L
LMHmedchem
Guest
Hello,
I am trying to make a decent almond cake for a Victoria sandwich with strawberries and orange butter cream. I am having trouble getting the sponge to rise well. I know this can be an issue when adding ground almonds to the mix. This is what I have come up with,
300 grams unsalted butter (softened)
150 grams white sugar
150 grams turbinado sugar
6 large eggs
200 grams all-purpose flour
100 grams ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Preheat the oven to 360°F/fan
Butter and spray two 9 inch sandwich tins and line with baking paper. Butter the baking paper.
Place the white sugar and turbinado sugar in a food processor with a cutting blade and process until fine.
Separate the eggs and set the yolks aside. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and then add ⅓ cup of the castor sugar mix 1 tbl at a time until the whites reach a meringue with stiff glossy peaks. Transfer the meringue to a clean bowl and cover. Cream the softened butter, salt, and the remainder of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time and whisk until each is just incorporated. When the batter is smooth, sift in the flour and ground almonds and whisk until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and ⅓ of the meringue. Mix until the batter slackens. Sift in the baking powder and make an effort to spread it evenly over the batter. Fold in the rest of the meringue in two additions until just incorporated and the mixture has a consistent color.
Divide the batter between the 2 tins and smooth level. Bake on the middle oven shelf for 20-25 minutes until a skewer pushed into the center comes out clean. Remove the sponges from the oven and leave in the tins for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The cake is alright, but it is about 50% less than the volume I would expect. The texture is not bad and it is reasonably light, so I am wondering if I am just not using enough mix for 9-inch tins. They seem to bake more quickly than I would expect, which would also suggest that there is not enough mixture in the tins.
I thought it would help to whisk up the egg whites and add the baking powder at the end, but that did not show much of an improvement over the all-in-one method. To me, the cake also does not have that much flavor and is not sweet enough. It tastes more like good soft cornbread than cake. I'm not really tasting the almond but I am afraid to add more ground almonds since that would make the rasing issue worse. I sometimes find European cake recopies to be like this (less sweet), but I don't know how to fix it. I am sure it won't be awful with the strawberries and buttercream but I think I can do better.
Should I increase the total quantity of ingredients in the mix?
Should I add more baking powder?
Should I add the baking powder at a different time or in a different way?
I have attached a picture if that helps. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
LMHmedchem
I am trying to make a decent almond cake for a Victoria sandwich with strawberries and orange butter cream. I am having trouble getting the sponge to rise well. I know this can be an issue when adding ground almonds to the mix. This is what I have come up with,
300 grams unsalted butter (softened)
150 grams white sugar
150 grams turbinado sugar
6 large eggs
200 grams all-purpose flour
100 grams ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Preheat the oven to 360°F/fan
Butter and spray two 9 inch sandwich tins and line with baking paper. Butter the baking paper.
Place the white sugar and turbinado sugar in a food processor with a cutting blade and process until fine.
Separate the eggs and set the yolks aside. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and then add ⅓ cup of the castor sugar mix 1 tbl at a time until the whites reach a meringue with stiff glossy peaks. Transfer the meringue to a clean bowl and cover. Cream the softened butter, salt, and the remainder of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time and whisk until each is just incorporated. When the batter is smooth, sift in the flour and ground almonds and whisk until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and ⅓ of the meringue. Mix until the batter slackens. Sift in the baking powder and make an effort to spread it evenly over the batter. Fold in the rest of the meringue in two additions until just incorporated and the mixture has a consistent color.
Divide the batter between the 2 tins and smooth level. Bake on the middle oven shelf for 20-25 minutes until a skewer pushed into the center comes out clean. Remove the sponges from the oven and leave in the tins for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
The cake is alright, but it is about 50% less than the volume I would expect. The texture is not bad and it is reasonably light, so I am wondering if I am just not using enough mix for 9-inch tins. They seem to bake more quickly than I would expect, which would also suggest that there is not enough mixture in the tins.
I thought it would help to whisk up the egg whites and add the baking powder at the end, but that did not show much of an improvement over the all-in-one method. To me, the cake also does not have that much flavor and is not sweet enough. It tastes more like good soft cornbread than cake. I'm not really tasting the almond but I am afraid to add more ground almonds since that would make the rasing issue worse. I sometimes find European cake recopies to be like this (less sweet), but I don't know how to fix it. I am sure it won't be awful with the strawberries and buttercream but I think I can do better.
Should I increase the total quantity of ingredients in the mix?
Should I add more baking powder?
Should I add the baking powder at a different time or in a different way?
I have attached a picture if that helps. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
LMHmedchem
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