Real Baking with Rose Discussion Forums

Recipe Request

2012-02-03T14:29:04-05:00

I�m putting forth a request for an artisan-baked whole-grain flatbread cracker recipe: very thin, crisp and crunchy cracker the size of a Graham.

Problems with Red Velvet Cake

2012-02-09T12:58:00-05:00

I have been baking Red Velvet Cake since 1969. Recently, we got a new “state-of-the-art” oven. The first thing I tried to cook was my Red Velvet Cake. They cooked around the outer edge, but were gooey and sticky in the middle. The whole cake rose in the process of cooking, but at a point, the center fell. I was watching through the door; I did not open the oven. We had service people check the oven and basically they told us that nothing was wrong with the oven; the problem is with the cook or the recipe according to them. I can go to a friends house and bake this cake using the same recipe and it turns out fine, but it will not give me satisfactory results in this “state-of-the-art” oven. The oven has convection and thermal but I get the same results no matter which selection I make. Does anyone have any suggestions or options that I might try? I’m desperate and willing to try most anything.

Cake Flour Confusion in the UK

2008-07-22T06:51:22-05:00

Hi Cake Bakers

I am here in the UK and have got my copy of The Cake Bible from Amazon UK, although I believe it is the American edition. The recipes and photographs are amazing and I can’t wait to get started!

My dilemma as you can probably guess concerns ‘cake flour’ a quick search reveals many workarounds for the UK baker - microwaving flour/subtracting flour and replacing it with cornflour, or just using Self Raising minus any baking powder.

Is there a definitive answer to this problem? I hope someone could please advise.

Many thanks in advance.

Jane

Refrigerator Banana Cake Substitution

2012-01-31T10:58:43-05:00

I am thinking of baking a low cholesterol version of the refrigerator banana cake in RHC. In some of Rose’s other recipes, she allows 2 eggs to be replaced with 3 egg whites. Would that substitution work in this recipe? Can this recipe be baked in a 9 x 5 loaf pan?

A few days ago I baked Rose’s Pumpkin Walnut Ring substituting the whole eggs for 3 egg whites. I drizzled a soy ganache on top. At first bite I hated it. It was like biting into a pillow-way too soft. But the next day it was more dense and the day after that it was delicious. Rose does mention that cake benefits from sitting a day or two. I would have baked that cake again today but I need to buy more pumpkin.

I do have bananas though.

How do you bake a simple fool proof whole wheat bread?

2012-01-26T18:45:32-05:00

I have been trying to find out how to bake a simple fool proof whole wheat bread, I searched on Google and Yahoo, but so far haven’t found anything that looks like it would work. What I would love to know is how to keep the loaf light and not heavy like a brick. Perhaps this is taught in cooking school or learned with time and experience, but so far, I haven�t been able to bake up anything with whole wheat that is light and airy. If anyone has any tips or recipes that I could download I would love to hear from you. Also if you know of any youtube sites where I could see it demonstrated, that would be great. Thanks.

How to use an oven

2012-02-08T02:24:37-05:00

The standard oven these days come with bottom heat, top heat and a fan at the back of the oven. Problem is, the oven manual seems like it’s written by people who don’t bake much. How do I know when to use bottom heat only or top heat only or both heat w/o fan?

Is my oven too hot?

2012-02-04T12:04:51-05:00

I am thinking my oven is too hot…

I have a thermometer that I use in the oven to check my temperature and always have to turn up the heat higher than what the reading on the digital is. But, my cakes seem to take a bit longer to cook in the middle than the higher end of the stated time and sometimes the cake starts to just pull away from the sides even before I can pull it out (as the middle is barely cooked). Also, the cakes (esp. chocolate) seem a little dry. I use Rose’s cake strips. Is the thermometer just off and I should buy a new one? I am baking tonight, would it be OK to just go by the digital temp. even if it is 25 degrees cooler?

Thanks for your help,
Allie

Cake pan conversions

2012-02-06T23:12:57-05:00

I have recently got into serious baking and decorating and have gone into a shopping blitz for stuff like cake/cupcake pans, turntable, piping sets, fondant/gumpaste sets etc etc and for the moment I don’t have the budget to buy more stuff. I want to try out so many layer cake recipes but most of them call for 9*2 or 9*1 1/2 inch pans (including most of Rose’s recipes). The problem is I only have 2 8*3 inch pans for layer cakes. If I choose to bake cakes which call for 9 inch pans in my 8 inch pans, will my results be different ? How much longer should the baking time be and how should I estimate the finished height of my cakes ? BTW, I bought the 8*3 inch pans because I think that tall cakes look better but now I’m concerned about the texture since I find that most recipes call for 9 inch pans.
I have heard that TCB mentions something about using the exact pan sizes. I have recently ordered TCB but am yet to receive it. In the meantime, I want to try out a couple of cakes. Please help me as I want my results to be perfect.
I also have concerns about my oven tempeature. I use an oven thermometer but I remember having read that Rose says they are not very accurate (in my library copy of TCB) and the All Occasion Downy Yellow Cake is a very good indicator of oven temperature, but since my pan sizes vary I can’t use it to judge the accurateness of my oven. Please suggest some other way.

My Cakes Simply Will Not Rise

2012-02-05T11:46:08-05:00

Hi, all!

I am at a loss and am looking for ideas. Here’s the deal: My Cakes Simply Will Not Rise. It all began, I’d say, in September.

To wit:

In September, I made Rose’s German Chocolate Cake (cake part), and it didn’t rise much. I was going to make a single-layer torte cake, but it was too flat for that, so I ended up having to make a second one and making a layer cake.

In October, I made the Baked guys’ maple cake, and they were flat as pancakes. I saw many blog posts on this cake, and it rises.

In November, I made the Pound Cakes (vanilla and chocolate) and the Chestnut Cake, all as mini loaves, and they might have risen—I can’t say the sides were much higher than the 2/3 I filled the pan, though—but they domed well and looked good.

In February, I made the Bobby Flay Coconut cake—it was supposed to be two 9x2” layers that you cut horizontally for 4 layers, but mine were only about 3/4”, so I had to mkae two more non-rising layers. My friend makes this cake often, and it rises for her.

Recently, I made a batch of cookies (uses only baking soda), and THEY didn’t rise—they had rounded, not flat, edges, but the cookies themselves were, on the whole, flat. LIke 1/4” rather than 1/2” tall.

My baking powder is always fresh—I never kep “backups” of it (as I do most things).

My mixer is a Cuisinart hand mixer, and I always mix on high and for the longer mixing times specified in RHC for hand mixers. I’ve tried seeing if using the wisk attachment for would help, but it didn’t.

My oven might be a touch cool, so sometimes I up it by 5 degrees, but teh cakes are always done in the proper time frame.

I have, before this bizarreness, made cakes in this oven with this mixer and they rose perfectly.

Does anyone have any clues that can help solve this mystery???? I am hoping a new can of baking powder might (even though it doesn’t take into consideration the cookies) fix things—maybe the old can was just bad, but I thought I’d cast out a net, just in case.

Thanks!

—ak

Red Velvet Colour

2011-10-07T20:07:38-05:00

I have made the Rose Red Velvet Cake so many times but I cannot get it to be red. I have managed a very light barely noticable red-orange but never the traditional red. I have tried both the red food colouring from a bottle and mixing my wilton no taste red with water and I still can’t get it red. Any suggestions?