Get everything ready Always heat the oven first, making sure there is a shelf ready in the middle,

and line or prepare the tins before you start mixing. Raising agents in batter get to work quickly, so a cake sat on the side for too long can have big holes and a poor rise. The temperature of the ingredients is vital too. ggs must be at room temperature and butter soft, without being greasy.

!eat it "reaming simply means beating butter with sugar until light and fluffy, trapping tiny air bubbles. The air bubbles you#re adding, plus the "$% released by raising agents, will expand as they heat up, and the cake will rise. A wooden spoon and elbow grease will do the &ob, but an electric mixer is your best bet. 'ick a good deep bowl and scrape the mix from the sides of the bowl a few times as you beat.

Go slowly with the eggs !eating eggs into the butter and sugar mix will trap even more air, but it#s vital to take your time to prevent a split (and less fluffy) mix. 'our *+% tbsp of beaten egg on to the creamed mix, beat with the electric mixer until completely incorporated, then repeat. ,hen all the egg has been added, the mix should be very light and fluffy. -f it starts to look slimy, beat in * tbsp of the weighed flour and it will recover.

.olding in the flour 'ick a large metal spoon or thin rubber spatula for this bit, as a wooden spoon will crush your carefully crafted bubbles. ,hatever the recipe, - always first mix the flour with any salt and raising agents, cocoa, etc in a bowl, then sift this over the batter. /sing a figure+ of+eight motion, cut and turn the flour through the batter until even. Take care not to stir or overwork it, or your cake will become tough.

!efore it goes into the tin 0ry cakes often contain too little liquid, which is where the term 1soft dropping consistency1 comes in. -deally, a spoonful of batter should drop easily into the bowl when given a gentle shake. To get there, recipes often call for a little milk to be folded in after the flour. -f there#s a lot of liquid to be added, sometimes the flour and liquid are folded in alternately, to prevent splitting.

"arefully spoon the batter into the tin and level the top. 2ome people use scales to split the batter accurately between the tins, but counting dollops works for me. Take care not to let too much heat out as you put the cake into the oven.

-s it cooked3 2unken cakes are normally under+baked. -f you need to move a cake to get an even colour, then wait until it is risen and set all over, normally two+thirds through the cooking time. ,ork fast to conserve oven heat.

,hen ready, a skewer or cocktail stick (or a strand of spaghetti if you#re stuck) inserted into the middle of the cake will come out dry, or &ust slightly oily with a few crumbs.

/ncooked mix3 Test again in 4 minutes# time. "ool in the tin for *5 minutes, then transfer your fluffy cake to a rack to cool.

6ane 7ornby is the author of .resh and asy8 ,hat to "ook and 7ow to "ook -t (RR' 9%:.:4).To order a copy for 9%;.:< plus free p=p, visit theguardian.com>bookshop

'ut into practice8 orange cake with ginger cream cheese frosting

?akes one, three+layer %@cm cake (serves *5+*%) ;@4g soft butter, plus extra to grease the tin ;@4g caster sugar < eggs, beaten in a &ug ;@4g self+raising flour, plus a little extra for the tin ; tsp baking powder The &uice of * orange, and Aest of ; @4ml milk

; tsp vanilla extract

.or the icing 455g cream cheese at room temperature %55g icing sugar * tsp ground ginger "andied orange slices, to decorate

* .or the cake8 heat the oven to *B5">;45.>gas mark C. Grease three tins, add a little flour and shake it around the tins to cover the butter in an even layer. Tap out the excess.

% "ream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes until light and fluffy, regularly scraping down the sides of the bowl if you are using a mixer. Gradually add the eggs to the mix little by little, beating well after each addition, until well incorporated. Dour mixture should be pale and cloud+like.

; -n a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together, then fold into the buttermixture with a large metal spoon.

C ?ix the orange &uice and Aest into the milk with % tsp vanilla extract, then gently incorporate into the mix a little at a time. The mixture should now nowbe at the soft+ dropping stage and fall easily from the spoon.

4 0ivide the batter evenly between the tins and smooth the tops. !ake for %5 minutes on the middle shelf, then remove and allow to cool before turning eachout and cooling fully on a wire rack.

< !eat the cream cheese, icing sugar and ground ginger together until light andfluffy, then use to sandwich the three cakes together. Top with candied orange slices, if you like.