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Anyone know what's wrong with this cake recipe? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 9,286
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Anyone know what's wrong with this cake recipe?
It's Ade Edmondson's Dorset Apple Cake.
I made it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it collapsed in the middle. Now, I don't bake a great deal, but I have never had a collapsed cake before, so I am fairly confident I didn't over-beat. My oven is slightly under-hot - I tend to add at least 10-15 minutes to the cooking time of a cake - so I don't think it rose too quickly. I came to conclusion I had either a) opened the oven too soon, or b) the amount of baking powder in the recipe is overstated. Anyway, collapsed or not it still tasted pretty damn nice, so I decided to make it again tonight with only 1 tsp of baking powder. But I have just been to the oven for the first check to see how it is looking (after 45 minutes of cooking) and the damn thing has only gone and collapsed again. I'm beginning to think that maybe there shouldn't be any baking powder in the recipe at all (Ade's flat top cake may suggest that?), but would like an opinion from the more experienced cake makers among us. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Feb 2010
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Personally I never use baking powder with S R Flour, so maybe that was the fault or you inadvertently put 2 tbspn instead of 2 tspn
![]() But maybe the baking powder was in there because of the apple is heavy to help give the cake the extra lift? |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
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I agree with c00kiemonster72
the only other thing i'd say is mix all the ingredients apart from the flour (and baking powder) first (don't put the apple in last), and don't mess about when the flour does go in. As soon as the flour hits the wet ingredients it starts working Doesn't help though if your cake rises properly and the falls though. Maybe too much apple (too wet?). it is a lot of apple. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The Sunny Side Of The Street
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Too wet I would think. Plus the heating issue doesn't help either.
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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Thanks everyone. I never thought of the mixture being too wet, but when the apple went in the lemon juice got tossed in too. Next time I will strain the apple and lemon mixture first.
cookie, I used teaspoons both time. The first time, I used your everyday teaspoon from the cutlery drawer. The second time I got out a proper measuring spoon. As I was halving the amount of powder anyway, that probably makes no difference. I don't think it is that unusual to add baking powder to cake mixtures using self-raising, but I did come to the same conclusion as you about this mix. Because of the baking powder, it doesn't have the density you would normally associate with an apple cake, the sponge is extremely light and fluffy, even after it collapses. That's what I like about it and if there is no baking powder at all, it wouldn't be the same bugloss, the apple is spread evenly throughout the cake, no falling to the bottom (unlike the cake in the pic), so I am not sure I want to mess about with when the apple goes in? However, I will try the 'less wet' methods and if that doesn't work I will take your advice and leave the flour mix to the absolute end. stud, do you think I should turn my oven up a gas mark to get the cake risen faster so it doesn't have time to collapse before being cooked through? . |
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#6 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: woking
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Apple cakes need the apple cut fairly small and they need to be well drained - very well drained or will do a lovely job of sabotaging your cake.
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#7 |
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Quote:
Apple cakes need the apple cut fairly small and they need to be well drained - very well drained or will do a lovely job of sabotaging your cake.
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#8 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
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the wetness is just the natural moisture from the apple, so a lot of apple = a wet mix. I'd leave out the lemon juice also. It's really just there to stop the apple from discolouring
with those kind of cakes, the fruit I use is usually part cooked before i start anyway, so it gets strained like molliepops says also |
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#9 |
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Quote:
the wetness is just the natural moisture from the apple, so a lot of apple = a wet mix. I'd leave out the lemon juice also. It's really just there to stop the apple from discolouring
with those kind of cakes, the fruit I use is usually part cooked before i start anyway, so it gets strained like molliepops says also Anyway, for those interested I found the same recipe on the C4 website, with comments! There were a few reports of sinkage (not total collapse), but no apparent reason for it (well perhaps with the exception of the person who thought 450g apple was the peeled and cored weight). Most agree this is the best apple cake ever and, despite my own problems, for taste alone I do recommend it to anyone who shares my love of apple/pear cakes. Incidentally, though I didn't mention it in my OP, the first time I baked this cake, the 2 bramleys that I had to hand weighed 350g unpeeled and that was plenty enough even for a cake as large as this one. At least I can tick off "used too much fruit" from my trouble-shooter (not that it was ever on it ).
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#10 |
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I always use dessert apples rather than bramleys as bramleys are far wetter - I always cook them a little first too.
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#11 |
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Quote:
I always use dessert apples rather than bramleys as bramleys are far wetter - I always cook them a little first too.
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#12 |
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Quote:
Dessert apples are fine in cooking if you need an apple to hold its shape (tarte tatin for example). Bramleys are fine otherwise. I can understand why you may want to cook out some natural juice, but if the recipe is correct, this shouldn't be necessary - and swapping for dessert apples when cooking apples are called for could make the dessert/cake over-sweet.
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#13 |
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I have made Mary Berry's Apple cake recipe hundreds of times and it never fails. She uses baking powder with SR flour, and the recipe is almost identical to the Dorset Apple Cake. You don't need to cook the apple first - just peel the Bramleys and slice them. You put half the cake batter in the bottom of a cake tin, arrange the apple slices on top, then dollop the rest of the cake batter over the apple, spreading it across.
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#14 |
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Apropo nothing at all that has to be one of my all time favourite words DOLLOP !
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#15 |
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Quote:
I have made Mary Berry's Apple cake recipe hundreds of times and it never fails. She uses baking powder with SR flour, and the recipe is almost identical to the Dorset Apple Cake. You don't need to cook the apple first - just peel the Bramleys and slice them. You put half the cake batter in the bottom of a cake tin, arrange the apple slices on top, then dollop the rest of the cake batter over the apple, spreading it across.
![]() Quote:
Apropo nothing at all that has to be one of my all time favourite words DOLLOP !
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#16 |
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Anyone know what's wrong with it?
Half of it is made out of butter and sugar for a start.
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#17 |
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Quote:
Half of it is made out of butter and sugar for a start.
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