Attention All Bakers

[Uncle Bob]

My DW baked a Sour cream cake...in a tube pan. This was number 572! Seriously she has baked this cake for years. No major problem. She baked one this week-end and it turned out fine (It did fall somewhat)

EXCEPT:
The inside of the cake was not it's normal color. white to off-white. This time it was a kinda carmel, amber, color. Very strange! This off color had no ill effects on texture or taste. Any ideas to what may have caused this?

TIA

Uncle Bob

 

[Andy M.]

Can we assume all the ingredients were exactly the same as always?
Same pan?
Was the color uniform or were ther streaks if the darker color in the batter?
Was it normal color berfore baking?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Andy...

3 Cups Flour
3 Cups sugar
1 Cup Crisco
1/4 t. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t soda
6 eggs seperated

Everything to together..fold in egg whites. Baked at 325 for 1 1/2 hours.

Batter was normal prior to baking.
Not streaks per say...rather areas of mostly dark..uniform through out the cake..No deviations in anything.

 

[Corey123]

I believe that I made this same kind of cake last summer from a recipe that's in the manual for the Electrolux Assistant stand mixer.

Using the mixer for the first time, that was what I tried first, and it came out good! But it's not often that I make such a cake. I'm mainly a pound cake freak.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Corey....

DW has made this cake for years...Origin is unknown to me.
Never fails...Just a good all-a-round pound type cake.
Excellent for strawberry short cake etc. Warm, just out of the oven it will just melt in your mouth...As you know I (we) can't eat a lot of this stuff but she enjoys it....

 

[Katie H]

Uncle Bob, one of the listed ingredients is Crisco. The only thing I can think of is that your DW may have used some of the new lower- or non-transfats version. That's the only variable I can see in the recipe if she prepared the cake as she always has. Just a thought.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Katie...

I just looked at the can. It appears to be just plain Crisco. The can is almost empty. Biscuits were made Saturday morning with no adverse effects.
( they were awsome with red-eye gravy however)

Oh well not a biggie...probably want happen again. Was just curious. Told her I would throw it out here and see if anyone had a clue.

Thanks everyone for thinking about it.

 

[PA Baker]

My first thought was the crisco, too, but more along the lines of an expiration date. Out of curiosity, check the dates on all of the ingredients. Even if one is just really close to expiration, that could throw things off--maybe color, too.

My only other thought was that there was an area were things weren't fully and evenly blended but I'd thing that would affect texture. Hmmmm.... I'll be anxious to see what others think!

 

[mish]

She baked one this week-end and it turned out fine (It did fall somewhat)

EXCEPT:
The inside of the cake was not it's normal color. white to off-white. This time it was a kinda carmel, amber, color. Very strange! This off color had no ill effects on texture or taste. Any ideas to what may have caused this?

TIA

Uncle Bob

Aarggg. Lost the whole post.

Re the fall - recipe mentioned 6 eggs separated, so I'm guessing the whites need to form peaks, and any yellow/yolk will inhibit the rise & may change the color. (Souffle maker here.)

Re the color - At what point did you incorporate the vanilla - into the yolks or whites? Perhaps you can take us step by step thru the process. An hour and a half seems like a long time, but if the recipe has worked in the past, the cooking time may not be the problem affecting the color & rise.

Re the sour cream - presuming it was real sour cream and not the gawdawful IMO or sour cream sub.

 

[Candocook]

It's pretty much a pound cake recipe to me so the time seems fine. Vanilla could color it some. That is strange. So long as it tastes good, carry on!!

 

[bethzaring]

Really do not have an answer....

how is DW's vision? She did not by any chance use whole wheat flour?

really unique problem UB!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Baker...

I checked the dates on everything. All were well within expiration.
Milk was the closest at 5 days.


Miss Mish...

First I am not the baker in the family. I don't do "fomulars" that well.
I can follow a "recipe" which is more forgiving but baking is not one of my forte's.
The reicipe calls for "creaming" the shortning and sugar, adding the yolks, flour, soda, salt, sour cream, and vanilla. Lastly folding in 6 egg whites.
I did not watch DW make the cake so I don't know exactly what she did.
The orginal recipe she has calls for 1 hour 15 min. But based on past experiences she has increased it to 1 hour 30 miiutes and has been doing this for years. The oven has a thermometer inside and is true to the setting on the oven dial. + or - 5 degrees depending on where inside the oven it is placed. It is a Viking gas stove/oven. Its taste and texture was uneffected.
It is not a "white" cake by any means, but this time a amber, light carmel color.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Really do not have an answer....

how is DW's vision? She did not by any chance use whole wheat flour?

really unique problem UB!

Her vision is....well she thinks I am very handsome

There is no wheat flour in the cabinet.

 

[Andy M.]

I can't give you a specific answer. But, given your DW has made this cake countless time and this recipe preparation did not vary for earlier ones,
I would have to deduce there was a problem with one of the ingredients. Don't ask me which ingredient or what was wrong with it, I don't know.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Well, Thanks to all of you for responding. I suppose it will remain a mystery.
As this was not an earth shaking nor life changing event.... my mother used to say, "I've had worse luck and made it just fine" So, Miss Candocook I can assure you that I will "carry on" without missing a bite!

Again, thanks everyone so much for your time and response.

 

[StirBlue]

I have found many extracts (brand names, store brands, off brands) are inconsistent in potion measurements and volumes. I would estimate over a two year span. It was probably the vanilla.

Dark egg yolks would not have mixed freely and she would have noticed and the whites would probably have been cloudy and dense. Eggs can partially freeze in the refrigerator and thaw and we never knew it happened.

The Million Dollar Pound Cake takes 1 1/2 hrs and sometimes longer to bake so I can understand the baking time.

 

[ella/TO]

Hi there: I have one solution, if no one else has metioned it......bake another cake, see how that looks!...LOL

 

[Uncle Bob]

Miss Stirblue...

You may have found the needle in the haystack. I did notice on Saturday morning as I was about to enjoy my weekly ration of eggs, that one of them appeared to be slightly frozen. With grits, contry ham, biscuits, and redeye gravy awaiting me I did not check up! I cooked it along with the other one. It tasted fine. I think I shall tell DW that it was the eggs and suggest as ell/TO did...Just bake another one!!

Again, thanks to each of you!

 

[Alix]

Uncle Bob, no one has yet asked if the sugar possibly lumped up a bit in the mixing. If there were lumps of sugar (humidity?) it might have caused a discoloration when it baked. Was the caramel colour uniform? or was it streaky? I wasn't clear on that.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Uncle Bob, no one has yet asked if the sugar possibly lumped up a bit in the mixing. If there were lumps of sugar (humidity?) it might have caused a discoloration when it baked. Was the caramel colour uniform? or was it streaky? I wasn't clear on that.

Miss Alix,,

My DW made/baked this cake so, I would assume that the sugar was not an issue. The discoloration was not unifrom, nor was it streaky. It did seem to be darker in places, lighter in others. Over all darker than the cake is normally. This is just a pound cake type cake so you can visualize what it's normal color would have been..

I hope this finds you feeling better. (What you an Miss Mish need is a good ration of Hush puppys and a stiff shot of Bourbone)