How You Can (Do) Baking Recipes In 24 Hours Or Less Without Spending A Dime
The shortcut technique would be buying those pre-blended white cake from supermarkets however hey if I can bake, why use pre-mixes proper?
The Research
There are various recipes out there on the internet and that i zoomed into three for comparisons.
1. Whisk Kid (http://www.whisk-kid.com/2009/08/say-it-with-cake.html)
- 9 inch, 6-layer
- Featured on The Martha Stewart Show
- Also posted on ladyironchef (fairly a popular blog in Singapore)
- 8 inch, 7-layer
- 9 inch, 6-layer
All 3 recipes are quite comparable to each other. But I used to be just a little tentative as a result of after i converted all the measurements to gram (utilizing free online converters like traditionaloven.com), the figures for flour and sugar did not tally with the weblog (Whisk Kid had stated ingredients in both cups and grams). Between options 1 and 2, I might have chosen 1 since the recipe was featured on Martha Stewart and tested by a fellow Singaporean too. I took out option three as I used to be unfamiliar with the method used.
Confession, I am totally uncomfortable with recipes that use cups, so I at all times convert measurements to gram first before proceeding.
In the end, I decided to attempt lululu at dwelling's recipe. I imagine using egg whites solely (pure white cake) helps to accentuate the colours of the rainbow. Yolks (cake has yellowish tinge) might affect the colours. Whisk Kid's recipe makes use of solely egg whites, whereas lululu's complete eggs. Like I stated both recipes are very related to each other, besides maybe for the eggs part.
As well as, I determined to go for 9 inch and 7 layers. Looking at the image on lululu's blog, I realised that 8 inch base will produce a very very tall cake which makes transportation extra challenging. Or how about simply settling for 6 layers? Arghhhh! Then I remember pricey son used to sing this nursery music "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, it is a rainbow, it's a rainbow, beautiful rainbow within the sky". I thought it could be cute to relate to the rainbow tune, and so, just do it lah! The thing is, 9 inch pan means I have to bake four instances for 7 layers as my oven can only fit 2 pans at a time!
First attempt
I started at about 10pm (after settling dear son to sleep and chores). The cake was very straightforward to make, just that it's totally tedious coz I solely have 2 baking pans. Meaning I had to grease, bake, cool, wash x four occasions!
As I accomplished each layer I felt a little unsettled because the layers had been too skinny for my liking and had brownish crust (temperature too high, over-baked?). YUCK! They were awful, both style and appears. So, I stacked the layers, reduce a piece to see how they turned out, and likewise tasted the cake. I knew I had to re-start. In addition they felt laborious and not tender in any respect (I had reduced the quantity of sugar). By the sixth layer, it was already 1am but I simply didn't like how the layers turned out. I used to be right, so again to square one!
Second try
Luckily I had sufficient components, aside from fresh milk. By the point I started once more, it was 2am. I also determined to extend the proportion by 20% as the layers were too skinny for my liking. I needed to cut out the yolks this time so that the colours might be more vibrant, however I forgot! Anyways, by the time all 7 layers were completed and after I washed up, it was 5am! The layers turned out better wanting and i just needed to cross my fingers that they would be okay. Dear hubby was very sweet to go out and buy for me! Decided to catch a nap and proceed the frosting after (fortunately I took full day go away). While hubby was out, I took a while to re-calculate the measurements, turned out I miscalculated the amount of milk wanted (difference between ml and g - yes I'm very anal to get precise measurements). Oven temperature was additionally lowered by a bit.
Woke up round 7am to organize pricey son for school. Luckily I purchased some rainbow sprinkles to camouflage :p By the time I used to be accomplished, it was like 12noon. So in whole I spent 6hrs (not including the abandoned first attempt), this is probably the most tedious and time consuming cake ever. Then I realised that the buttercream ready was barely enough; ought to have increased by 20% too along with the cake. By the point I began the buttercream frosting, it was 9+. So the process went, buttercream for every layer, crumb-coat, chill in fridge and finally frosting for the whole cake. After sending off hubby and pricey son, I did some chores and went out to purchase extra eggs for the buttercream frosting. Oh well, the frosting did not easy enough but I was also too exhausted to hassle.
Verdict
Dear son was very happy with the cake, so had been the kids at his childcare centre. Actually I think kids simply love cake, whatever the design. See the finger in the picture above? That's his finger, he was actually excited and saved pointing at the cake.
The texture of the cake was still not as tender as I favored, however tasted okay with the buttercream, not too candy as properly. It must be the yolks. The layers also had bits of brown crust, so most likely acquired to look into the oven temperature and baking time. I assumed colours were a bit of dull and never as vibrant as what I've seen on the internet. Hubby commented that vanilla buttercream was somewhat heavy on the palate.
Rainbow Cake
(9 inch, 7-layer, close to 3kg)
525g Plain Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
0.5 tsp Salt
340g Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature
675g Caster Sugar
6 Large Whole Eggs
440g Fresh Milk
2.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
Wilton gel colouring - red, orange, yellow, inexperienced, blue, purple, pink
1. Preheat oven to 170 diploma celsius. If not frosting immediately, wrap every layer individually with clingwrap. 10. Place the cake pans on a wire rack to cool for 15 mins. Bake for about 13 to 15 mins. 9. Pour batter into cake pans and smooth the surface. Stop to scrap down sides of the bowl with spatula as essential. 5. Reduce mixer pace to medium and add in eggs one at a time until just blended. 7. Total weight of batter is about 2320g. Divide into 7 parts (each about 328g - 330g).
8. Add food colouring to each portion using toothpick, bit by bit to desired colour tone. 4. Add sugar gradually and beat till well-mixed and fluffy. Mix effectively and set aside. Grease all of the cake pans accessible, and line with parchment paper. Mix thoroughly to ensure all the colouring is nicely blended with the batter. Add the vanilla extract. 6. Reduce mixer speed to low, slowly add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, till just blended. 3. Cream softened butter until light and fluffy (utilizing electric mixer fixed with paddle attachment, medium excessive pace). Invert the cakes onto rack and let cool utterly. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Repeat baking course of until all 7 layers are completed.
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
* Amount of buttercream is barely sufficient, recommend to increase quantity by 10-20%
10 Egg Whites
337g Caster Sugar
567g Unsalted Butter, cubed and softened at room temperature
2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
Rainbow sprinkles or any desired decoration
1. Place egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water. The egg whites should really feel hot to contact. 3. Reduce speed to medium and add softened cubes of butter gradually. *It could appear like a very long time, however the switch in texture can happen fairly sudden, be certain to observe closely. 4. To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a serving plate/tray and spread some buttercream evenly. 6. Frost the cake and garnish with rainbow sprinkles. Remove from heat.
2. Transfer mixing bowl to electric stand mixer and beat at excessive velocity using whisk attachment till meringue is thick, glossy and cool all the way down to room temperature. 5. Crumb-coat the top and sides of the cake, and place the cake into the fridge to chill for 30 mins. Leave in room temperature for not less than 1 hour earlier than serving. Continue mixing until the meringue turns right into a silky clean texture of buttercream. Using a hand whisk, beat repeatedly until sugar has fully dissolved. Repeat this process until all cake layers are stacked. 7. Chill the cake to set the frosting.
I'd probably attempt the cake once more, this time with Whisk Kid's recipe, simply to see how it would turned out. I might even coconut-primarily based cake or strive substituting butter with oil for a lighter cake? This time, I used vanilla buttercream as a substitute of lemon buttercream (in consideration of the kids), but I would love to use lemon buttercream next time in order that the taste will not be so one-dimensional vanilla based mostly.
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