Cherry cake, that sinking feeling

angchris

im sure i read somewhere that if you dust the fruit lightly with flour by tossing the cherries in flour before being added then the cake mixture has something to grab hold of and they dont sink, how true that is i dont know cos ive never made a cherry cake and this might be a totally useless piece of info :rotfl:

Rikki

Lighter cherries?



I find mine have been hit and miss with the flour method, but certainly better than not flouring them.

ravylesley

The only time I've ever managed to make a fruit cake where my cherries havent sunk is when I've made the heavier slower cooking and less rising sort of cakes.Having looked at the Delia cherry cake recipe it uses plain flour and very little rising agent and so is going to rise very little and I think this is why the cherries dont sink IYKWIM

Lesleyxx

moanymoany

My mil used to make a lot of cherry cakes and very good they were. I never saw her do it, but sometimes the cherries were through the cake and sometimes they were nearer the bottom than the top.

No help, I know, but hopefully it will help the cherry sinkers to feel better as mil was a fantastic cake baker!

N9eav

Gravity......................

Olliebeak

I think that one of the reasons that St.Delia's cherry cake works is because she uses quartered cherries and not whole or halved. These are much lighter (obviously quarter/half the weight) so the cake is firm enough to hold them.

My original Cherry Cake recipe was from 'Mrs Beeton's' and she advised using a cake mixture that was a little firmer (i.e. more flour in the ingredients ratio - so more like a Madeira Cake Recipe - the same recipe also 'holds' dried fruit quite well).

N9eav

I made Delias cake. The cherries did not sink. it was delicious too....

franklally

Rinse the cherries in boiling water

squeaky

A slightly less liquid cake mix helps here. If you pick up a heaped desert spoon of the mix and then turn the spoon sideways it should drop off the spoon slowly.

This is what is described as "dropping consistency" in most cook books.

If it doesn't fall off at all it's too thick. (Add some liquid - usually a tablespoon's worth will do it)

If it more or less pours off at speed it's too thin. (Add about a tbs of flour and see how it goes)

Penelope_Penguin

Olliebeak wrote: »

I think that one of the reasons that St.Delia's cherry cake works is because she uses quartered cherries and not whole or halved. These are much lighter (obviously quarter/half the weight) so the cake is firm enough to hold them.

Sorry, that doesn't make any sense. It's about density, not absolute weight of an item as to whether it sinks or floats. Otherwise, how would ocean liners stay afloat

Penny. x