Question For Those Who Bake From Scratch And Use Mixes...
Decorating By TamiAZ Updated 17 Jul 2011 , 1:21pm by GrandmaG
Sometimes threads go off topic and everyone gets buttsore and hate eachother. But sometimes, sometimes..... the stars align. The clouds part. The birds chirp. And some really great love comes out of threads. Today, my friends, that has happened.
I just want to give you all a virtual hug. <HUG>
Man my arms are tired reaching down under
Wait. That sounded bad.
No kidding! Especially when people talk about scratch cakes, their are people on both sides that get all butt-hurt and the thread gets locked. For the love of cake, can't we al just get along?
Well, I found Scharffen Berger chocolate powder at a local gourmet store. I also found Plugra butter but they had a plethora of butters so I need to do some research on their fat content so I know which kind I want to get. The Plugra was about $4.99 for a half pound so kind of expensive. Some had writing in a language I couldn't read and they also had an organic from Wisconsin that said just "cream". Oh, I also googled how to make your own sour cream and it sounds quite simple!
This thread has been a great learning tool and has opened my eyes to a step up to baking! Thanks everyone!
GrandmaG, if you like the Plugra, do you have a baker's wholesaler nearby that may have a better price?
You're going to have so much fun using your new ingredients! Let us know what you think.
I do about 50 miles away. I'll have to see if they carry it. I'm going to check also to see if anyone around here makes their own. We have a lot of organic type farms around here. The chocolate was expensive too but I wanted to try it to see the difference. I'll let you know what I think! I do make my own vanilla and can tell a difference.
I do about 50 miles away. I'll have to see if they carry it. I'm going to check also to see if anyone around here makes their own. We have a lot of organic type farms around here. The chocolate was expensive too but I wanted to try it to see the difference. I'll let you know what I think!
I do make my own vanilla and can tell a difference.
Scharffen Berger used to be made here in the bay area, but was just bought by Hershey's a year ago or so. Their bittersweet and unsweetened is really tasty and has a very nice smooth melt. If you come across it, I use E. Guittard chocolate for almost everything, they sell it on Amazon if you can't find it local. I use the 72% cocoa nibs and cocoa rouge cocoa powder. I love the stuff. But the best, hands down, yummiest white chocolate I have ever had is Green & Black's vanilla bean white chocolate bars. It's pricey but OMG it's worth it.
Jen
Ihope I can help you with your scratch cakes
1. the flour (philsbury) is sifted first and the measured, using a spoon to pour the flour in the measuring cup, when you sift the flour you add air in the batter
2- eggs, milk and butter have to be at room temperature
3. let rest your butter at least 30 to 40 min or until is soft
4. whip butter and sugar only for 7 min.
5. add egg yokls one by one, an d mix a med until the yellow color desapears, then add the next yolk, and so o
6. add the baking powder to the flour mix and then sift again
7. whip egg whites not so hard, and mix by hand slowly to add more air to to your batter
I do about 50 miles away. I'll have to see if they carry it. I'm going to check also to see if anyone around here makes their own. We have a lot of organic type farms around here. The chocolate was expensive too but I wanted to try it to see the difference. I'll let you know what I think!
I do make my own vanilla and can tell a difference.Scharffen Berger used to be made here in the bay area, but was just bought by Hershey's a year ago or so. Their bittersweet and unsweetened is really tasty and has a very nice smooth melt. If you come across it, I use E. Guittard chocolate for almost everything, they sell it on Amazon if you can't find it local. I use the 72% cocoa nibs and cocoa rouge cocoa powder. I love the stuff. But the best, hands down, yummiest white chocolate I have ever had is Green & Black's vanilla bean white chocolate bars. It's pricey but OMG it's worth it.
Jen
You can order the E. Guittard chocolates direct.
http://guittard-online.stores.yahoo.net/bakingproducts.html
And if you are in the bay area, I do believe you can buy directly from the location in Burlingame.
I do about 50 miles away. I'll have to see if they carry it. I'm going to check also to see if anyone around here makes their own. We have a lot of organic type farms around here. The chocolate was expensive too but I wanted to try it to see the difference. I'll let you know what I think!
I do make my own vanilla and can tell a difference.Scharffen Berger used to be made here in the bay area, but was just bought by Hershey's a year ago or so. Their bittersweet and unsweetened is really tasty and has a very nice smooth melt. If you come across it, I use E. Guittard chocolate for almost everything, they sell it on Amazon if you can't find it local. I use the 72% cocoa nibs and cocoa rouge cocoa powder. I love the stuff. But the best, hands down, yummiest white chocolate I have ever had is Green & Black's vanilla bean white chocolate bars. It's pricey but OMG it's worth it.
Jen
They also had the E. Guittard. Do you prefer that over the Scharffen Berger?
Just in regard to mud cakes:
1. They are meant to bake up to 3 inches high...we use 3" pans in Oz rather than 2"
2. They can take longer than you expect to bake.
3. They need as much tweaking as any other scratch recipe but Bluehue's posted recipes are a great place to start on your own journey of mud cake perfection!! Yay Bluehue!
4. I'd recommend using baking strips, otherwise you MIGHT end up with a hard crust on the outside.
5. Take the mud cake out of the oven and cool it in the pan. It should be a bit soft in the middle still when you do this, and will continue to set as it cools.
6. Add 2tsp of baking powder to 1 cup plain flour to get 'self-raising' flour. Sift thoroughly before use.
7. There are literally hundreds of ways and flavours to make mudcake. I have at least 15 on my regular wedding cake offerings.
8. If you want to try a mud cake recipe, start off small. A 6 - 8" mud cake will give you a better idea of how a muddie should taste than a dried-crust over-baked flatter mudcake.
9. Never. Ever. Use a "mud cake packet mix". Like any other box or packet mixes, they should be avoided (just opinion - I grew up baking from scratch and cannot tolerate the smell, taste or texture of box mixes).
10. The dark mud cake will give you the best idea of correct flavour and moistness. Some people find white mud cake to be a little low on white chocolate flavour, but it can be developed.
Lastly, they can dome a little, but the dome will be slightly crusty and chewy. You level this off if you're going to use it for a wedding cake etc for a client. It is THE BEST part of the cake - and you get to eat it! I always feel short-changed when my mudcakes bake up all nice and level :-/
Scharffen Berger used to be made here in the bay area, but was just bought by Hershey's a year ago or so. Their bittersweet and unsweetened is really tasty and has a very nice smooth melt. Jen
UGHHH I'm very disappointed to hear that Hershey bought them out.
I think the quality of Hershey's chocolate has really declined over the past few years. I hope they don't ruin Scharffen Berger.
I've noticed it's not as readily available at my supplier lately. I wonder if the buyout has anything to do with that.
Thanks for the info, I hadn't heard that.
Recipe Butter cake from scratch
2 cups sugar
1 pound butter, softened
1 tbs almond or vanilla extract
10 xlarge eggs separated
4 cups sifted flour
1 1/4 cup of milk
5 tsp baking powder
cream butter with sugar, for 7 min. separte egg yolks from whites
add one yolk at a time, med vel,
put the mixer in low and add 1/3 of the flour and mix until all the flour is integrated do not over mix add one third of milk, the same, until you do not see any milk, do not over mix, and go on.
Whip egg whites soft peak and fold them lightly
This will make your cakes soft a d airy
Bake at 350° and bake for 45 min, do not open the oven . when you smell the cake it will need n15 min more, now you can tested to see if is done. leave the cake in the pan for 15 min and desmold.
bake in a greased pan
if you have any questio , please write me
if you over mix the cake will be hard
- yes, on occassions i allow the *nice* Blue to come type some helpful information............ 
............ROFLMAO.
Evoir - thank you so much petal for typing that post - very helpful indeed.
Yes baking strips or wet tea towells are a must - and as you also said - those recipes ar a great starting point to perfecting ones own.
Anything can be added to them in the way of flavours.
Both recipes make great cupcakes also - baking times cary on each individuals oven - my baking time is roughly 22-25 minutes.
Also depends on the ize of your cup cake cases. 
Thanks FromScratch - 
To everyone else who said thankyou - your welcome - ENJOY.
Bluehue. 
But the best, hands down, yummiest white chocolate I have ever had is Green & Black's vanilla bean white chocolate bars. It's pricey but OMG it's worth it.
Yes! That's the only white chocolate I'll eat. Amazing texture, flavor, etc. Tasted it on a whim, once, and I was hooked.
On the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of G&B's darker chocolate. Thank goodness we have so many choices.
Well, I have learned some about butter! I've been doing some google research. In the US butter must contain 80% minimum butterfat by law. So I'm guessing most of the butters we find in our local grocery contain this. Homemade butter will have a butterfat content of 86% which is right up there with Plugra. The higher the fat content the more creamy it will be and will help cakes to rise higher and be fluffier according to the Plugra's info. They also have some nice recipes on their website. I'm still trying to figure out how to find out which brands have what percent of butterfat in them. Also with brands of cream, the fat content. In the mean time I'm out to find Plugra!
Everytime I see someone post about how great lano o'lakes is I roll my eyes. It's not much better then using a box mix with all the artificial flavors, fillers and color added to it. It's got one of the lowest butterfat contents you can get. I have seen the ultra creamy, I assume trying to compete with the european butters becoming popular, but it still says "natural flavors" in the ingredient list. Fail. That means chemicals to cover up the sub-par butter they produce... and it's the same price as the high quality butters right next to it - like Plugera, which is AWESOME. If I'm going to spend $5/lb for butter, it better be naturally delicious instead of artificially. But that's just me.
Curious why you do not find Plugra off-putting given they also use "natural flavors" to enhance their product. The ingredient list of Plugra and LoL are exactly the same (if it is not on the box or stick it is on their website). Plugra may indeed taste better (never have tried it) but it is for from naturally delicious. If the idea of flavoring additives is off-putting, it seems that Plugra fails that standard as well.
what a great thread - so full of helpful information. Thank you everyone!
I bake both scratch and doctored box mix cakes... I really would prefer to bake only form scratch because I have sensitivities to chemicals, but so far I haven't found a from scratch yellow or white cake that I love. I'm actually in the process of testing yellow cake recipes (for the 3rd time) now. This round I found one that I like the texture of but am not in love with the taste, and one I really like the taste of, but not the texture as much. So I'm still playing, but trying not to throw off the chemistry as I play.
I have a question about done-ness... what do you find is the best way to tell if a cake is fully cooked and ready to be taken out of the oven so that it doesn't over cook and become dry? I remember reading that 195 - 200°F was the correct temperature. Do those of you who take the temp agree with that temperature?
Our Publix carries Pulgra (top shelf) by butter - $2.69 8oz. (ouch) but they only carry salted?? They do not carry unsalted- can I just remove salt from my recipe???
$2.69 is a steal! I looked it up at Wegman's and it was $4.49 for 8oz!
I would love to know what tempurature the cakes are when they are done! I have this thermometer that you hook to the outside of the oven and a wand goes in the oven and you stick it in the food. When it gets hot enough, an alarm goes off.
How about making butter from scratch. Most people today make it by accident. "OMG, my cream curdled!" No it didn't, you just over beat it and made butter.
Start with really good heavy cream, turn on your electric mixer and let it go till you have butter curds and watery looking buttermilk. Strain off the buttermilk and wash with cold water and knead the butter till the buttermilk is all gone and the butter comes together as a lump. Add salt if you like or not. Home made butter will spoil in two weeks, but it doesn't have any additives.
Just in regard to mud cakes:
1. They are meant to bake up to 3 inches high...we use 3" pans in Oz rather than 2"
2. They can take longer than you expect to bake.
3. They need as much tweaking as any other scratch recipe but Bluehue's posted recipes are a great place to start on your own journey of mud cake perfection!! Yay Bluehue!
4. I'd recommend using baking strips, otherwise you MIGHT end up with a hard crust on the outside.
5. Take the mud cake out of the oven and cool it in the pan. It should be a bit soft in the middle still when you do this, and will continue to set as it cools.
6. Add 2tsp of baking powder to 1 cup plain flour to get 'self-raising' flour. Sift thoroughly before use.
7. There are literally hundreds of ways and flavours to make mudcake. I have at least 15 on my regular wedding cake offerings.
8. If you want to try a mud cake recipe, start off small. A 6 - 8" mud cake will give you a better idea of how a muddie should taste than a dried-crust over-baked flatter mudcake.
9. Never. Ever. Use a "mud cake packet mix". Like any other box or packet mixes, they should be avoided (just opinion - I grew up baking from scratch and cannot tolerate the smell, taste or texture of box mixes).
10. The dark mud cake will give you the best idea of correct flavour and moistness. Some people find white mud cake to be a little low on white chocolate flavour, but it can be developed.
Lastly, they can dome a little, but the dome will be slightly crusty and chewy. You level this off if you're going to use it for a wedding cake etc for a client. It is THE BEST part of the cake - and you get to eat it! I always feel short-changed when my mudcakes bake up all nice and level :-/
Thanks for the tips! You mention that it will be a bit soft in the middle when you take it out of the oven. Do you test with a toothpick for doneness? (Before I go off and waste coconut milk...) If not, how do you know when it's done?
Completely off-topic, but I really need to visit Australia someday. Some great things come from down under. Ganache, mud cakes, Russell Crowe, Keith Urban...
Just in regard to mud cakes:
1. They are meant to bake up to 3 inches high...we use 3" pans in Oz rather than 2"
2. They can take longer than you expect to bake.
3. They need as much tweaking as any other scratch recipe but Bluehue's posted recipes are a great place to start on your own journey of mud cake perfection!! Yay Bluehue!
4. I'd recommend using baking strips, otherwise you MIGHT end up with a hard crust on the outside.
5. Take the mud cake out of the oven and cool it in the pan. It should be a bit soft in the middle still when you do this, and will continue to set as it cools.
6. Add 2tsp of baking powder to 1 cup plain flour to get 'self-raising' flour. Sift thoroughly before use.
7. There are literally hundreds of ways and flavours to make mudcake. I have at least 15 on my regular wedding cake offerings.
8. If you want to try a mud cake recipe, start off small. A 6 - 8" mud cake will give you a better idea of how a muddie should taste than a dried-crust over-baked flatter mudcake.
9. Never. Ever. Use a "mud cake packet mix". Like any other box or packet mixes, they should be avoided (just opinion - I grew up baking from scratch and cannot tolerate the smell, taste or texture of box mixes).
10. The dark mud cake will give you the best idea of correct flavour and moistness. Some people find white mud cake to be a little low on white chocolate flavour, but it can be developed.
Lastly, they can dome a little, but the dome will be slightly crusty and chewy. You level this off if you're going to use it for a wedding cake etc for a client. It is THE BEST part of the cake - and you get to eat it! I always feel short-changed when my mudcakes bake up all nice and level :-/
Not trying to be a buttinsky with all your helpful advice, but am curious about your SR flour only having baking powder added and no salt? Do you add extra salt to your dry ingredients to compensate for that, or is it of no importance because of the type of flour you use?
I'm in Canada and SR flour here is a mixture of cake & pastry flour, baking powder, and salt.
If I run out of SR flour, I make my own with a ratio of 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder & a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt. It does me very well, but I do prefer having the actual SR flour on hand, as it's much easier to just measure, and get on with it!
For temp, I use an independent thermometer for oven temp. For cakes being done, I have started using the touch and smell method. The middle is springy, but firm. The sides will just start to pull away. If it is not a delicate cake, I use the toothpick, but I like for a few crumbs to stick. On every recipe, I note the temp, time, and indicators so that I don't have to watch so closely once I get it right.
I think some of you think we scratch bakers have some easy way of doing things. Besides the knowledge to get close to what we want, I know that I still have to go through the process on new recipes. Bonnie, what you are doing is what I do. I make "Frankenstein" recipes. I pull what I like most from each recipe and put them together. My favorite is to take the two challengers from "Throwdown", listen to the judges, and put the best of the two recipes together. It doesn't come out right the first time. I make the cakes back-to-back,maybe three or four times, make notes, and do it until I'm happy. I do look for a blend of ingredients I like and I always start with a recipe from a top chef. If you start with any recipe you find on the web, that is a tough and frustrating battle. For example, a great cake chef in my opinion is Warren Brown. He has a very different philosophy, but he is clear with his methods and he has videos on his site. Buying his book, [/u]Cake Love, is a good start.
Anna, I'm just looking through my emails. My mom is in the hospital, so sorry I haven't gotten those recipes to you. I have them in front of me. Susan
Can you bake a scratch cake that is AS moist as a doctored box mix??? Be honest. I've made scratch cakes, which have not been dry, but are not as moist as box mixes. I know it's not because I've over baked them..It could be the recipe.
So, can scratch recipes ever be as moist as a box mix???
Thank you.
I feel so underqualified to comment on here as I don't make cakes to order, I only decorate them for family 'dos'!
However, like others here I can taste a 'fake cake' a mile away. And don't get stroppy, by fake I'm not implying there is anything wrong with using a box mix; you use what works for you. Cakes are supposed to dry out, and ones that remain moist for ages just don't seem right to me!
I've always used a buttermilk recipe (my granny's) which is firm to ice and carve, yet still moist and can be flavoured to suit. It only ever gets good comments. It's got better too since I totally melted the butter by accident, didn't have anymore so carried on and now I melt the butter every time!
FromScratch - here you go - two recipes for Mud Cakes.
I have postd these recipes before on CC.
This is the convesion chart i use when needing to convert ingrediants.
http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm
White chocolate mud cake
250g butter
250g white chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
200mls water
.......Melt all of these together in a saucepan
.......then
1 cup SR flour...sifted
1 3/4 cup plain flour...sifted
2 eggs...
1/2 cup sourcream
AND I ADD I TEASPOON OF VANILLA PASTE - WHICH WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.,,,,makes a differance -
......Mix into chocolate mixture.
Bake at 160C for up to 2 hours - this is for a 10" round cake tin but will all depend on tin used and your oven
I use this for cupcakes and cakes
My oven is fan forced so i knock the temp own during the last 45 mins.
Dark Chocolate Mud Cake.
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 & 2/3 cup coconut milk
200g dark chocolate
2 cups caster sugar
3/4 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use Dutch cocoa)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat oven to 150C A SLOW OVEN FOR US IS = 150c = 275/300F
And Line tins with baking paper.
2. Combine butter, coffee powder, coconut milk, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan and stir until melted. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add chocolate mixture, whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla, whisk.
.
4. Pour into tins
5. Bake in slow oven for about 1hr and 45 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cool in tin.
This cake improves each day and is at its peak on about day 3. It also freezes really well
Bluehue
Never heard of Mud Cake...thanks for sharing.
Can I make the Chocolate Mud Cake recipe (above) using Plugra SALTED butter?? and Self rising flour?? I was hoping to try it today,thnks...
Can I make the Chocolate Mud Cake recipe (above) using Plugra SALTED butter?? and Self rising flour?? I was hoping to try it today,thnks...
Yes, as it has SR flour as well as plain flour in the recipe.
I don't have *that* butter where i am - however if that is all the butter you have - you could use it - - perhaps add a tad more instant coffee or another teaspoon of Vanilla Extract to compendate for the salted butter.
I prefer to use vanilla paste for this recipe - as the flavour is richer...and pure.
Hope this has helped.
Blue.
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%