Cake notes:
· Dutch oven cakes are essentially cold oven cakes, where you start with a cold oven and bake longer.
· Novice cakes will usually use store bought cakes. Anyone can bake a cake in a Dutch oven with a store bought cake.
· All cake recipes made from scratch with all purpose flour use the same basic ratio of ingredients, measured by weight:
1 part flour (one cup is about 4-5 ounces), 1 part egg (1 large egg is 2 ounces), 1 part sugar (one cup is 8 ounces), and 1 part fat (one stick of butter is 4 ounces).
The ingredient lists for most cakes use the egg, which is 2 ounces, as a starting point for the weights of the other main ingredients because of course; you can’t cut an egg in half. For example 2 ounces flour (1/2 cup), 1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons), 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg is the starting ratio for cake. After you master this idea, the sky’s the limit.
· Always read the entire recipe, top to bottom, before you start mixing anything, this will save you loads of time. Always try to have the ingredients at room temperature. If you forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator, put them in a small bowl of hot water for 2 minutes.
· Gather all of the ingredients and equipment and place it on your counter before you start. If you don’t you will invariably forget something and waste time fetching it.
· If you want a richer, denser cake cream the butter and sugar and then the eggs and flour. If you want a lighter sponge type cake mix the eggs and sugar first, then the butter and then the flour.
· Dust raisins and other dried fruit in flour before you add to the batter to help prevent sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking.
· Cakes are done when they shrink slightly from the edge of the Dutch oven.
Cakes are done when a big toothpick or knife inserted in the middle comes out dry.
Cakes are done when you touch it with your finger and it springs back,
· Under bake chocolate cakes a bit as chocolate hardens when it heats.
· When measuring sticky stuff like molasses, honey, or syrups rinse measuring cups in warm water and they won’t stick.
· If you happen to run out of powdered sugar take 1 cup regular sugar and 1 tablespoon corn starch, put in a food processor and run at medium speed for 2 minutes.
· Quick bread ratios:
· All quick breads use this basic ratio by weight; 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part fat. (See above for common weights) Almost everything else for cakes works here. The batter will be thicker.
· Pie note:
· When you make pie crust, make sure everything, including the equipment, is cold!
· Once you get the pie crust ready you can add almost any fruit concoction imaginable.
