Adjusting a recipe and timings...HELP!

[lulu]

Hi,

I am new here and I wonder if anybody can help me.

I have a brilliant fakraceipe for a almond and citrus cake (orange or lemon) that I always make wehn we have pople staying or to give as a gift because everybody likes it, and its plain and unfussy and keeps well. I usually make it in a 21cm springform tin and bake for an hour on the top shelf at Gas mark 4 which is 180 degrees celcius (I am afraid I don't know farenheit).

My husband recently bought me a larger, decorative mould tin, which would be best uset with a plain cake like this, but the voloume is twice as much as my recipe needs and the tins diametre is, I think about 27cm. So I need to double my recipe, but what do I doo about cooking temps and times? I tried doing the same temp on the top shelf for longer and the cake burnt at the edges underneath and went dry at the edge (although I cut out the middle which was still damp and delicious, but could not have coped with less time)...so presumamble a lower temp for longer? Any ideas as to how to make a good guess at this for my next attempt?

 

[PA Baker]

Welcome to Discuss Cooking, lulu! It's a bit quiet around here since it's a holiday weekend in the US, but I'm sure you'll get an answer soon. I'm not familiar with gas marks and such (I'm in the US) but we have several great bakers around who are .

 

[purrfectlydevine]

Would the cake look ok if instead of doubling the recipe you increased it by half to make 1 1/2 times the original amount of batter? I would try lowering the oven temperature to 165 degress celcius and baking a few minutes longer. The batter won't be so deep and might bake better.

 

[lulu]

I have thought about 1 and a half quantity. It would not fill the beautiful flower mould properly but might be the best comprimise *sigh*.

I'm grateful for the advice about turning the oven down! Do think I should put it on the bottom shelf too? That might reduce the intensity of the heat?

 

[purrfectlydevine]

Putting the cake lower in the oven might help. Maybe you could put foil strips around the edge to help prevent over-browning, like some people do for pie crusts to keep the outside edge from burning.

 

[lulu]

Well, I tried and it did not work. Same problem, b y the time the middle was only just underdone, lol, the adge was crisp. It is a very damp cake usually but this time it was dry three quaters of the way through

What do you think would happen if I turn the heast way down.....like 120, and cook for a lot longer?

I am so determined to crack this, its my BEST cake recipe and a beautiful mould. Its one of the few cakes that I don't ice and I really would LOVE to present this in a less plain way so that it looks as special as it tastes.

 

[Constance]

Lulu, I would lower the temperature. I used to make fruitcakes, which are very heavy and moist cakes, and I cooked the larger ones for 2 hours at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is about 95 degrees Celcius.
Don't give up! You will get this thing worked out.