I was wondering if anyone with baking experience would know this. I work as a decorator and the business I work for has great tasting cake that has been in there family for generations. However, sometimes In there cakes we get a line in them and some customers have complained about it and has questioned if the cake was done. All of there cakes are pound cakes and are on the heavy side, unlike fluffy boxed cakes. We call them "sad lines" we have to cut them out of the cake before we decorate. It doesn't always happen though.
One of my 1st baking teachers told us it was from too much wet ingredients and / or not being mixed in properly with the dry ingredients. I am still yet to see this stated as a factual answer in cake baking books, etc. What do others know about this?
oooh i've never heard of sad streaks before. i did a search, is it like the picture in this post?
http://inthekitchenwithz.wordpress.com/2007/12/26/my-new-gadget/
here are some suggestions:
http://www.bakersassist.nl/baking-technology-confectionery.htm
Sad streak under top of cake:
- Under baking
Cake being knocked or moved during baking
Too hot an oven
Sad streak at bottom of cake:
- Too much liquid
Insufficient baking powder
Insufficient sugar
Too soft a flour
Weak or insufficient egg
and
https://www.aibonline.org/researchandtechnical/faqs/cakes.html
Q: We have a nice pound cake formula but lately we have had a severe problem with shrinkage and a gummy streak near the bottom of the cake. I know that we bake the cakes long enough and my bakers are more careful than ever when they remove the cakes from the oven, but nothing seems to eliminate this problem.
A: This is not an unusual phenomenon. Suprisingly, it is often associated with how gentle you handle the cakes after removing them from the oven. You may wish to try "bouncing" or dropping the cake slightly immediately after removing from the oven, which "sets" the crumb and prevents the severe shrinkage and the gummy "sad streak" in the cakes. Also, an increase in the first stage of the conventional mixing method will significantly reduce this problem.
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