Cake Lab
Reflection Video
Cake # 1: Tall and Light Cake:
1. Ingredients and prep (Ingredients shown amount to 1 cake. They were measured twice)*:
*Not pictured: 1 1/3 cup of sugar & 1 stick of unsalted butter (room temparature
1 1/2 cup of cake flour (low-protein):
1/2 cup of room temperature butter milk:
1/3 cup vegetable oil:
1 1/2 TSP of baking powder:
1/2 TSP salt:
1 TSP vanilla extract:
5 eggs, 2 full eggs and 3 egg yolks, all at room temperature:
2. Preparation:
The vanilla and buttermilk are mixed together:
The salt, baking powder, and flour are lightly mixed together:
3. Cream the butter with a handmixer:
At a medium speed the mixer creams the butter, giving it a lighter color and creamy consistency
At the end of creaming my butter looked like this:
4. After creaming, add sugar & eggs:
First sugar is introduced into the creamed butter:
It's important to scrape the sides back into the mixture periodically.
Eggs are then added to the mixture, making it thicker.
Each egg is added separately and mixed in for 45 seconds.
The final mixture should be light and airy:
5. Next, the sifted flour mixture and vanilla buttercream mixture is folded in.
Folding the ingredients into each other is intended to help the ingredients hold the air that was beat into the mixture in the previous step.
Start with half of the sifted flour mixture prepared earlier.
Then half the buttercream mixture:
Repeat the folding for the second half of the mixtures, starting with the flour again.
6. Fill the cake pan half-way.*
*Note: For scale reference, my cake pan was 9" x 2.5 instead of 2".
The cake pan is filled half way to leave room for a rise:
7. Results for the Tall and Light cake:
Toothpick test, inserted one inch deep in center (left) and removed cleanly (right):
Cake removed from tin, inverted to cool:
Cake height measured 3.65 cm, or 1 7/16 in.:
Cake # 2: Tender and Moist Cake:
The ingredients are still the same, however they are mixed in differently.
1. Preparation variation.
The eggs, yolks, vanilla, and 6 TBSP of buttermilk are mixed together at the start to break apart the yolks.
The flour mixture remains the same.
2. The stick of butter, the vegetable oil, and 2 TSP of buttermilk are mixed on a low, then medium speed into the dry ingredients:
The final mixture looked like this:
2. The rest of the process remained effectively the same. The egg and buttermilk mixture was added in 1/3's into the mixture, separated by 30 seconds of mixing. The pan was then filled half way.
3. After 35 minutes of baking, the cake was toothpick tested:
and cooled:
This cake measured 5.08 cm, or 2 in.
Comparison of Cakes
Side-by-side:
In both images below, the 'Tall and Light Cake' (3.65 cm) is on the left, and the 'Moist and Tender Cake' (5.08 cm) is on the right.
Comparing the slices:
A. Tall and Light Cake:
Up close of slices:
B. Moist and Tender Cake:
Close up of slice:
C. Side-by-side of cakes.
As before, the 'Tall and Light Cake' (3.65 cm) is on the left while the 'Moist and Tender Cake' (5.08 cm) is on the right.
Cake # 1: Tall and Light Cake:
1. Ingredients and prep (Ingredients shown amount to 1 cake. They were measured twice)*:
*Not pictured: 1 1/3 cup of sugar & 1 stick of unsalted butter (room temparature
1 1/2 cup of cake flour (low-protein):
1/2 cup of room temperature butter milk:
1/3 cup vegetable oil:
1 1/2 TSP of baking powder:
1/2 TSP salt:
1 TSP vanilla extract:
5 eggs, 2 full eggs and 3 egg yolks, all at room temperature:
2. Preparation:
The vanilla and buttermilk are mixed together:
The salt, baking powder, and flour are lightly mixed together:
3. Cream the butter with a handmixer:
At a medium speed the mixer creams the butter, giving it a lighter color and creamy consistency
At the end of creaming my butter looked like this:
4. After creaming, add sugar & eggs:
First sugar is introduced into the creamed butter:
It's important to scrape the sides back into the mixture periodically.
Eggs are then added to the mixture, making it thicker.
Each egg is added separately and mixed in for 45 seconds.
The final mixture should be light and airy:
5. Next, the sifted flour mixture and vanilla buttercream mixture is folded in.
Folding the ingredients into each other is intended to help the ingredients hold the air that was beat into the mixture in the previous step.
Start with half of the sifted flour mixture prepared earlier.
Then half the buttercream mixture:
Repeat the folding for the second half of the mixtures, starting with the flour again.
6. Fill the cake pan half-way.*
*Note: For scale reference, my cake pan was 9" x 2.5 instead of 2".
The cake pan is filled half way to leave room for a rise:
7. Results for the Tall and Light cake:
Toothpick test, inserted one inch deep in center (left) and removed cleanly (right):
Cake removed from tin, inverted to cool:
Cake height measured 3.65 cm, or 1 7/16 in.:
Cake # 2: Tender and Moist Cake:
The ingredients are still the same, however they are mixed in differently.
1. Preparation variation.
The eggs, yolks, vanilla, and 6 TBSP of buttermilk are mixed together at the start to break apart the yolks.
The flour mixture remains the same.
2. The stick of butter, the vegetable oil, and 2 TSP of buttermilk are mixed on a low, then medium speed into the dry ingredients:
The final mixture looked like this:
2. The rest of the process remained effectively the same. The egg and buttermilk mixture was added in 1/3's into the mixture, separated by 30 seconds of mixing. The pan was then filled half way.
3. After 35 minutes of baking, the cake was toothpick tested:
and cooled:
This cake measured 5.08 cm, or 2 in.
Comparison of Cakes
Side-by-side:
In both images below, the 'Tall and Light Cake' (3.65 cm) is on the left, and the 'Moist and Tender Cake' (5.08 cm) is on the right.
Comparing the slices:
A. Tall and Light Cake:
Up close of slices:
B. Moist and Tender Cake:
Close up of slice:
C. Side-by-side of cakes.
As before, the 'Tall and Light Cake' (3.65 cm) is on the left while the 'Moist and Tender Cake' (5.08 cm) is on the right.
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