Question About Why My Cake Didn't Rise
Decorating By Lazy_Susan Updated 14 Jan 2006 , 9:05am by Lazy_Susan
I just received my new Cake cookbooks and made one of the recipes for a "Sour Cream Chocolate Cake". However, I thought that the ingredients were a little odd and was wondering if my cake would rise. Not surprisingly it didn't. Here are the ingredients:
3 ounces chocolate
2 tablesoons unsalted butter
3 large eggs (I just noticed that it says to seprate to 1/3 cup whites and 1/4 cup yolks. I didn't do this. I separated the whites from the yolks but I didn't measure them. )Could this be my problem?)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sifted cake flour (I used sifted all-purpose)
I guess the part I thought was strange is that it didn't call for salt and baking powder or soda.
The cake looks fine. I'm just not sure if it was supposed to rise or not.
Please help!!!
Lazy_Susan 
The missing baking powder and the fact that the egg whites were not separated .. the eggwhites would probably has airated the cake, although it was not suppose to rise high, at least the beaten eggwhites would have made it "airy" or spongey..try making it again, but this time follow the recipe very well, if it still fails, then maybe get rid of that book or that recipe 
the fact that the egg whites were not separated ..
I did separate the egg whites from the yolks. The part I didn't do was measure them. It called to whip the egg whites with 1 cup sugar. Which I did.
All-purpose flour has no leavening in it, like cake flour does. That is one reason for your cake not rising. I'm not sure about the egg white situation, but it may have had something to do with it.
All-purpose flour has no leavening in it, like cake flour does.
So any time a recipe calls for "cake flour" I should use saly and baking soda along with it? Or is it baking powder? Cake flour is just so much more expensive than regular flour.
I'm sorry, I apologize, I was reading it too fast..
I once tried a recipe that didn't call for baking powder, but I added some baking podwer to it anyway,, I was happy with the results, because when I did it the first time without baking powder, it came out like "Fudge"
Cake flour has no leavening in it. It has something to do with having less (or maybe it is more?) gluten - but I have never heard of it having a leavening agent in it. (self-rising flour does - NOT cake flour)
You can usually interchange all purpose with cake flour with no problems.
You CANNOT subsitutue self-rising though without making changes to the recipe.
Cake flour has no leavening in it. It has something to do with having less (or maybe it is more?) gluten - but I have never heard of it having a leavening agent in it. (self-rising flour does - NOT cake flour)
So I should have used self-rising flour? I have some of that too.
No, I would not use the self-rising flour unless a recipe actually calls for it. Are you sure this cake is not supposed to be that way? Some of them are made to be very dense and short -not fluffy.
I'm not sure. That is why I posted the ingredients and asked y'all. The recipe didn't say so I figured y'all might be able to tell from the ingredients
I just found this
Cake flour is made from a low protein ( 6 - 8%), fine-textured soft wheat so the flour contains a high amout of starch and less gluten resulting in lighter, less dense textures or a more "tender, fine crumb" for various cake and pastry items.
Equivalents
1 pound, 4 3/4 to 5 cups sifted
Substitutions
Best substitute for 1 cup cake flour use 7/8 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
Pastry flour or substitute 7/8 cup of all-purpose flour for one cup of cake flour (product will be a bit more dense)
I was confusing cake flour with self-rising flouor. I now see they are two entirely different things. No leavening in cake flour either! Sorry for the mistake.
What cookbook is this recipe from? That is one thing that is kind of hard too - I only will purchase baking cookbooks that I have read a good review on - if you get some of the ones that are written by folks that just submit a recipe, (like a fund raising type) a lot of times they are not tested and who knows what you are going to end up with! I have a lot of those type books in my collection, but I always try making a new recipe first for us to try at home before making it for someone else.
Just an added note....the only time I ever use self rising flour is when making homemade bisquits. I would never use it in a cake recipe.....unless it specifically calls for it.
Substitutions
Best substitute for 1 cup cake flour use 7/8 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
Thanks!!! This is good to know! 
What cookbook is this recipe from?
It is called "Ultimate Chocolate Cake Book" by Pamela Asquiths. I bought it along with a few others off of a site called "Jessica;s Biscuit". It has loads of helpful information in it. Ummmmm just not the information I needed to know about if my cake should rise or not! lol 
All-purpose flour has no leavening in it, like cake flour does. That is one reason for your cake not rising. I'm not sure about the egg white situation, but it may have had something to do with it.
go bakc to the original recipe. I've done one like this before.
there purposely is no leavnening (baking powered/self-rising flower, etc.) because ALL the rising power will be provided by the whipped egg whites.
now, part of the secret is to beat those egg whites until they are as stiff as stiff can be (ie, tons air in them, which will expand later in the heat of the oven)
second part (the hardest part) is to FOLD the whites in -- not mix, not stir -- fold very gently so as not to loose any of the volume. It should be a very light moose almost. Using a very large spatula makes this eaiser, although on a cooking show (i think it was Emeril -- who started as a baker) the cook just used his/her (very clean) hand! don't fold too much, just enough to get it relatively evenly mixed. a few streaks might remain.
Then gently into the pans and bake. it's similar to making a souffle.
Reading the ingredients, it's not supposed to rise 'much'. The eggs are the only leavening agent in the recipe. Eggs will make make a cake rise whether separated or not. How much it rises depends on how many are in the recipe. By whipping the egg whites as you did and as long as you carefully folded them in your cake as the last thing you did before putting cake in the oven it should have risen slightly. Also careful to not 'overwhip' your whites then they are kinda useless. By looking at ingredients the cake should be slightly risen and somewhat dense and the fact that you didn't measure the eggs would have no impact on the final product because that is what you should get out of 3 large eggs
Reading the ingredients, it's not supposed to rise 'much'. The eggs are the only leavening agent in the recipe. Eggs will make make a cake rise whether separated or not. How much it rises depends on how many are in the recipe. By whipping the egg whites as you did and as long as you carefully folded them in your cake as the last thing you did before putting cake in the oven it should have risen slightly. Also careful to not 'overwhip' your whites then they are kinda useless. By looking at ingredients the cake should be slightly risen and somewhat dense and the fact that you didn't measure the eggs would have no impact on the final product because that is what you should get out of 3 large eggs
I agree. It is meant to be a dense cake, this is the style of this particular cake. You always want to beat your egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, if they are dry, they won't work as the leavening agent that they were meant to be. Stiff means that they hold a stiff peak, a peak that doesn't just fall over. If they were not meant to be the main leavening agent, they would not have you separate them and whip the egg whites separately. Though eggs when whole will leaven a cake, when separated and folded into a cake, the whites have a much greater leavening effect. In some cheesecakes, the yolks are beaten for 10 minutes and this is the main leavening agent as you have incorporated air into them also.
Your egg whites should be room temperature and at least three days old to get the full effect of the volume.
Folding is done by hand using a spatula and a folding method. Do not use a mixer to do this.
The amount of egg whites has no effect unless you use extra small eggs instead of the egg size called for.
Hugs Squirrelly
Went back and realized I missed the fact you substituted all-purpose flour for the cake flour and you didn't adjust the amount.
While in some recipes, you can substitute by adjusting amounts, it is not going to produce exactly the same results, more often than not, the difference is in the crumb or texture. But also, when a recipe calls for one flour or another, the other ingredients are designed to work with that particular kind or type of flour. So sometimes just the flour adjustment is not enough.
You are really best off always using the type of flour that the recipe calls for. The gluten content of the flour has an effect on the texture and the finished product.
Hugs Squirrelly
You always want to beat your egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, if they are dry, they won't work as the leavening agent that they were meant to be. Stiff means that they hold a stiff peak, a peak that doesn't just fall over.
I beat the eggs along with one cup sugar just like the recipe called for. However, the peaks were loose and melding back into the mix. So I tried at a higher speed but nothing changed. So I just went with it. Plus I gradually added the sugar. Should I have added all the sugar at once to get stiff peaks or should I have added it at the end?
You always want to beat your egg whites until they are stiff but not dry, if they are dry, they won't work as the leavening agent that they were meant to be. Stiff means that they hold a stiff peak, a peak that doesn't just fall over.
I beat the eggs along with one cup sugar just like the recipe called for. However, the peaks were loose and melding back into the mix. So I tried at a higher speed but nothing changed. So I just went with it. Plus I gradually added the sugar. Should I have added all the sugar at once to get stiff peaks or should I have added it at the end?
Well, if there was grease in your bowl or on the wire whisk that might be the problem. They beat up best grease free. If some yolk got into them, they don't beat as well. If they were too cold or too fresh too, as in straight from the farm, you need room temperature eggs that are at least 3-4 days old. Normally you first beat the whites until foamy gradually increasing your speed to high which is 8-10 on a Kitchen Aid as you start adding the sugar and beat on a high speed. Soft peak is that the egg whites will hold a peak when you raise the whisk or take a spoon and lightly dip it in, but the peak doesn't really stand up. Stiff peak, same method but the peak should stand fairly well, whites are fairly even in colour and glisten. Adding the sugar gradually is basically once the egg whites are foamy, you are letting a trickle of sugar fall constantly until your cup is empty. Not adding some, beating a bit, adding some more, beating a bit.
If you beat too long until the egg whites are both stiff and dry, well they will look a bit speckled and dull looking. They go rather clumpy, you don't want this. Almost the appearance of dry soap suds, for lack of a better term.
Hope that helps.
Hugs Squirrelly
I know this is not about cakes but I made chocolate molds for the first time and they are sticky can anyone tell me what to do I can't but them is a bag they stick. They came out fine but i don't know what to do. can i fix them. poppie
Sorry, just saw this, what kind of chocolate did you use? How did you set them, did you refrigerate them?
If they came out fine, they shouldn't have gotten sticky. Have you perhaps handled them too much and they started to melt? Is it too hot in your kitchen?
Hugs SQuirrelly
Ok! That's it. This cake cookbook is going on the back burner! lol That cake was nasty tasting! I need recipes to start with that are a little bit easier. I think I will try one in one of the other books I bought. I'll let y'all know how it went
Lazy_Susan
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