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Been trying scratch recipes all week... - Page 4

post #46 of 123
7/13/11 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by momg9

I love the taste and texture of Sylvia Woodstock's recipe, but have trouble with it not shrinking. The recipe calls for parchment paper in the bottom of pan. If I use parchment paper it slowly shrinks to from 2 inch to 1 inch height. Has anyone else had this problem?




myself and othes have found that if the egg whites aren't folded in the right way....the cake will shrink....also, when creaming the butter and sugar for this cake...for me it's so important to cream that butter a little first then stream that sugar in.. makes a world of difference
Greetings fellow CAKELINGS. I come in peace.
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Greetings fellow CAKELINGS. I come in peace.
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post #47 of 123
7/13/11 at 12:32pm
Thread Starter 
Hi it's me again, the original poster... well today I tried Toba Garrett's recipe again (it's a pretty basic recipe - using buttermilk, and lots of creaming of the butter at the beginning), then I added one cup of prepared J-ELLO pudding (at the same time as the buttermilk). For some reason, the pudding makes it so the cake does not rise as well. It should have come out as a 2" cake, but it was 1" instead. I was VERY pleased with the flavour of the cake (no eggy taste - but then I let it cool for a couple hours before tasting it so maybe that's why). The density of the cake was a bit much though I think (a really 'tight' crumb, if that makes sense and really heavy). Sooooo, tomorrow, I'm going to try this recipe AGAIN, but with only a 1/2 cup of prepared pudding (and vanilla pudding instead - as I accidentally used lemon pudding today by mistake - so maybe that's why the flavour was so good, lol). I'll let you all know how it goes... so back to the drawing board - I do feel like I'm making progress though. icon_smile.gif
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post #48 of 123
7/13/11 at 12:46pm
When you add artificial pudding, isn't that defeating the purpose of making a scratch cake? It is a completely artificial product designed like a cake mix... both have so many chemicals added for the purpose of a good result no matter how badly they were made. That is why you can add anything to a cake mix. Adding things to scratch cakes will throw off the balance in most cases unless you know how to adjust it. If you want to learn scratch baking, read these four pages of posts of very experienced bakers and follow what is suggested.
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post #49 of 123
7/13/11 at 1:57pm
Thread Starter 
To SCP1127: Did you not read my original post!? I said that I did not want to hear that adding pudding to the mix is not baking from scratch! I blantantly put in my original post not to do this. I find it very insulting and unnecessary, especially the part about "experienced bakers, blah, blah"! I am an experienced baker. I have some amazing cookie recipes, but I'm just trying to find a better cake recipe. Do you have chickens in your backyard that lay the eggs and cows that provide the milk? Well that's not from scratch then. Give me a break! Do not assume something without knowing the facts! Oh by the way, scratch bakers are no better than someone that uses cake mixes. Maybe I can decorate better than you can. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, so there's no point in making people feel inferior just to make yourself feel better!
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post #50 of 123
7/13/11 at 2:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Sugar_Fairy

Hi it's me again, the original poster... well today I tried Toba Garrett's recipe again (it's a pretty basic recipe - using buttermilk, and lots of creaming of the butter at the beginning), then I added one cup of prepared J-ELLO pudding (at the same time as the buttermilk). For some reason, the pudding makes it so the cake does not rise as well. It should have come out as a 2" cake, but it was 1" instead. I was VERY pleased with the flavour of the cake (no eggy taste - but then I let it cool for a couple hours before tasting it so maybe that's why). The density of the cake was a bit much though I think (a really 'tight' crumb, if that makes sense and really heavy). Sooooo, tomorrow, I'm going to try this recipe AGAIN, but with only a 1/2 cup of prepared pudding (and vanilla pudding instead - as I accidentally used lemon pudding today by mistake - so maybe that's why the flavour was so good, lol). I'll let you all know how it goes... so back to the drawing board - I do feel like I'm making progress though. icon_smile.gif



I'm not looking at the recipe, but are you subtracting a wet for a wet? Or adding more wet? What I mean is, if your recipe calls for 1 cup of milk, did you do 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 cup pudding? If not I think that's your problem. Just adding extra liquid won't make your cake more moist. It'll just tweak your chemistry.

I'll give you my tip for making a crazy moist scratch cake - I pull my cake from the oven as soon as my toothpick has wet crumbs on it. NOT when it's clean. The cake continues to bake and the gluten sets after you take it out, so if you take it out of the oven when it's 100% done but it continues to cook after it's out, by the time you pop it out of the pan it's 110% done - hence dry. Then, I pop it in the freezer when it's still hot. When it's cold to mostly frozen I triple wrap in plastic wrap and freeze solid for an hour or more, I prefer overnight. Then pull it out and let it defrost in the plastic almost all the way enough for me to level and torte which takes about an hour. This gives the flavor a chance to develop, it traps in the natural moisture, the gluten sets so you can torte and handle it somewhat easily which also means it will slice easily, it's moist and perfect. icon_biggrin.gif
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post #51 of 123
7/13/11 at 2:25pm
Yes.. ForumScratchSF....so true...to me...if the toothpick comes out dry...I know I've overbacked...


@ Sugar Fairy....just keep trying.. When I first started backing from scratch, I can't tell you the amout of ingredients/money I wasted but it was all worth it.. Once you figure it all out, get your method and routine down...it all works like a charm...The first time you back a well made scratch cake....you'll know it from the first bite , even the texture of the cake, the look and feel of it when you take it out of the oven...just keep trying.
Greetings fellow CAKELINGS. I come in peace.
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Greetings fellow CAKELINGS. I come in peace.
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post #52 of 123
7/13/11 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
FromScratchSF: thank you so much for the helpful advice. The recipe calls for 1 cup of buttermilk, so tomorrow when I make it again, I will only use a 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 a cup of pudding. And I'll remove the cake a touch early so that it can finish baking in the pan as you suggested. Crazy, I just found your blog a couple days ago and stayed up late reading the whole thing - it's awesome! Thank you!

CharlieCakes: Thanks for the encouragement! LOL, yes I'm spending so much on ingredients. Hopefully one day it will pay off.

Keep all the positive advice and comments coming! Thanks guys!
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post #53 of 123
7/13/11 at 2:58pm
I'm sorry that I would fail a test on your first post, but what I said was true. You cannot treat a scratch cake like a mix. And if you are selling a scratch cake, clients expect to avoid the chemicals, so it would not be a good idea. I am not knocking box mixes. I was merely stating the fact that you can alter them without making major adjustments to the recipe. I was not the one asking for advice and you do have four pages of people spending the time to help you,including me. My statements are true.
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post #54 of 123
7/13/11 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
scp1127: I was asking for advice, but not the kind of advice that you are offering. Everyone else has been extremely respectful and helpful. I said nothing about selling my scratch cakes. I'm a hobby baker right now that bakes mainly for friends and family. I do not need to hear about chemicals. Thank you anyway for your time, but please don't bother wasting any more time on this post!
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post #55 of 123
7/13/11 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Sugar_Fairy

To SCP1127: Did you not read my original post!? I said that I did not want to hear that adding pudding to the mix is not baking from scratch! I blantantly put in my original post not to do this. I find it very insulting and unnecessary, especially the part about "experienced bakers, blah, blah"! I am an experienced baker. I have some amazing cookie recipes, but I'm just trying to find a better cake recipe. Do you have chickens in your backyard that lay the eggs and cows that provide the milk? Well that's not from scratch then. Give me a break! Do not assume something without knowing the facts! Oh by the way, scratch bakers are no better than someone that uses cake mixes. Maybe I can decorate better than you can. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, so there's no point in making people feel inferior just to make yourself feel better!



I understand your frustration given you stated in the first post you did not want to hear about being told you are not baking from scratch and this is what you heard. However this is a tired response. Scratch baking has nothing to do with producing the ingredients you start with, so claiming one does not farm their own chickens is irrelevant.

No one said that baking from scratch made one any better than one who bake from mixes. The only point that was raised was the one you said you already did not want to hear. However there is no reason to escalate a conversation by turning to a tired, worn out battle about scratch v. box.
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post #56 of 123
7/13/11 at 3:49pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, sorry I shouldn't have made the comment about the chickens and the cows... I just get so frustrated with people pointing out the obvious! I know pudding has chemicals in it, but I didn't really want to discuss that, I just wanted to learn how to incorporate pudding into a scratch recipe.
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post #57 of 123
7/13/11 at 5:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Sugar_Fairy

FromScratchSF: thank you so much for the helpful advice. The recipe calls for 1 cup of buttermilk, so tomorrow when I make it again, I will only use a 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 a cup of pudding. And I'll remove the cake a touch early so that it can finish baking in the pan as you suggested. Crazy, I just found your blog a couple days ago and stayed up late reading the whole thing - it's awesome! Thank you!

CharlieCakes: Thanks for the encouragement! LOL, yes I'm spending so much on ingredients. Hopefully one day it will pay off.

Keep all the positive advice and comments coming! Thanks guys!



Really? icon_redface.gif thanks!

Here's my suspicion on the pudding thing... it may improve the recipe but not in the way you intend. In a box mix it makes it moist (i don't think I've had it before so I'm assuming that's why people use them), but I'm not so sure you are going to get the same result with a scratch. I suspect it will add flavor, but it's possible that the extra emulsions in the pudding might change the crumb and make a softer, lighter cake, which isn't a bad thing. If i had time, this is what I'd do - make the recipe as written, then make the recipe swapping out all the buttermilk for pudding, then make a 3rd batch swapping out the buttermilk for pudding but use all purpose flour instead of cake. It might be able to withstand the extra weight of the pudding a little better. Then I'd do a a side by side comparison all scientific-like.

So if you do that, post your results! Photos are always good too.

Just don't overbake!
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post #58 of 123
7/14/11 at 1:41am
OP, I'm sorry if you did not like the information. I think you are under the impression that you make the rules. Threads are a sharing of information, not a structured exchange overseen by one poster. What you need to understand is that there have been 2123 views of this thread and my information, although not appreciated by you, was very good information. They will know that before they modify recipes, it may be a good idea to learn how to make it correctly first, that you cannot just sub anything you want in a scratch cake, and that instant pudding in a scratch cake can no longer be considered, "scratch".

I am sure that the majority of the 2123 would fail a test on your OP after four pages. I am not putting down cake or pudding mixes. I could open another bakery across town and sell them all day long. There are benefits to both ways of baking, and neither is more right than the other. So I will not allow you to twist my words and bring down this thread.
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post #59 of 123
7/14/11 at 5:03am
Thread Starter 
Well... I'm feeling really badly about myself lately (as a baker... like I'm not a 'real' baker or experienced enough because I thought about using pudding in a scratch cake).
I thank all of you that gave encouragement and good advice. I've decided not to post in these forums anymore. It's not worth it to me when I feel like this after. icon_sad.gif
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post #60 of 123
7/14/11 at 5:52am
Sugar_Fairy, I'm so sorry you feel that way. I hope you'll take a few days off and come back renewed. Your comments have always been interesting and valuable to me. This thread, for one, has provided what might ultimately be the solution to my baking problems and has given me information to digest for days. If you decide to leave the forums, just let me say I'll truly miss you.

FromScratchSF, thanks so much for the toothpick tip. I always leave my cakes in the oven till the toothpick is dry. No wonder I can't find a cake that's moist enough! I make the Shubox Cafe's Decadently Moist White Cake the other day and, not only did it come out dryish (though delicious!), it turned light brown inside. Do you suppose I overbaked it?
Marianna
"I know my own mind...and it's around here somewhere!"
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Marianna
"I know my own mind...and it's around here somewhere!"
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