Cake Enhancers

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does anyone know what kind of enhancers I should get at modernist pantry for baking cakes

1. Do you know exactly what an “enhancer” is?

2. What exactly you are going to achieve by adding an “enhancer” to your cake batter?

3. Emulsifiers are regulated by the FDA; name the emulsifier used in cake and the legal amount that is allowed in a cake mix by law.

If you cannot answer these questions, then you are not trained and qualified to use “enhancers” in a cake mix.
 
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I read somewhere it helps
in cakes for moisture retention and shelf-life extension


even so-called professionals don’t know what to do with them. The link below is a blog post from Rose Levy Beranbaum, an James Beard award winner who wrote 10 cookbooks, including the Cake Bible. By all accounts she’s a “cake expert.”

First take a look at her cakes. They are both over baked, lumpy and covered in splotches. The dark splotches are an indication the batter was not properly emulsified, fat is not dispersed, and/or sugar not dissolved. Also, the leavening may not be properly dispersed.

The cakes are so poorly baked, no cake enhancer will improve the quality of her cakes. The only place those cakes are fit for is the trashcan.

But she added cake enhancer to one of the cakes. So in addition to the lumpy, splotchy, over baked cake, she further ruin the cake by causing it to dome and crack. And according to her article, the cake was flavorless, and slightly dry.


If you are not operating a commercial bakery, and you were not baking at least a dozen or more cakes per day, you do not need additives. As you can see from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s blog, even those who write award winning cookbooks on cake don’t necessarily bake a good cake. So it’s important to learn the fundamentals of baking to learn to bake a cake.

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Thank you , you are so informative. really do appreciate your knowledge

My chiffon cake recipe is on this blog. And I think I’ve put up a butter cake recipe. I know I’ve put up meringue butter cream recipes. Absolutely nothing compares to perfecting your skills. And in the end, there’s nothing more rewarding than self accomplishment. I have some of those products. But also have the training to use them. But do I use them? No. I don’t need to use them.
 
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Can you post the inks for the chiffon, butter cake and meringue butter cream recipes... I searched but can't seem to find them... I see some post about them but not for the recipes. Thank You.
 
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And here’s Norcal’s buttercream merengue

 
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Can you post the inks for the chiffon, butter cake and meringue butter cream recipes... I searched but can't seem to find them... I see some post about them but not for the recipes. Thank You.

Yes, I can pull cake and buttercream recipes together and post them here. But I cannot get to it until next week. I have three major zoom things on the calendar this week. Two of which required I gather a list of documents, none of which I have even started to gather. :oops:
 
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Hey @Norcalbaker59,

I’ve posted the links to your chiffon cake and meringue butter cream for Stella. Will post the butter cake when I can find it. Take care! Good luck with the work
 
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Thank you ShuBunny for the help... waiting now for the butter cake.. Is the cake a pound cake or a yellow cake..?... and Thank you Norcalbaker59 you should write a book...your unbelievable
 
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heh... I can't find norcal's butter cake percentages...

@Cahoot do you remember getting Norcal's butter cake percentage?

Not sure where Stella is from, this is the closest i found...

 
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Ah! @stella11366 , you might have to wait for norcal to reply!!

cos the pound cake recipe "Lemon Pound Cake, Anna Olson" was for Canada. using canadian flour. will be different from US flour.
 
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I don't know if Norcalbaker has ever posted any recipes for butter cakes on these forums, but she did send me a couple of recipes over email. I don't want to post the exact same ones without her permission but both those recipes were actually based off of well-known recipes, and so the originals can be found online.

Bouchon Bakery's chocolate cake, from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook: this is baked in a half-sheet pan, and very helpfully the author also gives the finished height so you can adjust the amount of batter accordingly to how thick you want the cake to be.

It says adapted from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, but I don't know what the exact changes are. Looking at other recipes online though, it appears the author simply doubled the original recipe for twice the thickness and replaced a small portion of the eggs with egg yolks.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's White Velvet Cake, from The Cake Bible: Rose Levy Beranbaum is perhaps the most well-known cake cookbook author in the world, and her white velvet cake is just what she calls her white cake and is one of her most popular recipes. She's known for using the two-stage mixing method for cakes instead of creaming.

I've actually made this one before and it is indeed quite tender, not super fluffy since the batter isn't creamed but it's not dense either. I actually made it with another white cake made using the creaming method to compare, and interestingly enough RLB's cake was somehow definitely more tender but also fluffier (rose more in proportion to how much batter was in the pans). The cake from Sally's Baking Addiction, despite using sour cream and having a higher proportion of liquids if you look at the baker's %, was not noticeably more moist either. I'm not sure if it was even down to baker's error since I actually baked the white cake from Sally's Baking Addiction less - it had a much more sticky crust after wrapped in plastic and frozen (which I did for both cakes).
 
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I don't know if Norcalbaker has ever posted any recipes for butter cakes on these forums, but she did send me a couple of recipes over email. I don't want to post the exact same ones without her permission but both those recipes were actually based off of well-known recipes, and so the originals can be found online.

Bouchon Bakery's chocolate cake, from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook: this is baked in a half-sheet pan, and very helpfully the author also gives the finished height so you can adjust the amount of batter accordingly to how thick you want the cake to be.

It says adapted from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, but I don't know what the exact changes are. Looking at other recipes online though, it appears the author simply doubled the original recipe for twice the thickness and replaced a small portion of the eggs with egg yolks.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's White Velvet Cake, from The Cake Bible: Rose Levy Beranbaum is perhaps the most well-known cake cookbook author in the world, and her white velvet cake is just what she calls her white cake and is one of her most popular recipes. She's known for using the two-stage mixing method for cakes instead of creaming.

I've actually made this one before and it is indeed quite tender, not super fluffy since the batter isn't creamed but it's not dense either. I actually made it with another white cake made using the creaming method to compare, and interestingly enough RLB's cake was somehow definitely more tender but also fluffier (rose more in proportion to how much batter was in the pans). The cake from Sally's Baking Addiction, despite using sour cream and having a higher proportion of liquids if you look at the baker's %, was not noticeably more moist either. I'm not sure if it was even down to baker's error since I actually baked the white cake from Sally's Baking Addiction less - it had a much more sticky crust after wrapped in plastic and frozen (which I did for both cakes).
Cahoot ,Between you and Norcalbaker59 you really know your baking... I don't know the chemistry of it all.. I just know what tastes good. But I do appreciate all the info you give.. makes me use my brain..lol

I have The CakeBible book...I'm looking for a good vanilla or yellow cake recipe that's not fluffy and dry
 

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