Remember, the percentage refers to the percentage of sugar in relation to flour in the recipe. Uh-oh. This isn't … We’ve been using the traditional “quatre quarts” pound cake recipe as a tool to understand the science of cake batter. All the other ingredients in the recipe were kept at 8 oz each to ensure that any change to texture and taste were a result of the variation in the amount and type of sugar. My aunt prefers bananas). My cake overflowed from the cake pan (8 x 4 inch loaf pan) If you over-beat the eggs, or beat the butter and sugar too fast, or added too much baking powder, the cake can rise too much and flow over the edges of the pan. In classes 3 & 4 we looked at the two structure builders, flour and eggs. Both the +25% and the +50% cakes had a noticeably thicker and sweeter crust than the control cake, and the crust was crackled. In my business the normal stuff that I sell is decorated cakes and decorated sugar cookies, so my mind was just spinning for a little bit. I recommend Nesquik flavored powders because they have sugar already mixed in to help keep the ingredients leveled out. Thanks alot for this very useful information. How can I reduce the sweetness of a cake batter? Still, too sweet. Had I used the traditional creaming method the difference may have been greater. I didn’t find the crust unpleasant but it was a noticeable difference. After removing from the oven, place the pound cake, right side up, in the pan on a wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes away from drafts. FAIL. It was extremely sweet with a bitter, unpleasant aftertaste. Pouring batter for a 9″ cake into a 7″ pan can cause the cake to crack. Adding more sugar to a cake recipe causes the proteins in the flour and eggs to form weaker bonds, creating a more tender, softer crumb. Using too much baking soda or baking powder can really mess up a recipe, causing it to rise uncontrollably and taste terrible. 9. Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Copyright © 2019 Baking Sense on the Foodie Pro Theme, Baking Weights & Measures Conversion Chart, Baking Tips & Classic Techniques Explained, The Function Butter & Other Fats in Cake Batter ». Thank you. Here’s my Sour Cream Poundcake recipe that you can use to start with. I am very interested in the way that adding this sugar alcohol in differing amounts affects baked goods. Reach for cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. The batter in the red liner was much smoother and more dense (almost like cookie dough). Hi my name is Donna & I would like to know what is your preference & overall tips to making the perfect Pound Cake every time? Flat-as-a-pancake cookies. But don't freak out if you accidentally poured too much baking soda in cookie dough or added too much baking powder to cake batter. I wanted to experiment with powdered sugar because my great-grandmother I believe used it for her pound cakes & they were the best. Their taste is unpleasant, bitter from the cocoa. To learn detailed information about the composition and science of sugar as a baking ingredient, visit the Baking Ingredients – Sugar page. Thank you! So instead of cutting down on the butter extract… which is key to the cake batter … As we learned in “Cake Batter” class #1, the “creaming” method of mixing cake batter uses the physical shape of sugar crystals to aerate the butter and lighten the cake’s texture. Excess sugar could weaken a cake structure so much that it collapses. For those who must use sugar substitutes in baking, recipes will have to be revised further than just swapping out the sugar with a sugar substitute for a good result. Depending on the situation, you might be able to fix it. When using sugar substitutes for baking the recipe must be revised. Serious bummer. Your cookies could also fall flat if you use too much sugar or not enough flour. Just like kneading bread dough makes delightfully chewy bread and overmixing muffin batter makes frightfully solid muffins, mixing cake batter too much makes cake dense as well. Thank you for your time & response. Excess of this ingredient can cause the cake to rise too quickly and put a crack in the top. This allows moisture to escape from the top of the cake and leaves sugar residue in the batter. Of course sugar is important in the kitchen because the sweet flavor makes food delicious. I tried that - actually I added a few drops of lemon juice and some milk and flour. You'll soon discover what works best for you — and your family. The answer to that is kind of . The lumps in your cake batter usually consist of lumps of flour or sugar. Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can reduce the sugar in a cake before it becomes more like a quick bread than a cake. The good news is, while curdled batter is certainly a cake-baking problem, it can still be baked and produce a cake. This characteristic of sugar helps make and keep baked goods moist. Lastly, too much baking powder can cause the cake to crack. Thank you. Sugar interferes with the coagulation of proteins. Thanks! Stir with a wooden spoon to fully combine the salt in the food. If you catch it before mixing you may be able to carefully spoon the excess out. The flour helps the liquid and fat come back together and creates a smooth, lump-free mixture. For example a recipe of: 500g flour 500g butter I usually like my sugar to be 200g. Fixing a Cake that Didn't Rise Cook an unrisen cake that's still doughy a bit longer. Try adding 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt for each cup of food. Required fields are marked *. I don’t like much sugar in my cake. The product I used recommends using less than half the amount of Stevia by volume. I thought it would be helpful to see if Stevia can be used to replace sugar in a cake batter. February 28, 2017 by Eileen Gray 6 Comments. The cake was inedible. Now we’ll look at our next ingredient in the cake batter – sugar. I baked 4 different cakes with varying amounts of table sugar to test how changing the proportion of sugar in the pound cake recipe affects the texture. The cake with 25% more sugar had a very nice flavor, tender crumb and the texture was not compromised. I seem to be chronically incapable of addin My cakes usually turn out dry and chewy. Sign up for our newsletter to get more tips and tricks. Forms a loose “S” very easily straightened, Forms a definite “S” shaped like a corkscrew, Very tight curl when stretched creates an “S”, Hair intentionally matted to form "ropes", Guides and resources for easy product selection, Learn how to read your hair product labels, Easy-to-make recipes for all your haircare needs, Our editors share their top hair and skincare products, Community member favorites make up this coveted list, Share your style and browse the style of others, Chat with curl friends about your favorite curly topics. Pound cake made with honey has great flavor but excess moisture caused the structure to collapse. This allows the cake to become firm enough to remove from the pan without breaking apart. If that’s what you prefer, you can try using a little more butter and maybe something like sour cream or yogurt. The sugar also starts to dissolve making the mixture more liquid and less able to hold onto fine air cells. Use Cake Flour. I’ve over-mixed my cake batter. A cake that is overly dense typically has too much liquid, too much sugar or too little leavening (not excess flour, as is commonly thought). The butter and eggs were at ideal room temperature, between 65-70°F. Neglecting to grease and flour your pan. Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage. I baked a test cake using 8oz by weight of a granulated sugar substitute made from the Stevia plant. Jo’s solution: I’d start again, as even if you do manage to rescue it, … My mind is just spinning because I just got an order for 25 -9" round pound cakes and a ton of cookie trays with oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip and sugar cookies (not decorated). For this class we’ll learn about one of the “cake tenderizers” in cake batter – sugar. In a successful cake the ingredients that strengthen the cake structure (flour and eggs) are balanced with the ingredients that weaken the cake structure (sugar and fat). I hope you add another post with just tests using erythritol. I was thinking of adding 1 cup of flour but what else (and how much) do i add so that it doesn't come hard too dense due to the extra flour? I also baked 1 cake with 10x powdered sugar and 1 with honey to see how using other forms of sugar would change the texture. Each batch of cake contained exactly 8 ounces each of cake flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter and eggs. Next up for class #6 we learn all about luscious butter (and other fats). if you’ve already mixed it, you have 3 choices. Honestly, don't be afraid to cut back the sugar in your favorite cake recipes. Cake flour is a low protein flour … Short answer, you can’t fix it if you added too much sugar, unless you catch it before stirring it in. On the one hand: Awesome! Since sugar affects baked goods in more ways than just the flavor, reducing the amount of Stevia in the baked good may improve the sweetness level and aftertaste of the cake, but the texture would still be compromised. The only thing to keep in mind is that it is possible to add too much Your email address will not be published. Participate in product testing surveys discussions etc. Your cake looks perfect, picture … These lumps will remain once you bake your cake, and you will still have lumps of flour or sugar in your baked cake. I just checked the original recipe and it doesn't call for the 1/2 cup of sugar that my aunt put in! This is a problem I have experienced all too often. This class will focus specifically on sugar in pound cake batter. Butter is delicious! The causes are as follows: Too much sugar; Not enough liquid (to dissolve the sugar) Sugar too coarse (to be fully dissolved) Cakes standing too long before going in the oven. Is it possible? In This comprehensive post about creating a great cake recipe you’ll find the perfected pound cake recipe, and lots of great information to help you adapt and create your own cake recipes. In addition, if the recipe requires creaming the shortening with the sugar, you will have to mix the additional batter separately, without any salt, then combine the two batters. The only way to fix cake batter with too much baking soda is to add a proportionate amount of every other ingredient so that the ratios among ingredients satisfies the original recipe. In addition to the moisture and fat from sour cream or yogurt, the acidity also helps tenderize the crumb. The next biggest mistake is failing to measure the flour properly. I've made some frosting and feel that it's way too sweet and i wanted to just bake cupcakes from a box but those are always way too sweet. The reason why I didn’t use the egg white is because my first three batches had too much liquid with an entire egg added in – they spread too much and were too thin for my liking. Shoot for a dry ingredient similar in texture to the boxed mix, like an equal combo of cake flour + confectioner's sugar.To do this combine 1/2 cup cake flour and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar in a separate bowl and mix together thoroughly. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We learned that low protein, chlorinated cake flour produced a cake with a light and tender texture. Start with a simple 10% reduction: 5 teaspoons scooped out of each cup of sugar. Stevia is 150x sweeter than Sucrose, or table sugar. Our Top Cake & Cupcake Recipes. Through multiple baking tests we found that we can alter a cake’s texture significantly by manipulating the number of eggs, yolks and whites in the batter. I was wondering how i can make cake mix less sweet. Thank you. Welcome to class #5  in a series of 7 “Cake Batter” classes. To coincide with my research regarding sugar in cake batter, I also tested a sugar substitute made from the Stevia plant. Sugar is hygroscopic, meaning it has a tendency to attract and hold onto water molecules. A successful recipe balances adding enough sugar to tenderize and sweeten, but not so much to make the cake collapse. You can toss the dough and start over. It looks like you're new here. Because I added extra sugar to the recipe but did not add extra liquid, the sugar could not completely dissolve and the excess sugar rose to the surface and created the crust. I’ll admit that when that when the cupcakes came out of the oven, I worried a bit that my experiment was a bust. Solution: Make sure you’re using wet measures … In this post we’ll look at another important ingredient in cake batter, sugar. Solution – Reduce the mixing time … Continue adding the salt a little at a time until you have neutralized the sweetness. If your cake is crumbly, you may have used too much flour, not enough sugar or shortening, or over-mixed the batter. The cake made with the Stevia product was heavy, dense, hard and brittle with a gummy mouth feel. Read this post for my best pound cake recipe and this post about making great cake recipes. This comprehensive post about creating a great cake recipe, this post about making great cake recipes. If you use baking powder past its sell-by date, your cakes won’t … For a baker, just as important as the flavor enhancements that sugar provides are the ways that sugar affects a baked good’s texture. C) Half the sugar in the original recipe: The texture of these brownies is cakier than the control, but still retains a degree of moistness and chew, with just a tiny bit of crumbling. Let’s start with a brief overview of how toughening of cakes works. An easy fix for that is to scoop the dough onto a pan, and then chill it for an hour before baking. Your raising agents are out-of-date. Will it be ok to use caster sugar in your cake and Italian butter cream recipes. Cooling too long in the pan will cause the cake to be damp and stick to the pan. Be sure that you use the exact pan that’s called for in the recipe. The first is that your butter could be too soft. Not Weighing the Flour. Cake calls for a smooth batter unlike the lumpy quick bread batter, but smooth only comes with mixing, right? Unfortunately, you will have to use more sugar. When the butter and sugar are over mixed the butter becomes excessively soft and the less capable of holding air pockets. You will not be able to simply add the additional ingredients to the batter you have. On the other hand: Oh crap. What a difference just a few ounces of sugar can make in a pound cake. To create a moist, sweet and tender cake that bakes up with a nice even crumb the four main ingredients have to work together. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons! 10. Zero calories, browns and caramelizes almost as good as sugar, and a minimal aftertaste (especially when mixed with stevia). Further increasing the amount of sugar to 50% above normal compromised the structure of the cake enough that it baked with a flattened top and the crumb had a slightly pasty mouth feel. When we’re done experimenting with all the ingredients for this “cake batter” course, we’ll use all we’ve learned to create Pound Cake Perfection. Well, suffice it to say that this comes from experience. I thought it would be helpful to see if Stevia can be used to replace sugar in a cake batter. Sweetness also balances out sour and bitter flavors in food to help create a more complex flavor. In the meantime, my mom sent me the original recipe (which was for a Sweet Potato Cake. But more is not always better. I’m surprised that you haven’t done a test with erythritol. Realize what’s going onAs sugar floods your bloodstream, the pancreas releases insulin to control … Your email address will not be published. As the research suggested, increasing the amount of sugar in the batter made a more tender crumb, moister cake and sweeter flavor. I did use the reverse creaming method. To coincide with my research regarding sugar in cake batter, I also tested a sugar substitute made from the Stevia plant. My new book is now available at Amazon! One way to fix broken cake batter is to add a bit of flour, one tablespoon at a time, until it smooths out again. The cake made with 25% less sugar than normal was not sweet enough and was tough and dry. Curdled Cake Batter To test my assumptions I mixed up a standard cake batter, either mixing just until blended (finishing by hand), for 5 minutes, or for a full 15 minutes before baking. For extra sticky cake batter, you'll want to take the extra … If you check a … B) 50% sugar, baker's percentage: These brownies are dry, crumbly, and barely rose in the pan. But the crumb or texture of that cake will be uneven because the fat isn’t dispersed evenly throughout the batter. One easy fix for adding too much wet ingredient is simply to balance it out by adding a comparable amount of dry ingredient. Hi Ejura, with less than half the weight of sugar to flour I’m not surprised your cakes are dry and chewy. If it's brownies or chocolate cake, add cocoa powder. Sugary Tops or White Spots on Cakes. A Sunken Cake. After experimenting with mixing technique and how to use salt and leaveners to improve the cake texture and flavor, we began to look at each of the core ingredients of the basic pound cake and their respective roles in cake batter. As I expected, Stevia products cannot be used 1 for 1 for sugar in a recipe. What should I do to make up for the less sugar and make my cake moist and render. Wow! We'll see how it works! Depending on how much extra wet ingredients you added, perhaps 3x as much needed or more, you should also add a dash of flavoring to complement your mix. If you like the results (and you're not baking an angel food-type cake), remove more sugar the next time. Because I knew that Stevia is much sweeter than sugar I didn’t expect the cake to taste good, but wanted to use the same amount as a comparison. When the cakes emerged from the oven, I was very surprised by the results and I think you will be too! Look how different the batter looks in each liner – the white liners’ batter is mixed correctly and the red liners’ batter is over-mixed. how about adding some lemon juice or buttermilk along with some extra flour? The cake made with honey had a very nice flavor, but the excess moisture in the honey compromised the structure too much and the cake partially collapsed, leaving a gummy layer along the bottom and top of the cake. We humans are programmed to like sweet. 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