Birthday Cake

[Anivair]

I mentioned this in my intro (do people read those?) but this seems like the best place for it.

I've been trying out several different cakes for my birthday. I want to have a cake that is all the things people usually like in a birthday cake. Moise, soft, delicious. You know the drill.

Nothing dense or chewy, certainly, and fluffy would be a bonus.

So far i've tried a genoise with no luck. I'm sure it came out as a genoise should, but it was flat and dense, so no good for birthday cake. Also, the flavor seemed a bit eggy to me. is that normal? The recipe came from diannasdeserts.com.

I also tried a gold cake recipe from the food network (alton brown, whose stuff is usually just my style). It came out like corn bread. that recipe can be found under gold cake at foodtv.com. i'd like both of the above, but i can't post hyperlinks (though, since I operate a forum myself, i approve of this setting).

I know that I flubbed Alton's recipe up a bit because it wasn't quite clear (I hadn't seen the episode, so I added eggs and then milk, rather than adding the milk/egg mixture alternating with flour as this method seems to call for).

Now, yellow cake is traditionally my favorite type of cake, though I'm open to lots of flavors that aren't clocolate. A good starberry cake would not go amiss (though I'd be shocked if it was more than a white cake with starberry flavor). sadly, these cakes were just very dense and tasted very eggy in some ways.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Culprit]

How about a Jell-O cake. Do a Google search for "jello cake" and you'll find lots of ideas to choose from.

[siduri]

You don't like chocolate, but i don't consider white chocolate to be chocolate, just a sort of interesting vegetable fat. My absolute favorite is the "white chocolate whisper cake" in rose beranbaum's cake bible. I bet you can find it on internet, or possibly even on this site. Itìs impossible to guess what the ingredient is, but it makes a very delicate, creamy, not dense but rich and wonderful cake. I love to frost it with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream (white chocolate melted and beaten into cream cheese). Again, i emphasize that this is not at all chocolatey in taste, but the white chocolate has a density and melting point that renders the cake texture sublime, and it just tastes like a very good vanilla cake. I think that is the absolutely best cake i've ever made.
Genoise, nah, i never much liked it.

[felixe the dog]

Originally Posted by Anivair;146770.

So far i've tried a genoise with no luck. I'm sure it came out as a genoise should, but it was flat and dense, so no good for birthday cake. Also, the flavor seemed a bit eggy to me. is that normal? The recipe came from diannasdeserts.com

If it came out flat and dense then you stuffed it! A good genoise is light, with a nice tight crumb and cell structure. A good genoise is a "joy" to eat on its own when it is fresh!!

[felixe the dog]

So I went to dianas desserts and found your genoise recipe. I hate cup measurements, so this recipe is already a dud as it has no accuracy in the preparation of ingredients.

The method is flawed as she only relies on the mechanics of the mixer to form the emulsion. Any pastry chef with even 1/2 a brain knows that it must be WARM!.

Also, she should have the tins prepped before making the sponge. Making the sponge and then doing your tins lets the mix sit around so it will collapse and you get the sponge you described previously.

Also, for a more stable foam/emulsion it should be run on a low gear at the end once the emulsion is formed correctly and before the flour is added, the low speed helps even out the cell structure of the emulsion and assists in stability.

I would also check her oven temp as the photo of the sponge is burnt around the edges, what a **** of a website, I'm suprised she didn't recommend banging the tin on the bench to even out the mixture before baking.

If you are stuck for a recipe send me a PM, I'll give you a recipe which works!!