Cake had texture of cornbread

[lsutiger]

Made my first cake yesterday. I don't have a mixer, so I did everything by hand, which was slightly taxing. The flavor was fine, but the texture of the cake came out different than i was anticipating; it ended up like cornbread. I used all purpose flour instead of cake flour, because I couldn't find any cake flour anywheres. I thought maybe that could be the problem? Or maybe I didn't use enough baking powder? I have no clue, but if anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is the recipe I was following:

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
Note: 2 separate batches of this batter are required in this recipe (do not double)

 

[Andy M.]

If you used 2 1/2 cups of AP flour in place of the cake flour, you would have needed more liquid. The AP flour absorbs more liquid than cake flour.

You can substitute All Purpose for Cake Flour.

In a pinch, you can approximate cake flour by using ⅞ cup of all purpose flour and ⅛ cup cornstarch.

However, if you're looking for tender pastry that’s nice and flaky, you may be disappointed.

 

[lsutiger]

Ah yes, I just read about the cornstarch in a cookbook my mom gave me. So in the case of this recipe, in an attempt at the cornstarch sub, I would just add 1/2 C of cornstarch to the existing amount of flour I used, or should I use less flour?
Thanks!

BTW I was going for like white wedding cake type of texture, if that helps.

 

[philso]

i'm not too sure what you mean by "like cornbread". was it too crumbly? lots of tunnels? just too dense? dry? over beating is a very likely cause of some texture problems, and since you mention that it was "taxing", this might be the case. also, ap flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheats and will develop more gluten than cake flour.

 

[Candocook]

I don't think the flour will make that much difference. I have often--routinely--made cakes with AP flour. Your sub with cornstarch is closer to 1/4C (just a bit more) to make the 2 1/2C cake flour.
I think it is possible the texture of this cake may be a coarse crumb--not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Andy M.]

About 1/3 cup of corn starch and enough AP flour to make the original measure of 2 1/2 cups.

 

[lsutiger]

philso, everything you said is exactly how I would describe it. It is certainly possible that the texture is supposed to be like this, but I was looking for something a lot....smoother? Thanks for all the replies

After doing a little more searching on the internet (epicurious), I think what I was trying to accomplish was some sort of pound cake or layer cake, as far as the texture and crumbleness of the cake.

 

[goboenomo]

Hmm. I kind of like the texture of cornbread... I the flavour was fine you say?
I think I'll have to try this... and now that it's on my mind... I'm gonna ask for a cornbread recipe!

Thanks :P

 

[lsutiger]

I love cornbread. In fact, I had just made red beans and rice, and that's what made me think that it had a cornbread-like texture.

 

[lsutiger]

Well, I was able to obtain the type of denseness I was looking for with this recipe. After sitting out for awhile it tasted a bit dry; I was wondering if anyone wanted to take a look at that recipe and maybe give me some advice or point me in the direction of a cake of similar denseness that might retain some more moisture. Again, thanks for all the help, this site is so awesome.

 

[StirBlue]

I don't think there is enough butter in this recipe to come close to making anything like a pound cake and that's a lot of milk. You need to find a new recipe. If you're trying to make a pound cake for sure, look for a million dollar pound cake recipe. It takes a little longer to bake but is worth every minute.

 

[Candocook]

Well, I was able to obtain the type of denseness I was looking for with this recipe. After sitting out for awhile it tasted a bit dry; I was wondering if anyone wanted to take a look at that recipe and maybe give me some advice or point me in the direction of a cake of similar denseness that might retain some more moisture. Again, thanks for all the help, this site is so awesome.

This is pretty close (in ratios of ingredients) to several pound cake recipes I have from many years. If it is dry, it is perhaps a bit overbaked. Try a little less time in the oven. That is the most common "problem" with pound cakes, in my opinion.
If you double this recipe it will bake nicely in a bundt cake pan--that is what my recipes use (and why this recipe is similar, if doubled). If I want loaves, I bake in two loaf pans. Watch and test for doneness though. There should be a bit of crumb sticking to your tester--not "clean". And the edges should just be pulling back from the edge of the pan. The center of the cake (if there is a "break") may look a little "wet/moist".

 

[philso]

i don't have my pound cake recipe at hand, but i don't think i need it.

1 lb butter
1 lb sugar
1 lb eggs
1 lb flour
a hefty pinch of salt
a good glug of vanilla

you can go about putting this together a number of different ways, but essentially they all involve beating as much air into the eggs as possible, as there is no other leavening involved. the salt and the vanilla can actually go into the recipe at various point and places.

one method: combine the eggs and sugar in a large copper or stainless steel bowl. place over gently boiling water and, keeping the eggs moving so they don't turn into scrambled eggs, beat until the color turns to a creamy light yellow, the volume has increased 3- or 4-fold, and if you take a wooden spoon or rubber spatula out of it, it comes off not like water from the tap, but in sheets or ribbons. take it off the heat and beat another minute or so, so it won't continue to cook from the heat of the bowl. let cool enough so that it won't melt the butter when added.
beat the butter until it's as fluffy as it's going to get and add the vanilla.
sift the flour with the salt 2 or 3 times.
gently fold in about 1/3 of the egg mixture into the butter, then sift in about 1/3 of the flour. continue alternating folding in 1/3rds.

another method: cream the butter and sugar well, with the vanilla. add only the yolks, 1 at a time while beating, until it's as fluffy as possible. beat the whites to a soft peak. then fold in 1/3 of the meringue, then 1/3 of the sifted flour, etc. as above.

fold the ingredients to make the batter, but don't beat the batter itself, if you follow me you can also fold in dried fruits,as much or as little as you like, for a fruit cake.

this cake is rich, has a good crumb, and makes a great fruit cake. you'd have a lot of trouble making this one come out dry. it will make 2 loaves, and should probably be baked at about 350 f for around an hour, but as i said, i don't have my recipe at hand. use your eyes and do the toothpick test.

 

[oversteve]

I too have encountered the problem in which my cake had the texture of cornbread. It was as if it had risen but was still quite compact. I did not use cake flour only all purpose. Additionally, I was actually making cupcakes and in order to reduce the servings by half I simply cut all ingredients by 1/2. This left me one problem...how to divide 3 eggs by two. I came very near to literally using one and one half eggs but went with 2 instead.

Does anyone suspect the absence of cake flour or the addition of 1/2 egg to be a problem. I just want the scratch recipe to look and taste like a box of cake mix would look after being baked (density, moistness, etc.)

Also...pound cake isn't quite the same as regular cake is it???

Please help.

 

[philso]

I too have encountered the problem in which my cake had the texture of cornbread. It was as if it had risen but was still quite compact. I did not use cake flour only all purpose. Additionally, I was actually making cupcakes and in order to reduce the servings by half I simply cut all ingredients by 1/2. This left me one problem...how to divide 3 eggs by two. I came very near to literally using one and one half eggs but went with 2 instead.

Does anyone suspect the absence of cake flour or the addition of 1/2 egg to be a problem. I just want the scratch recipe to look and taste like a box of cake mix would look after being baked (density, moistness, etc.)

Also...pound cake isn't quite the same as regular cake is it???

Please help.

especially for pound cake, you should be fine using ap flour. you can get away with using ap flour for just about any cake, though the crumb won't be as fine as with cake flour. you can also substitute a small amount of corn starch for part of the regular flour. however, unless you're making a nice sponge cake or chiffon cake, etc., i wouldn't worry about the flour at all.

a little more or a little less egg? less will make the cake more crumbly and perhaps a little more dry (you could add another tablespoon of butter to make it more moist). a little more egg will make the cake hold together better, add some moisture, and make it chewier.

and yes, pound cake is different from "regular" cake, though it depends on what kind of "regular" cake you're talking about. it would take at least a page or so to cover that though, so unless you're really interested, i'll pass on that topic for now.