This recipe is Cupcake Jemma’s Devil’s Food Cake bake along recipe. You can follow along with her for the full process on YouTube via this link. This really is the most perfect sponge and the most wonderfully smooth and glossy frosting. Cupcake Jemma is an inspiration to me for her perfected recipes creating the most perfect sponges. She really knows what she’s on about! I love her traditional recipes like this Devil’s Food Cake recipe.

Cupcake Jemma’s techniques when creating a cake batter has really helped me understand how to make a successful cake. They always turn out so perfect, tender and moist. Just like the Rainbow Birthday Cake I did a few months ago. When creating a cake batter it is important to think of it like a very gentle process of incorporating each ingredient into the batter without braking it. You cant just throw it all in at once and hope for a tender crumb, there are some factors that really play a big part in creating a successful cake and here are a few vital tips:

Tip for creating the perfect sponge

1. Ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature – ensuring all of your ingredients are at room temperature helps to incorporate them well and prevents curdling.
2. Don’t over mix or under mix – Under mixing a cake batter risks lumps of butter, sugar or flour not being mixed into the batter properly – gross. It also doesn’t add enough air into the batter making it dense. Over mixing also creates a dense sponge as the more you mix the flour the more gluten is developed forming elastic gluten strands making the cake tough and dense.
3. Ensure your oven temperature is spot on – if your oven is slightly off it can drastically affect the density and texture of your cake. Too cold you could risk an undercooked cake – even more gross. Too hot a tough crust could form around the cake and the cake could collapse due to too much heat at the beginning of cooking.