Can I Bake a Cake in a Convection Oven?

Joy asks: I just started to bake. I tried baking vanilla and chocolate cake, but I am not satisfied with the result. It is a little moist but dense and heavy. One more thing, I am using my DeLonghi convection/roteserie oven. Can I bake a cake in that kind of oven? Please help!

Baking S.O.S. says: Baking in a convection oven is different than baking in a traditional (called “conventional”) oven.  Convection ovens bake approximately 25 degrees hotter than a conventional oven.  Convection ovens also use a fan to blow the hot air in the oven so that is circulates all around the product, making it bake faster and brown more easily.

Convection ovens are good for things like cookies and pies, but the blowing fan is not so good for cakes.  Cake batter is typically lighter and fluffier, and the moving air can affect the cake batter by bursting the air bubbles in the batter, causing the cake to fall and become dense in texture.  So I would not recommend baking cakes in a convection oven unless you simply do not have any other option.

For future reference, when baking in a convection oven, you need to turn the oven temp down by 25 degrees less than what the recipe calls for to adjust for the hotter, faster baking process.  This may help your cakes somewhat, but I would still recommend using a conventional oven for cakes whenever possible.

Best of luck to you in your new baking adventures!  If all else fails, keep trying different recipes until you find a cake recipe that you like.  Not all recipes are created equal, so it takes a lot of experimentation (trying different recipes) before you find the ones you prefer.

Joy says: Thank you for the tips and lessons…you are so nice! Can I ask you again in the future when I encounter a problem in baking?

Baking S.O.S.: Absolutely! Feel free to ask any time–that’s why Baking S.O.S. is here–to help you in the kitchen!