Hello, I have been looking for the perfect strawberry, pineapple,peach cake recipe.I have a yellow cake that I like very much, but when I add fresh fruit pure to the recipe instead of the milk the texture of the baked cake is so crumbly it falls apart.And there is no favor of the fruit in the cake.
I use both baking soda and baking powder.So my question is this am I doing something wrong? what are your experiences with adding fresh fruit to cake batter?
Thank you very much!

I have never added fresh fruit to my batter because I am scared of it spoiling before the cake gets consumed. I use what ever flavor extract I need. I went to the store and wrote down all of the ones that are readily available to me so I would know which ones I could easily get. However, if you want to use fresh fruit puree, have you tried substituting only half of your milk instead of all of it? Or even substituting only 1/4 of the milk?

I make this one and it is very good. hth


http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/1088

It's hard to say without you posting the original recipe. What are you using?

Jen

The have good results using fresh blueberries in a lemon cake, fresh bananas in a hummingbird cake, and fresh grated apple in a maple apple walnut cake. I only used canned pineapple for cakes. I use fresh squeezed juices such as lemon, lime, and orange along with their zest, and an pure extract to achieve maximum flavor. I use fresh fruit for fillings that are to be cooked. The finished cake needs to be refridgerated though because it's perishable.

I use pureed fruits for my strawberry / blueberry / cherry cake.

The recipe I use is from MakeFabulousCakes and I get rave reviews from my customers on this cake. However I did make slight change to the recipe by opting out the gelatine as I feel the texture is better off without it.

HTH.

Angel, I only use my grandmother's pound cake with fruit, and I've really only done fresh peaches. Here's what I do:

Cut the peaches in small squares. Cook for a few minutes in a tiny amount of sweetened water to make them softer. You want the small amount of water because it concentrates the flavor. You can also reduce this liquid. Drain and get them as dry as possible. Reserve liquid. Add them to the batter. A little reserved liquid will not hurt the cake.

I also use Olive Nation extracts. This is a great way to add natural flavor in a small way that does not affect the balance. You can still add drained fruit.

Angelfoodcake, I had the same problem finding a scratch strawbeerry cake for a special order I have next week. i finally found it on SmittenKitchen http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/10/pink-lady-cake/ I made a test cake this week and it's fabulous. As soon as my kitchen calms down (lots of orders...odd for the deep heat of summer) I'm going to try the recipe with peaches.

I use icing fruits. Concentrated flavors, doesn't change the chemistry of the cake. Boost the flavors even more with flavorings/extracts/emulsions.

imagenthatnj...you evil, evil, caker! This peach melba cake looks perfect (and here I'm sitting on a couple bushels of peaches and have enough peach jam, peach slices for pies and peach puree in the freezer, and 36 jars of bourbon and peaches AND my raspberry bushes are ripe). We just finished off the strawberry cake and now I'm forced, yes, forced to make the peach melba cake. Imaenthatnj, I'm sending you the bill for this month's Weight Watchers! Thank you, thank you, thank you for the link this terrific site and a heads up to another great cake book!

Thank you very much,I am taking notes of your advices.I will be trying the recipies they look delicious!
Jen, this is the recipe I use:
4 cups sifted cake flour
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup milk
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
I mix the dry ingredients butter and some of the liquid.Then I add the remaining liquid in two parts.Bake 350 F for 30-40 minutes.
Now when I try to make pineapple or peach cake,I add 1 1/3 cup of fruit pure instead of the milk.And I decrease the baking powder to 1 teaspoon and I add 1 teaspoon baking soda.
With all that fruit pure the cake still comes out with very little fruit flavor and so crumbly it just falls apart.Next time I will be adding extracts to help in the flavor.
Thank you to you all!

I'm with Leah, though I usually use Hero Compounds as they are easily available in my area and shipping is a b!tch (Alaska). For more flavors you can always use the syrups intended to flavor coffees.

FromScratch, Olive Nation is pure flavor. I probably dumped a tablespoon in the Key Lime cake I created last week. I could have never put enough juice in to get it that intense. (I used juice too). The lemon is great, and the strawberry and raspberry I use constantly. You know how McCormack's pure extracts still taste like a chemical? You can put a drop of these on your tongue and it is pure, intense taste.

Unfortunately, I've given away the cakes a day or two after I've baked them. I'm a hobby baker and if I don't want to pay Weight Watchers, I have to make them disappear.

Never had a dry cake from that book. But there are a lot of factors that go into the baking of a cake, including ovens, pans and how well you mix them and baking time, as we all know. When I bought the book a few years ago, I did so because there was a group of bakers: The Cake Slice Bakers, all with blogs, baking from that book for a whole year. They went pretty much through all the recipes. I couldn't get in (it was like a secret society, lol...) so I decided I would follow along. Nobody had to know.

Most of my favorite cakes come from that book. The piña colada, the pink lady, the buttermilk vanilla cake, the chocolate one (the one with oil), the peach, and especially the blueberry lemon are my favorites.

The piña colada cake is even better a few days later. I let that one stay a day or two in the refrigerator before I give it away.

Unfortunately, the Cake Slice Bakers blog is gone, I think, but a few bloggers remain. Maybe you can ask them.


http://foodlibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/03/sky-high-cakes-triple-lemon-chiffon.html

http://lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com/2010/07/request-year-in-making.html

http://awhiskandaspoon.com/2009/07/20/the-cake-slice-marbled-lemon-blueberry-butter-cake/

http://awhiskandaspoon.com/2010/05/20/tcs-lemon-poppy-seed-cake-with-almond-cream-cheese-frosting/

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

http://sweetapolita.com/2010/10/sky-high-hummingbird-cake/

http://www.crumblycookie.net/2009/06/08/strawberry-cake/

Thank you so much for your reply! I will check out those links. Since I started decorating cakes the scratch recipes that I used to use don't work anymore since they start to dry out after a day. I think I will begin trying out the recipes you suggested, they sound really good.

A note on dry cakes. Because scratch cakes dont have the added emulsions that box mixes do, it's a good idea to brush the cake layers with simple syrup (plain or flavoured). It really does make a difference.

I must disagree that a scratch cake needs simple syrup to stay moist. I only use syrups to add an additional depth of flavor to a few of my cakes, including the liqueur and spirits cakes. The only simple syrup recipe I use involves infusing the syrup with coconut. My cakes are so moist that I can keep them in the refrigerator, and days later, they are still incredibly moist. My Key Lime cake glistens more than a box mix. I grew up eating moist cakes and I have developed most recipes around this style. But I do have some light and airy ones too.

Cordelia, in Sky High Cakes, The sour cream chocolate cake on p.62 is very moist. I used Guittard DP cocoa powder. I did use about 2 tbsp vanilla bean paste.

Agreed on the sour cream chocolate cake. It is so moist that if I ever was going to make cake balls the truffle way, I decided that would be the one I would use. It's also the easiest to mix. Scp1127, thank you, I think I'll use the guittard cocoa powder next time. It's my boyfriend's and my godson's favorite chocolate cake. I don't like chocolate much so I can't go crazy about that cake, but they certainly love it.

Imagenthatnj, I always disliked chocolate until I started making it and used premium chocolates and cocoa powder. I made a variation of the peanut butter and ganache topped cake that is featured with that recipe and it was incredible. We usually throw away a test cake after a few servings, but my adult kids and husband ate every piece. I found that recipe with two other variations and made some of my own changes. Alice's Tea Cup adapted it and there is a place on the web that posted a similar recipe with 125 pages (not a typo, 125 pages!) of raving comments.

I would love to see a link for the one with 125 pages of rave reviews. I don't have time to go searching myself. Thanks!

Wow, thanks everyone for the pointers! I am not a big fan of chocolate either but now I guess I will have to try that choco sour cream cake scp1127, have you tried any of the vanilla or fruit cakes from sky high?

Thanks, scp1127. I have the Alice's Tea Cup book in my wish list (I love scones and I think they have a few in the book). Someone told me that they adapted the lemon blueberry cake from Sky High too and I was curious to see what they did to it and how is it different.

So I'll get the book. Thanks. Could you tell me if there's that lemon blueberry cake in the Alice book?