The Australian Women’s Weekly Food – June 2019

SEIZ

EDCH

OCOLATE

CU

RD

LED

CREAM

EDMIXTURE^

Cakepantoosmalloroventoohot

Mostcakesbakedinloaf,barorring

panscrackslightly due to the

confinedspace.

Collararoundthetopoutsideedge

Thismeansthatthecakewas baked

attoohigha temperature.

Paleontop,brownunderneath

andsides

Toolargea pan,orliningpaper

toohigharoundsidesofpan.

Colourstreaksontop

Insufficientmixingofingredients,or

bowlscrapingsnotmixedthoroughly

intocakemixture in pan.

Unevenrising

Ovenshelfnotstraight,ovennot

levelonfloor,ormixture not spread

evenlyinpan.

Holesin bakedcake

Mixturenotcreamed sufficiently or

oven too hot.

Crusty,overbrowned,uncooked

in centre

Cakebakedtoolongorattoohigh

a temperature.Cakepantoosmall,

causingtoptoovercookwhilecake

notcookedthroughcompletely.

Cakesinksin themiddle

Thecakeisundercooked.Oncea cake

isremovedfromtheovenit can’tbe

returnedtotheoventocorrectthe

sink,butyoucanreturn it the oven

tomakeit edible.

Sinksin centrewhilestillbaking

If themixtureisforcedtorisetoo

quicklybecausetheovenistoohotor

thecakepanistoosmall,it willsink

inthecentre.Thiswillalsohappen

if thereisaninbalancewithraising

agents,likeself-raisingflour,baking

powderandbicarbonate of soda.

Testing,testing...

Inserta woodenorthinmetalskewer

into the centre; if the skewer is clean

Acurdledcreamedmixturecouldcause

thefinishedcaketocrumblewhencut;

thougharen’tusuallycauseforconcern.

Milkandbutternotat roomtemperature

Fridge-coldbutterandmilkwillnot

amalgamatewellwiththeeggs.

EggstoolargeIf theeggsusedarelarger

than60ginweighttheywillnotabsorb

theexcessliquid;omitoneof the number

showniningredientslist.

Eggsnotaddedquicklyenoughto

creamedbutterandsugarmixture

Addlightlybeateneggs,gradually,

beatingonlyuntiljustcombined.If eggs

areoverbeatenateachstagethecake

mixture is far more likely to curdle.

Ifa littlewatergetsintochocolatethat

isbeingmeltedthecocoaparticlesstick

togetherandthechocolatebecomesstiff

or“siezesup”.Ifthechocolateistobe

addedtoa cake,it isactuallyokay

toadda greaterquantityofwateror

otherliquidtoloosentheparticles.Try

stirringin1-2tablespoonswaterto

loosenit.Ifthechocolateistobeused

onitsownyouarebettertostartover.

Don’twasteit,youcanloosenseized

chocolatetomakea hotchocolate.

Topreventtheproblemfromoccurring,

matchthesizeofthebowlyouareusing

tothesizeofthesaucepan;thetwo

shouldfitsnugglytogethertoprevent

steamrisingthroughanygaps.Only

addenoughwatertothesaucepanto

reachone-thirdofthewayuptheside

ofthepan,ensuringthebaseofthe

bowlisnottouchingthewaterorit

maygettoohot.Make sure any utensils

you use are dry.

CR

ACK

S&O

THERANOMALIES

thecakeiscooked.If thecakehasa

crackedtop,asoftenisthecasewith

loafcakes,inserttheskeweravoiding

cracks.Inthecaseoffudgycakes,the

recipeswillspecify“oruntilmoist

crumbsareattached”.Forsponge

cakes,pressthetopofthecakelightly;

it will spring back when cooked.

AWW FOOD•ISSUE FIFTY TWO 7