scaling up cake recipe - 9" square cake - UP...

[JillD]

Hi
I am trying to bake a cake in a 9" square cake tin (as we speak, its in the oven).
I used a standard sponge cake recipe (6oz flour fat sugar and 3 oeggs) and doubloed it and tipped the whole lot in.

Its been in the oven (fan at 160) for about 45 minutes now. The top has domes and split (I dont care about that) revealing that the middle is still very liquidy.
The edges are done (and taste yummy).

It doesnt matter too much if it gets overdone round the edges/top/bottom as I have to sculpt it (into Lightning McQueen - as you do).

Do you think it will be ok or should I start over ?

What should I do differently with the quantities/temp to get a big square cake that cooks evenly ?

Thanks for any help
Jill

[JillD]

anyone ??
thx

[Penelope Penguin]

Hi, Jill! Don't know anything about fan ovens - I only use gas.

If it were my cake, I'd put some foil over it (or a thick tray on a shelf above it - my Rayburn has a shelf for just that purpose) turn the heat down a bit and let it cook longer. That way gives the inside a chance to cook. Don't think it'll be completely spoiled.

HTH, Penny. x

[JillD]

Thanks Penny, thats a good tip to know
Its out of the oven at the minute looking a bit black on top with a big hole in the middle! I really can't face doing it again so I am going to cut off the burnt bits, stuff some ok bits into the hole, then freeze it, and then sculpt it whilst half thawed.
Next time I'll try the foil trick for sure

Thanks
Jill

[Addiscomber]

I hate to be the one to say it, but i don't think that you have scaled the recipe up enough. for a nine inch square tin you would need sufficient for a 10 inch round tin, and a mix based on 6oz doesn't sound enough to me. I have a feeling that when I made a 10 inch round cake i either tripled or quadrupled my usual recipe. What you really need to do is work out the volume of each tin and divide the larger one by the smaller to get number to scale up by.

[JillD]

but surely if I had put even more cake mix in the tin it would have been even deeper and taken even longer to cook in the middle meanwhile the edges and top would have been even more burnt ?

[Addiscomber]

I wonder if a basic sponge mix actually works for this type of thing, or whether you should perhaps have used a slightly more solid cake type. Thinking about it I didn't use a sponge recipe.

[JillD]

I have no idea! I've scoured the internet for a square basic sponge cake recipe but to no avail

[Addiscomber]

So, you need a large cake that you can carve for a novelty cake, right?
I have loads, and I mean loads, of pages ripped out of magazines over the years and quite possibly have a suitable recipe but it is bedtime now so it would have to be tomorrow.

OMG - I have just googled "Lightning McQueen" and discovered that it is a car! rather you than me.

[JillD]

LOL yes you have hit the nail on the head. I googled "square cake recipe" and all I could find was loads of American sites which had a recipe something like this:
Ingredients
1 packet cake mix
1 egg
water

Instructions
Follow steps on packet

sorry but that is not a recipe LOL

Anything for a larger recipe would be brill thanks

[Addiscomber]

It seems that you should use a Madeira cake recipe. This makes sense as it is a cake rather than sponge, and will "carve" more cleanly than a sponge, which I reckon would end up as a pile of crumbs once you started wielding the knife

Madeira cake keeps well wrapped in foil or in a tin for 7-8 days, or you can freeze it. Cakes can be decorated a few days before a party (the instructions for the various cakes in the article are all decorated with fondant icing if that helps at all).

Work out how much mixture is required by using a measuring jug to fill the tin with water to the level that you want the cake to rise; for every ¾ pint (450ml) you will need a 1-egg, 2oz butter, 2oz sugar, etc mixture. If the tin has a loose bottom, line it with foil, then fill up with water and calculate quantities.

For an 8” round or 7” square tin you would need a 4 egg mix, and by my rough calculations you would need a 7 egg mix for a 9”, and possibly an 8 egg mix for increased depth, but of course that would depend on how deep your tin is.

For an 8” round or 7” square

8oz butter
8oz caster sugar
4 eggs, medium
½ level teaspoon vanilla essence
8oz self-raising flour
4oz plain flour

Line and grease the tin. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla essence. Sift the flours together, then fold into the creamed mixture to give a soft dropping consistency. If the mixture is too stiff, fold in 1-2 tablespoons water. Spoon into the tin. Level surface, then hollow out centre to a depth of about 1”. Bake above centre of oven , Gas mark 3, 325F, 160C, for 1½ - 1¾ hours. Smaller shallower cakes will take less time and larger ones a little more. Test by inserting a fine skewer into centre of cake – it should come out clean when the cake is done.

Presumably in your fan oven position won’t really matter, and you would use 150C.

Good luck, and please let me know how it turns out. A picture would be good if you are brave enough.

[dannahaz]

Hi Jill

Most basic sponge recipes are round, which doesn't matter as long as you know how to match cake tin sizes.

A 7 inch round tin is the same as a 6 inch square tin (and so on). So, for a 9" square tin, you need the quantities for a 10 inch round mixture. Now, that's pretty big - probably too big - for standard sponge recipes. These are usually for 7" round (6 square) or 8" round (7 inch square). Because of the way sponges cook, you can't just increase the quantities and hope for the best.

For your sized tin, you could make a fruit cake (which happily doubles, trebles, quadruples mix sizes), or a madeira cake.

For your 9 in square madeira you will need
250g Plain flour
250g self raising
450g unsalted softened butter or soft margarine
450g caster sugar
8 size 3 eggs (this is about 7 large eggs)
60ml milk (in place of water in previous posters recipe)
flavourings as required (vanilla essence, orange rind, lemon rind)

You can follow the instructions in the previous posters info.
Cooking time is 1.75 to 2 hours


Note that the tin should be quite deep.

If you want to make very quick and easy sponge cakes, like a delicious all in one sponge which is very quick to make, then it would be worth while investing in a pair of 7 inch round tins - for verstility, make sure its at least an inch deep.

Here's the recipe - you'll see why it might be worth the tin investment:
4oz SR flour, 1tsp baking powder, 4 oz soft margarine at room temp, 4 oz caster sugar, 2 large eggs, 2-3 drops vanilla essence or extract.

Put everything in a bowl, whisk withy an electric whisk for about a minute util everything is blended.

Pour mixture into buttered (and preferabley base lined) tins. Level off, bake at Has 3 (170C) for 30 mins. Leave in tin for a minute before turning out. When cold, sandwich together with your choice of filling.

[powershopper]

the reason your yummy cake is cracked on top and runny inside is because the oven is too hot. Next time try a slower setting and a slightly firmer cake mix (maderia is fine)
hope this helps

[JillD]

blimey a lot of replies today! sorry for not replying to each indiviually, I am shattered (23 weeks pregnant, 2 pre school children and a late night's cake making not a restful combination )

I didnt really realise sponge cake and madeira weren't the same
I can't makea fruit cake as its for my son's 4th birthday and all his friends won't be his friends any more if they get fruit cake at his party plus he will never speak to me again as he hates raisins



The cake I made last night is ok and would suffice in terms of consistency but it isn't deep enough and I wanted to get it done tonight when I got in from work whilst kids playing and in the bath. So I decided to make the usual two 8inch rounds that I do.
Last year I made a fire engine out of these sandwiched on top of each other so I think I should be able to make a very similarly sized Lightning McQueen.

The square I made last night will do for a cake to have at home for tea on his actual birthday with grandparents.

I will definitely try the madeira cake recipes provided, thanks very much. I want to experiment with making square cakes without the time pressure of a party at the weekend

And I will definitely post a photo of the finished article when I do it. Probably tomorrow night as I am too tired now

Thanks again
Jill

[JillD]

Well I managed to hack together a Lightning McQueen out of 2 round cakes, and photos of the finished product are here:
http://www1.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnail...ue/t_=41763447

I'm pretty chuffed and my son LOVED it

[brazilianwax]

OMG Jill - that's BRILLIANT!!!!

I want one for my 30th!!!!!!

Well done you!!!!

[JillD]

ooh cheers, do you really think so ???
Its one of those things where I spent so long fiddling at it and whatnot that you really cant tell if its ok or just utterly !!!! LOL
Tell you what though, cutting it up to eat was soul destroying LOL

[MRSMCAWBER]

WOW
Im pretty mean at cooking and baking...but havent got an artistic bone in my body....luckily my mum used to make wedding/celebration cakes... im soooooooo impressed.....what a result ....rounds of applause :-)
jill

[brazilianwax]

Originally Posted by JillD

ooh cheers, do you really think so ???
Its one of those things where I spent so long fiddling at it and whatnot that you really cant tell if its ok or just utterly !!!! LOL
Tell you what though, cutting it up to eat was soul destroying LOL

totally!!!!! can I order one now???

[JillD]

LOL it may look ok but you haven't tasted it LOL
My son wouldnt eat it. Mind you he never eats anything that I/we bake

And he begged for chocolate cake which hubs won't eat - so it looks like te leftovers are mine all mine