I just want to ask anyone to clarify/educate me more on this statement I read on Joe Pastry Blog, about The One Bowl (a.k.a. “Quick” a.k.a. “Blending”) Method.

He says “So if the one bowl method gives you a result that’s that wonderful, why doesn’t everybody use it for cake? Well because one bowl cakes are a little dense for some people. Also, one bowl layers, being as tender as they are, are terrible for stacking. Oh you can make a layer cake out of them, but even with wooden supports, one-bowl method cake layers start to collapse under their own weight after three stories or so. So the next time you’re at a wedding, look closely at the cake. Is it tall and sculpted? Then the layers are probably creaming-method layers: sweet and light but probably also rather tough. If the cake is wide and low, the layers were probably made via the one-bowl method. You’re in for a richer, more silky experience.”

Thanks for your explanation.

Regards

Wale

The density is easy to explain…creaming mixes lots of air into the butter.  Baking powder or baking soda generates carbon dioxide which flows into these air bubbles and causes these to expand (they can’t create their own bubbles).  The fewer air bubbles, the fewer places the carbon dioxide has to go, hence less rise.

As for the tenderness, well, I’m not even sure that it’s necessarily true. The tenderness should be mainly determined by how much you mix the batter, because the more you mix, the greater the gluten development of the flour and the stronger the cake structure. Overly tender cakes can be rectified by more mixing.