Baking
How to test a cake with a toothpick
A quick way to tell if a cake, quick bread or brownie is baked through.
Step by step
- Near the end of the baking time, open the oven and pull out the rack.
- Poke a toothpick or thin skewer into the center (the last place to set).
- Pull it straight out and look at it.
- If wet batter clings, bake a few minutes more and test again.
How you know it's done
Clean, or with a few moist crumbs for brownies and fudgy cakes. Wet, shiny batter means not yet.
Common mistakes
- Testing a melted chocolate chip and thinking it is raw batter.
- Testing too early and too often, letting the heat out.
Simmerbee recipes that use it (17)
- Bakery-Style Blueberry Streusel Muffins
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting
- Classic One-Bowl Banana Bread
- Classic Vanilla Butter Pound Cake
- Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies
- Crispy-Edged Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread
- Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream
- Fudgy One-Bowl Cocoa Brownies
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins with Sugar Tops
- Moist Cinnamon Walnut Zucchini Bread
- One-Bowl Chocolate Sheet Cake with Fudgy Frosting
- Spiced Pumpkin Bread
- Sweet Honey Cornbread with Honey Butter
- Two-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Yellow Birthday Layer Cake with Chocolate Frosting
In those recipes the word is underlined in the steps; tap it for the short version. In hands-free cook mode, ask “How do I toothpick test?”
Related techniques
More baking
FoldCream butter and sugarKneadProof (let rise)Cut in butterRub in butterSiftCrimp