Has Anyone Made This Cook's Illustrated White Layer Cake
Baking By AKA_cupcakeshoppe Updated 3 Aug 2012 , 12:41am by FromScratchSF
I was gonna try it for my grandma's birthday cake tomorrow. But the steps are kind of different and I wondered if anyone has seen or made a recipe like this before? It doesn't say to whip the egg whites and the butter is mixed into the flour. Here's the recipe.
2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/COOKS-ILLUSTRATED-WHITE-LAYER-CAKE-50017374#ixzz1InlRJgDH
I haven't made this recipe. But I love the recipes from Cooks Illustrated. They have all turned out beautifully. Good luck
Alright so the steps were removed, I guess for copyright. So if interested just click on the link.
Thanks Smokey. I haven't made white cake before because I'm not a fan of whipping egg whites.
I've made this cake and it is wonderful. They use a two-stage method to make the batter. My go-to cake - King Arthur Flour's Tender White Cake, is very similar. If you have The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, you may have noticed that most of her cake are made like this as well.
That's the two-stage, "reverse creaming" method of mixing. It will give you a tender and moist cake.
http://www.joepastry.com/2009/what_is_the_two_stage_a_k_a_reverse_crea/
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/project-wedding-cake-the-cake-is-baked/
(vanilla buttermilk cake from Sky High, it's delicious. She uses this method a lot, on most of her recipes)
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-706229-.html&sid=8c0cbfe9080cf3e2434576f2ddf360c9
I have tried that vanilla buttermilk cake and it was too dense. Maybe I did it wrong.
Will using margarine instead of butter affect the cake other than taste?
Really? Who knows, maybe different mixers/mixing times? Mine comes out fluffy.
Margarine will probably make it fluffier and lighter.
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-207852.html
To be fair, I made that a long time ago back when I was still learning about baking. Who am I kidding? Still learning now. LOL
BTW thanks so much for the links!
I don't think we ever stop learning. And there's always something new. I just got the new Mich Turner's Cake Masterclass book, and I'm reading there about the mixing methods. Totally different. There's no creaming, reverse creaming, etc.
She's got: creaming, melting (never heard of this before: melt sugar and butter together, then combine this liquid with the eggs), all-in-one, and whisking. That melting method is intriguing and I have to make time to try it!
Hope someone else answers but I think they're probably asleep!
To be fair, I made that a long time ago back when I was still learning about baking. Who am I kidding? Still learning now. LOL
BTW thanks so much for the links!
I hope you've learned that margarine is nasty stuff and only use high quality, real butter.
To be fair, I made that a long time ago back when I was still learning about baking. Who am I kidding? Still learning now. LOL
BTW thanks so much for the links!
I hope you've learned that margarine is nasty stuff and only use high quality, real butter.
I'm not a fan of margarine or shortening. I never use it and I only make IMBC. But I know a lot of people use margarine/shortening in their cakes and in their frostings. That's just a fact.
Thanks Cakepro. I know margarine is not high quality, etc. But lots of people still use it and have used it for years. I have 3 blocks of margarine in the house and no butter and don't feel like going out to get it so margarine it is. 
awww you guys! You make me laugh so much!
It is kind of funny because we don't know if we are giving advice to our competitors. I really don't care about the recipes, but when I give the advice to go out and get those upper income people, I just have to hope no one nearby will actually do it.
No need to worry about lil ole me. I'm from a far far away third world country where people don't care if I use margarine or butter. I doubt if people here even know what real butter tastes like. Yep, we're that poor and undeveloped.
I don't think we ever stop learning. And there's always something new. I just got the new Mich Turner's Cake Masterclass book, and I'm reading there about the mixing methods. Totally different. There's no creaming, reverse creaming, etc.
She's got: creaming, melting (never heard of this before: melt sugar and butter together, then combine this liquid with the eggs), all-in-one, and whisking. That melting method is intriguing and I have to make time to try it!
Hope someone else answers but I think they're probably asleep!
Where did you get your book? I just tried looking for it. If I want it, I have to get it from the UK.
And of course, I just have to own every book that talks about baking at this level, you know.......
As far as copy right. My understanding is that there is no copy right on recipes. That is why you see the same recipe over and over again in many magazines. And also why CI charges to see recipes on their website, they have to get compensated somehow.
Reverse creaming is great for a cake, you get a nice crumb and it is super easy to make, and you get a nice flat cake. I'm going to try this recipe as my DIL loves a white cake.
No need to worry about lil ole me. I'm from a far far away third world country where people don't care if I use margarine or butter. I doubt if people here even know what real butter tastes like. Yep, we're that poor and undeveloped.
So are you expecting good results by subbing margarine, which does not even remotely have the same chemistry to work in recipes that require butter?
linda
try searching for the book on the americas test kitchen website. its the same ppl. from what i understand they dont sell their books in stores on online anymore except for the americas test kitchen website. at least its that way here in canada.
No, I am not talking about any CI book. I am talking about the Mich Turner book ImaginethatNJ mentioned, which is not related to CI at all.
I found the book on Amazon, but they do not have any on their site. I can get the book through sellers in the UK, but I was curious where ImaginethatNJ got her copy before I pursue it further.
The cake was amazing! Best cake ever. Thanks to those who responded 
linda
try searching for the book on the americas test kitchen website. its the same ppl. from what i understand they dont sell their books in stores on online anymore except for the americas test kitchen website. at least its that way here in canada.
No, I am not talking about any CI book. I am talking about the Mich Turner book ImaginethatNJ mentioned, which is not related to CI at all.
I found the book on Amazon, but they do not have any on their site. I can get the book through sellers in the UK, but I was curious where ImaginethatNJ got her copy before I pursue it further.
Linda, I'm so sorry I didn't answer this before. I stopped getting notifications. Today I was wondering how AKA_cupcakeshoppe's cake went and I decided to click on her profile and see if I could get back to the thread that way.
AKA_cupcakeshoppe, your cake is gorgeous! And from what I heard, it was delicious.
Linda, I pre-ordered that book from Amazon for a long time, but when the book was published I got a message from Amazon saying that it was out of print!
I have all her books, and also Peggy Porschen's (not that I get to use them that often), so I decided I had to get it no matter what. A friend of mine from New Zealand ordered it for me from the book depository, a lot cheaper than it cost here, and no shipping charges, shipped straight to my address. Try it there. It's a really nice book.
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781906417499/Mich-Turners-Cake-Masterclass
And Linda, here's two videos from YouTube that will give you an idea of what's there.
And Linda, here's two videos from YouTube that will give you an idea of what's there.
Thanks! I ordered it off the website you gave me. Looks like a great book!
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