My First Cake

My first cake that I made up using formulas and percentages, that is.

I finally bought BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes, which is a Must Have for geeky cooks that want to make up their own recipes.

There are a few bakers formulas and percentages that I used, and all of these are by weight.

Sugar=Flour
Eggs => Fat
Liquid+eggs = Sugar
Fat = 50% of Flour

I pretty much exclusively use King Arthur unbleached all purpose flour, which is a high protein flour. Adding cornstarch to all purpose flour creates something that is more like cake flour, which is why this step is there.

I am still unsure on the whole leavening thing. The Cake Bible, as also quoted in Bakewise, suggests 1 1/2 tsp baking powder for 6-8 inch cakes. There is also suggestions of 1 to 1 1/4th tsp baking powder per cup of flour. Also, in Bakewise, Shirley Corriher suggests keeping batters slightly acidic to help proteins set faster. This batter may be too acidic due to the buttermilk, as it did not brown that much on top. It domed pretty high, so perhaps too much baking powder? So confused!

My kitchen HATES the creaming method, because as I started making the cake (before preheating the oven), it was 85 degrees in my kitchen. Standing here, above the oven, it is now 98 degrees. So, any method that requires keeping butter in a solid state is pretty much not available to me during the summer. I used the “dissolved sugar” method, which is supposed to create a denser cake, but still moist.

Yes, this calls for an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract. Since I am not using butter, vanilla is the main flavoring of the cake. I noticed while looking at the recipe for Sweet Revenge’s Pure Cupcake, that she uses 3 tablespoons of Mexican vanilla! So, I have since felt more confident about using more extract.

Amanda’s First Cake
(Created with guidance from BakeWise)

6 oz all purpose flour
1 oz cornstarch*
7 oz sugar
3.5 oz canola oil
3.5 oz eggs (2 eggs)
3.5 oz buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp baking soda**
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract.

(In a totally unrelated story, as I was converting halving and converting Billy’s Bakery Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake recipe to weight, the proportions are almost Exactly the same :)

In a small bowl, combine eggs, 3 tbsp of buttermilk, and 1 tbsp of vanilla extract. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, combined flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and blend for 30 seconds. Add oil and remaining buttermilk. mix on low for 30 seconds, then medium for 1.5 minutes. Scrape the sides. Add 1/3rd of the egg mixture, mix for 20 seconds, scrape sides. Repeat twice until all the egg mixture is in the bowl.

Bake. I used a 6×3 pan. My cake domed quite a bit, and the edges were done before the middle was, so perhaps next time I might use another pan, like an 8×2.

The cake was dry. It tasted fine, just was a bit dry. Most likely it was overbaked, as the middle took ForEvEr to cook in the middle. I will perhaps try it again in a smaller pan.

2 Comments »

  1. I love cooking, but if I’m honest, I like eating more LOL

  2. chi3nming said

    haha looks tasty but nbeed to try to knw xD good luck on baking xD my mom also loves baking

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