Cool Your Freshly-Baked Cake With A Tea Towel Tip
Baking, like most cooking processes, is a science. The results can lead to disappointment if you ignore certain basic principles during preparation and execution. Fortunately, you can be helped along the way with some cake hacks that every baker should know. However, there's another simple but super-effective cake hack that helps you dig your fork into those fresh baked goods a lot sooner.
Once your baked cake comes out of the oven, use a tea towel to cover it upfor a few minutes. This simple action not only helps the hot cake to cool down faster but also traps steam inside the cake to ensure it turns out moist and delicious. Who knew the use of a simple tea towel could be the basis of such an effective baking hack? What's more, tea towels have other uses in baking too, as is evident from this tea towel hack for achieving perfectly baked cake layers.
The science behind using a tea towel to cool your cakes
The reasoning behind why this tea towel trick works is simple. The cloth helps to retain the moisture within the freshly baked cake by preventing exposure to the air. When air comes in contact with a cake, it begins to dry the surface out first and eventually starts drying out the inner parts of the cake, as well. No one wants this. Plus, cooling a freshly baked cake is an important step to employ before you start frosting or decorating it, and it's also advisable to cool the cake slightly should you decide to store it away for later.
If you immediately wrap up a hot and fresh cake in plastic or tin foil, you risk storing that moisture created by the steam within, which will result in a soggy cake by the time you are ready to serve it. Conversely, a tea towel used to cover up a hot cake will prevent too much steam or moisture from seeping into your cake and instead result in the optimal cake consistency.
What to do if you don't have a tea towel
Now that you understand the science behind this nifty little baking hack, you may be curious to know what to do once your cake has cooled. After you've let your cake cool under the tea towel for a few minutes, you should flip the cake over onto a wire rack or a dry surface where you have laid out some plastic wrap. Seal the cake in plastic wrap, running it over at least three times, to preserve the moisture within it well. Then, you can either put it in the freezer or simply let it finish cooling overnight before you attempt decorating it.
In case you don't have access to a tea towel, or even a cooling rack, you can still use items around your kitchen to help speed up the cooling process. Wearing your oven mitts, you can shake the baking tin that contains your cake to allow the air to gently circulate — this will help cool your cake a bit quicker. A mesh strainer can replace a cooling rack in a pinch, or you could simply let the cake sit on a countertop in your kitchen to cool down naturally if you aren't in a hurry. If all else fails and you are running out of time, just pop the cake into the freezer for quick results!