How To Master The Cake Soak For An Extra Moist Dessert

If you've ever watched an episode of "The Great British Baking Show" or seen any aesthetically pleasing baking videos on TikTok, you've probably seen bakers pour a mysterious liquid over their cakes before they begin decorating. Sometimes they'll use a squeeze bottle and other times they'll use a pastry brush, but what you're seeing bakers apply to their freshly baked cakes is called a cake soak. Cake soaks are applied to cakes before decorating as a way to add more moisture and flavor to the cake and prevent the layers from drying out beneath the frosting. It literally soaks into the cake, hence the name.

To master a cake soak, and create an extra moist dessert, use an easy recipe of equal parts granulated sugar and water heated in a small saucepan. You can technically use a cake soak on any type of cake, but they're more common for sponge cakes such as a genoise cake or tiramisu, since they can readily absorb the liquid. An already dense cake, such as a pound cake, wouldn't reap the same benefits. The key is to balance the amount of liquid from the cake soak with the cake's texture, ensuring that it becomes tender without becoming too soggy.

When applying a cake soak, ensure that your cake is fully baked. Use a pastry brush or a squeeze bottle to apply a thin initial layer, but not so much that the liquid is pooling at the bottom. If you think it may need more, wait five to 10 minutes and then apply another layer. A cake soak is going to absorb better with the "crumbly" side of the cake as opposed to the crisper outer shell, so some bakers recommend flipping your cake upside down to apply the soak, while others suggest slicing off the thin top layer of outer shell to achieve the same result. If you don't have a pastry brush or a squeeze bottle, you can always use a spoon to lightly cover the surface of the cake with the soak.

While a simple syrup mixture is a traditional combination for a cake soak, there are plenty of flavorful options that can amp up the flavors in your cake. For a heavier cake soak, perfect for tiramisu, try adding espresso powder and Kahlua to the granulated sugar and water mixture on the stove. For a richer chocolate cake, make a cake soak with dark rum. If you're whipping up a citrusy cake, like a lemon blueberry or lemon poppy seed cake, try adding lemon juice and frozen fruits to the cake soak. With this easy additional step in the cake-making process, your next dessert will be soaking up all the attention it deserves!