One of the challenges of moving to Germany from the US is baking in the small German ovens. I posted a little bit about this, and showed my stacking trick, here. Thanks to a set of 11x7 pans sent over from my mom, I think I may be over the stacking problem. Stacking was too precarious, forced the pans into the back corners of the oven where they would always burn, and created a dreadful dent in one layer.
I have discovered that the chocolate cake in my Arnio family cookbook works wonderfully in the pair of 11x7 pans (and is de-lish!), but most other recipes don't provide quite enough batter for layers that are as thick as if I had baked in 2 9-inch rounds. I know Canada and the US have big ovens, I heard Australia does too, so for the rest of the world looking to bake a fluffy American style cake - 11x7's are the answer. Nevermind that those are inches and the non USA world speaks metric, that's it folks: you'll have to either find yourself an American oven or get some American pans. Take a look-see at how good those 11x7's look in the German oven:
I had actually forgotten how big American ovens are, and so had Stefan, because when we visited our friends, the Prices, with their American oven in a German house, he said "wow! you could fit a whole person in there!" and I nodded in agreement and awe. Sarah said, "Well it's just a regular American stove; the US military provides them in our off-base housing." That was another moment where I thought I'd been away from the US too long.
Trial and error is sometimes a great method and has taught me that combining the following will produce a perfectly browned and cooked cake in this oven: lowering the rack to the lowest level, continue with the bizarre heat and then fan out/repeat method, and tent with foil for the last 15min. The foil tent was my mom's idea as I started to burn this cake again. See it burned and not cooked here? But after the tent it came out cooked and fluffy, not like last time around!
I should mention the thing about cooking layer cakes with 2 11x7's also means I'll have either one small square cake with 4 layers if I cut them in half, or just a rectangle shaped caked with two layers, like the chocolate and the strawberry cakes below.
By the way, anybody out there feel like emailing me a recipe for a good yellow cake? Or just post a link to an online recipe you've tested and given the thumbs up to? I tried the plain yellow cake in the Better Homes and Gardens pink plaid cookbook and it was TERRIBLE. Ok, the German guests liked it since it was similar to German cake, but it wasn't like the American style fluffy yellow cake I was expecting. Here's Ilea and Ilin celebrating Ilin's birthday with the chocolate cake:
2 comments:
Try doubling the recipe to give the pan a decent fill and cook any extra as cupcakes. Always leave room around the edge of the pan to allow air circulation and uniform distribution of heat. Avoid drafts in the kitchen that may disturb the flow of air inside the oven (it has a vent that is sensitive to air changes in the kitchen). Chef Dad.
right, but then the cupcakes will have to wait until the two cakes are built before they can go in, and then it's not a good idea to leave them sitting out on the counter unbaked for so long, is it?
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