Susan, the leavening in batters and doughs gradually loses its strength, and the wetter the batter, the more quickly this happens. I think that's the reason it's a more likely scenario for cookie dough to rest overnight (or for several days), than cake batter. In addition, the leavening in cake batter has more work to do, raising the cake to its couple of inches tall. Plus, due to combinations of certain ingredients, cake batter can sometimes discolor overnight (you may have noticed this with pancake batter). But anyway, you raise a good point - definitely something we should try sometime. PJH

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