Sponge cake problems

Chrisca50

Many years ago I made my sponge cakes in my food mixer and they always came out perfect.  I then got myself a k mix.  Around the same time I got a new oven and could never decide which it was that made my cakes come out nothing like they did in my old food mixer.  It's still very hit and miss how my cakes come out.  Sometimes they don't rise very well and lately I have some bubbling of what is probably sugar round the edges.  I've always used stork margarine and the same ingredients, nothings changed except what the finished article will come out like.  I'm now thinking of going back to a food mixer.  Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going wrong please?

JIL

Sounds like the raising agent has started working before the baking.

Are you doing the all in one method? If yes perhaps cream the butter and sugar together first. Also beat the eggs before adding to the mixture.
Are you adding additional baking powder to self raising flour?  Many bakers advise using plain flour and whisking in the baking powder at the very last mix.

Do you put the sponges in the oven at the correct temperature immediately?

I'm not a brilliant Baker, I know what I should do but I dont always practice it. Taste is what matters to me. 😂

Floss

Which K-mix do you have? If it is a food processor, I would suggest going back to your mixer & trying your usual method.

Is your oven at the right temperature? It may be running hotter or cooler than it says - you can buy oven thermometers to check.

CapricornLass

If you use baking powder and/or self-raising flour, its worth checking the use-by dates.  I've been caught out by that before,

Gem-gem

The most important part of cake making is ensuring that the fat and sugar has been beaten / creamed well, with butter I can see the colour change - it goes very light. As JIL says even if it an all in one mixture I always cream the butter and sugar first. 

I have sometimes had issues because I used granulated instead of caster and not fully mixed in on the outsides. 

Nelliegrace

Stork Margarine has changed ingredients, removing the buttermilk. It makes cakes more greasy than the previous recipe.

Chrisca50

Many thanks for all your comments.  I've been doing the same thing with the same ingredients for years and I did wonder if the stork margarine was the culprit as you can't really change flour, sugar or an egg!  So thanks Nelliegrace for confirming the change of the ingredients of Stork and I'm sure that's the culprit.  Next time I make a sponge I'll use butter and see the result.

PipneyJane

Chrisca50 said:

Many thanks for all your comments.  I've been doing the same thing with the same ingredients for years and I did wonder if the stork margarine was the culprit as you can't really change flour, sugar or an egg!  So thanks Nelliegrace for confirming the change of the ingredients of Stork and I'm sure that's the culprit.  Next time I make a sponge I'll use butter and see the result.

Please let us know if Stork is the culprit, @Chrisca50.

- Pip 

Chrisca50

I'm going to make a sponge cake at the weekend with butter and, hopefully this will prove that it's the culprit or not.  Watch this space :-)

Chrisca50

Made the sponge cake with butter today and, yes,  the Stork margarine was the cuilprit as it's more fluffy and has risen more level.  Thanks for all your input.  Problem solved :-)

PipneyJane

Chrisca50 said:

Made the sponge cake with butter today and, yes,  the Stork margarine was the cuilprit as it's more fluffy and has risen more level.  Thanks for all your input.  Problem solved :-)

Yay!  Glad the problem is solved!

- Pip