62 replies to this topic

[jende]

I have about two cups of chocolate cake crumbs leftover from a baking project.  Any ideas for what I should do with them?

Mix them into ice cream. A swirl of leftover frosting would seal the deal.

[Badiane]

Rum Balls...or bourbon balls...or scotch balls...

Just put them in the mixer and add enough booze to bind. Or a combo of booze and simple syrup if you don't like them too strong. Roll them in Jimmies or whatever and you have a dandy snack!

[DanaG]

I've heard that Sherry Yard has a recipe for "pastry cream cookies," which uses up leftover cake crumbs. Does anyone have this recipe? Would it work with chocolate cake crumbs?

[ludja]

I thought of this thread when reading a post from BettyK today. She pointed out a recipe for an Austrian cake called Burgtheatertorte in a thread we've been having about cooking out of Rick Rodgers' Kaffehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague.

See the link for a more detailed description of thie chocolate almond cake flavored with orange and cinnamon.

Rodger's also has a recipe for the Austrian Punschtorte that Sweetside mentioned above. In addition to rum, the cake crumbs/cubes are flavored with lemon and orange juice. It's a distinctive flavor combination and the recipe yields a nice moist cake. Rodger's version is the more traditional baked version but version that Sweetside linked to from Sally's Place looks like it would be nice as an alternative as well.

edited to add: Another classic Austrian cake that uses cakecrumbs (or breadcrumbs) rather than flour is the Rehrucken. It's an unfrosted chocolate-almond cake. Rodger's has a recipe for this as well in Kaffeehaus

Edited by ludja, 31 March 2007 - 12:19 AM.

[paulraphael]

Pierre Hermé says the secret to crisp bottoms of tart shells (especially when you have soggy contents, like fruit) is to lay down a thin layer of crumbs inside the shell. He always keeps crumbs from stale genoise, ladyfingers, or sugar cookies around. I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to.

[AnnaC]

Toba Garrett has an interesting use for cake crumbs in The Well-Decorated Cake - CAKE SPACKLE! She apparently uses a crumb-based mixture post-crumb coating to even out flaws, create a perfect base for fondant, etc - I haven't tested this yet but am planning to do so this weekend. I'm not convinced yet, but I'm certainly intrigued.

[chromedome]

If you make strudels or other phyllo-based items regularly, you can use up some of your crumbs by sprinkling them between the layers of buttered phyllo. The crumbs keep the layers separate, making the finished product flakier and crispier.

[reenicake]

Dry crumbs also make a great layer to prevent the cakes' cardboards sticking to the one below it when you tier soft-iced cakes.
In a restaurant setting, fried ice cream breading.
Also, grind fine and sift, then mix with cream fondant for a great modelling material that is not too sweet. Good for rose centers that will be eaten.
I also seem to remember using coarser crumbs in something like a rice crispie treat (mixed with melted marshmallow) with a bit more weight/character.

[ohmyganache]

We have cake scraps at the bakery, and although we're finding uses for them, we still have a surplus. We dry them out and use them in the crumb cake topping, in the almond cinnamon swril filling... we're tried mixing them with leftover bits of buttercream and pastry cream, but they haven't been selling fast enough to make up the difference. We make rum balls. None of these actually use a lot of scrap, so I just don't know what to do and I HAVE throwing cake out! HELP!

[etalanian]

You can make a pudding cake. Pack the cake into a baking dish and cover it with custard. Bake. Very delicious.

Eileen

[Stewart H]

Russian slices!!! Basically, left over bits of cake (any and every kind) chucked together with jam and rum flavouring to make a sticky, gooey, dense delicious mess, generally on top of a thin sponge, with icing on top.

Something like this.

God those things are good.... I may have to make some cake now, just so I can let it get stale.

Edited by Stewart H, 05 December 2007 - 06:40 PM.

[janeer]

I'm sure there's another thread out there somewhere, but I couldn't find it...

We have cake scraps at the bakery, and although we're finding uses for them, we still have a surplus.  We dry them out and use them in the crumb cake topping, in the almond cinnamon swril filling... we're tried mixing them with leftover bits of buttercream and pastry cream, but they haven't been selling fast enough to make up the difference.  We make rum balls.  None of these actually use a lot of scrap, so I just don't know what to do and I HAVE throwing cake out!  HELP!

At this time of year, steamed puddings, using relatively fresh cake crumbs. Also, see Rick Rodgers' book, Kaffehaus, which contains many recipes calling for cake crumbs.

[JeanneCake]

We use the tops from leveling the cake in trifles; we make individual servings in plastic cups with lids for take-away and in big hotel pans for buffets.

If you google "dirt cake" you'll get a bunch of recipes along the lines of the trifle if you want to play around with it. But still, there's only so much trifle you can make. I've got an entire bus pan filled with cake tops in the freezer right now....

[theabroma]

Mix with liqueur-flavored simple syrup - and any other flavors an odds and ends that add to the texture a/o flavor. Make little cups of tempered chocolate and scoop the crumb mixture into them with a 100 scoop. Garnish. These make a very nice boxed by the dozen bonbon arrangement. Good for gift giving, after dinner w-coffee, or just a couple of sweet holiday treats.

Also consider Austro-Hungarian style tortes where things like nut or crumb 'flours' are used instead of wheat flour in the cake.

Regards,

Theabroma

[SuzySushi]

I agree on the trifles. La Palme d'Or, a Japanese-owned French patisserie in Honolulu, makes "parfaits" (individual trifles) with its cake scraps. They're served in elegant clear footed plastic glasses and sell for IIRC $3.50 apiece.

[gfron1]

I recently dried some and used it like panko - rolled a ganache ball in it and fried that sucker! Probably not what you need in a bakery however.

[Darienne]

Spice Cookies , (http://www.earlenesc...rumbRecipes.htm) posted by Shaloop up above. (Still can't do the new URL link properly).

Took some uninteresting dry Peanut Butter Banana muffins made a few days ago and made the above cookies. Turned out very well. Especially loved them with Jalapeno Jack cheese.

[SylviaLovegren]

Nanaimo Bars with cake crumbs in the bottom layer. Any excuse to make Nanaimo Bars is a good one... :) Your customers may not be familiar with N.B.s but there's always room for new fans!

[Lisa Shock]

By popular request:

Spice Cake with Crumbs (possibly the basis for A&P's Spanish Spice Cake)
from Baker's Weekly, 1936

12oz Sugar
8-12oz Shortening
5 Eggs
1.5 oz Soda
1qt Water
1 qt Light Molasses
.5 oz Salt
.25 dry ground Ginger
.13 ground Cinnamon
3.25 lbs soft Wheat Flour, sifted (cake flour)
1 lb Cake Crumbs, dry

My instructions: Cream Sugar & Shortening, beat in Eggs. In a separate bowl add Soda to Water, then stir in Molasses, Salt and Spices. Mix Flour and Crumbs. Add liquid mix in small quantities to creamed sugar/shortening mix, alternating with the dry mix. Mix just until smooth, pour into greased pans and bake immediately. (no temp given, I'd say 350° conventional, 325° convection) You can add raisins, currants or sultanas to it.

[Lisa Shock]

Kerry, I have gone through my commercial cookbooks and found several possible formulas. None say they are from A&P, but, they are from widely used professional sources from the 1920's and 1930's. I am posting them here:

http://forums.egulle...ake-scrap-uses/

It will take me a while to get them all up, so, please be patient -one book has at least five things of interest. I looked around online and all the so-called A&P recipes I saw had no crumbs and use volumetric measure for dry ingredients, so, IMO, they are fake.

Also note that any sort of stale crumb product will have variations from batch to batch.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I have gone through my commercial cookbooks and found several possible formulas. None say they are from A&P, but, they are from widely used professional sources from the 1920's and 1930's. I am posting them here:

http://forums.egulle...ake-scrap-uses/

It will take me a while to get them all up, so, please be patient -one book has at least five things of interest. I looked around online and all the so-called A&P recipes I saw had no crumbs and use volumetric measure for dry ingredients, so, IMO, they are fake.

Also note that any sort of stale crumb product will have variations from batch to batch.

Thanks Lisa - that will be great. It was a cake I quite loved as a child and the one I have made from the online recipes isn't quite right for sure.

[Lisa Shock]

The following are from 'Cakes for Bakers' by Paul Richards, published by Baker's Helper Company 1921. Ingredients are his, my notes are in parentheses. Instructions are mine.

Note: where it calls for 'crumbs' I think any bakery crumb will do, as long as it is somewhat sweet. (not all bread crumbs from rye, or sourdough, ok?) If it says 'cake crumbs' then it needs to be from cakes or cake-style doughnuts.

Spiced Molasses Cup Cake with Crumbs
2.5 lbs Cake Crumbs (dry)
2 lbs Flour (cake)
1 qt Molasses
1.25 qts Water or Milk
1.5 oz cloves (dry, ground)
1.5 oz cinnamon (ground)
2 oz baking soda

Add Soda to water, then pour water over crumbs. Mix in molasses, flour and spices. Bake in greased or papered cups in a medium oven.

Crumb Layer Cake #1
.75 lb Sugar
.5 lb Lard
1 oz Mixed Spices (? They are not listed anywhere!)
.5 oz Soda
8 Eggs
12 oz Mixed Fruit, chopped fine (candied, I am guessing)
2 lb Cake Crumbs
1.5 lb Cake Flour
sufficient Milk to mix

No method given, creaming method, I think...

Crumb Layer Cake #2
.5 lb Brown Sugar
1.75 lbs Shortening
10 Eggs
1 qt Molasses
2 qt Milk
3.5 lb Cake Crumbs
5 lb Flour
2 oz Soda
3 oz Mixed Spices (? No clue here, have fun!)
1 oz Salt
2 lbs chopped raisins

No method given, bake in layers or sheets. Cake improves when a day old.

Oriental Fruit Crumb Cake (more like a pie)
Shortbread or pate sucre dough
1.5 lb sugar
.5 lb shortening
4 lbs crumbs (I am guessing this can be a mix of cake and bread, all sorts of doughnut)
1 lb ground Almonds or other Nut Meats
1 lb seeded Raisins
.5 lb chopped Citron
Milk (quantity not given)

Line pan with dough. Cream sugar and shortening, add eggs then crumbs and fruit with a little (?) milk.

Molasses Crumb Cake -Washington Cake
5 lbs crumbs
5 qt Water
4 oz Soda
1 qt Molasses
.5 lb Oil or Melted Lard (oil will increase tenderness and shelf life)
.5 oz Salt
1.5 oz Mixed Spices (? your guess is as good as mine!)
3 lbs Mixed Fruit ground fine (candied, I think)
7 lbs Cake Flour

Soak crumbs in water. Add soda, molasses, oil/lard, salt spices, fruit and flour. Mix until just combined. Bake in large slabs or in pans lined with pie crust.

Chop Suey Cake (no eggs, not certain if that's a typo or not)
5 lb Cake Crumbs
5.5 lbs Cake Flour
1.5 qt Molasses
3 qt Water
4 oz Soda
.5 lb chopped Nut Meats
1 lb Mince Meat
1 lb Brown Sugar
.75 lb shortening

No method given. I would cream sugar and shortening, add molasses, nuts and mincemeat. Mix soda in the water and add alternating with crumbs and flour.

Chop Suey Cake #2 or Tutti Frutti Cake
1.5 lbs Brown Sugar
.75 lb Lard
1 qt Molasses
10 Eggs
1 oz Mixed Spice (?)
3 lb Cake Crumbs
5 pints Water
2.5 oz Soda
1 Pint Water
4 lb Cake Flour
1 chopped Nuts
1 lb seedless Raisins
Soak cake crumbs in first amount of water, add soda to the second water. Creams sugar and lard, add eggs then molasses , nuts and fruit. Alternate adding soda water, crumbs and flour. Mix well. Bake in well dusted oval 3.5" rings.

Crumb Cake, Fruit or Cup Cake
.75 lb Cake Crumbs
.75 lb Compound Shortening (lard & shortening mixed)
1.5 qt Molasses
1 qt Water
2 eggs, may be omitted
1 oz Soda
1 lb small raisins or currants
3.5 lbs flour
cinnamon or vanilla or lemon
a little Vinegar (?)
No method. I would add soda to water and add crumbs to that. Cream shortening and molasses, add eggs, fruit, flavorings. Alternate adding crumbs and flour until well mixed.

(edited for typos)

Edited by Lisa Shock, 29 July 2012 - 09:33 PM.

[Kerry Beal]

Fabulous Lisa - I shall work my way through them to get the best. Now to find some stale crumb!

[Lisa Shock]

I may cheat and pick up a box of Entenmann's glazed buttermilk doughnuts and stale them in the oven just to get going more quickly. I'm kind of curious about the recipes that call for a crust.

[Lisa Shock]

I made the Oriental Fruit Crumb Cake tonight. One quarter of the recipe filled a 9" cake pan nicely. I used oven-dried crumbs from plain cake doughnuts (it took almost all of the crumb from a dozen to make the one pound), butter instead of shortening, and some 'yuzu tea'* instead of citron. I wound up using a quarter cup of buttermilk to help the mixture move in the mixer. BTW, this recipe has no leavening beyond eggs and creamed fat & sugar.

I added milk until the mix was just slightly looser than peanut butter cookie dough on a warm day.

I would up baking it for an hour and ten minutes, and originally had some cracking on top, but, it fell a little as it cooled and the cracks shrank away to nothingness. The crust pulled away from the filling, but, it's probably necessary to keep things together.

Overall, this came out like a fairly firm pie: moist, and easy to cut. The yuzu flavor was surprisingly strong, making this a sort of citrus pie -although not acidic. The raisins added a nice chew, but the flavor was eclipsed by the yuzu. The doughnut flavor was subtle, but, you could definitely taste the contribution of the browned outer crusts.

I don't know if I would make it again. The almond flour means that it's not incredibly cheap to make. That said, it was tasty and different without being too unusual or bizarre. I think that a lot of people would like it, it's got a safe flavor profile. I don't know if anyone would ever call it their favorite dessert, but it could have a place on a buffet.


* Yuzu tea is just finely sliced rinds of yuzu and sugar. It comes in a jar, and has the consistency of marmalade. One usually adds some to hot water to make a drink in wintertime. It's more watery than candied citron.

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[andiesenji]

Lisa, that looks like it would be perfect to serve at an afternoon tea.

I always have plenty of almond flour because I make a lot of almond milk and the solid stuff that remains is too nutritious to discard so I dry it and grind it finer and use it in baking. It works out to just a fraction of the cost of commercial almond flour and I get two products from one batch of almonds...

I will have to dig through the thousands of recipes I have in Word documents. I know there is one that uses cake crumbs with very fine pasta (angel hair) in an eggy tart with cheese and I think it contains chestnut puree. I remember making it once and it was very good but sort of "fiddly" and I don't remember repeating it. I was still working then and didn't have the time that I now have.

Edited by andiesenji, 21 August 2012 - 08:19 AM.

[Lisa Shock]

It would be good with tea, and probably very nice made into tiny tarts. It did have a pleasing, soft texture. It's also something that your guests have never had before. Some whipped cream would improve the appearance.

I'd also like to point out that once you have made crumbs (evenly crumbled and gotten them nice and dry in the oven) you can freeze them to use later. I did this with my doughnut crumbs because I was afraid of rancidity.

[Lisa Shock]

Update on Oriental Fruit Crumb Cake. I labelled it Oriental Fruit Pie, took it to work, and didn't tell people what was in it beyond raisins and almond flour. People liked it enough to hunt me down and thank me for it. One fellow, a diabetic, noted that his blood sugar barely moved after he ate a slice on an empty stomach -so he is now a huge fan, because he can't eat a lot of desserts.

(edited for typo)

Edited by Lisa Shock, 22 August 2012 - 08:07 PM.

[jjahorn]

Rebooting a dormant topic:

I've been practising my pie dough recently - for pies and quiche.

I've always got a little leftover, and was wondering what others do with it.

I usually just roll it out and spread some jam on it, make it into a pocket and bake it. This week I made a 'PB&J' sandwich out of it for my daughter that worked well (as long as you have a BIG glass of milk at hand).

 

What do you like to do with your dough scraps?

Edited by jjahorn, 28 March 2013 - 01:10 AM.

[Toliver]

What do you like to do with your dough scraps?

My mom would always make something similar called "Pinwheels". Roll out the dough, spread butter on it and sprinkle on sugar and cinammon. Roll it up into a cigar shape and slice into 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces. Bake until browned and flaky. It was something us kids could eat (as soon as they cooled) since the pie would be for dessert later that night.