/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.3867922]

Hello, /ck/. I have twice now attempted to make cake from scratch, I.E. with flour and eggs and sugar and all that good stuff. And twice now my cakes have turned out all wrong.

The same thing seemed to happen to both. The cake was much flatter and thinner than I expected it to be, and it was very chewy, almost like a more solid jelly-substance. It did not have any air holes like most cakes do - just a solid, flat, chewy something.

What have I been doing wrong? What do I need to do to make it come out correctly?

Picture related. My last attempt was a Castella cake. This is, obviously, not the cake I managed to make.

[None !!pFq+GyP8F1x No.3867932]

Post the recipe you used. So far it sounds like you didn't use leaveners or used them improperly

[Anonymous No.3867957]

>>3867932
Castella uses whipped eggs for its texture. They're traditionally made in wooden pans to help evenly cook them.

Did you whip the eggs enough, OP? Maybe it was cooked too long. Of the two I've done, one turned out alright and the other turned out harder than I would have liked. This cake just seems a bit finicky.

[Anonymous No.3867960]

>>3867932
This

[Anonymous No.3867998]

over mixing it

[Anonymous No.3868016]

for starters, you might want to try something easier than a castella, a run of the mill sponge cake. at least those don't need the fancy pan. Don't take it personally, it's just that these style of cakes require a lot of technique.

The first thing I would suggest is flour. Did the recipe call for cake flour? if not, then throw it away. Next are the eggs. They must be at room temperature, and only the whites whipped up. Emphasis on only the whites, even a drop of yolk or any other fat will drastically cut the volume of the egg whites. Also, did the recipe mention cream of tartar? your might want to add some to keep the whites fluffy. Last thing I can think of is the mixing. Your supposed to fold in the egg whites, which is not the same as mixing.

[Anonymous No.3868033]

>>3868016
Not OP, but for the recipe I used, whole eggs were heated slightly and mixed with sugar before being whipped and they fluffed up fine.

[Anonymous No.3868044]

>>3868033
right, you can add sugar to the egg whites, it helps em hold up. I don't think it's even possible to get stiff peaks without sugar. but anons point still stands, a drop of fat and your whites are done for.

[RF360 !!s1shuD45usb No.3868054]

if your cakes aren't rising, there could be an ingredients problem. For example, you might be mistaking baking soda for baking powder. You also might be overmixing, which has a nasty tendency to destroy the texture of eggwhites.

Since it's been an hour and OP has not replied once, I will forbear detailed advice.

[Anonymous No.3868176]

>>3868044
No not the whites, the whole egg.

[Anonymous No.3868439]

please respond

[Anonymous No.3868442]

>>3868016
>>3868033
>>3868044
>>3868054
>>3868176

The recipe called for whole eggs. The one I tried before that, though, a typical spongecake, asked for just the egg whites, and I know for a fact I separated them correctly.

[Anonymous No.3868514]

If you wish to make a cake from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

[Anonymous No.3869583]

Please respond ;_;

[Anonymous No.3869644]

beat the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks, dont beat anymore , mix in yolks gently, fold in flour slowly Tbs at a time.

All the fluffyness comes from the egg whites.

Line your pan with parchment paper if you dont have the wooden form.

[Anonymous No.3869673]

baking is hard man just keep trying. whipping the eggs just right isn't an easy thing to do.

[Anonymous No.3869694]

Start with something easy: quatre-quarts.
Do you have a scale? If so, great! It'll be easier! If not, no worries; still not that hard.
Here's what you do. Ready? Okay! Let's go!

Sugar, 1 cup (200g)
Butter, cold, 1½ sticks + 2 tbsp (14 tbsp; 200g)
Extract of some sort (such as vanilla, lemon, coconut etc), 1 tsp
Eggs, ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200g; about 4 large, 3½ extra large or 3 jumbo)
Flour, preferably cake flour but AP flour and self-rising/raising flours are good, too, 1⅔ cup (200g)

Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
Beat together butter and sugar (this is called creaming) with extract.
Add eggs in four equal parts and add each part to the butter/sugar/flavouring mixture one at a time, waiting for each prior addition to have been incorporated completely before adding the next.
Stir in flour by hand; do not over-mix.
Pour into greased and floured cake pan(s).
Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

[Anonymous No.3869711]

>>3869583
Try to keep the tears that fall into the cake mix to a minimum.