Cake
You will be making two 9×2 inch round cakes using the same ingredients but combining those ingredients with different methods. The way the ingredients are combined impacts the amount of gluten formation and the quantity of air bubbles in the cake batter.
Materials
These materials will be used two times – once for each type of cake.
| Medium and Large mixing bowl | Oven (and oven thermometer, if available) |
| Liquid measuring cup | Hot gloves/oven mitts |
| Dry measuring cups | Parchment paper |
| Measuring spoons | Rubber scraper/spoonula |
| Electric Hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment | cooling rack |
| 9 x 2 inch round cake pan | |
| Wire mesh strainer or whisk | Ice |
| Bake-Even strip (also called a “cake strip” with metal binder clip (optional) | ruler and scissors |
Ingredients
These ingredients make one cake. You will need two batches of these ingredients for the two types of cake.
| 1 and ⅓ cups sugar | ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature (65˚F) |
| Non-stick cooking spray with flour | 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract |
| Parchment paper | ¼ lb (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temp (65˚F) |
| 1 ½ cups cake flour (a low protein flour) | 2 large eggs at room temperature (65˚F) |
| 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder | 3 large egg yolks at room temperature (65˚F) |
| ½ teaspoon salt | ⅓ cup vegetable oil |
| Digital thermometer | Wooden toothpick |
Instructions
When you see text in boldface blue font. You should document that step with a photo within the narrative on your blog.
Tall and Light Cake – Version 1
The sugar and butter are creamed together to incorporate air bubbles into the fat for maximum cake volume; remaining ingredients are added in turn, beating with each step to get maximum volume. Baking powder enlarges bubbles already present in the batter. Cake is tall, with a light, velvety texture from many evenly distributed air cells and a some gluten formation.
1. Place your large mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 20 minutes. Do this first, so you can set up everything else while waiting.
2. Ensure the butter, eggs and buttermilk are out at room temperature.
3. Place a rack in the lowest position in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. It is important that the oven temperature be constant.
4. Grease your cake pan by spraying it with the non-stick cooking spray with flour. Cut out a 9 inch circle of parchment paper so it fits in the bottom of the pan without wrinkles or extra paper coming up the sides, then lightly spray it with the non-stick cooking spray with flour.
Measuring:
5. Measure out the flour, baking powder and salt into your medium mixing bowl – sift through a wire mesh strainer or whisk to mix thoroughly. It is important to measure the flour correctly.
6. Measure out the room temperature buttermilk into a liquid measuring cup. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk.
7. Use a digital kitchen thermometer to check the temperature of the butter – it should be at or near 65˚F (slightly below room temperature). Then retrieve the mixing bowl and beaters from the freezer.
The need for room temperature butter is totally dependent on butter’s wide, low melting range. The butter has to be soft enough to beat, but not so warm it melts – this is a tricky temp to nail. Professional cooks and food scientists agree the optimum temp is 65F.
8. Cream the butter with the electric mixer on medium speed until light in color. With a stand mixer – this should take 3-4 minutes with the paddle attachment. With a hand-held electric mixer, this should take about 5-6 minutes – be sure to move the beaters around the bowl and periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spoonula. When the butter is light in color, add the sugar in a slow, steady stream with the mixer running. Continue beating the butter-sugar mixture for 5-6 minutes (move the beaters around the bowl and periodically scrape down the sides. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time, beating for 45 seconds after each addition. Continue to beat the mixture until it is light and airy looking (an additional 2-3 minutes)
Creaming the butter is the most important step for introducing volume – you are literally beating air into the solid fat. Since butter melts between 67-68˚F – the butter can start melting just from the heat of the beating for a long time. We have tried to minimize this by chilling the bowl and beaters, but you should also periodically check the temperature of the creamed butter with your thermometer. If the temp gets much above 68˚F, then briefly cool the bowl and butter by scraping the contents to the bottom and placing the bowl in an ice-water bath – once cooled to 65˚F, resume creaming. This problem could, of course, be completely avoided by using vegetable shortening….but that doesn’t taste quite as good.
9. Remove the electric mixer, and gently stir in the oil using a wide rubber spatula or spoonula.
10. Fold (see description of folding below) in half the sifted flour mixture using a rubber spatula/spoonula. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then fold in half of the buttermilk-vanilla mixture. Fold in the remaining sifted flour mixture and scrape down, then the remaining buttermilk-vanilla mixture.
“Folding” is the process of blending a light ingredient, such as creamed butter or beaten egg whites, into a heavier ingredient by lifting from underneath with a spatula or spoon. The goal is to avoid deflating the lighter ingredient and maintain the airy texture. Start by mixing a small amount of the lighter ingredient into the heavier ingredient to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the lighter ingredient by using a rubber spoonula/spatula and starting at one side of the bowl, moving downward and then across the bottom to the opposite side, enabling the ingredients on top to be brought down into and replacing the ingredients on the bottom. The bowl is then rotated a quarter turn and the motion is repeated. It is important not to completely blend the ingredients together or the lighter ingredient will lose volume. Here is a brief video on the folding technique
11. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. The pan should be 1/2 full – no more – do not overfill. (If you have extra batter, make cupcakes or something.) Smooth the batter with the rubber spatual/spoonula, leaving the edges a breadth higher than the center.
12. (optional) Get a Bake-Even strip and wet it. Then wring out the string until damp. Wrap it around the outside of the cake pan and secure with a small, metal binder clip just before putting it in the oven. As the water evaporates from the strip in the hot oven, it will cool the sides of the pan – this will keep the edges of the cake from cooking faster than the center.
13. Bake until a toothpick inserted 1-inch deep into the center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. The sides should just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan when you place the cake on the rack to cool. You can proceed directly to making the second version of the cake – instructions below.
14. Let the cake cool on the cooling rack for 10-20 minutes. Tap the sides of the pan on the counter to loosen the cake. Spray a second rack lightly with non-stick cooking spray and invert the cake onto it. Peel off the parchment liner, then replace the liner on the cake with the sticky side up/out. Invert the cake back onto the original cooling rack so the cake is now right side up. Cool completely.
15. When cool, measure the height of your cake with a ruler.
Moist and Tender Cake – Version 2
In this preparation method, flour and other dry ingredients are blended with all of the fat before the eggs and other liquid ingredients are added. This coats the starch granules in the flour with fat (and therefore limits access of water to the glutenin and gliadin – since water and fat do not mix) and limits gluten formation for a very tender cake.
1. Ensure the butter, eggs and buttermilk are out at room temperature.
2. Place a rack in the lowest position in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. It is important that the temperature be constant.
3. Grease your cake pan by spraying it with the non-stick cooking spray with flour. Cut out a 9 inch circle of parchment paper and place it in the bottom of the pan, then lightly spray it with the non-stick cooking spray with flour. The circle of parchment must lay flat in the bottom of the pan – no wrinkling or curling against the edge.
Making the batter:
4. Stir the eggs, yolks, 6 tablespoons of the buttermilk and the vanilla together in a medium bowl to break up the yolks, then pour into a liquid measuring cup.
5. Measure out the flour (it is important to measure the flour correctly – see video above), sugar, baking powder and salt into your large mixing bowl and mix with the electric/stand mixer for 30 seconds on the lowest speed.
6. Ensure the butter is softened (65-70˚F), then add the butter, the oil and 2 Tbsp of the buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed to moisten the dry ingredients, then increase to medium speed and beat for 3-4 minutes (if you are using a hand mixer – move the beaters around the bowl and periodically scrape down the sides with a rubber spoonula/spatula.
7. Add a third of the egg-buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and beat for 30 seconds (scraping down the sides of the bowl). Repeat until all the egg-buttermilk mixture is added (scraping with each addition).
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan until it is 1/2 full – no more. Do not overfill. (If you have extra batter, make cupcakes or something). Spread the batter with the back of your rubber spatula/spoonula so the edges are just a little higher than the center
9. (Optional) Get a Bake-Even strip and wet it. Then wring out the string until damp. Wrap it around the outside of the cake pan and secure with a small, metal binder clip just before putting it in the oven. As the water evaporates from the strip in the hot oven, it will cool the sides of the pan – this will keep the edges of the cake from cooking faster than the center.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted 1 inch deep into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. The cake will not pull away from the sides of the pan until after it is out of the oven.
11. Let the cake cool on the cooling rack for 10 minutes. Tap the sides of the pan on the counter to loosen the cake. Spray a second rack lightly with non-stick cooking spray and invert the cake onto it. Peel off the parchment liner, and then replace the liner on the cake with the sticky side up/out. Invert the cake back onto the original cooling rack so the cake is now right side up. Cool completely.
12. Measure the height of your cake with a ruler.
Icing your cakes (optional)
When your cakes are completely cooled you can ice them. It is up to you. It is not required. You can make a quick “glaze” to simply pour over the cake, or make a more involved vanilla buttercream (chocolate is an option too). Since these are single cakes – you will have to ice them separately, so we can compare them.
Slicing your cakes
Check out this video on the scientific way to slice your cake…
On Your Blog:
- Integrate your photos (taken above) with a typed narrative about your process.
- Take final photos
- Show the two cake versions side by side, photographed from the same angle so the image accurately depicts the relative heights. Label the cakes by type and height (please use centimeters).
- Slice each completely cooled cake and lay out the slices next to each other. Label by type and take a photo of the two slices, then take a closeup photo so you are able to see the texture of the interior – particularly the coarseness of the crumb.
- Post a brief (< 3 min) video in which…(think through and plan out your video and what you are going to say)
- You explain your taste test of the two cake types – describe the following
- The crumb – is it coarse or fine (velvety).
- The weight – it is light and airy or more dense.
- The height – is one cake taller than the other
- Describe what went really well during your cake making
- What would you change if you repeated this process again.
- You explain your taste test of the two cake types – describe the following
- Answer questions
- How are your observations about crumb, weight and height consistent with the method used for each cake version
- Consider gluten formation – which cake had more gluten?
- Consider the fat aeration – which cake was full of more air pockets
- What made these cakes rise/puff up in the oven?
- How are your observations about crumb, weight and height consistent with the method used for each cake version
References
http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/04/28/cake-mixing-methods/ (Methods 2 and 4 are what we are doing)
https://pastrychefonline.com/2009/01/06/the-two-stage-mixing-method/#