A Water Bath Can Help Make Your Cakes Delightful — Depending On The Type You're Baking

There's nothing more dissappointing for a baker than encountering a cracked cake or a dry crumb, but a water bath might just be the remedy to ensure delightful cakes in the future. We consulted Joy Wilson, known as Joy the Baker, who is a pro baker and cookbook author to explain why a water bath is the secret to a moist cake.

"A water bath (or bain marie if we're feeling fancy) creates a gentle, steamy baking environment," Wilson explains. "It insulates the cake so it bakes evenly from all sides and prevents cracking by creating a damp environment. It's like a spa day, but for your cheesecake." A water bath entails placing the cake batter in a baking tin, then placing that baking tin in a larger baking tin in the oven. Then, water is placed in the larger tin until it reaches halfway up the side of the cake tin before closing the oven and baking according to the recipe. 

Cracking often occurs when the exterior cooks faster than the interior. So, the heat from the surrounding water will evenly cook the cake while the steam will ensure it doesn't dry out. You're essentially adding a wet cooking method (steaming) in with a dry cooking method (baking). A common mistake to avoid with water baths is overfilling the bath pan with water as a splash of hot water into a delicate batter will incur disastrous results.

A water bath is a great safeguard against a dried out cake, but Wilson says it's "definitely not for all cakes." Certain cakes and quick breads are moist by nature thanks to the hearty amount of butter, oil, eggs, or other moist ingredients like fruit. "Banana bread does not need a bath," she explains. "But delicate, custardy cakes — think cheesecakes, flourless chocolate cakes, or Japanese-style sponge cakes — really benefit from the moisture of a water bath." Although a cheesecake and a flourless cake technically use all wet ingredients, they're prone to cracking due to uneven cooking, so a water bath ensures that the top of your cheesecake remains smooth. The moisture from the steam will also help ensure the creamiest texture. You can try a water bath on this recipe for a classic New York cheesecake or this recipe for flourless chocolate torte.

A sponge cake has very little fat, and low-fat cakes are especially susceptible to drying out in a high-temperature oven. Coincidentally, many spongecake recipes like this strawberry sponge cake or this triple chocolate sponge cake add moisture with layers of creamy frosting and juicy berries. That said, a water bath will ensure that your sponge cake is light and airy as well as moist and supple.