Solving the Cake-Making Blues
From hopscotch 15 years ago
- - to make
- Serves 1
Well, William Sonoma's suggests the following for a baker's failure in why their cake belly flopped. Thusly, it may help for the next go around, but "overbeating" - how does one determine that!
Ingredients
- Problem: Batter curdles and separates. shopping list
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- Solution: eggs were not added one at a time and beaten thoroughly after each addition; an electric mixer was set at too high a speed; and/or the eggs were too cold. Try adding 1 Tbs. flour per egg and reducing the speed of the electric mixer. shopping list
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- Problem: cake didn't rise. shopping list
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- Solution: Too much or not enough fat or liquid in the batter; batter was overbeaten; and/or oven temperature was too high. shopping list
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- Problem: cake is tough. shopping list
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- Solution: butter and sugar were underbeaten in the early stages of mixing; batter was overbeaten after the flour was added; not enough sugar; not enough baking powder; and/or not enough fat. Try brushing cake layers with sugar syrup, or filling and frosting the layers with a generous layer of moist frosting. shopping list
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- Problem: cake crumb is sticky. shopping list
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- Solution: Too much sugar in the batter or sugar was too coarse. shopping list
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- Problem: Top crust is hard. shopping list
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- Solution: Oven temperature was too high; cake was overbaked; and/or cake was baked too close to the top of the oven. Try slicing off the top of the cake layer before frosting. shopping list
How to make it
- Problem: Cake sinks in the center.
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- Solution: Too much fat and/or sugar or leavening; batter was overbeaten; cake pan was too small; the filled cake pan was tapped too roughly on the countertop; the oven door was banged shut; or the oven temperature was too low. Try cutting out the fallen center and treating the cake like a tube cake; or fill the depression with fruit or extra frosting.
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- Problem: Cake peaks in the center.
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- Solution: Wrong type of flour was used (contained too much gluten); batter was overbeaten; too little fat and/or sugar in the batter; and/or oven temperature was too high. Try slicing the peaked center off the cake, then frost the cake.
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- Problem: Tunnels run through the cake.
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- Solution: Not enough fat in the batter; batter was overbeaten; or wrong type of flour was used (contained too much gluten).
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- Problem: Crust is unevenly colored.
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- Solution: Too much leavener and/or sugar in the batter; not enough fat in the batter; oven temperature was too high or too low; oven heats unevenly. Try camouflaging with frosting.
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- Problem: Cake rose unevenly.
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- Solution: Cake layers were crowded on the oven rack and heated unevenly. Bake each layer on its own rack. Trim the layers to even them out and camouflage with frosting.
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- Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Companion, (Time-Life Books, 2000).
People Who Like This Dish 3
- peetabear Mid-hudson Valley, NY
- jeffsgirl Medford, OR
- clbacon Birmingham, AL
- hopscotch CA
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peetabear
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