Overheard my neighbor say she never preheats her oven and her cakes turn out fine

I was out back last weekend and heard my neighbor Linda telling her friend she just puts her cake batter straight into a cold oven and sets the timer. She said it saves electricity and she's never had a problem. I've always been strict about preheating for 15 minutes at least, so this threw me off. Has anyone else tried skipping the preheat step or is this just asking for a flat cake that sinks in the middle?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade_kelly771d ago

I tried it once with a boxed mix and it came out just fine actually.

jennifer_jones171d ago

10 years ago I woulda laughed at anyone using a boxed mix for anything. But my sister made a chocolate cake from one last birthday and I couldn't tell the difference. She added an extra egg and used melted butter instead of oil. Totally changed my mind on the whole thing.

the_emma15h ago

And listen, I'm sitting here nodding along because I'm the guy who used to look down his nose at boxed mixes too. But then I tried making a cake from scratch for my kid's birthday and it came out looking like a brick with frosting. The box mix with the melted butter trick? That's literally my go-to now. I'm not ashamed to admit it anymore, I'd rather save the effort and let the mix do the heavy lifting. My baking skills peaked at "not setting the kitchen on fire" so I'm happy with whatever shortcut works.