Baking time and temperature: cherry and pineapple cake

[LMHmedchem]

Hello,

I have a cake that I really like the flavor of. The recipe is below. I have been baking this in a 9" bunt pan, since I don't have a smaller one. The amount of batter I was using only filled the pan about half way up. This cake does not rise very much, I expect because of the almond flour and the fruit. I expanded the recipe from 3 to 4 eggs and increased the rest of the ingredients by 1/3 to fill the pan a bit more completely. This has messed up the cooking time. I baked it for 35 minutes at 350F. The cake was not hissing and a toothpick came out clean (or so I thought). The color looked right so I took it out and let it cool for 10 minutes. The cake came out of the pan easily and looked perfect. The center of the cake was raw batter. I managed to rescue it by putting it back in at 305F for about 15 minutes. It actually was very tasty but a bit dry on the outside.

I need to adjust the baking time. I could just cook it for longer, but since the outside color was perfect I am afraid that I will just dry out the outer half of the cake. It seems I should reduce the temperature as well to get an even bake but that leaves me out of my depth.

I have had success with larger cakes by starting at a higher temperature like 370F-380F to inflate the cake as much as possible. Then I turn down the temp to get it cooked through. Working on that would be trial and error with an expensive mix.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

LMHmedchem

The recipe below is the 4 egg version that I had trouble with.

Cherry and Pineapple Cake with Chocolate Chips

cake:
150   grams   red glace cherries (cut into quarters, rinsed and dried)
150   grams   candied pineapple chunks (cut in 2-4 pieces, rinsed and dried)
50    grams   semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
165   grams   all-purpose flour
135   grams   cake flour
66    grams   almond flour
3½    tsp     baking powder
233   grams   unsalted butter (softened)
233   grams   caster sugar
190   grams   beaten whole eggs (at room temperature)
1½    tbl     light cream
1/2   tsp     salt
3/4   tsp     vanilla extract
3/4   tsp     almond extract
2     tbl     lemon zest (finely grated, about 2 lemons)
4     tbl     milk

topping:
175   grams   icing sugar
1-2   tbl     lemon juice
5     tsp     maraschino cherry syrup
15    grams   flaked almonds (toasted)
4             maraschino cherries (cut into 8ths)

Lightly butter a 9-inch bunt pan and spray with cooking spray. Cut the glace cherries
into quarters. Cut each pineapple chunk into 2-4 pieces. Rinse the cherries and pineapple
in a sieve under warm water. Drain and dry thoroughly on paper towel. Toss the cherries
and pineapple in one tablespoon of the all-purpose flour and set aside. Place the rest of
the all-purpose flour, cake flour, almond flour, and baking powder in a large bowl and
mix thoroughly. Sift the mixture so that the ingredients are as completely mixed as possible.
Crack 4 eggs into a 2-cup measuring cup and beat well. Weigh out 190 grams of the beaten
eggs and add 1½ tbl of cream. Beat the mixture again until it has an even color and
consistency. Keep the egg and cream mixture at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream on high speed with a
paddle attachment for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and continue creaming until the
mixture is light and fluffy (about 4 minutes total). Scrape down the sides of the bowl two
more times while creaming.

Add the salt and 4 tbl of the flour mixture. Switch to a whisk attachment and turn the mixer
on high. Add the egg mixture a little at a time and whisk until each addition is incorporated.
When half of the egg has been added, stop and scrape down the bowl. Continue until all
of the egg has been incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and add the almond extract,
vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Whisk on high for 1 minute to put as much air into the
batter as possible.

Add 1 tbl of milk to the batter. Sift and fold in the flour mixture in three additions, adding
an additional tbl of milk with each addition. Make sure all of the flour has been completely
incorporated so there are no pockets of flour. Fold in the cherries, pineapple, and chocolate
chips trying to get them as evenly distributed within the batter as possible. The resulting
mixture should have a dropping consistency. Add a little more milk if necessary. Do not over mix.

Immediately place the batter into the prepared pan and level. Bake in the preheated oven
for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden-brown. When it is baked, the cake will give off
a faint intermediate hissing sound instead of a continuous hissing sound. Leave to cool in
the pan for 15 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, juice one of the lemons that was used for the zest and remove the seeds. Mix
the icing sugar with the maraschino cherry syrup and 1 tbl of the lemon juice. Mix until all
the liquid is incorporated and the icing forms a thick paste.  Add more lemon juice a little
at a time until the icing is a dropping consistency. Spread over the cooled cake using the
back of a spoon and then sprinkle on the toasted almonds and maraschino cherries.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hello,

I have a cake that I really like the flavor of. The recipe is below. I have been baking this in a 9" bunt pan, since I don't have a smaller one. The amount of batter I was using only filled the pan about half way up. This cake does not rise very much, I expect because of the almond flour and the fruit. I expanded the recipe from 3 to 4 eggs and increased the rest of the ingredients by 1/3 to fill the pan a bit more completely. This has messed up the cooking time. I baked it for 35 minutes at 350F. The cake was not hissing and a toothpick came out clean (or so I thought). The color looked right so I took it out and let it cool for 10 minutes. The cake came out of the pan easily and looked perfect. The center of the cake was raw batter. I managed to rescue it by putting it back in at 305F for about 15 minutes. It actually was very tasty but a bit dry on the outside.

I need to adjust the baking time. I could just cook it for longer, but since the outside color was perfect I am afraid that I will just dry out the outer half of the cake. It seems I should reduce the temperature as well to get an even bake but that leaves me out of my depth.

I have had success with larger cakes by starting at a higher temperature like 370F-380F to inflate the cake as much as possible. Then I turn down the temp to get it cooked through. Working on that would be trial and error with an expensive mix.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

LMHmedchem

The recipe below is the 4 egg version that I had trouble with.

Cherry and Pineapple Cake with Chocolate Chips

cake:
150   grams   red glace cherries (cut into quarters, rinsed and dried)
150   grams   candied pineapple chunks (cut in 2-4 pieces, rinsed and dried)
50    grams   semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
165   grams   all-purpose flour
135   grams   cake flour
66    grams   almond flour
3½    tsp     baking powder
233   grams   unsalted butter (softened)
233   grams   caster sugar
190   grams   beaten whole eggs (at room temperature)
1½    tbl     light cream
1/2   tsp     salt
3/4   tsp     vanilla extract
3/4   tsp     almond extract
2     tbl     lemon zest (finely grated, about 2 lemons)
4     tbl     milk

topping:
175   grams   icing sugar
1-2   tbl     lemon juice
5     tsp     maraschino cherry syrup
15    grams   flaked almonds (toasted)
4             maraschino cherries (cut into 8ths)

Lightly butter a 9-inch bunt pan and spray with cooking spray. Cut the glace cherries
into quarters. Cut each pineapple chunk into 2-4 pieces. Rinse the cherries and pineapple
in a sieve under warm water. Drain and dry thoroughly on paper towel. Toss the cherries
and pineapple in one tablespoon of the all-purpose flour and set aside. Place the rest of
the all-purpose flour, cake flour, almond flour, and baking powder in a large bowl and
mix thoroughly. Sift the mixture so that the ingredients are as completely mixed as possible.
Crack 4 eggs into a 2-cup measuring cup and beat well. Weigh out 190 grams of the beaten
eggs and add 1½ tbl of cream. Beat the mixture again until it has an even color and
consistency. Keep the egg and cream mixture at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream on high speed with a
paddle attachment for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and continue creaming until the
mixture is light and fluffy (about 4 minutes total). Scrape down the sides of the bowl two
more times while creaming.

Add the salt and 4 tbl of the flour mixture. Switch to a whisk attachment and turn the mixer
on high. Add the egg mixture a little at a time and whisk until each addition is incorporated.
When half of the egg has been added, stop and scrape down the bowl. Continue until all
of the egg has been incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and add the almond extract,
vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Whisk on high for 1 minute to put as much air into the
batter as possible.

Add 1 tbl of milk to the batter. Sift and fold in the flour mixture in three additions, adding
an additional tbl of milk with each addition. Make sure all of the flour has been completely
incorporated so there are no pockets of flour. Fold in the cherries, pineapple, and chocolate
chips trying to get them as evenly distributed within the batter as possible. The resulting
mixture should have a dropping consistency. Add a little more milk if necessary. Do not over mix.

Immediately place the batter into the prepared pan and level. Bake in the preheated oven
for 30-35 minutes until well risen and golden-brown. When it is baked, the cake will give off
a faint intermediate hissing sound instead of a continuous hissing sound. Leave to cool in
the pan for 15 minutes then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

For the icing, juice one of the lemons that was used for the zest and remove the seeds. Mix
the icing sugar with the maraschino cherry syrup and 1 tbl of the lemon juice. Mix until all
the liquid is incorporated and the icing forms a thick paste.  Add more lemon juice a little
at a time until the icing is a dropping consistency. Spread over the cooled cake using the
back of a spoon and then sprinkle on the toasted almonds and maraschino cherries.

Recipes are developed by baker’s percentages. Baker’s percentages is a mathematical relationship of all the ingredients expressed as ratios against the flour. So you cannot arbitrarily add an egg to increase the volume of batter because the formula is base on the flour, not the egg.


The flour is always 1.00 or 100% in the formula. All other ingredients must be weighed against the flour. The ratio of any one ingredient may be equal or more than the flour, but is must be relationship to the flour. For example, in a chocolate chip cookie, the sugars are typically 50% granulated sugar and 50% brown sugar, for a total 100% sugar. Using baker’s percentages you can scale a recipe to any quantity without compromising the quality since the ratio of ingredients remains the same.


When you change cake pan sizes for a single cake, you can adjust the amounts of each ingredient using a multiplier. Post the original recipe in metric weight and tell me the original pan size for that recipe. and I will show you how to scale the recipe using a multiplier. That will at least keep your ratios intact.

I would definitely lower the baking temperature to 325°F. When baking in a deep pan like a bundt pan, 350°F is too hot. Especially if the pan is dark metal, has a non-stick coating, or is anodized aluminum as these pans conduct heat more intensely. Batter in contact with the metal will bake, set, and brown before the center bakes. The volume of batter in the deep bundt pan only requires twice the baking time as a layer cake. This recipe also has a lot of add-ins which slows the bake time. So a lower temperature of 325°F helps prevent the cake from over baking on the outside before the center is baked. For now probably the best way to check for doneness on this cake is by temperature. When you bake it a few times, then you can forgo the temperature check.

Butter cakes (includes pound cake) center of cake internal temperature of 200°F - 205°F is done.

Foam, angel food, sponge cakes: 205°F - 210°F is done.

Water boils at 212°F. Never allow a cake to go over 212°F as the amount of loss hydration due to evaporation will result.