Thursday, August 12, 2010

Blueberry and Vanilla cake. Yumbo Bumbo


I cooked this little Blueberry and Vanilla cake up last night and the smell through the house was divine and it tastes delicious. My only concern is that it was just a bit on the dry side towards the bottom so I'm asking any cake experts if or what I can do to keep or get some moisture in the bottom of my cake. Any takers?
I think it's a keeper and I'll cook it again but I'd like it with a bit moisture.



Blueberry and Vanilla cake

Ingredients:

1 cup extra light olive oil
3 eggs (I used 2 average eggs and 2 bantam eggs)
¾ cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups SR flour, sifted
¾ cup milk
1 cup blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 160º. Grease and line cake tin. Place oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl - whisk to combine. Add half flour, stir to combine. Add half milk stir to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Pour mixture into prepared cake tin. Sprinkle with blueberries. Bake for one hour. Check cake is cooked by inserting a toothpick. Stand in cake tin for 10 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of “A Woman’s Look at Camping & Cooking" via Go Camping Australia Magazine

Cheers and happy cooking

Stewart

3 comments:

Pip said...

Hi Stewart,
just looking at your picture and it looks to me as if maybe it was a bit overcooked on the bottom. You could maybe drop your oven temp, or double line the base of your tin, or if your oven is one of those with the element on the bottom, either cook the cake on a higher rung, or maybe place an oven tray beneath the cake to help insulate a bit. It might need less than 1 hour in your oven, some ovens cook quicker than others, try again maybe and start looking at it at 40 minutes.

My Veggie Garden said...

Hi Pip, yes I noticed the bottom was a bit overcooked and I think I'll be trying most of your suggestions next time I bake this one.

Chris said...

I'm a bit late to reply, but I hope my suggestions help for future cakes.

I'm guessing that it's your oven like Pip suggested.

Many non fan-forced ovens can have heat pits that will overcook your efforts every time. For non fan forced ovens, you should always aim for the middle of the oven space when cooking.

Many oven elements can be tempremental too, especially if they get food baked onto them. The best thing you can do for your baking efforts, is learn how your oven bakes. Get a professional thermometre and find out what temps your oven is actually baking at.

With your next cake, turn your dial to a slightly lower temp - a couple of millimetres with your dial.

At that temp you should be safe to open your oven after 40 minutes (as Pip suggested) to check your cakes. Touch the centre of the cake lightly with your fingertips. If the mixture sinks then it's not ready. This is why you have to touch the centre gently.

If however, the cake immediately springs back when you touch it, you can test it with a skewer. If it neither sinks or springs back, then it probably needs another 5-8 minutes in the oven before checking again.

A general rule with opening the oven with cakes - at 180 degrees C, never open before baking 30 minutes. At 160 degrees C, never open before 40 minutes. If you open your oven before these times, your cake will more than likely sink and be flat.

If you're ever in the market for an oven in future, look at fan-forced ones. They do a better job of consistent temperatures. Even with mine though, you still have to learn where the bad spots are. They show up less with a fan-forced oven, but they are still there.

It looks like a delicious cake and I adore blueberries, so I may have to give this one a try. :)