Need help with recipe for grandaughter (1 Viewer)

[GrandmaVicki]

Hi I am so thankful I found this forum and I am hoping someone can help. My grandaughter is working on a recipe for school that she tried today and it came out very crumbly and dry. I do't bake from scratch very often so I am not sure how to he her.
the recipe is for a bundt cake.
2 cups all purpose flour
14 graham cracker crumbs
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar1/2 cup sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp slat
1/2 tsp cinamon
1 cup margarine
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
3 eggs
1 cup choped pecans

Glaze2 tbls brown sugar
5 tsp milk
1 table margarine
3/4 cup powdered sugar
drizzle and top with 1/4 cup chopped pecans
glaze is cooked over low heat in small sauce pan


heat oven to 350 we used bakers joy and baked at for 45 min

OK like I said cake was very dry and didn't have a lot of flavor it seemed lacking if youknow what I mean.
Does anyone have any ideas what she can do first to moistena nd give it a remeorable flavor.
Thanks in advance Grandma Vicki

 

[Angie]

Hi Vicki,

Here are a few things I could suggest:-

1. Turn the heat down from 350F to about 330F as the deeper the cake tin the lower the heat should be otherwise the oven will quickly cook the outer edge of the cake and the middle wont be cooked properly thus drying the mixture out. You can always cook something for a slightly longer period but on a lower heat.

2. For added moisture you could add a water tray to the bottom of the oven as this adds additional steam/moisture to a cake whilst cooking. See my hints and tips section - Water Tray pge 3.

3. Looking at the recipe you've provided it seems like there are a lot of dry ingredients in the cake mix which maybe the cause of the problem. Look at similar bundt cake recipes and look for similarities with the ingredients. The orange one I have listed has milk included in the mixture which adds additional moisture to the cake whilst cooking.

4. When adding a glaze its best to pour on the cake while it is still warm as it absorbs directly into the cake.

5. Looking at this recipe it seems more savoury than sweet as there does not seem to be a lot of sugar which is why there may be a lack in taste.

6. Please tell your grand daughter not to get disheartened, baking is sometimes trial and error and sometimes there can be missing items in recipes. Ask her to look at a few and compare.

Hope this helps and good luck.

If you need any further help please let me know.