Seriously, how do I know if my cake is done?!

Seriously, how do I know if my cake is done?!

One of the most difficult parts of baking is knowing when to take things out of the oven.

The aroma of the cake is its siren song.

Upon first scent, have a look through your oven window.

Is the top set? If so, investigate further. Has it started to pull away from the sides of the pan? If so, press softly on the top.

Does the cake spring back? It should fill the place where your finger was. If it does, your cake is probably ready.

Let it cool fully in the pan.

Get to know your oven.  

When we lived in England we had an old gas oven that scorched the bottom of all our cookies (and everything else...). To counteract this we would put the tray with cookies on the top shelf, and then put a second, empty tray on the bottom rung to absorb some heat and prevent burnt bottoms. The broiler only covered a small strip of the top rack, so we became adept at arranging the food in a single line on the baking sheet and rotating it throughout.