Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 Week 2 Building skills The recipes I’ve chosen this week all represent different techniques. Although you’ll also find a few recipes that will build on the skills you learned making butter cake, exploring creaming methods in Week 1. Practical learning is what Bake Club is all about, so this is your opportunity to continue to expand your knowledge base through doing. If you haven't had a chance to make the plain butter cake yet, and you’re new to baking, I’d definitely recommend going back and starting there first. The more you bake, the more you learn and the more confident you become. So go forth and bake!! ;-) Bec's Table Cooking School Page 1 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 Table Of Contents Week 2 Building skills 1 Q&As From Last Week 4 Baking Powder vs Bicarbonate of Soda 8 What is creaming? 12 Bec’s Chocolate Fudge Brownies 16 Bec's Monte Carlo Biscuits 19 Bec's Pear and Almond Crumble Cake 22 Bec's Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt 25 Chocolate Snow Cap Cookies 29 Lumberjack Cake 32 Plum & Almond Crumble Slice 35 Bec's Chocolate Mirror Glaze 38 Fig And Walnut Slice 42 Bec's Table Cooking School Page 2 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 Q&As From Last Week How can I tell if my cake is cooked? If you’re new to baking or you’re trying out a new recipe, it’s only natural to be a little unsure about cooking times and cake-readiness. Even I do a check sometimes. Overbaking can cause your cake to be dry and underbaking can render the cake inedible (and even though the goal is to avoid failure, I will tell you some things you can do with under- baked cakes another time). Knowing when to remove your cakes at the right time is obviously preferred. Bec's Table Cooking School Page 3 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 Gently press the cake in the centre, and if it springs back and feels firm, you’re done. (can’t do that with bakes like brownies though) Use a skewer to test the doneness of the centre of the cake. Unfortunately, some cakes will still have sticky centres when they’re done, and that’s the way they’re supposed to be. Once again, can’t do that for brownies but it’s fine for butter cake. Just be aware that if you're adding something like white chocolate your skewer may still have a wet appearance when you pull it out if you hit a chocolate button. You may have to insert the skewer in a couple of different places to be sure. The cake should have pulled away from the sides of your tin slightly This one might sound a little odd, but it’s very true, and I use it a lot for butter cakes: When you think your cake is ready, remove it from the oven and put your ear close, you will hear a crackling sound if it’s done. You can gently press the surface to make the sound a little louder. If it’s completely silent, and the cake doesn’t spring back when you gently press on it it’s more than likely underbaked. If you’re still not sure, try another method on this list. Most cakes and brownies are cooked when the centre of the cake reaches 85°c. In Bake Club, we use a temperature probe. This may seem a bit technical, but it’s a reliable and precise way to get a great end result and soon becomes second nature to do this when you’re baking. When using a probe, we either pop it in the cake when it’s about ¾ of the way through baking and leave it in or alternatively when we think it’s ready, we remove the cake and insert the probe to check the temp. The probes we use in the school can also be placed into the cake when the cake is ¾ of the way through baking and can remain in the cake while it finishes cooking (see notes below). It’s important to make sure the probe is in the centre of the cake, not touching the bottom or sides of the tin, and that the cord runs out of the oven with the door closed. The temp gauge has a magnetised backing and sits on the side of the oven. If the probe is staying in the cake while it finishes baking, we set the gauge’s alarm to go off to 87°c. You can go as high as 98°c if you want to be really sure, but at the lower end, your cake will be moister. When the cake reaches the set temp and the alarm sounds we do a check. I tend to set it to 87°c - 89°c if we’re going to leave the probe in the cake for a long period, although you can go as high as 98°c if you want to be really sure. Just remember, staying at the lower end of these temps means your cake will be moister. Also, be aware that variations will occur depending on how much probe is sitting in the cake and how much is sticking out. Bec's Table Cooking School Page 4 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 There are loads of temperature probes on the market so just be sure you get one that can be set to any temp you like. A lot of these probes are made for meat and are pre-set for pork, chicken beef etc. This won't work for you because the temperatures are pre-set - you need to be able to adjust them. This is what our probe looks like. It has a long silicone coated cord that can be used in or out of the oven. Closing the door on the cable is not an issue. ;-) Why did my cake bake faster or take longer than the recipe stated? In a perfect world, you would use an identical tin (height, width and type) to the recipe writer. You’d also use their oven and have your ingredients the same temperature and produce a mixture with the exact same texture as theirs. Realistically, it’s pretty much impossible to know all that detail, let alone reproduce it, but just having your oven set to the temperature the recipe states and using the size pan your recipe calls for may not be sufficient to get a great result. This is where some extra knowledge can allow you to adapt for those variables. In Bake Club, I try to teach how to tell when a cake is ready, and over time with practice, I’ve noticed my long term bakers go from setting timers to using their baking instinct to know when it’s time to remove their bakes. I’m so proud of them. ;-) It’s like a spidey sense (if you’ve been made to watch any Spiderman Movies like I have you’ll know what I mean. hehe When you’ve build up your experience in baking, you’ll know what temperature and how long most things bake at and you’ll know your oven so much better. Bec's Table Cooking School Page 5 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 Is the height of my tin important? Yes. If you put your cake batter in a tall tin, it will take a little longer to cook than a short one. This is because the heat waves over the top and isn't so harsh on the surface of the cake. The heat takes a little longer to reach the surface of your cake causing it to caramelise. For example, seeming we’re perfecting our Butter Cake technique this term, let’s have a look at the tin we might use. Forget what we do at Bake Club by putting them in sheet pans, cupcake tins or mini loaves. We do that so we can get cakes out of the oven in a shorter time than they would usually take in a large pan. I’m talking here about the difference between the types of 8” cake tins you can purchase. This tin is tall: it will take longer to cook your cake in this than a cake the same width but shorter sides. Having these tall sides will also slow down the browning to the top of the cake. I use one of these cake tins for a single layered cake. I love that it has the lip around the base. It’s there to catch any spills, but it also makes it easier to for placing and remove your cake from the oven. Last week during the meeting we talked a little about how to make your cake bake flat and even in a tin like this. I’m going to give you that information in our last ebook this term. Trying not to overload. ;-) Bec's Table Cooking School Page 6 Bake Club Term 1 Week 2 2019 These are also a favourite of mine. I use these for any layered cake. You can use a single cake tin of course and slice your cake, but this is a much neater method working with two tins. The cakes cook faster. It’s best to own two so your batter can spread evenly over them. What I do is weigh the prepared batter and halve it across the two tins.