It’s hard to beat a good cake. A classic red velvet, an olive oil polenta cake, or even a gooey brown butter cake can make you want to lick the plate. It’s okay. Everyone does it. But before you reach that state of nirvana, you need to craft a cake that is worthy of sending your taste buds into bliss, and it all begins with the division of your cake batter. No one wants a layer cake where one of the layers is lop-sided or has risen to a mountainous peak surpassing its twin. Uniformity is key when baking a layered cake which is why an ice cream scoop is going to become your best friend.
A large ice cream scoop, preferably of mechanical persuasion, will help you scoop out the batter evenly from pan to pan. Simply add a scoop from one layer pan to the next on repeat until you’ve distributed all your beautiful batter between however many pans you are using. Once the pans are full, smooth and level out the batter with a spatula.
How to achieve level perfection in your cakes
Why does even distribution matter with cake batter? It helps ensure your cake layers are the same height so when you stack them, they are level, ready for all that lovely buttercream frosting. But to achieve that picture-perfect aesthetics, you need your cake to bake evenly, and to do so, you need the same amount of batter in each pan. When your batter is not equally divided in your cake pans, so many things can go wrong beyond one rising higher. One layer can bake and burn while the other remains raw in the middle. It messes with your cooking time too.
This is why you will love using an ice cream scoop. It will help ensure you get the same amount of batter into each pan, and if there is any doubt, take a couple of toothpicks and insert them into the batter. Compare where the batter hits on each. If they are in sync and contain the same amount, the toothpicks will show the same mark. You can also use your ice cream scoop for even distribution of batter when making cupcakes and perfectly, uniform-sized cookies too.
