Tag Archives: baking tips

How to fix those ugly cake tunnels.

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If you love to bake you’ve surely encountered this problem; cake tunnels. There are many reasons why this can happen so you have to test and see what will work best for you in order to solve the issue. Cake tunnels might not affect the flavor of a cake but we bakers like to have a nice crumb on our cakes, and tunnels are really not attractive. If they’re too big they can change the texture of the cake and we don’t want that either.

So let’s go through a few things you can check to ensure you have a cake with an even crumb.

Eggless Cake Recipe Tutorial

The first thing you might want to make sure is not to overmix a cake batter. Over mixing can create gluten formation. I won’t go into the science of gluten so I don’t make this a lengthy blog. If you’re overmixing your cake batter, it can create the gluten. The gluten combined with the liquids (water or milk), plus your chemical leaveners (baking soda or baking powder), can produce bigger pockets of air instead of the tiny pockets we are looking for. This is why we avoid over mixing the batter.

Clabber Girl Baking Powder - Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Double Acting Baking Powder in a Resealable Can, Kosher, Halal - 22 Oz Can (1)

With that said, the next thing I will mention is your chemical leaveners. If you’re not over-mixing your batter, then it’s a good idea to make sure that your cake recipe contains the correct amount of baking powder and or baking soda. Too much of these ingredients can create tunnels as well. If your recipe has a normal amount of it then do make sure that the ingredients are dispersed all over the dry ingredients as evenly as you can. This is why some chefs recommend sifting the dry ingredients up to 3 times. I know we don’t like to hear that but there’s always a reason why things are being recommended. The reason for sifting 3 times is to make sure that all the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. So whether if you want to sift 3 times or just once, do make sure you mix all your dry ingredients well.

The next step is to make sure is that your cold ingredients are at room temperature. LetKerrygold Pure Irish Butter Foil 8.0 oz (pack of 20) say you are creaming your butter and sugar and it looks perfect. Then you add cold eggs. The cold eggs will affect the butter making it hard again and creating lumps of butter creating an uneven batter. Another thing that is recommended is to add one egg at a time and mix well before adding the next one. That way you create a batter that is properly emulsified and aerated. So when it comes to cold ingredients, make sure that they are at room temperature so you end up with a good outcome.

There are different ways of mixing cake batter. I usually do the Creaming Method of Mixing in my cakes but there are other methods used, like the 2-stage Reverse Mixing Method (mostly used in high ratio cakes) as well as another method called the Muffin Method Mixing. I might do another blog to explain each method, but for now, I will mention that the way you are mixing your cake batter might create tunnels too. So keep that in mind.

Check for my favorite cake recipes here!

Another thing to watch out for is a thick batter. When the batter is thick, it’s harder to pour and spread in the pan. Some people feel the need to add more liquids depending on the recipe and trust me, I’ve done recipes that I agree need more liquids but some recipes are great tasting and I don’t like to mess with that.

Moist and Delicious White Cake Recipe Tutorial.

So what do I do for thick recipes when I don’t want to add more liquids? I make sure they are dispersed properly over the pan. So once I pour the batter, I take a knife and go in a zig-zag motion all over the pan. Not only will this help the batter fill in every inch of the pan but it will cut any air pockets in the batter. Once I do this, I bang the pan a few times on the table to make sure the air pockets will rise to the top of the batter.

I’m sure some of you have encountered this problem before and found your own solutions so please feel free to share your ideas. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this Blog. I’m posting the video below so you can watch it. You can also visit my website for more tutorials!

I hope you guys stay safe, healthy, and keep baking.

Until next Blog, Ta Ta!
Edna 😀

 

Best Macadamia Nut and White Chocolate Cookies

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Best Macadamia Nut & White Chocolate Cookie Recipe

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I love macadamia nuts. My father got me into eating them and one of my
favorite cookies are the macadamia nut and white chocolate. I had some
of the ingredients and decided to make some of these amazing cookies.

Not sure who is the original creator of this recipe since it was passed to
me by a friend. But there was nothing to fix in this recipe. It’s perfect and
delicious. I am adding a few tips so you guys get a great cookie.
Click here for the recipe.

Baking Macadamia Nut & White Chocolate Cookie Recipe

There is a science to baking cookies. I read over the years people talking how
they want their cookies softer, while others like them crunchy. But the most
dreaded issue people face is, why did my cookie spread and now looks
like a flat blob?

There are so many reasons why cookies can go wrong. One of these reasons
will come from ingredients. Too much sugar can make a cookie spread.
But one factor that people don’t figure most of the time is the butter. Margarine,
for example, will spread more than butter since it is more oily and softer.

Another reason why cookies can spread is from putting the cookies in a hot
cookie sheet that just came out of the oven. The heat from the sheet will cause
the butter to melt before it has a chance to set. So avoid placing your cookies
in a hot cookie sheet or make sure to move fast if you decide to do this. Just
have the cookies pre-shaped so it’s a matter of placing them real fast and move
to the oven in a snap.

Sometimes people use too much butter or oil on the pan that can make a cookie spread too much while it’s cooking. I use the non-stick aluminum foil and it’s a fast clean up, plus I don’t have to add anything. The cookies don’t stick to it. You can also use a Silpat, (non slip baking mat), which is really good for this.

Make sure that you don’t over beat your mixture. This only creates air and that air can cause pockets that eventually just deflate. I usually tend to place my mixture in the fridge. Since the butter in the recipe is used at room temperature,
I want the butter to harden up so that my cookies stay fatter.

Best Macadamia Nut & White Chocolate Cookie Recipe

If you follow all these steps and you still get flat blobs for cookies, you can
either use half butter and half shortening. You can use all shortening too instead,
but if you are like me, you might not want to give up the buttery taste. If that is
the case, you have one more option. Lower the temperature of the oven. All
ovens are different. You would think that temperatures should be the same in
all ovens, but somehow things change between one oven to the next. So if
you have tried it all, and your cookies are just not cooperating with you, lower
the oven to 300 degrees. They will take a bit longer to bake, around 24 minutes
for chewy and 30 minutes if you like them crispier. And this time amounts are just approximations. Since each oven works different, just make sure to watch
your cookies.

There are many factors that can make a cookie recipe go wrong. This recipe
I am posting has been tested and it works great. So if you find yourself with
cookies you were not happy with, try the recipe again and follow the tips above.
I am sure you guys have your own tips so feel free to share them. In the
meantime, I hope you guys enjoy this recipe. (Click here for recipe)

Until next blog, ta ta!
Edna