Ingredient Ratios for Cakes
#8
  Re: (...)
I came across this and thought it was really useful. I'd not seen it so simply done before. Anyway, I thought I'd share.

EXPORTED FROM LIVING COOKBOOK

FOR GREAT CAKES, GET THE RATIOS RIGHT

According to Shirley Corriher, there are two sets of formulas: pound-cake (or lean-cake) formulas, which have less sugar than flour; and "high-ratio" formulas, which contain more sugar. The general rule is that high-ratio cakes require shortening, whose added emulsifiers help hold the cake together.

HIGH RATIO CAKE FORMULAS

THE SUGAR SHOULD WEIGH THE SAME AS, OR SLIGHTLY MORE THAN, THE FLOUR.

Remember that this is weight, not volume. A cup of sugar weighs about 7 oz., and a cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 4½ oz. So, if we're building a recipe with 1 cup sugar, we'll need about 1½ cups flour (about 6¾ oz).

THE EGGS SHOULD WEIGH ABOUT THE SAME AS, OR SLIGHTLY MORE THAN, THE FAT.

One large egg (out of its shell) weighs about 1¾ oz. If our developing recipe contains 4 ounces butter (or shortening), we could use two whole eggs (3½ oz. ). This is a little under, but remember that these rules are flexible, and we're still within 20%.

But eggs have two parts: whites, which dry out baked goods, and yolks, which make textures smooth and velvety. A yolk from a large egg weighs about ⅔ oz. One way to balance the eggs with the fat and to get a smoother cake is to add extra yolks. You could use one egg plus three yolks for a total of about 3¾ oz.

THE LIQUID (INCLUDING THE EGGS) SHOULD WEIGH THE SAME AS, OR MORE THAN, THE SUGAR.

Our recipe now has 7 oz. sugar and 3½ or 3¾ oz. eggs. To get the total amount of liquid to weigh more than the sugar, we could add 4 oz. (½ cup) of a liquid, like milk or buttermilk.

LEAVENING ABOUT 1 tsp. BAKING POWDER OR ¼ tsp BAKING SODA TO 1 CUP FLOUR

Proper leavening is also critical. If a recipe is overleavened, the bubbles will get too big, float to the top, and—pop! There goes your leavening, and here comes a heavy, dense cake. One tsp. of baking powder for one cup of flour is the perfect amount of leavening for most cake recipes. For baking soda (which is used if the recipe has a considerable amount of acidic ingredients), use ¼ tsp. soda for each cup of flour. Finally, don't forget a little salt, about ½ tsp. for a small cake like this. It's a major flavor enhancer.

There are two sets of formulas: pound-cake (or lean-cake) formulas, which have less sugar than flour; and "high-ratio" formulas, which contain more sugar. The general rule is that high-ratio cakes require shortening, whose added emulsifiers help hold the cake together. You can, however, make successful high-ratio cakes with butter if you aerate the butter by creaming it and if you add emulsifiers in the form of egg yolks. Some bakers even make cakes with olive oil, which contains natural emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides).

You can, however, make successful high-ratio cakes with butter if you aerate the butter by creaming it and if you add emulsifiers in the form of egg yolks. Some bakers even make cakes with olive oil, which contains natural emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides).

There are two sets of formulas: pound-cake (or lean-cake) formulas, which have less sugar than flour; and "high-ratio" formulas, which contain more sugar. The general rule is that high-ratio cakes require shortening, whose added emulsifiers help hold the cake together. You can, however, make successful high-ratio cakes with butter if you aerate the butter by creaming it and if you add emulsifiers in the form of egg yolks. Some bakers even make cakes with olive oil, which contains natural emulsifiers (mono- and diglycerides).

Once you have a working recipe, you can test it and start making adjustments to taste. I like baked goods very moist, so I would have started with one egg and three yolks. If I decided I wanted a moister cake, I could bump up the sugar, or I could replace some or all of the butter with oil. Oil coats flour proteins better than other fats and will make a more tender, moister product.

WHEN TO CREAM, CUT IN, WHISK, FOLD, OR STIR

Creaming, cutting-in, whisking, folding and stirring all serve different purposes. Shirley Corriher states that the technique and tool you use can dramatically affect how a dish turns
out.

CREAM BUTTER TO AERATE CAKE

Often the first instruction in cake and cookie recipes is “Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.”

The purpose of creaming is to beat tiny air bubbles into the butter. A cake that isn’t properly aerated by creaming will be compact and dense instead of light and airy. As you cream butter, or butter and sugar (the best tool is a paddle attachment or flat beaters), the mixture turns fluffier and paler, a direct result of beating air into it.

The crucial question is: What’s the ideal temperature for creaming butter? The answer depends on whom you ask.

Butter holds these air bubbles best at 68°F or just slightly cooler. According to Bruce Healy, a baker who has conducted extensive experiments on this topic, the butterfat in solid butter starts to melt at 68°F. (You can’t see the melting because the butterfat is in an emulsion with milk solids.)

But most cookbooks and pastry chefs call for “room temperature” butter, a term that’s not only imprecise since room temperatures vary immensely, but also, if taken literally, that’s incorrect. In most households, butter that’s truly at room temperature is already a few degrees above 68°F, too warm to cream properly. A better (though less concise) instruction would be to use butter “that’s been left at room temperature just long enough to be pliable yet still firm, not soft and squishy.” Some cooks call this softened butter. With softened butter (it should be about 65°F, which is below room temperature), you can only cream for about three minutes before it gets too warm, the butterfat starts to melt, and some of those precious bubbles collapse. But three minutes should be sufficient to get reasonable aeration.

I get superior creaming when I start with refrigerator-cold butter cut into tablespoon-size pieces. During the first minute of creaming, the butter is still too cold to blend with the sugar. But after six or seven minutes, it’s magnificent—light, very fluffy, and dry

CUT IN BUTTER TO TENDERIZE PASTRY

The term “cut in” refers to mixing butter or another solid fat with flour. The purpose of this critical step is to grease the flour with the fat and to prevent the formation of gluten, which would make the pastry tough. Gluten forms when flour proteins meet water; as long as you’ve moisture-proofed the flour by coating it with fat, these gluten-forming proteins can’t link up and toughen your dough.

Starting with cold butter is key. This way, you’ll end up with many small and large pieces mixed with the flour rather than a completely homogeneous mixture; these varied-size butter pieces help to ensure flakiness once the dough is baked.

Many tools will do the job of cutting in butter—two table knives, a multi-bladed pastry cutter, or your fingertips—but those that do it quickly and without warming the butter are best.

WHISK TO INCORPORATE AIR.

A whisk is such a useful mixing tool because its wire tines multiply a single stir in the mixing bowl many times. As a result, a whisk is faster and more efficient at blending ingredients and incorporating air. For jobs like beating egg whites or whipping cream—incorporating lots of air—a balloon whisk (a large whisk with tines that flare into a balloon shape) is ideal. The cream or egg whites stretch between the tines as you whisk, trapping air more effectively.

When it’s important to blend ingredients quickly and thoroughly, as when emulsifying a sauce or a mayonnaise, a long, thin whisk is often the best tool. It blends as if you were stirring with a dozen thin spoons.

A whisk is such a useful mixing tool because its wire tines multiply a single stir in the mixing bowl many times. As a result, a whisk is faster and more efficient at blending ingredients and incorporating air. For jobs like beating egg whites or whipping cream—incorporating lots of air—a balloon whisk (a large whisk with tines that flare into a balloon shape) is ideal. The cream or egg whites stretch between the tines as you whisk, trapping air more effectively.

When it’s important to blend ingredients quickly and thoroughly, as when emulsifying a sauce or a mayonnaise, a long, thin whisk is often the best tool. It blends as if you were stirring with a dozen thin spoons.

FOLD TO PRESERVE VOLUME

Folding is the technique used for combining two mixtures with different textures. It’s often called for when mixing a light, aerated mixture (such as whipped cream or whipped egg whites) with a heavier one. To make a soufflé, the goal is to fold beaten egg whites into a heavy soufflé base without deflating the whites. To make a fruit fool, you fold whipped cream into a puréed fruit mixture. In some cakes, nuts must get folded into the batter.

The challenge with folding is to get a uniform texture without losing volume. Gentle lifting is crucial, as is the right tool. A wide, flat utensil with a large surface, such as a rubber spatula or a dough scraper, works well because you can lift up a large amount of the mixture and spread it across the top. By doing this repeatedly, turning the bowl and gently lifting up more batter, the mixtures combine without rough stirring, which would deflate your lighter ingredients.

More folding tips: It helps to first “lighten” the heavier mixture by whisking in about a quarter of the lighter one; now that there isn’t such an extreme difference in texture, the two mixtures will combine more easily. Also, it’s better to put the lighter mixture on top of the heavier one, not vice versa. Otherwise, the heavy base would deflate the lighter one. When this isn’t feasible, such as when combining ground nuts or flour with whipped egg whites, sprinkle the powdered mixture over the whites gradually to minimize deflation.

STIR TO SIMPLY BLEND.

Stirring is probably the simplest of all mixing methods. It usually implies using a spoon, a spatula, or another utensil to mix ingredients together, without vigorous motion, until uniformly blended. With stirring, you’re not beating in air, greasing flour proteins, or preserving volume. Beating is similar to stirring but suggests an electric mixer and more active movement.

Unless a recipe instructs otherwise, stirring shouldn’t be lengthy—in some cases, too much stirring can be detrimental. For example, pancake batter needs gentle stirring to just barely combine the ingredients. Over-stirring can make the pancakes tough. When adding fruit, nuts, or chocolate to a batter, you only need to stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

I hope at least a few of you find it as useful as I did.
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#9
  Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by Cubangirl (I came across this a...)
Thank you! That's a lot of great information condensed into an easy to ready format. I've never been very adventurous when it comes to baking and would really like to make more cakes from scratch for special occasions.

BTW, love your new avatar! Beautiful!
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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#10
  Re: Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by Mare749 (Thank you! That's a ...)
Shirley Corriher is one smart, talented cook!! And, this is wonderful info for all of us who are either intimadated or just dislike baking!! Thanks for posting it.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#11
  Re: Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by cjs (Shirley Corriher is ...)
Thanks for posting this. It's very explanatory. I'll print and save.
You only live once . . . but if you do it right once should be enough!
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#12
  Re: Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by Harborwitch (Thanks for posting t...)
What terrific info! Thanks for sharing! I, too, hope to play with scratch cakes. I'll print it out when I get home.
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#13
  Re: Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by Gourmet_Mom (What terrific info! ...)
And if you don't own a copy of "Cookwise" by Shirley Corriher, your kitchen book library is NOT complete! This is NOT a cookbook, it's a fact book for your culinary skills!

Barbara
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka.
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#14
  Re: Re: Ingredient Ratios for Cakes by BarbaraS (And if you don't own...)
I do have Cookwise, but hate to go through it. I use to love it when AB had her on Good Eats, much easier than plowing through the book. Have the same feeling about McGie, great info, but work.
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