Samaki

My attempt also didn't dome or crack, and I didn't use any magicake strips. I'll give it a second go and see if it comes out the same. I love tweaking cake recipes, so I'm really excited about this. What I want to know, though, is more specifically what we are aiming for? My trouble was that it tasted too bitter. I know others found it too crumbly. Are these things that we want to fix?

That's definitely another option.

Fascinating article. I have a question about the brining experiment, though, or rather questions. I'm really surprised at how little the brine penetrated the meat, and I feel the need to replicate this experiment at home, to see it with my own eyes. Is there any chance you could divulge the strength of the brining solution, the type of meat and size of the chunks, and type of dye used?

Ditto. And as far as their sheet cakes go, I know I can do better. The hand's down most popular recipe I ever created came about trying to improve one of their recipes.

I made Sherry Yard's recipe over the weekend. It is very, very good. The lime juice adds a nice complexity to the flavor of the curd. For flavor I like this one beter than my old standby. For texture, though, I still prefer the looser consistency of the FC recipe. The next step will be using the technique from Fc with the ingredients from Sheryy Yard.

Thanks a bunch bloviatrix! I'm off to try this as soon as I get my hands on some limes. Today I made a batch of the FC recipe I posted, as well as Russ'. Russ' was thicker, and definitely more sour. It was also cloudier too, though I have no idea why that would be. And I could taste the salt rather distinctly. That was the deciding factor for me. Russ, I did like your curd, but I still like my old standby better. I've discovered I don't like salt in my lemon curd.

I know Mean Chef's recipe, and I know a lot of people love it, but I like the Fine Cooking one much better. Psst, can someone post or send me Sherry Yard's recipe? I don't have that book, but would like to give her curd a try.

That's the spirit!

To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine a better curd than the one I posted, which, paradoxically, is why I decided to start this thread. I had thought I had the best imaginable chocolate cake, until I tried the recipe Wendy posted. I figured there might be a better curd as well. What I like about this recipe is that the curd is nice and light and clean tasting, not too eggy or heavy. Those who say you've got favorite curd recipes, have you tried this one? Do you like yours better? If so, please post them. I'm totally into trying other flavored curds as well. Passion fruits are a king's ransom out here, so I'll have to pass on testing that flavor, but I'd love to work on orange and raspberry. In the meantime, I'm going to try Sherry Yard's recipe.

Borrowing Wendy's idea from the chocolate, banana, and white cake threads, I'm wondering if anyone has a lemon curd recipe they're particularly fond of. I like Wendy's format of trying one recipe, then posting another if yo have one you like better. To that end, I'm going to post my current favorite, from Fine Cooking #26, in an article by Elinor Klivans. Lemon Curd 3 oz. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 large egg yolks 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tsp. grated lemon zest Beat the butter with the sugar until it's light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs and yolks. Beat for 1 minute more, then stir in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled. Do not panic. Cook the mixture over low heat until it becomes smooth, then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, without letting it boil, until it thickens enough to leave a path on the back of the spoon when you drag your finger through it. If you want to go by temperature, you're looking for 170 F. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest. Press plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming and chill in the refrigerator.

Freezing the ganache-covered cakes won't affect flavor or texture, but you will lose some shine, and, as Wendy mentioned, you might get a few water spots. As for transporting it assembled, while I've done this successfully with buttercream and with fondant wedding cakes, I'd be hesitant to try it with ganache. it's just so fragile. I think your best bet is pouring the ganache on site. Second best is transporting unassembled layers.

OK, I finally managed to do some white cake testing. I made mkfradin's, as so many others seemed to find it superior, and the recipe I posted. there is no contest. mkfradin's cake is most definitely the best. I give it a 4.5 - great texture, great flavor. It was too sweet for me, but pretty much all cakes are too sweet for me without drastic sugar reduction, and I wanted to do the recipe as written.

I'd amend this to say that the type (dutched versus natural) *can* affect the structure, but in practice (at least in my experience) usually doesn't, especially if there is another acid in the batter, for example, buttermilk.

Thanks Leslie and Steve, that's what I was afraid of. I'll stick to my molds and truffles for now, but I am going to keep practicing on my own. If only I didn't live in the middle of nowhere. And I completely understand the appreciation factor. When I first started I was so proud of my delicate, subtle flavors, but my customers wanted big and bold, so big and bold is what I do. And nobody but me seems to mind the imperfections. Of course, I make no claims to be particularly masterful at chocolate work, but I do well enough. And as for spraying molds with Pam, <Jennifer faints!>

Wendy, I didn't see your reply before I typed mine, but let me just clarify - I think the brand of cocoa can make a huge difference in flavor, I don't think it will affect texture very much, though. For my truffles, I use Cacao Barry extra brut. This is an extremely strong cocoa that I would be hesitant to bake with without adjusting the recipe too keep it from being overpowering. For my everyday (home) baking needs, I use Cebe, which my in-laws send me from Germany. It's a rich, natural cocoa, with an assertive flavor, yet much less bitter than other cocoas I've tried. The closest match to it I've seen in North America is Penzey's.

The brand of cocoa powder absolutely makes a difference. There are such huge differences between them. I'm sure that's why my test of the Wooley cake was too bitter. Not only as it not dutched, but it is a very strong cocoa. I'll bet this recipe was developed for a milder one.

That would be me! Though I am continuously working on my dipping skills. In the absence of taking a class (which is not a possibility right now), are there any books you would recommend?

Hi Joe, I agree with Kevin. I've run into this trouble too when doubling caramel recipes. My solution has been to cook the caramel a bit longer - about 152 seems to do it for me. Good luck with your candy-making. I don't understand everyone's problems with thermometers. I use the el-cheapo ones and have never had any trouble. Go figure.

I agree, the Time Life recipe is really good - in fact it's the one I use, but it isn't, strictly speaking, authentic. My Austrian friend just registered for egullet and promised to post her recipe as soon as her account is activated.

Give it a 4 overall.

I usually just leave it on the counter. Sometimes I'll freeze. Come to think of it, I rarely refrigerate unfrosted cakes, for no particular reason.

You should know that the Hotel Sacher and Demel's have a longstanding feud about who makes the original Sacher torte. Demel's does sell their recipe. Anyway, the cake part of your recipe doesn't look bad to me, but the frosting is completely wrong. Sacher tortes are not covered in ganache, the frosting is a cooked chocolate candy, more or less. I have an Austrian friend from another board who has a very good recipe for Sacher torte. I'll see if I can persuade her to come over here and post it for you.

Sure I can post the recipe with my latest modifications. What I meant to say was that this was my best result so far. I do still think it's possible to do better, though. I haven't tried adding pudding mix. Actually I have a strong aversion to pudding mixes, so I'll sit that version out. I agree with dropping the white chocolate cake, however much I like it, for the same reason you suggest. OK, here is the RLB cake with my modifications: 4 1/2 (4.75 ounces, or 135 grams) egg whites 1 cup (8.5 ounces or 242 grams ) whole milk 2 1/4 tsp. (9 grams) vanilla 2 3/4 cups (9.6 ounces or 275 grams) sifted cake flour 1/4 cup (1 ounce or 30 grams) sifted corn starch 1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces or 300 grams) sugar 1 T. +1 tsp. (19.5 grams) baking powder 3/4 tsp (5 grams) salt 6 T. (3 ounces or 85 grams) unsalted butter 6 T. (3 ounces or 85 grams) vegetable oil Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. In a medium bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of milk, and the vanilla. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter, oil, and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry iingredients are moistened.Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg ixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides. Scrape batter into prepared pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched. If it starts shrinking away from the sides of the pan before you remove it from the oven it is overbaked! Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn them out onto a rack and cool completely. Wrap cooled cakes well and let them sit overnight. They have a far better texture and flavor the day after they are baked.

AP flour with cornstarch would be a substitution for cake flour. Actual cake flour is milled from soft wheat and naturally lower in protein. Yes, it is. In my attempts to make a more tender white cake, though, I've actually subbed cornstarch for cake flour.

The problem with most white cakes, IMHO, is their texture. I did a white cake bake-off on Cook's talk a few years ago, and the best one I came up with then was the ice water white cake already posted. I do think it is possible to do better than this, though, and lately I've been playing around with subbing cornstarch for some of the flour (yes, even cake flour), and oil for part of the butter, all in an attempt to soften the texture. Results so far are promising, but I haven't really settled on a final recipe. My entry to this thread would be RLB's standard white cake from the Cake Bible (not the white chocolate one), with half the butter replaced by an equal volume of vegetable oil, and about 1/4 cup of the flour replaced with cornstarch.