LittleIsland

Patrick, did you ever experiment with ALL dried egg whites? Or how much dried white to add to fresh? I am looking for advice on what adjustments to make when only fresh egg whites are available, for example, adding some powdered whites to thicken the batter. I know it's a difficult one to answer depending on which recipe one is using, but theoretically would it be possible to start with all fresh whites, add some powdered whites to thicken it and then after folding, just eyeball the batter to thin it out with a touch of water if necessary? Making sure one has enough old white available is a real pain. I've had 2 attempts. The first time I used JGarner's recipe but subbed about a third of the almond with dessicated coconut and omitted the cocoa but added a touch of almond extract. I didn't have great expectations because all this was on a whim - but surprisingly, although the texture was too coarse and the tops slightly peaky (batter was thick but very easy to pipe), to my delight as I peeked in the oven, they all baked up with little feet!! Beginner's luck I guess. Thus heartened, my second attempt was using the Flo Braker reciper posted by CanadianBakin' (half recipe) but it was disastrous, I might have over-folded as the batter was too runny, they spread too much, I couldn't control the flow out of the tube, and the tube was too large anyway. They baked up matte and with no feet. Tasted alright but not as chocolaty as they could have been. Well the kiddos gobbled them up On templates: I printed off a page of perfectly staggered, 1.25" circles from my computer and placed this under my parchment... so easy.

For what it's worth, this thread is VERY helpful and provides HUGE learning for other novices!

From the write-up from the link, it looks as thought it's the same thing as the Kueh Lapis I posted, except baked in one pan instead of in layers. It does look gorgeous and impressive in layers.

Well I have 6 bowls of chocolate frosting on the table right now waiting for my cousin to come over and help me taste-test I have to say I haven't seen unflavoured instant jelly - never looked I guess. I just - and obviously erroneously - assumed it was gelatine. But you know what, I think I like the texture with just the hk flour without additional setting agents. But I'll let you know how it goes anyway. Oh and thanks for the tip on the hk flour. I did buy the 1kg pack in anticipation of experimenting and given today's activity, am glad I did!

Interesting observation SweetSide... and does makes sense. I certainly didn't think of that. But it doesn't explain the lip and the bevel - so it's probably a combination of both. I don't know if it's fixable in the oven. my other problem now is when baking on 2 racks, the top rack invariably develops a really crusty top - which I suppose I could avoid by rotating but I'm worried about causing the cake to fall.

Hmmm I was also going to try cutting out the gelatine because I didn't like the gooey, slightly chewy feeling it was giving the frosting! So maybe a bit of gelatine (as indicated in Renee K's recipe) is your answer

Thanks Patrick... will try. I will add my entreaty to the others to see your cake

That doesn't look too far off a ganache. But I'm no expert. The frosting I am trying to perfect is a bit darker than that, just as glossy, a bit fluffier in texture. What I achieved today actually looks very much like the frosting in your picture. So you might want to give it a try. Strangely enough, I am finding my experiments tasting a bit too much like the semi-sweet chocolate so am going to try all cocoa the next time and see what that does to the taste.

Hey ReneeK, if you are lurking about, I wanted to report back on my 3rd time experimenting with your frosting recipe. I am getting closer to what I want, I think... this time adding a touch of salt and more hoon kueh powder, cocoa and sugar. My 3 year old is having a fine time licking the bowl - ok... I mean he is eating spoonsful of the stuff - every time I work on this Anyway I will let you know when I hit the jackpot, haha.

Any of you game to try this traditional Indonesian spice cake (called Kueh Lapis)? Very fragrant. I used to make this (to a slightly different/tweaked recipe), years ago. A little time-consuming, what with having to bake it a layer at a time, but if anyone does try it, I'd LOVE to see what you think... and pics! The "rempah kueh" spice in the recipe is just mixed spices (but I usually kick up the amount of spices and add extra cinnamon). The kueh lapis press referred to, is just to help press down and even out each cake layer - you could just use anything flat to remove the bubbles in each baked layer.

Thanks MichelleGL. Yes I've given up using the convection feature of my oven until I figure out what I can bake with it that doesn't get blown to one side. I did eventually get even cakes after LOTS of levelling. Edited to add a warm welcome to eGullet! It's such a great place to hang out.

Do you find chiffon layers sink under filling? I'd like to fill this cake with lemon curd (posted on the Lemon Curd thread, looking for a firm-ish curd) and some sort of lemon cream. But when I once filled a chocolate chiffon cake with mousse etc. the layers compressed - maybe I'd done something wrong - but it's scared me a little off filling chiffon cakes. What's the secret, if there is one? If I were to fill the centre with a curd and a cream, and top it again with cream and curd, do you think RLB's chiffon cake would stand up under it or compress or slip under all that weight? And, how many layers do you think I could reasonably create (looking at 3) without having layers slip out from underneath? Remembering the tropical heat I'm working in averages about 30 - 33 deg C.

Carrying on from Patrick's search for a lemon curd that sets a little firmer than a typical curd, can anyone tell me if adding the additional eggs (and should it be just yolks?) will work to produce a slightly firmer curd? I'd like to use it in as a cake filling as well - sitting over a cream filling in the middle, and on the top of the cake. I used RLB's recipe and am wanting to try the FC recipe, but need it to set firmer.

Hmm I usually find the angel or chiffon pans very easy to wash because there's not much stuck onto them after cutting the cake out of the pan. Any chiffon crust that's left is usually very soft and comes of easily - it's not crusty like how some cakes can get. Not that I do that much of my own washing however!

Oh Shaloop, that's exactly what I have planned for some time in the near future! I've even bought my jar of lemon curd (yes, I will get round to trying my hand at making it one day once I've gotten the cake right) in preparation. I want to cover the whole cake with a soft lemon-gel kind of topping too - one that might firm up slightly on the surface but stay soft-ish inside. Anyway I was going to start with RLB's lemon chiffon recipe which calls for 10 white and 6-7 yolks I think. Possibly it's a little soft as a layer cake to support fillings and topping, but you (or I ) could ask her that question on her website, realbakingwithrose And I'd be interested to see what the others have to say in response to your question too!

Thank you for the compliments and encouragement from all you so much more experienced and professional bakers! I did have fun putting it all together, although I didn't realise how much devil there is in the detail. Somehow when I started conceiving the idea, I thought it would be a lot easier I have a HUGE appreciation for you who do this regularly or for a living!! (Although it's probably a LOT more fun playing with fondant and icing flowers etc.)

The carrot wedding-cum-birthday cake I made for my father's celebration last night. Excuse the ugly service trolley the restaurant laid it on that's all they had available. It was covered with cream cheese frosting, and I cut the stems of the roses to place in the acrylic bowl. My piping sucked because working in our tropical heat the frosting got too soft too quickly but I was too lazy and tired to put it back in the fridge to firm up again so there were more blobs than shells. But thankfully no one appeared to notice. Even if I say so myself, I think the cake cut beautifully, and I was really really happy with the way the slices looked, with even layers and clean frosting in between - so all the obsessing with trimming the cakes etc. did pay off in the end. Unfortunately I didn't take pics of the slices to show. Lots of compliments on the eating of the cake, and I have Squirrelly Cakes to thank for her addition of wheat bran to the recipe, plus all her and Sarah Philips' hand-holding, trouble-shooting and sage advice along the way. Thank goodness for the internet!

Hmmm I obviously have a too-powerful convection fan, as evidenced by these two new 9" layers from today. The cake above has a slight "lip" on the left, and on the right if you look closely, you can see a small dip at the edge of the cake. Ditto the dip at the right side of the layer above. I think that's where the fan was blowing it. The first layer was on the 2nd rack from bottom, and therefore more susceptible to the fan - although the lip happened on the side facing the fan. For both layers, I will have to level them off at about 1 1/4 or so inches, due to the dip. grrrr Above is the 6" cake, which I baked at the same time as the 2 layers. I baked the 2 layers in my new oven using convection mode because I was using 2 racks. I baked the 6" cake in my old counter-top convection. Strangely, yesterday's 6" cake baked in the new oven using traditional top and bottom heat only, turned out nicer and more level than today's. So, it really does vary quite a bit between ovens, modes and pans. Looking carefully at the 6" cake above, you will see on the right side, a small dip in the side of the cake - what causes that? I didn't get that in yesterday's 6" cake. Anyway I will use this cake and level it off. Carrots - about 5 1/4 cups for a 2 1/4 recipe batch which was divided among the 3 pans above. Left out nuts from both cakes and will omit as well from the 12" I'll be baking tomorrow. I hope this allows for easier torting. And yes, this time I left the cakes to stand for 20-30 minutes before unmolding. One thing I need to eventually figure out is whether I can bake the layers in the 9x2" pans in traditional mode in the new oven, instead of convection. I hate that fan!!! I had really good results from the same pans baking RLB's All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter cake using convection mode but I think that's because the batter wasn't as high. Well, so far I realise I've only been posting my problem cake pictures and no glorious goodies yet... hopefully soon

This would drive me nuts!! (specifically, walnuts) For a minute there I was almost hyperventilating at the thought. Then sanity prevailed: I don't think that's my problem, because today's cakes turned out FAIRLY ok , the tiny dip on today's 9" cake was on one side, like a small bevelled edge - if the oven were not level, the entire cake would be slightly slopey, not just this tiny dip. My 6" cake did not have a problem with the sloping - just a small centre dip which is probably due to the carrots. For those interested in my first wedding cake saga - erm, I mean, journey - I can post the long-winded story here too but it's over at baking911 where Squirrelly Cakes and Sarah have been patiently holding my hand. Talk about having it consume my entire fortnight. Even while driving I am thinking about batter, nuts, cake pans, etc. Cyd - sheet pans - good idea for the future but I don't have any right now, and if I were to buy them I'd rather buy 2" layer pans and bake the layers in those Depending on my confidence level, I'll post pictures of the end result here though!

There's: - top and bottom heat (traditional mode) - full convection - convection with bottom heat - and others which are more for cooking/roasting/grilling etc. than baking I'm guessing a pastry mode is the convection with bottom heat which would ensure the bottom crust is thoroughly cooked. I tried this the other day with lousy results but then again I was using 2 racks with 2 pans per rack - yep ambitious. I think it needs more experimentation once I'm done with the wedding cake.

Thank you for the offer. I don't expect it to look perfect but it's the irritating perfectionist in me that wants it to look decent when sliced as well. The layers will be level (I hope!) because I'll be using a wire cake leveller but I dislike seeing uneven sides on a cake that's hidden by scads of frosting, not the least issue being that people getting those side slices are getting too much frosting in proportion to cake. I know it's a niggly petty little thing but hey we all have our pet peeves Now, tell me if I'm an idiot or am I misreading advice when they say to level and torte a cake when frozen... does it mean to freeze and then allow the cake to defrost before levelling and slicing? I've just tried running my leveller through the frozen cake and of course it's too hurd *duh* What am I missing here? I should allow it to soften, correct??

Thanks a bazillion for all the sound advice, Squirrelly and Sarah. Deeply appreciated. I ended up using my usual Maida Heatter recipe as I only baked the test cake yesterday and wouldn't have a chance to taste it before tonight so didn't want to take a chance on a new recipe I'd never tried before. It's 4 cups carrots (1 lb), 1 1/2 cups nuts. When baking layers I usually just chuck in an estimated 500g carrots (cos I like loads of carrots in the cake) which I measured out this morning to be 4 1/3 cups. Way too much I guess for a 3" pan as you've said. So these are my adjustments with the 9" cake in the oven now: - Reduced carrots to 3 cups - Reduced nuts to generous 1 cup - I had addded the 2tsp bran anyway (yes this time 2 TSP) - Baking in normal top and bottom heat mode, no convection - 2nd rack from bottom because this puts the pan smack in the middle of the oven - Baking at 325F - Added a flower nail in the centre for insurance I figure since I don't have the time this week I will put in all my insurance, and try to isolate the issues later when I am not under pressure. The only thing I did not do is wrap the pans. So far at 60 minutes it's looking FAIRLY even - at least none of the ridiculous lopsided-ness from yesterday. Except for a small area on the side facing the back of the oven... like a small bevel (for want of a better description) where the edge of the cake is slightly lower (a touch less than 1/4") than the rest. Hopefully it won't be a huge issue once I come to level the cake. I have fingers and toes and goodness-knows-what-else crossed! I will be a wreck the entire time the 12" cake is in the oven, I know it!

Any idea why this happened to my cake? It's my test cake for my dad's wedding carrot cake for this Sunday so now I'm panicking a bit. Squirrelly Cakes has been helping me along at Baking911 but I thought I'd also ask here. I baked this in a 9x3" Magic Line pan (expecting it to turn out very level) in convection mode on the second rack from bottom (out of 5 rack positions). With this recipe I usually bake 2 layers with no problems, only slight doming. For the wedding cake however, I thought I'd go with 3" high pans and torte. The fan did appear to be blowing the batter a little on the side directly facing it. So I turned the cake after 30 minutes. The whole thing took about 70 minutes - and I think it's a little overbaked (crusty top) although at 62 minutes it was slightly liquidy. The left side is about 2" high, about 1/3" lower than the right. There is also a small crater in the middle. Heeelppppp. Looking at this cake I would have thought I'd get a higher cake than what I'd achieve from 2 layer pans, but it looks as though after levelling it, it will actually end up slightly lower. Possibly need to try again on traditional oven mode with top and bottom heat only and no convection? Or change rack position? Or go back to baking 2 layers in 2" pans instead of using a 3" pan and torting? (then I would be in trouble because I only have the 9"x2" pans, the 6" and 12" are 3" high) Or any other suggestions very welcome and necessary! I really need to start baking the actual/final cakes tomorrow or Wednesday at latest or I'll run out of time.

Thanks very much for the input everyone... I'll definitely make sure I'll be checking for flying food !!

Great point about it being challenging to guage amount of batter in 2 different sized pans... didn't think of that. That's why I'm here asking irritating questions! Hmm ok, going to have to think this through again. Good thing I'm not in a hurry for the 8" pans.