Sponge Cake Recipe

mildred1978

Florenceem wrote: »

I only use Trex in pastry.

Likewise.

VfM4meplse

Florenceem wrote: »

I only use Trex in pastry.

mildred1978 wrote: »

Likewise.

Oh well, that counts me out - apart from choux (which I very rarely eat) I think pastry is a waste of time and calories .

I can't see it working as a good substitute for butter in choux, am I right?

mildred1978

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Oh well, that counts me out - apart from choux (which I very rarely eat) I think pastry is a waste of time and calories .

I can't see it working as a good substitute for butter in choux, am I right?

Absolutely not.

Why are you do anti-butter?

VfM4meplse

:T:T:T Yippeee, I can do light and fluffy!

Well I used your technique on Thursday mildred, cut into the orange and almond drizzle cake this eve and it came out perfectly light and fluffy even though I beat it by hand in the end- not sure the pics quite capture the fluff factor though! Thanks so much for your tips, the weighing helped and it did not curdle.

mildred1978 wrote: »

Why are you do anti-butter?

Just in cakes, not in pastries. I was brought up on butter and don't like the greasiness and heavy crumbs it produces.

VfM4meplse

Just a quick update - I made a big lemon drizzle cake last Friday (the drizzle being equal parts of juice from the zested lemons and icing sugar), kept it in an airtight container for a week and we finally dug into it this afternoon. It tested perfectly fresh and most importantly was super light and fluffy whilst still delicously light, the texture was much better than any of my other results! I had weighed the eggs as recommended - reducing the sugar by the amount I was going to drizzle back in - and creamed the fat and sugar for a good 3 mins with my 600w Lidl handblender, using the whisk attachment. The eggs went in one at a time followed by a dose of flour, but at that point I did the minimum stirring, followed by the lemon zest and pulp.

So it's taken 3 shots, but I feel like I've cracked it now! Thanks so much to you all.

Now to tackle a chiffon cake

VfM4meplse

Back to square one I'm afraid .

I tried this Orange Chiffon Cake recipe on Saturday, orange-syruped it for extra flavour and finally added a filling this l/t. Tastes great! - but looks like this:



The texture is okay, but nowhere near as light and fluffy as the Mildred-method. I won't be trying this again.

I need a cup of tea to go with my self-sympathy now .

mildred1978

Oh dear. Not sure what happened there. Bit of a temperamental mixture I would guess.

If you want a cake without too much butter I can thoroughly recommend this one. I don't tend to do it with cherries - more often than not apple, rhubarb, blueberry or blackberry - but it's delicious. Not really one for keeping. It's best soon after it's baked, while the crumble topping is crisp.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2414/fresh-cherry-cake-with-a-hint-of-cinnamon

This is my last minute guests cake - delicious but quick - and the melted butter means you don't need it to be soft (great in winter). Goes brilliantly with thick cream or custard as a pudding too.

VfM4meplse

Thanks, I'll try it with apples :beer:

mildred1978

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Thanks, I'll try it with apples :beer:

If you like a deep cake, double up the cake mixture but keep the other ingredients the same

VfM4meplse

I think my problem was the using two shallow silicone pans rather than one deep cake tin last time - it never got a chance to rise to it's potential and tbh I probably over-cooked it a bit.

I feel I've redeemed myself this week - coffee & walnut cake using the method I know works: