Hi everyone.

I need so somebody to help me. I know it will sound strange but all the cakes I make are good in taste but they have the decfect that they smell like raw rice!! I've thought it might be the Orange juice I use instead of milk (as it's not natural orange juice, it comes in a bottle)  but to be honest I don't know what is wrong. I use plenty of vanilla extract but it doent work. What do I do?  What you guys think it is? I don't like that smell at all.  Cakes are not even supposed to smell like that, and I'm sure that if I make a cake for family event they won't like it either.

It's a really strong rice smell and when you put the cake in the fridge it gets even stronger. 

Help pleasssseeeee!!! :(

AWhy are you using orange juice instead of milk?

AI heard we can use either orange juice, milk, or pineapple juice to make a cake, well, at least dominican cake. I heard they work the same in a cake recipe :/ no?

Please post your recipe so we can see if there is something that stands out as the problem.

AHere is :) Dominican cake 1. 1Lb Flour 2. 2 tablespoons of baking powder 3. 1/2 margarine 4. 1/2 butter 5. 10 eggs 6. 1 Lb Sugar 6. 2 Cups milk or orange juice 8. 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract 9. 2 teaspoons of limon zest

AI'm not familiar with Dominican cake but for scratch cakes in general, they don't work the same. The juices are acidic and your recipe calls for baking powder, not soda, so there is no alkaline ingredient to neutralize the acid you are adding to a recipe that calls for a neutral liquid. Have you tried baking the same cake with milk to see if there's a difference? May be something else like the brand of flour causing the smell.

AI use GOLD all purpose flour. Yes, I'm going to try the milk. Can i use fat free milk or should be whole milk?. Thanks for all your comments and ideas.

You could probably use any kind of milk and get away with it but I personally would opt to use whole milk 

AI'll be very interested in your findings. I have about 20 Dominican cake recipes in a folder. I usually put them on a spreadsheet to see the differences. ALL of them use baking powder, even if you use orange juice. Most of them use half butter, half margarine, instead of all butter. A few use pineapple juice instead of orange juice. Most of them use all purpose flour. I do not see as many eggs being used, though. Some use only 6 eggs. The ones that use 12 eggs use only 6 of the yolks, plus six whole eggs and use the whites for the frosting (suspiro). Some recipes use pineapple juice plus cream!

Do report back! It's a very delicious cake, especially with their pineapple filling.

Hey thanks for sharing. Would you share some of the recipes you have with me? I would appreciate that if you can. Thanks :)

A

Dominican cake normally uses half butter/half margarine. . The margarine actually acts similar to high ratio shortening and gives you a softer cake. However, the baking powder seems like a lot. My recipe is about half the size as yours and only calls for 2 teaspoons not tablespoons and 3 eggs. So if I were to use your recipe it would be 6 eggs total.. Also, some baking powders I think have certain chemicals, I'm wondering if it could be the brand you use and the amount. I don't think it's the orange juice, but maybe too much baking powder.

ASure I can share. I'll get to my folder tomorrow again. Most of the recipes I have are in Spanish. Some from the CC en Español forum, some from Dominican people in other blogs. Even Toba Garret has one in her book. It's a pretty straightforward recipe most of the time. 1 lb of flour, 1 lb of fat (1/2 butter, 1/2 margarine) and 1 lb of sugar. The difference is usually in the amount of eggs (less) and yes, sometimes less baking powder. Also, there's only 1 cup or 8 oz of liquid only and it can be milk, orange juice, pineapple juice or even water.

I'll contact you tomorrow. As jemchina says, I think it's the eggs or the baking powder.

thanks! don't worry about the Spanish recipes, Spanish is my first language :)

Ah, and can you also tell me what websites you have for dominican bakers? 

I appreciate it :)

A

This was the one I used that I mentioned was very close to your recipe, just about half the size.

http://www.dominicancooking.com/1001-bizcocho-dominicano-dominican-cake.html

It's called aunt Clara's recipe.

AHahahaha that's funny cause that's exacly the one the inspired me to make cakes. That's the one I first use and I guess the one I took the recipe I posted too. Lol but thank you :)

ASo wait, I thought the more baking powder the best In terms of cake raising :0. Normally I just use 5 whole eggs and 5 egg yolks that I left from the meringue recipe, Still too much? And I don't use a very good brand of baking powder, I use the one they produce in the grocery store I go. So you think that might be causing the problem? never thought. That's why I was so confused. To be honest I gave the whole fault to the Orange juice cause that's the one who seems to smell the most in my recipe.

Thank for all the replies, I hope you guys give me more info about this matter.

That's what many people would think about leavening. Read this (around the muffins in the picture, a paragraph or two before you get to that picture).

http://www.culinate.com/articles/the_culinate_interview/shirley_o._corriher

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/ratios-for-great-cakes.aspx?pg=0

I also found the eggs and liquid to be a lot.

I also  think it's the leavening. It can create an ammonia-like smell if you're using too much and that may be the yeasty/rice aroma you're picking up. 

That article is great for describing some of the basics of leavening. ^^

Also be sure that your product is fresh. Baking powder is good for up to a year, but baking soda is only good for 3 months. 

Could it be the eggs?

to be honest I don't think is the eggs as my first shot was just with 4 or 5 eggs, I put 10 because lately I've been adding the eggs yolks left from my meringue recipe. I'm even more confused now girls  

Omguness!! I just realized I've using Country Crock as butter, I thought i was in fact butterr! Do you guys think that might be my problem?

A