just curious. I’ve heard that too!
An older client I had years ago advised me to put in 2 mashed pineapple rings to my cakes to add moisture. She said not to worry you wouldn’t taste it. She was right. Great tip. ?
Thank for that tip, Jo! I know that fruitcakes with crushed pineapple in them are always said to be super moist, so this totally makes sense. I’ll have to try it! 🙂
Thank you so much!
How do i store a square cake
Hi Amber. An uniced cake should be stored in an airtight container. Once iced, usually the best way to store it is in a clean cardboard box, but it can depend on what icing is used and how it’s decorated.
Amazing post. The tip about storing the cake really helped me save my wife’s birthday from getting ruined 🙂
Thank you so much.
This is a bit late but is your cooking temp for conventional or fan forced oven ? I tend to cook mostly FF and often wonder about correct temperatures. Very entertaining blog by the way !
Hi Kathy, I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog ? I generally bake cakes with no fan, although in our new oven it has a “fan assist” that I find quite good for baking because the oven is quite big and it helps distribute the heat better. But usually when I’m testing recipes I don’t use the fan. If you prefer fan forced, you can try turning the temperature down 10-20 degrees, but it does kind of depend on the actual oven as to what works better. Hope that helps somewhat!
Thank you THANK YOU for making me feel better about freezing my cakes…and please note I only bake for love and not for money. A friend was horrified when I mentionefd that my grandson’s birthday cake was baked the week before and frozen! Thing is, I work and the party was Sat @ 2…and buttercream with LOTS of finishing off work? Done it plenty times before, just never admitted it ?…..thought I invented the concept ! And I know my cake freese well….
Covering a cake in icing which contains oil or fat, is also useful for trapping moisture.
Make sure the top and the sides are coated.
one more tip i use all the time; using sugar instead of flour when greasing cake pans. not only does it make for more moist layer cakes, cleanup is easier.
I found this post helpful! Thank you! I have a question. I am making a naked cake for my sister’s wedding and I am decorating it one or two days early, since I won’t have time to make it any later. I plan on adding a simple syrup to my cake to keep it moist and so that it won’t dry out before the wedding. How can I store the naked cake to keep it moist? The cake is two tiers with 3 cakes in each tier.
Hi Katy. Using syrup on the cakes is definitely a good idea for naked cakes. If you can, I would store the tiers separately (not stacked) in airtight plastic containers, if you can find containers the right size, and then take them from the containers and stack them the day of the wedding. Normally I’d suggest not icing a naked cake until the day before at the earliest, but if that isn’t possible then keeping the cakes airtight should help stop them from drying out. Also, it helps if you’re using a cake recipe that is already moist and keeps well. Some lighter cakes like sponges don’t tend to keep very well and are better baked close to serving, but if it’s a cake that keeps for a few days then it should be all good 🙂 Hope that helps.
I suggest to my clients that when they have leftover cake, to just press saran wrap against the cut part of a cake, to keep it from drying out, not to cover it. The main reason is that the frosting that exploded my little baking hobby, years ago, into a huge business requiring hiring several employees, is so soft, it would make a horrible mess to place any kind of wrap on it. It’s called a Mock Whip Frosting, is soft, fragrant, fluffy (like whipped cream), and not icky sweet. Once people taste it they prefer it over any buttercream. 99.99% of the wedding cakes on my website are frosted and decorated with a Mock Whip Frosting. It’s unique because it’s made with 1 cup of any liquid – water and an extract or flavored oil, champagne, framhoise, kirsch, kahlua, any brandy, wine, liquor or liqueur. The flavors are coordinated with the fab and unique fillings I make, and make for very memorable cakes. Once I take a wedding, or reception cake to a new resort or restaurant, they start referring all their clients tome exclusively.
I like to melt butter and brown sugar together and add just a touch of vanilla and spread that on the layers as I go. You just can’t over do it. This will definitely help moisten your cake.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
Hi Tim, well that sounds delightful, I might have to give it a go. I’m a huge fan of butter ? Hope you had a great Christmas! ?
Hi Cake Lovers! I place a damp folded paper towel just to cover the cut ends of my layer cake before wrapping in plastic wrap. It seems to hold moisture better than just wrapping. Then into the fridge!
Hi Natalie! I would just like to ask if whipping the egg whites for a chocolate genoese sponge makes it drier in comparison to chocolate cakes using the all-in-one method? Thanks!❤️?
Usually, I frost my cake the day before the event and refrigerate them. Also, my cake recipes are moist and I brush simple syrup over each layer as I’m assembling the cake. But it ends up a bit dry after refrigerating them even when
frosted ? Should I frost it on the day of the occasion or should I store the frosted cake in a freezer instead of the refrigerator? Thanks again❤️
P.S. Definitely would love to give you a follow on IG so I won’t miss an update. This blog is the most entertaining I have ever found so far. ❤️❤️❤️
Hi Macu, I don’t have a ton of experience with sponge cakes so I can’t really answer that with any certainty. But from general cake experience, cakes that have fat in the recipe, like butter or oil, tend to be moister than cakes that don’t, and sponges tend not to have much (if any) fat or oil in them.
Usually, if you’ve frosted the whole cake around the outside it traps the moisture in, but I do find that refrigerating cakes often does dry them out. I know a lot of bakers that do it and don’t have a problem, so I’m not sure why it happens sometimes and not others. Because of that, I usually either use fillings and icings that don’t need refrigeration (like ganache) and can be left at room temperature, or if it’s something that does need to be chilled, I will make it as close to serving as possible so it doesn’t need to spend much time in the fridge.
If you do really need to refrigerate your cakes, then I’d suggest maybe trying to use a cake that contains more fat to help it hold the moisture better. I have a Devil’s Food Cake recipe here on the blog that does seem to do ok in the fridge, I use it to make a cheesecake layer cake and store it in the fridge, and it doesn’t dry out too much. Cakes that have sour cream or buttermilk seem to hold moisture particularly well.
Hope that helps 🙂
OMG you are a lifesaver thanks for the help!❤️ And yes, I’ll try adjusting my recipe with higher fat content. In the meantime I’ll try your devil’s food cake recipe for our family beach camping this Easter Sunday since it takes me about a week in developing a recipe (I’m still a beginner?). My mom, aunts, nieces and nephews are all chocoholics so I think it’ll be great for the gathering.
Thanks for the article! Yesterday I totally forgot my cupcakes were in the oven and my beautiful recipe turned out dry and terrible. Today I am baking a big birthday cake and I was stressing out about it Getting not dry. Thanks for the tips, your writing made my morning!
Hey Anna, you’re most welcome! I’m glad I could help, and just as importantly, give you a bit of entertainment ? Hope your cake went well, and was totally not dry ?
Hi ma’am, please I need your help, I left my cake after baking without wrapping it. I intend to decorate it tomorrow, but it’s all dried. What do I do??
Hi Stella. I would suggest trimming off the dry edges of the cake, then splitting the cake into layers and brushing each layer with some sugar syrup before adding your filling. If you’re not familiar with syruping cakes then I’d suggest checking out my guide to sugar syrup post for more info on that. Trimming the edges of the cake will obviously remove the crusty bits, and the syrup will help add moisture back into the cake. Hope that helps 🙂
Really love your blog! Funny & educative.. 😍 Thank you for sharing! Just wondering if you are on Instagram
Aww thank you, Abigail! I appreciate your comment 💜 I sure am on Instagram (unintentional but delightful rhyme 😂). You can find me here 👉🏻 https://www.instagram.com/sweetness.and.bite/ 😊