Three Yes Or No Questions For Scratch Bakers.....
Decorating By giraffe11 Updated 7 Jun 2009 , 3:45am by miny
Dkelly.....you sound just like me....... I keep reading suggestions on CC and thinking "well, maybe I should try it" but now....especially with all the replies on this thread.....I'm thinking if it ani't broke, don't fix it. Don't need gummy, funky-tasting cake!
LOL!! The way I figure it is life's too short so I wanna try everything at least once! Well almost everything
Wow. Thanks for all the replies. I am glad to see that most people don't "wrap the steam in" or use syrup as a rule. I always like the moistness of my cakes, but you know.......the temptation to try other "improvements" is always there....
I may try cooking at a lower temperature just to see how I like it once or twice.
Feel free to keep chimining in......
Thanks again
No--I let cool in pan, then wrap in plastic wrap.
Yes...always!
No---I made it one time, thought I needed, and no I didn't!
I'm with PinkZiab on the simple syrup...I love using it as a flavor enhancer. You don't use enough to literally "soak" the cake...with a pastry brush you stroke a few strokes (lol stroke a few strokes) across the cake and yummmy. My cakes are never dry either and simple syrup isn't the cure for dryness. It's to add an extra layer of flavor.
No. I wrapped for the first time last week and it made my cake stodgy and gummy. It was still ok but I prefer the cake not to be steamed.
No, unless it is a fruit cake, then the oven is much lower.
Yes. I love to add a bit of booze in my sugar syrup to the cake for the adults, not for the dryness but the taste.
1) tried it one time never again. Had to throw the cakes out they were so sticky and gummy.
2) I cook the way the recipe says. I make sure I don't over fill the pan that way the cake has time to cook through and cook evenly. Tried cake strips, but I don't see where they do as much good as "whacking" all the air bubbles out and not over filling the pan.
3) agree with others on this one, there's a difference between moist and wet. If your recipe isn't moist when it's cooked, it doesn't seem logical that you can make it moist by adding water, you just make it soggy.
Like others said, you are always tempted when someone says that something new worked great for them. I've been tempted, but in most cases, I learned my lesson really quick. I have my recipes that I use and I will stick to them. I'm just a home baker, that loves decorating and making cakes for family and friends. But it's really hard to resist when all these wonderful folks say what works for them, they are all so talented. I want to be like them when I grow up. You folks are the BEST!!!
No. I wrapped for the first time last week and it made my cake stodgy and gummy. It was still ok but I prefer the cake not to be steamed.
No, unless it is a fruit cake, then the oven is much lower.
Yes. I love to add a bit of booze in my sugar syrup to the cake for the adults, not for the dryness but the taste.
Booze heh?!!
I must confess I forgot about my Tiramasu (sp?) I do soak that in Kahlua but I guess that technically is not a simple syrup right?
I love to add a bit of booze in my sugar syrup to the cake for the adults, not for the dryness but the taste.
I'm with you... all of my cakes get a little boozy addition in the syrup... it gives the BEST flavor!
1. I always cool my cakes and then wrap in plastic film. Only refrigerate if I'm not filling and icing the next day. Only freeze if it is going to be multiple days. I do have a few cakes that require refrigeration, but I'm assuming you mean "regular " cake.
2. Temperature depends on which oven I'm using. I seriously hate convection for cakes!
3. Usually use a liqueur flavored syrup to add a complemetary flavor, not to moisten. If the cake is dry, it doesn't help much anyway.
Okay, my turn.
I wrap them after they cool and I'm not going to decorate the same day. I usually cook one day and decorate the next. I do freeze them if I'm going to be carving it.
I cook at 325...well, I try to. My oven has gone wonky and I have to continually monitor it but I try 325.
I've never used a simple syrup. I've thought about it but never tried it.
No, No and No
For some reason people that don't usually bake from scratch feel that you have to use some type of syrup to make their cakes moist. I can bake any cake from scratch and it will come out moist. Unless is a dry cake to start with.
2.
I do adjust the temp down for larger pans, not so much to avoid the dome, as I like to have lots of trimmings to use for Spackle.
.
May I ask what Spackle is? Thanks ahead of time.
1. no, cooled down before I wrap it
2. depends on the size, thickness and shape
3. depends on the recipe
For some reason people that don't usually bake from scratch feel that you have to use some type of syrup to make their cakes moist.
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That's just the point though......I've seen post upon post and, for what it's worth, book upon book, of people who are scratch bakers and say that they ALWAYS use a syrup to add moistness......
This is why I started this post. I wanted to see if I , as a scratch baker who has never bothered with syrup, was really in the minority.
Turns out I'm not.
I am surprised to learn how many people are boozing it up though
I just bake most of my cakes either for kids or for gatherings where there will be lots of kids...... I want to make some grown up cakes too!
2.
I do adjust the temp down for larger pans, not so much to avoid the dome, as I like to have lots of trimmings to use for Spackle.
.
May I ask what Spackle is? Thanks ahead of time.
two parts cake trimmings
two parts butter cream
one part jam or curd filling
Mix to a thick paste and use over your chilled crumb coat to make a firm, smooth surface on which to place your fondant. It's also good to repair holes and cracks in your cake. I also generally use it as a filling...jam or curd between top layers and bottom layers of a tier, spackle between the middle layers. People swear it's a nut filling. This comes from Toba Garrett's book, The Well Decorated Cake.
I just bake most of my cakes either for kids or for gatherings where there will be lots of kids...... I want to make some grown up cakes too!
Even my kids cakes get booze in the syrup... it's only a few tablespoons for an entire cake and it's not anymore alcoholic than if I was using a pure extract. And before anyone jumps down my throat, yes my customers are fully aware
No, the cake get gummy. No,I bake at 350 unless it's a pound cake.(325) And No I never use a simple syrup.
1. I wrap my cakes in plastic but only after they have cooled completely.
2. I do bake almost everything at 325. I bake my brownies and quick breads at 350 but if I am baking cakes at the same time oven temp goes down. I am too impatient and my electric bill is too high as it is to wait and bake later.
3. I hardly ever soak my cakes with anything (exception: fruit cakes at Christmas are soaked every 3 days with brandy). Occasionally, someone will specifically request the cake to be soaked with a flavored syrup (usually booze related), but not often. My cakes are pretty moist all on their own so I don't think they need it.
Yes. I love to add a bit of booze in my sugar syrup to the cake for the adults, not for the dryness but the taste.
The kids get the same cake, the adults just appreciate the addition more. It gives a really nice depth of flavour.
I am sure kids get way more alcohol from their cough syrup.
Yes. I love to add a bit of booze in my sugar syrup to the cake for the adults, not for the dryness but the taste.
The kids get the same cake, the adults just appreciate the addition more. It gives a really nice depth of flavour.
I am sure kids get way more alcohol from their cough syrup.
I'd say it's more of an issue for adults anyway. It won't hurt kids. But an adult recovering alcoholic isn't supposed to even have cough syrup or mouthwash. That's why I never us uncooked alcohol in anything I serve unless it's by request. And if they do request it, I advise them to place a small card by the item, so no one is caught by surprise.
I'd say it's more of an issue for adults anyway. It won't hurt kids. But an adult recovering alcoholic isn't supposed to even have cough syrup or mouthwash. That's why I never us uncooked alcohol in anything I serve unless it's by request. And if they do request it, I advise them to place a small card by the item, so no one is caught by surprise.
So you use alcohol-free extracts in your buttercream?
I do. I linked to them in another thread the other day. They're either glycerin or oil based. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6416773-.html#6416773
I'd say it's more of an issue for adults anyway. It won't hurt kids. But an adult recovering alcoholic isn't supposed to even have cough syrup or mouthwash. That's why I never us uncooked alcohol in anything I serve unless it's by request. And if they do request it, I advise them to place a small card by the item, so no one is caught by surprise.
So you use alcohol-free extracts in your buttercream?
And to add to that... You never fully bake out alcohol, not even when you flambe something.
To answer the poll....No, no, and no.
I'd say it's more of an issue for adults anyway. It won't hurt kids. But an adult recovering alcoholic isn't supposed to even have cough syrup or mouthwash. That's why I never us uncooked alcohol in anything I serve unless it's by request. And if they do request it, I advise them to place a small card by the item, so no one is caught by surprise.
So you use alcohol-free extracts in your buttercream?
And to add to that... You never fully bake out alcohol, not even when you flambe something.
To answer the poll....No, no, and no.
Yes, but a recovering alcoholic is not going to detect or react to the amount of alcohol that is left in one slice of cake from a tsp of vanilla after being baked in a cake. Whereas actual uncooked rum, with it's distinct flavor and alcohol content, brushed on a cake, is going to affect them. I'm not saying any body else can't or shouldn't do it. And it's not a giant issue with me. It's just my own policy. Particularly knowing some people in recovery, I would rather not exclude people from the cake festivities needlessly.
Arscallion, I'm not referring to extracts but to when people sub alcohol in their cake for their liquid. In your point, alcoholics should also not eat cakes where the baker uses a 1/2 cup or so of alcohol when they make the cake.
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