so i decided yesterday to make this cake that i watched the barefoot contessa make the other day. she swore that it was the best chocolate cake in the world...and it didn't look THAT hard to make. so, i gathered my ingredients yesterday afternoon and began a cooking adventure. it was a homemade chocolate cake with a homemade chocolate buttercream icing. i think the pictures really say it all....
i will say, though, that it didn't taste terrible...it was very, very rich!! yummmmm....
Monday, June 30, 2008
the case of the sunken cake
Posted by the smiths at 9:53 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
7 comments:
Well it may not be pretty but it still looks good. The first cake I made after I got married was a DISASTER. It was lumpy, misshapen and because like an idiot I didn't let it cool before icing the top layer kept sliding off.
Looks aren't everything you know - it's whats inside that counts :-)
I am sure you had fun making it.
Trying using Swiss Miss Cocoa Mix when making a homemade chocolate cake. I used it one time and the ladies at FBC C'burg said it was deliceech......
Counting down the days -
P.S. I love you.
:)
Because air pressure decreases as the elevation increases, many foods respond differently at high altitudes — and not just baked goods, but beans, stews, fried foods, pasta, etc. There are some standard adjustments you can make, but you also have to experiment a bit to find what adjustments work best for your recipes where you are.
With less air pressure weighing them down, leavening agents tend to work too quickly at higher altitudes, so by the time the food is cooked, most of the gasses have escaped, producing your flat tire. For cakes leavened by egg whites, beat only to a soft-peak consistency to keep them from deflating as they bake. Also, decrease the amount of baking powder or soda in your recipes by 15% to 25% (one-eighth to one quarter teaspoon per teaspoon specified in the recipe) at 5,000 feet, and by 25% or more at 7,000. For both cakes and cookies, raise the oven temperature by 20° or so to set the batter before the cells formed by the leavening gas expand too much, causing the cake or cookies to fall, and slightly shorten the cooking time.
Flour tends to be drier at high elevation, so increase the amount of liquid in the recipe by 2 to 3 tablespoons for each cup of flour called for at 5,000 feet, and by 3 to 4 tablespoons at 7,000 ft. Often you will want to decrease the amount of sugar in a recipe by 1 to 3 tablespoons for each cup of sugar called for in the recipe.
On the non-baking front, because water boils at a lower temperature the higher you go (212° at sea level, 203° at 5,000 feet, 198° at 7,500 feet), foods cooked in water have to be cooked substantially longer to get them done. Pasta needs a furious boil and longer time. Beans need to be cooked twice as long at 7,000 feet, and above that height, it's nearly impossible to cook them through without the use of a pressure cooker (which raises the boiling point of water). Slow stews and braises may need an hour extra for every 1,000 feet you live above 4,000 feet.
In general, you should keep modifications on the small side the first time you prepare a recipe, and adjust as needed subsequently.
Anon copy/pasted from this site. Just wanted to give credit to where credit is due.
Did you cut your hair off...sorry...I have no advice for the cake...but your hair looks REALLY short...(or it could be in a ponytail...)
Barefoot Contessa Sunken Cake
I had the same results.
Altitude: sea level
Cake pans: 9" round
Oven temp - checked and calibrated.
Also made the cake before with perfect results - no sinking in middle.
So what's the answer?
Post a Comment