Have You Tried Debbie Browns Sponge Cake Recipe?

Decorating By melysa Updated 28 Oct 2006 , 3:47pm by laepple

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melysa Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:19pm
post #1 of 16

i just bought the book by debbie brown, 50 easy party cakes. lovely designs! i thought with such a pro, her dense sponge cake recipe in the book (starts with an m? uses eggs, butter, self rising flour and vanilla) would hold up awesome, and as she says, be moist and delicious. i followed the recipe but it was SO dry! it held up great to carving, but after one slice, i slid the rest into the garbage can!!! good thing it was a practice cake. the only thing i can think of that i did differently, was instead of real butter, i used a margarine of about 70% oil fat which i have always heard is still sufficient for baking. did that screw it up? i dont know if i want to retry it and waste all that real butter if it will turn out as dry. i did not overbake. .. who has tried this????

15 replies
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melysa Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:22pm
post #2 of 16

i think its called madiera cake...?

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sweetlybaked Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:23pm
post #3 of 16

Hmm, just bought that book. Here's a bump, haven't tried anything in it yet!

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crisseyann Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:30pm
post #4 of 16

I would re-try using real butter. I never substitute when it calls for the real thing. Good luck!

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melysa Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:33pm
post #5 of 16

can a cake become dry if its over mixed??? i used a hand mixer. maybe i'll try real butter and mix by hand.

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melysa Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:33pm
post #6 of 16

i used an ELECTRIC hand mixer.

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laepple Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 10:40pm
post #7 of 16

I would say needed more fat from the butter. I have make a similar cake from Peggy Prochen's book Preatty party cakes and it comes out great here is the recipe, and I mix with a electric mixer and sometimes substitute a part of butter for margarine and still works great!

3 1/2  sticks  salted butter, softened
2  cups   sugar
8  large   eggs
3  cups   self-rising flour
For a 3-8in cakes

Very similar I assume..

Good Luck!

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melysa Posted 26 Oct 2006 , 11:08pm
post #8 of 16

sounds very close. how does your recipe taste? moist, flavorful or just a good stable carving cake?

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CakesByEllen Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 3:23am
post #9 of 16

I made that cake twice. Very dry, but great for carving. It is good with ice cream on top, other than that, I decided I was going to try the durable cake recipe here instead.

I did like the taste, but it was just too dry. It is madiera cake. I would say it is more like a pound cake than a sponge cake.

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laepple Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 3:24am
post #10 of 16
Quote:
Originally Posted by melysa

sounds very close. how does your recipe taste? moist, flavorful or just a good stable carving cake?


Its great, moist but dense and tastes like butter, also you can also add vanilla or other extract flavor. I make it all the time for all kinds of cakes.

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emmascakes Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 6:26am
post #11 of 16

Laepple - I love Peggy Porschen's book but haven't tried the recipes yet, you've made me want to - but I have no idea what a 'stick' of butter equates to in weight or a 'cup' of something - could someone help this Brit out here?

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doleta Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 2:29pm
post #12 of 16

Thinking of a different recipe using margarine instead of butter.
I have a Russian teacake recipe and for some strange reason if using margarine instead of butter it tastes just like Green Peas!
Weird, but I have heard this from several others who loved them and wanted to try.
I always use butter now and no subs!

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Sugar_Plum_Fairy Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 2:39pm
post #13 of 16

I tried that recipe too. After tasting it, my husband and I referred to it as the scone cake. To me it tasted like a scone, but my husband didn't like it at all and we gave it to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who said they'd eat it when dunking it in coffee. I secretly think they trashed it after we left.

It was very dry and I'm pretty sure I followed the directions to a "T".

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BakingGirl Posted 27 Oct 2006 , 5:12pm
post #14 of 16

Hi Emmascakes,

A stick of butter is 113 grams, or 8 tablespoons or 1/2 cup. I know how frustrating the different measurements can be as an European person living on the other side of the pond. I have both European and American cook books, and the weights and measures plus oven temperature thing has had me confused many times in the past.

BakingGirl

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ozcake Posted 28 Oct 2006 , 12:18am
post #15 of 16

BakingGirl,

Thanks for the info on the conversion, last time I made something I assumed a stick of butter would be one of those rectangular blocks from the supermarket (250grams) oops - no wonder my last recipe didn't turn out icon_redface.gif

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laepple Posted 28 Oct 2006 , 3:47pm
post #16 of 16

Emmascakes,

I really encourage you to taste this recipes, they are so yummy!.. I just made last night a wedding cake with the cake recipe and adding the lemon zest, tastes awesome!! Moist and yet dense!.. Also I have made the chocolate version and it tastes like brownies.. I have not tried the cookies but I assume they will be good too.. Good Luck!..

:O)

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