Flour is the backbone of any baked good, and it can make or break your final product. Let's go over the basics of flour and ...

Overbeating the flour will overwork its gluten ... where the temperature is most likely to be consistent. Too much baking powder can cause the cake to rise rapidly and crack.

This will help protect the outside of the cake from darkening too much. Put the flour, cocoa, mixed spice and baking powder into a bowl with a generous pinch of salt and whisk together.

Baking a cake is part joy, part science, so getting the results just so, with a moist crumb, can be a challenge -- unless you ...