My new Jelly Donut Bundt Cake is a simple and deliciously moist vanilla bundt cake with a swirl of raspberry preserves and a raspberry sugar coating.

Jelly Donut Bundt Cake

Friends, you are going to love how easy and how delicious this Jelly Donut Bundt Cake is to make! We’re taking my classic vanilla cake, adding a fruit swirl, a fruit sugar coating, and baking it in a bundt pan. I love this vanilla cake so much. It’s light and fluffy, moist, and full of flavor.

How to Bake Moist Cakes From Scratch

It’s probably one of the most frequently asked questions in baking. How do I bake moist cakes from scratch?

It seems like it would be simple, right? Follow a recipe and get a moist cake. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. Sometimes, we are unaware of how certain substitutions, incorrect measuring, mixing speeds, etc, can affect our cakes.

So let’s review what helps create moist cakes.

How to Bake Moist Cakes From Scratch

Ingredients

Use real butter: I’m usually not very picky about what brand of butter you use in a cake. But, using butter, not margarine is hugely important and impactful on the texture of your cake. Did you know margarine has more water content than butter. It’s also made from plant oils, whereas, butter is made from dairy and rich in saturated fats. That fat helps create moisture in our cakes. So when you’re at the store, make sure you reach for butter (I always use unsalted), not margarine.
Measure dry ingredients correctly: The most accurate way to measure dry ingredients is with a scale. However, if you don’t have a scale, the next most accurate way to measure flour is as follows: fluff the flour with a spoon, lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup, and carefully level it off with a knife. If you measure incorrectly, you’ll end up with too much flour, which can cause your cake to taste dry and dense.
Add fat: make sure you’re adding some kind of fat to your cake batter. Fat creates and retains moisture in our cake layers. If I’m using all egg whites in a cake recipe, like this one, I make sure to add sour cream for fat. This helps to create a moist crumb.

Tools and Baking

Bake at 325 degrees F and keep an eye on the cake: I know this may sound obvious to some, but it’s worth going over because it’s an easy fix. If your cakes are coming out dry, it could be that you’re over baking them. Remember, when you insert a toothpick into the center of your cake to check “doneness,” you want the toothpick to come out with a few moist crumbs on it. Your cake layers continue to bake for a few minutes as they cool in the cake pans. Another alternative to making sure you bake moist cakes from scratch is turning down your oven temperature. I now bake all my cakes at 325 degrees F.
Use good quality cake pans that are light metal: using good quality cake pans can enhance how your cakes bake – both in height and texture. If you’re using dark colored pans, you’re likely going to get dark, dry edges because a dark pan heats up quicker as your cake is baking. I always suggest using Fat Daddio pans. This brand specializes in making light colored pans that distribute heat evenly.
Mix on low speed: Did you know that over-mixing your cake batter can create a dry, dense cake that doesn’t rise? Sure does! When you add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients, mix on low just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl. Then mix again for another 20 to 30 seconds.
Serve your cake at room temperature: Yes, I said it. And I know it’s controversial. I know many of you like cold cake, and if you do, then keep eating cold cake and enjoy! However, if you’re serving your cake cold, just remember that the texture of the cake layers and buttercream will be different than when you serve cake at room temperature. I think sometimes we associate cold cake with dry cake, when in fact, the cake isn’t actually dry and just needs to be left at room temperature for a little longer.
Store cake in the freezer not the fridge: One of the reasons your cake may end up dry is due to how you store the cake if you’re not serving it right away. Storing your cake in the fridge for a night is definitely ok. Just make sure it’s covered really well (i.e. in a cake carrier or box), so that the air doesn’t dry it out. If you need to store your cake for longer than a night, the freezer is a better option. You can head HERE to read my blog post about freezing, thawing and transporting your cakes.

Can I use a different fruit flavor?

Absolutely! I used my favorite raspberry preserves to to fill this cake. However, you can use any fruit jam/preserves of your liking. You can even mixing up the fruit and sugar coating. I did raspberry jam and freeze dried raspberries, but feel free to mix it up.

Pro Tips for Mixing Cake Batter

When you’re making the cake batter, don’t forget these important tips to ensure your texture is light and fluffy and the cake rises well:

Use room temperature ingredients – room temperature ingredients will mix better together and are better absorbed by the dry ingredients, which helps your cake to rise better.
Beat the butter and sugar together for a few minutes – we want the texture to become light and fluffy. And then, when you add the eggs, add them one at a time, making sure to mix well between each addition.
Mix on low speed once you add the dry ingredients – as mentioned above, this ensures you don’t overbeat the batter, which can cause it to not rise and taste dry.

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