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SweetSide

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Everything posted by SweetSide

  1. I have one recipe that calls for baking angel food in a loaf (bread) pan. Came out fine. Remember to invert it -- for this I set two teacups upside down and balance the ends of the pan on them.
  2. Ah, but to throw a wrench in the works -- I specifically added a baking stone to my oven to keep my genoise from deflating. It kept the heat more even, as long as I preheat the oven for a LONG time before baking so the stone can absorb the heat. But then had problems with another cake -- after experimentation I found it was that I wasn't whipping my egg whites perfectly. My flaw was with the baker, not the oven or recipe. Could it be that the butter isn't mixing in thoroughly -- it can tend to sink to the bottom. When doing a genoise I was taught to take some of the egg foam, add it to the butter and stir until it was well combined. Then fold that mixture back into the rest of the foam to make the folding easier. Would that process work for this cake? Did you open the oven door too soon for a peek? Another detrimental move to some cakes....
  3. RodneyCk, this book is out already. I've had it for at least a week, and it's very nice. Got mine through Jessica's Biscuit (ecookbooks.com) for $39.
  4. Great cupcakes Kim, and I love your miniature "cake plate" to show them off! Very creative, and it is now in my mind for the next time I do a cupcake picture!
  5. SweetSide

    Bread math

    Eeewwww -- but I don't think the gluten level would go up. Protein, yes. But what would be the impact of the added fiber?
  6. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Chefpeon, see, if I edit your post, I can take it totally out of context and start that Ninth Circle! Seriously though -- I am at a point early enough in my career where I KNOW I need to improve certain skills. I am going to give it one more try (only done it twice) and see how it goes. If it works, I know I can do it, and will NOT store the recipe as written in my portfolio. I certainly wouldn't want to risk failure for a cake I was selling. I'm stubborn, but I'm not crazy. And if I CAN'T do it, then I have a stack here of other yellow and white cakes to try in my search for my perfect one. And, when I do give up the recipe after this third time, I will surely have to say this thread helped in all regards. The advice shows me where I need work, what I do know, different ways of doing things, and keeps me learning so that the NEXT time I have a problem, I have more of my own personal instinct to go on, just like all of you. Ninth Circle, here I come!!!!!
  7. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Miriam, beautiful descriptions and that is exactly what I would want to see in my instructional books! A lot of that I knew, but perhaps didn't practice diligently and need to practice some more... Good mise en place I have, but I will read and re-read the rest, along with the comments from my other helpers, before the next go round. It will work, darn it!
  8. First time I made it, I forgot to strain out the zest. It wasn't perfectly smooth, but with all that blender action, it was smooth. I suppose if you want it smoother, strain out the zest. It also gets out the chalazae (those white strands that come off the yolk.)
  9. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Sarah, just to clarify, the second time it still had the rubbery layer, but I could see it was an undercooked section. And it was of a diameter less than the diameter of the cake. As my family eats the cake, they just peel that part off, and the rest of the cake is fine. I tried your Ultimate Yellow Butter Cake Recipe, and it is more dense than what I am in search of. I like it, but I'm looking for a cake with a lighter texture. And, I baked that one from cold butter, eggs, etc. EXACTLY as you instructed, and it came out very good. And when I said the batter was thick, it was not overly so -- I just meant that you definitely had to spread it around. I have some cakes I make with looser or even runny batters. And, at work, it is SO hot that we do have melting butter issues and big problems with buttercreams... I am just a stubborn soul who wants to make this work to prove that I can. At that point, once I know I can do it, I will likely move on to a less temperamental recipe for use in my oven. K8 -- send some of your cosmic juju my way tomorrow!
  10. More food porn! I haven't seen the book yet, but will be ordering soon -- sooner now after this picture! (Dorie, you're going to owe Patrick royalties... )
  11. Or apple ice cream on Tarte Sucre (sugar tarte) in a tartlette version. Or apple ice cream in a snickerdoodle sandwich -- mini version if you prefer or just on one cookie. Or with some hearty spice cake where the cake is petit four style. Mmmm, it's coming into apple season....
  12. As someone above said, these calls happen in every industry and they happen at work. A good headhunter will as you if there is a convenient time to talk and will take verbal cues as to whether you want to talk later or not. They know there is a good likelihood that someone may be standing too close. Don't tick them off -- they may be needed some day. Where I used to work, you could tell when a headhunter was "doing the rounds" because a series of phones would ring. One person would hang up, and the next person's (alphabetically) would ring. No one there put off the call... As for the former employer physically coming to work -- WHAT NERVE! Totally inappropriate!
  13. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Well, I'm pondering the cosmic forces, and they are saying that tonight is a good nice to sit on my nether regions and fall asleep on the couch. My thoughts, so far, on your advice without going to round three of the rubbery cake... My butter isn't "soft". When it is at New England room temperature this week, if I PRESS it with my finger, I will get a slight indentation, but it is still firm. I don't beat the living daylights out of it either. Could still be this, but next time I'll take its temp. And, my pan was not set on the warm stove top -- been there, done that. Am careful not to do that anymore, nor to reuse sheet pans when cooking multiple batches of cookies unless you want one giant all spread out cookie... Now, if my oven isn't hot enough, wouldn't that cause the same thing to happen? Butter gets just warm enough to melt out? Sorta like when you make buttermilk hockey pucks -- um biscuits -- cuz another student turned the oven down on you... Yeah, and I've Got to go get ANOTHER oven thermometer -- last one (which was reading good with the oven stone) was left in the self-cleaning oven and didn't survive... I like the tip on adding the sugar to the whites -- did that with a new cake at work today and I find it makes that whipping to the right stage and the folding easier. New trick to remember... Oh, and for beating in the eggs -- I learned that 20 second thing from someone a while ago, and use that, head bobbing as I count them out... so I didn't beat the eggs to oblivion either. I beat them just until they disappear, and scrape about halfway through the eggs and then again at the end just before another couple of spins. Not after every single egg... My batter was THICK -- like didn't spread out much at all when I panned it. I had to spread it all out. Was yours? And, I'm contemplating just throwing in the eggs and not whipping the whites. K8, at what stage(s) do you do that when making this recipe? Thanks!
  14. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Ok, now that the cake is cooler, I've been dissecting it -- while the family has been eating it... (for some any fresh cake is good!) It appears that the rubbery bottom layer is not cooked thoroughly. I'm wondering if it is the pans being too high that is causing my problem now... Of the 8" diameter, the outer inch is fine, then it slowly gets worse as you get to the center. The other cake has been refrigerated for some time (since I made it on Sunday), so I can't easily compare the two cakes. And, I didn't cut that one until it was filled and frosted, thinking that all was well intitially. The only other time I've had "undoneness" in the middle bottom is when I was baking a 1/2 sheet (2" deep, not a regular sheet) or large square. For that recipe for those pans, I use a flower nail and stopped having the problem. And, chefpeopn, I'm learning to bake by feel -- and smell and sound as well. As time goes on, I'm amazed at how I can tell when things are getting to where they are supposed to be by all the clues they give you. This is why I'm not an insurance underwriter any more (even if my current cake is cruddy!)
  15. SweetSide

    Cake help

    PHOO! Ok, because this cake is just cake, here's the analysis without all the frosting. Still a thin rubbery line on the bottom, but not the entire diameter of the cake. When rising in the oven (yes, I was checking on it repeatedly), it rose, then the outer third set. Then, it rose more in the middle. Looked like a bell curve (wish you could draw on message boards). When it came out, then center deflated, but did not "sink". The end result is a cake where the center and outer edge are even, and there is a dipped ring halfway between edge and center. The rubberiness is from that ring to the center. For the non-rubbery part of the cake, it is soft and fluffy (still warmish) with an even crumb. When I cut it, it did not crumble at all. Again, when I took it out of the oven, it sprung back, but I'm wondering if I took it out a tad too early. However, I don't think additional time would help the density on the bottom at all. Again baked in 8 x 3 pans, but the cake isn't that tall so I don't know why I need 8 x 3 and not 8 x 2.
  16. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Sorry, I was joking/being sarcastic -- someone at work really did deflate a giant batch of egg foam cake because they beat the living daylights out of it. Can you say soup? I do use a big, flat spatula or for bigger batches a big bowl scraper! Even at work, up to my bicep in egg foam... Cake is out of the oven.... Things I did differently -- 1) Moved the rack to the center, away from the stone. 2) Volume and scale weighed the flour -- came out almost exactly the same. 3) Took some sugar out of the creaming process and whipped my egg whites with that for structure. Based on appearances and time and folding, I'm thinking that was indeed part of the problem -- over beaten egg whites. 4) Added "new oven" to my "when my husband gets his year end bonus" list...
  17. SweetSide

    Cake help

    I'm on the other end of your universe I know that a cup of flour for me, after scooping and weighing a zillion times, weighs 4.5 ounces. So if something calls for a cup, I use 4.5 ounces. For me. And for scaling I will calculate to fractions of an ounce even when the recipe calls for something like 20 pounds 9 and 1/3 ounces.... like that 1/3 ounce is gonna kill it... My ANALytical nature I guess....
  18. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Sarah, I did not find what you said condescending at all! All the explanations you give are wonderful, and I had been hoping you would chime in. I just wasn't sure if you knew that I kind of know what I'm doing, but obviously have troubles at times too. But also that this is not just the second cake I've made or that I fold with an electric mixer. Which is why I posted -- so that those of you who know all the ins and outs can say you did such and such try doing this instead. Keep doing what you are doing! Some of us really need it! And, I know that the recipe is a good one, just that I bungled something (even as simple has having a temperamental oven) and wanted to make it come out right. And chefpeon had an issue with her cake so I know that even the most experienced bakers/chefs have an off day. And Squirrelly Cakes, the same goes for you -- keep posting in the detail! I am not/was not offended. I am detail oriented (some may say anal...) and all those points you list are important. That's why I posted in the first place, and that's why after pondering my predicament I mentioned the baking stone. Diagnosis needs to take into account every detail. And cognitivefun -- yup -- learned that lesson long ago. I scrape well -- all the goo off the beaters too. Cake is in the oven....
  19. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Ok, tonight will be the test. My ingredients are coming to room temp as I write... Just for clarification, because I tend to abbreviate leaving out what I assume other people already know. I didn't just assume how much a cup of cake flour weighs. First, I looked it up for sifted and not sifted in a couple of sources as a reference point for my own measuring. Then I sifted my flour onto parchment, spooned it in into a cup measure leveled it then weighed it. Did it again -- both cups weighed the same. Didn't weigh that last 1/4 cup. I was a contributor on that flour weight thread, and am in that "eighth circle of hell". Had the cake sunk in the middle like yours did, I would have known I was light on the flour. Didn't expect the rubber.... K8 and Squirelly Cakes, I too am interested in what your cup of sifted cake flour weighs and how you measure it which is why I posted what I got mine to weigh.... And, just for reference -- I'm not being defensive or offended -- I am baking this at home, but I am not a home baker. I've been out of school only a year now, but I am a professional who has gone to pastry school and work as a baker/pastry chef. And that, as we can see, doesn't mean that I don't have anything more to learn! At work I also make a cake with the egg whites folded in separately (uses 20 whites to give you a volume size), and haven't had a problem at all. So I know that I can do this at least most of the time. Maybe that's why this is ticking me off -- because I really do want to know exactly what needs work. I fold in the same manner that Squirrelly Cakes outlined. And, I won't be baking in the lower third of the oven this time. I'll stick with the middle like I usually do. And I'll post back what I find. Last one I decorated to the nines -- this one is just gonna be nekkid cake.
  20. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Thanks Sarah, and some reply comments to your suggestions... A new oven is not possible at this time, nor is placing the stone on the bottom of the oven. The heating element for my oven is on the floor, and I can't place the stone on it. The only time I had a problem with the Angel food cake is when that stone was right below it, so we may be on to something here but... I am going back to egg white school. I'm ginger -- I don't smash those things in there -- but sometimes I think I'm too ginger. It would be great to have someone looking over your shoulder again. I'm not going to rule this out. As for the pans, I did use the recommended 8 x 3. For the cake flour, I really like weights, so, I sifted flour then weighed a cup of it and got 3.7 oz. For the 2 1/4 cups, I used 8.3 oz. Too much? Too little? I'm riding the weight bandwagon here... K8, I know you like this cake -- and I think I will too if... No, I haven't tried it at work, and I did bake it at 350F, and I will try again.
  21. SweetSide

    Cake help

    The recipe is HERE, and was originally linked to in the Yellow and White cake thread. With the oven stone in, my temperature has been fairly steady. But, without it, I was getting 50F fluctuations and my genoise's were falling. Butter was fine and fresh -- has that nice plastic feel to it with no signs of prior melting where the oils would separate from the solids. Creamed nicely till pale and fluffy. Kitchen wasn't too warm -- it's been very chilly here so the windows are closed, and when I made the cake I think the kitchen was around 65F. Only chemical leavener was baking powder (no soda). It has good reaction when I pour hot water on some...
  22. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Check, check, check, .... Ran through those bases in my head This is ticking me off, so I've been pondering, and I think I have another wrench to throw in the works... I have issues with oven temp fluctuations, so I put a baking stone in my oven. After that, perfect genoise (last cake issue). I had an angel food with a dense bottom -- oh foo. For that, I had to lower the rack to the rung above the stone due to the height of the pan. For this cake, the rack was again on the rung just above the stone, which is on the lowest rack (sucking up my oven space). The recipe had said to bake in the lower third of the oven and usually I bake cakes on the center rung of the oven. Could my pans have been too close to the stone, preventing proper heat circulation causing the rubber bottom? When I tested the cakes for doneness, they did not feel dense (it is only on the bottom). They were evenly browned, and nice and springy on top and had just begun to pull from the pan.
  23. SweetSide

    Cake help

    Thanks -- I'm glad I'm not alone chefpeon and now I don't feel so bad since you've got so much more experience than me. Sometimes when simple things go wrong I question my abilities.... I'm thinking, since I always worry about over-mixing, that maybe I didn't mix it enough? Anyone else?
  24. I'm making this one cake and at the bottom of each layer there is a dense part -- sort of rubbery, but not TOO bad -- but not supposed to be there obviously. It's about 1/4 inch thick on the bottom of a 2 inch layer. I'm trying to read on what I'm doing wrong, but not following -- my books aren't good on trouble shooting. All ingredients were room temp. Recipe uses cake flour, and the recipe as written is not at fault -- many others like it. I don't think I over mixed -- I really didn't have the mixer on that long. Was my oven too cold? My oven is finicky some times, but it was well preheated. Thanks!
  25. Simply add lemon juice and/or extract to taste. The other way I know of is to fold in lemon curd, which I personally haven't done. ← I have, and it is much better than using extract. If you don't mind the added texture (such as for filling) I like to add lemon zest as well. But, if you are trying to ice smooth those little nubs will drag. ETA: For the gingerbread, there is a thread on that already -- try a search. I believe one of the favorites was the one from Gramercy tavern with stout. My favorite is out of Baking with Julia.
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