For a light, dreamy cake, you need to incorporate as much air as possible in the mixing process. By sifting all your dry ingredients, you'll add air and it's why recipes tell you to "fold" in the flour.
Use soft flour for cakes rather than strong or bread flours, which contain a high amount of gluten and will make your cake tough.
You can get away with an uneven oven for roasting and casseroles but for baking, an oven thermometer, which you pop onto the top shelf of your oven.
Using parchment paper to line your cake tins serves two purposes. Firstly, it prevents the cake from sticking so it's easier to get it out of the tin.
The former is a combination of bicarbonate of soda, an acid, cream of tartar and something like cornflour which acts as a filler.
Baking is no different from other types of cooking in that you should always have your ingredients ready to go before you start.
To test if your cake is fully cooked through, it should be slightly shrunk away from the sides and springy to the touch.
Pure vanilla is pricey but you use such small amounts, it's worth splashing out. Vanilla essence is a synthetic flavouring and lacks the complexity of extract.
Most recipes use 18cm (7 inch), 20cm (8 inch) or 23cm (9 inch) round tins, sandwich tins (shallower for Victoria sponge and so on) or spring-form for deeper cakes.
Just as a good cook's knife makes chopping easier and faster, a few bits of the right kit will help your baking. A silicone spatula helps to fold in flour and can scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed together.