Tips from professional Chef Tallyrand:
|
Tallyrand
Food and Cooking Tips
|
|
Tips
on Cake making
 Preparation
of cake tins
Cake
tins are made from many types of material, stainless
steel, aluminium, silicon, non stick surfaces etc but
if one is unsure of the non stick properties of a cake
tin, it is best to line it with lightly greased, greaseproof
paper. This is achieved by:
- Cutting
a greaseproof paper cartouche 2 cm wider than the
cake tin
- Cutting
a collar 2cm longer than the circumference and 2 cm
higher than the cake tin
- Lightly
grease both the cartouche and collar
- Place
the cartouche in the cake tin first and neatly crease
the extra 2cm up the sides
- Place
the collar neatly around the inside of the cake tin:
the 2cm sides of the cartouche should be outside the
collar; to allow a neat finish to the finished cake
- Many
chefs will lightly grease both sides of the cartouche
and collar, so they cling neatly to the cake tin
Testing
for a cooked cake
Insert
a slender bladed knife into the thickest part of the
cake (normally the centre) and remove. The blade should
come out clean. If it comes out with the batter clinging
to it, the cake requires further cooking.
Common
faults when cake baking
| 1. |
The
oven door is opened too soon |
| |
this
sudden rush of cold air into a warm/hot oven will
result in the cake collapsing and coming out flat.
The oven door should not be opened until ¾’s
the way through allowed cooking time. |
| 2. |
Cake
over browned |
| |
Controlling
its browning process is essential, this can be achieved
by: |
| |
| • |
knowing
the oven’s hot and cold spots |
| • |
placing
the cake tin on the middle shelf with a tray
on the top shelf to deflect the falling |
| • |
heat
particles |
| • |
lightly
covering the cake tin with tin foil |
|
| 3. |
The
oven door being slammed shut |
| |
This
sudden and violent action will shock the cake mixture,
knock out or deflate all the trapped air bubbles
and will result in the cake collapsing and coming
out flat |
| 4. |
Incorrectly
weighed ingredients |
| |
Unlike
many areas of the kitchen, cake making is more of
an exact science, in most cases a slight variance
in measurements can make all the difference. |
| 5. |
Incorrect
flour used |
| |
Cake
making requires a ‘soft’ or high ration
flour; it must be one that is low in gluten content.
A medium to high gluten flour will result in a heavy
textured, non risen cake. |
| 6. |
Flour
not sufficiently sieved |
| |
To
increase the air in the mixture and to ensure what
gluten content is there, the flour should be well
sieved (2-3 times) and from a reasonable height
from sieve to bowl. |
| 7. |
Fruits
sinking |
| |
Cakes
with dried fruits or nuts added to them, will often
turn out to have most of the dried fruits or nuts
sunk to the bottom. This can be remedied by lightly
tossing/coating them in flour before incorporating
them into the mixture. This forms a kind of chemical
bond with the batter and prevents them sinking. |
Problems
that can occur when making sponge cakes
| Close
texture |
: |
eggs
and sugar overheated |
| |
: |
eggs
and sugar under beaten |
| |
: |
too
much flour |
| |
: |
flour
not folded in |
| |
: |
oven
too hot |
| |
|
|
| Sunken |
: |
too
much sugar |
| |
: |
oven
too hot |
| |
: |
tin
removed during cooking |
| |
|
|
| Heavy |
: |
butter
too hot |
| |
: |
butter
not mixed in well |
| |
: |
flour
over mixed |
Related
Recipe:
Published
17
June
2002
|
