Tips & Tricks to Baking a Cake

Organization: This speech uses topical organization

Audience analysis: My audience consists of novice bakers. There will be 10 people in the audience, between the ages of 16 and 35. The setting of the speech is a Micheal's craft store. There are nine females and one male in the group. They are all interested in learning more about baking a perfect cake.

Central Idea: Cake-baking essentials

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of tips and secrets on how to bake a perfect cake.

Introduction:

I. Attention getter: It is pretty easy to recoginize a perfect cake. It's shape is symmetrical with a golden brown crust. It has a feathery velvet texture that is moist and light. The taste is pure heaven. You can certainly appreciate a perfect cake, but can you make one?

II. Establish Credibility: Cake after cake, error after error, article upon article, I have become quite the professional when it comes to baking a cake.

III. Thesis Statement: When making a cake from scratch, using the right ingredients and tools is as essential as following a good recipe.

IV. Preview Statement: So, what are the steps in baking a good cake? Lets explore these individually.

Body:

I. When baking a cake it is critical to follow the recipe precisely. If you try to skip a step you will have less than desirable results.

a. If you skip the sifting step - your flour will be too heavy, creating a dry heavy cake.

b. Over-mixing will cause your cake to be tough and chewy, more like a good bread.

c. Simply forgetting to preheat the oven can cause problems too. A cake started in a cool oven will not allow the cake to rise adequately before the crust begins to form and the cake may fall.

d. Each recipe is written with the most desirable results in mind. If followed correctly, these results could be achieved.

II. I recommend gathering all the ingredients and equipment you need before beginning.

a. Use the right ingredients and measure them carefully.

i. If the recipe calls for cake flour, you will have the optimal results with cake flour.

1. All-purpose flour can be substituted, but the cake will not be as tender.

ii. If substitutions have to be made do your research first, don't just assume.

1. For instance switching the cake flour to the all-purpose flour, less flour would be required.

a. Watkins from Easy Southern Cooking suggest 1 cup cake flour would be substituted 1 cup minus 2T of all-purpose flour.

b. Prep your ingredients, including grating, chopping or toasting,

c. Ensure the ingredients are at the proper temperature.

i. This is critical for butter and eggs.

1. Soft butter makes for a smooth consistent batter and a lofty cake.

2. Room-temperature eggs keeps the batter's temperature consistent.

a. If eggs are to be separated, do so while they are cold to help ensure the maximum volume when the whites are beaten.

b. According to Charlotte Lyons in Ebony eggs are one of the most importand ingredients and contributes to leaven, texture, volume, color and flavor of the cake (2009).

III. There are three different types of leavening agents used in cake making: baking soda, baking powder, and