What It Means If Your Cake Develops Unsightly Holes

The moment of trimming the top of your freshly baked cake to reveal the crumb underneath is one that many home bakers hold their breath for. Will the cake have a nice, uniform texture? Or will it look more like an overproofed sourdough bread, full of large holes? Sometimes you'll encounter the latter scenario, which means you've likely overmixed the batter.

Overmixing is one of the common mistakes people make with cake. There's just something so darn satisfying and meditative about mixing the batter until it's completely smooth ... and then some more ... and more. It's time to abandon this habit, though, if you're aiming to make textually perfect cakes. The batter should be mixed only until the ingredients are just incorporated. The manner of mixing plays a role too — do it gently, so that you don't trap too much air inside the batter.

Once your batter is mixed and transferred to a cake pan, be sure to tap the pan onto the counter a few times to get rid of any remaining air bubbles. We acknowledge that a holey cake will still taste good, but it will compromise the aesthetics and the potential filling distribution. That said, the only way to master the perfect texture is through experience, so don't give up if you accidentally overmix it the first few times.

The real culprit behind those giant air pockets in your cake is gluten. What exactly is gluten? It's the protein that helps hold the cake together and provides the necessary elasticity for a good rise, something bread bakers are very familiar with. The thing is, gluten will develop the more you agitate it, which is why kneading bread is so important; but in cakes, that's not something we want. We want a gentle, soft texture. Overmixing creates more gluten and therefore yields a denser breadlike crumb.

It's worth mentioning that not all flours come with the same percentage of gluten, which is why bread flour or even all-purpose flour isn't necessarily the best choice for your cake. Bread flour has the highest percentage of protein, so it's easier to overmix it and end up with an imperfect cake texture. All-purpose flour has less protein than bread flour but still more than cake flour. While experienced bakers know how to work with different types of flour, beginner bakers should definitely choose cake flour over all-purpose for more tender cakes. Gluten also develops as the batter is resting, so while we usually set bread dough aside and wait for it to rise, it's not a good idea to do that with cakes. Cake mix generally doesn't need to rest and should be baked as soon as possible.