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Sarah M.
August 18, 2015
Your perseverance always wins out! Now please choose me to cake-test next time
Smoothiesrule
July 6, 2015
am confused. cake seemed fine using measure rather than weigh. was that wrong? just huge. was thinking a 9x13 pan for 45 mins. might have worked?
AntoniaJames
June 23, 2015
Sarah, did you weigh the ingredients? I find the flour amount to be quite puzzling. How can 2 1/2 cups of flour weight 375 grams? The King Arthur flour bag and every other one that I've seen says that 1 cup of flour weighs 120 grams = 3 1/8 cups. (You mention that you scooped the flour, so my guess is that you did not weigh it.) The ratios by weight seem fairly close to the basic pound cake formula used by professionals, as described by Ruhlman in his book, "Ratio." I keep thinking that whoever edited that recipe understated the volume measure, thus resulting in excessive wetness in the batter.
I don't have "Home," but I do have "Volt," which has a nearly identical cake, but it doesn't have any blueberries in it (which add a lot of moisture, of course, making the batter issues even worse). More importantly, perhaps, that cake is baked in a long loaf pan, which also would help avoid the wet center / long cook time problem. ;o)
I don't have "Home," but I do have "Volt," which has a nearly identical cake, but it doesn't have any blueberries in it (which add a lot of moisture, of course, making the batter issues even worse). More importantly, perhaps, that cake is baked in a long loaf pan, which also would help avoid the wet center / long cook time problem. ;o)
AntoniaJames
June 24, 2015
Sorry that wasn't clear: the 375 grams of flour should be stated as 3 1/8 cups, not 2 1/2 cups, in the recipe. ;o)
Sarah J.
June 25, 2015
Good catch—you're totally right! I transcribed the recipe straight from the book (and my first unsuccessful, 50-minute bake was with 375 grams of flour), but the correct weight—the one that we used to bake the cake successfully and completely—is 315 grams. Thanks for catching that! And I'm eager to try this is a bundt pan! Let me know if you do.
AntoniaJames
June 25, 2015
I think the ratios are still off on this. The liquid + eggs should = the sugar. You have 347 grams of liquid + eggs, not counting the liquid released by the blueberries, compared to 300 grams of sugar. Also, the eggs should = the fat. You have 147 grams of eggs and 198 grams of fat. I'd be interested in talking to the person who actually wrote the recipes and tested them for this book, to get better visibility into the process. It's become pretty clear in recent years that just because someone has a popular restaurant does not necessarily mean that their cookbook will be reliable and error-free. ;o)
AntoniaJames
June 23, 2015
On Try Number 2 I would have baked it in a bundt pan. Cakes that just won't cook through to the middle before over-baking the outside often bake up like champs when the heat from the oven can bake them from the center as well as the sides. This is why the most really good pound cakes (beyond small loaf size) are generally cooked in bundt or similar pans.
Just a suggestion from someone who's been through a lot, with all kinds of cakes, over the past 45 years . . . . . ;o)
P.S. If you have a round cake that sinks badly in the middle, and the problem is not with chemical leavening agents, a bundt pan often works to correct that as well.
Just a suggestion from someone who's been through a lot, with all kinds of cakes, over the past 45 years . . . . . ;o)
P.S. If you have a round cake that sinks badly in the middle, and the problem is not with chemical leavening agents, a bundt pan often works to correct that as well.
Erin J.
June 20, 2015
Underbake me once, shame on the recipe - work it out the fourth time around, a most excellent baker makes. I love this article.
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