How to Make Layer Cakes That Taste Better Than Everyone Else's (2024)

You know what my beef with layer cakes is? They're impressive to look at, but I'm rarely impressed while eating one. The cake layers themselves are so frequently … just kind of meh. You know — kind of dry, kind of bouncy, kind of muted in flavor?

I guess that's actually a few beefs, but they all come back to the cake being generally unremarkable. And more frustrating still, the cake is often overshadowed by globs of equally unremarkable buttercream icing that's meant to compensate for the cake layers' lack of personality. I'm not buying it.

I know I sound like a complete curmudgeon. And to be honest, when it comes to this, I've been a curmudgeon since age five. At other kids' birthday parties, I asked for extra ice cream — hold the cake.

However, I now have something grouchy five-year-old me did not have: A solution for my cake gripes. That, and the ability to operate an oven all by myself.

The Glory of a Soak

This solution is a trick borrowed from professional bakeries, but it couldn't be more simple. In fact, all there really is to it is a simple syrup. However, in the context of treating cake layers, simple syrup is referred to as a soak. The name is a tiny bit misleading, as it's really more of a drizzle. Or in my kitchen, a brushing. Still, the idea is that you disperse simple syrup over the surface of your still-warm cake layers while they're fresh from the oven, allowing the syrup to soak into your cake — adding sustainable moisture and another level of flavor.

The simplest version of simple syrup, or soak, is nothing more than equal parts granulated sugar dissolved into water. The basic soak alone will do great things for your cake, especially in terms of moisture. However, you can get all kinds of creative with a soak, allowing it to very much enhance and complement the dominant flavor of your cake layers.

Flavoring Your Soak

You can incorporate citrus zest and juice, liquor or liqueurs, vanilla or other extracts, honey or maple syrup, or even infuse herbs into your soak for added oomph. I can guarantee you, the extra touch of flavor will not go unnoticed. I know the possibilities here are overwhelming, so here are a few starter examples of flavor combinations:

• Try: Chocolate cake layers + a soak featuring brewed coffee and amaretto
• Try: Lemon cake layers + a soak featuring honey, lemon zest, and dried lavender
• Try: Yellow cake layers + a soak featuring vanilla extract, orange zest, and bourbon
• Try: Strawberry cake layers + a soak featuring lemon juice and fresh basil

How to Make a Soak

To make your soak, you'll follow the same formula as making a simple syrup with a few small caveats. Essentially, you're going to combine sugar and liquid in a small saucepan on the stovetop (medium to medium-high heat), bring the combination to a boil (stirring occasionally) to dissolve the sugar, remove it from heat, and let it cool.

If you're using honey or maple syrup, that can take the place of the granulated sugar. If you're using an extract, like vanilla or almond, you don't need a ton (¼ teaspoon to ½ teaspoon should do) and you will want to stir it in at the end, once you remove the syrup from the heat. Same goes for liquors; this shouldn't be your primary liquid in the equation — instead, stir 1-2 tablespoons into the syrup once you remove it from heat. For liqueurs, you can use a bit more (think 2-4 tablespoons), but still stir it in at the end once you remove the pan from heat. If you opt to include herbs, leave them in the warm syrup to infuse until you're ready to use it, at which point you can strain them out.

Using Your Soak

The soak isn't limited exclusively to layer cakes. You could just as well use one for a sheet cake, or even a Bundt cake. A good soak can make even a box cake mix absolutely exceptional. (It's like a slightly more sophisticated version of the old pudding mix trick.) All you need to do is simmer up your soak while your cake bakes, allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes after baking, prick the cake all over the surface with a toothpick, brush the soak over the surface using a pastry brush, and then allow your cake to cool completely before proceeding to frost.

If you happen to have leftover soak, you can certainly hold onto it for future use — I personally like to use it to inspire a round of amped-up homemade co*cktails. Which also provides the perfect opportunity to toast your future of remarkable layer cakes. Cheers!