AI was trying to bake a "chocolate chip" cake. I used my favorite go-to yellow cake recipe and added mini-M&Ms to the batter. I used my Wilton cake strips (the ones you soak in water and wrap around the pan so your cake doesn't dome in the middle.)
Anyway, the M&Ms melted into a gooey mess at the bottom of the pan - underneath the cake! Unfortunately I had not put parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pan so I had to scrape it out of the bottom. It was NOT PRETTY, lol.
So, I tried again only this time with peanut butter chips. I froze the chips first and didn't use the cake strips. AND I put parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan. The chips stayed in with the batter, but they still drifted to the bottom of the cake. However, I was able to get the cakes out of the pans easily thanks to the parchment paper.
Has anyone done this successfully and how did you do it?
Thank you!
Carol
A CC member, MimiFix, wrote a blog post about suspending things in batters. In a nutshell, she says that the flour coating doesn't work and that the real issue is the thickness of the batter and/or the size of the things to be suspended.
So, for M&Ms, you'd need a pretty darn thick batter or you'd need to use those little mini one's (and not too many, either). Mini chocolate chips are a good idea, too.
M&Ms will melt, as you know, but freezing things like that is a good practice. Chocolate chips are actually formulated for baking and designed not to lose shape/melt as much.
Cutting up larger things can also help them spread out more evenly and stay suspended, and thickening the batter is always helpful.
A CC member, MimiFix, wrote a blog post about suspending things in batters. In a nutshell, she says that the flour coating doesn't work and that the real issue is the thickness of the batter and/or the size of the things to be suspended.
Thanks, maybenot! Here' the link about batter density.Flouring additions is good for separating sticky ingredients such as raisins, but not so good at keeping ingredients suspended in a batter.
I had the same issue with sinking/melting chocolate chips. I tired the switch to mini chips and floured them well. Stirred them into the batter, then scooped into the pans and cooked immediately. It worked quite well.
I would try added a small amount of additional flour till your batter seems a scoopable consistency, then use mini m&ms (if you can) and flour well, then stir in at last possible moment.
Good luck!
Mine must just be thick then because it always works for me. Is there anything that isn't made better by chocolate?
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