Hints and Tips

B
Brownies
Brownies are like biscuits, the less you mix the better the product will be.
Never use a mixer, mix by hand and just enough to wet the dry ingredients and to make sure no lumps are left behind. Make sure stove is pre-heated and the pan ready before start working on the project.

C
Crumbs
To prevent crumbling, allow cake to cool completely. A cold cake is much easier to cut and with less crumbs.
To crumb coat a cake, use a mixture of butter and confectioner's (icing) sugar.
My favorite is to use marshmallow cream, not so fat or sweet.

F
Never Frost (Icing) a Warm Cake
Allow cake to cool completely, on a wire rack. Second day cake is best.
But if you are running short on time, cool the cake for about 1 hour, then insert in the refrigerator for another hour. Then proceed with frosting or icing the cake.

Only exception are recipes that specifically require the cake to be iced or frosted while warm. Then please follow the directions as given.

T
Texture
When baking cakes it is important that you use the perfect pan. Trust the instructions, because most recipe creators fit a recipe to a certain pan size.
Changing the pan size, would change the end result as well.
Things may go very wrong... a tall cake, a chewy cake, unbaked in the middle, fallen in the middle... etc.
Never fill the pan more that 2/3 of its capacity.

Temperature
It is most important to have an accurate temperature in your oven. Most ovens are not well set. Speaking from experience, I advice you to invest in an oven thermometer.
Or if you have one, use a candy thermometer... remove the clip off the thermometer, insert in the oven an turn oven to 300°F.
If temperature is off by more than 25°F(+/-) check your stove manual for setting directions. If you have none, then is better to call your supplier to have someone come and check your stove.

U
Uniform Baking
No matter what kind of batter is used, place it in the prepare pan and level as well as you can. Tap the tray on the bottom with the flat of your palm few times, or give a tap or two on the counter top.
Despite of all the advices out there not to do so, I still like to tap the pan so the batter setts better. I never had trouble with my cakes for doing so.