Reason For Failure in Cake Making

!±8± Reason For Failure in Cake Making

Reason for failure in cake making:

1. Heavy, close textured cake
a) The fat and sugar were not sufficiently creamed.
b) The eggs were not sufficiently beaten in.
c) The eggs were added too quickly, causing the mixture to be curdled.
d) Insufficient baking powder was used.
e) It was cooked in too slow an oven, where the carbon dioxide in the cake did not expand to its fullest extent before it sets.

2. A cake sunk in the middle
a) The fat, sugar and eggs were over creamed.
b) Too much baking powder, liquid or sugar was used.
c) It was moved in the oven before it set.
d) The oven door was slammed.
e) It was insufficiently cooked.

3. A cracked cake with a peak in the center
a) Too much baking powder was used.
b) The mixture was too stiff and not of the correct consistency.
c) The oven was too hot when it was put in.
d) It was put too high up in the oven.

4. A streaky cake
a) The sides of the mixing bowl and inside of the wooden spoon were not well scraped down before the flour was added.
b) The flour was insufficiently folded in. Streaks of fat and sugar with little or no flour caused streaks on the crust when baked.

Oven temperatures and times for baking:

- Small plain cakes likes Scones, Rock bun, etc: - 450ºF, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Small rich cakes likes Queen cakes, Madeleine, etc: - 400ºF, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Large plain cakes likes Loaf cake, etc (up to 1 lb.):- 400ºF, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Large rich cakes like Pound cake, Banana cake, etc (not more than 1 lb.):- 375ºF, 50 to 60 minutes.
- Very large rich cakes (2 lb. or more):- 350ºF, 1½ hours.

To test if a cake is cooked

Well cooked cakes should be well risen, firm and a good, even color. A good test is by touch. The top of the cake should be firm and lightly springy, leaving no mark when gently pressed. Due to the evaporation of water during baking, a cooked cake shrinks slightly from the sides of the tin. A warmed skewer put into the center of a cakes should come out clean if the cake is done.

To cool and keep cakes

Sandwich cakes and cakes baked in unlined tins should be left in the tins for 1 to 2 minutes before turning them out. This is necessary, as when the cake cools it shrinks slightly and will come out of the tin easily. For quick cooling, stand the cake tin on a piece of damp cloth for about ½ minute before turning it out. When turning out, a slight tap on the tin will help loosen the cakes, causing it to drop out.

Cakes baked in lined tins can be lifted out very easily with the paper. All cakes should be cooled slowly on wire trays away from a draught. If cakes have to be kept for a few days, store them when cooled, in a clean, dry, airtight tin. Rich cakes keep better than plain cakes which are inclined to become dry if kept for more than two days.