Q. I have been making a cherry nut cake for many years, with great success. Now when I make it, it plops in the middle right before it is taken from the oven. What am I doing wrong? Please help me so I can get a night’s sleep.
Helen Margalus, Woodridge
A. Sleep tight. We tried your recipe in the test kitchen and it behaved as you warned, rising nicely only to collapse about 5 minutes before it was fully baked.
After looking over the ingredients, it seems possible that somewhere between your years of success and subsequent failure there was a transcription error. The large amount of baking powder and tandem use with baking soda is suspect.
Baking soda, or bicarbonate of soda, when used with acidic ingredients–such as buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream or molasses–produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles. These cause the batter or dough to rise. Baking powder is made from baking soda plus an acidic ingredient such as cream of tartar. This, too, forms carbon dioxide gas but only when mixed with alkaline (non-acidic) ingredients such as sweet milk or water.
Occasionally, the two leavening agents are combined in one recipe. However, the amounts in the recipe you submitted were excessive. In almost any situation, 4 teaspoons of baking powder is too much, especially when combined with baking soda–as in your recipe. In addition to collapsing, the color of the cake was off, another telltale sign of too much leavening.
The second time the cake was tested, baking soda was eliminated and the amount of baking powder was cut almost in half. It worked like a charm. The resulting cake, a pretty shade of pink, is ideal for Easter.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 70 minutes
Yield: 14 servings
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 large bottle (10 ounces) maraschino cherries
Milk
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup (4 ounces) toasted chopped walnuts
Frosting:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
1/3 cup sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk, heated to a boil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. For cake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch tube pan and dust lightly with flour.
2. Stir together flour and baking powder; set aside. Drain cherry juice into a measuring cup. Add milk to the cherry juice to equal 1 cup; set aside. Chop cherries; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons flour mixture; set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until light, 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Alternately add milk mixture and flour to butter mixture. Beat egg whites with clean beaters until they hold soft peaks. Fold into batter along with cherries and walnuts.
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Loosen from sides and remove from pan. Cool before frosting.
5. For frosting, combine butter, cream cheese, shortening and sugar in a food processor and mix until light, 1 minute. With motor running, drizzle boiling milk through feed tube, adding only enough to make a smooth, fluffy frosting; mix until smooth, 1 minute; mix in vanilla.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories………..565 Fat……………34 g Cholesterol…..130 mg
Sodium……….135 mg Carbohydrates…..61 g Protein…………8 g
Q. The million-dollar winning recipe for the Pillsbury Bake-Off calls for butterscotch caramel fudge ice cream topping. I’m familiar with the product; it is made by Mrs. Richardson’s. Unfortunately, all I can find anymore is the non-fat version, made without butter. The original is infinitely better tasting. Did they stop making the original?
Ginny Doerr, Chicago
A. No, says Scott James, a spokesman for Quaker Oats, makers of Mrs. Richardson’s ice cream toppings. The non-fat version was introduced several years ago to satisfy a market niche. However, sales of the original outpace the non-fat. And that was before the Bake-Off.
Now, popularized by the contest, the product temporarily may be out of stock. However, James says that Jewel Foods, Dominick’s Finer Foods and Omni Foods should carry the product.
