Saturday, January 17, 2009

Virgin Cake

No, that's not the name of the cake I baked this morning. I called it virgin coz it's the first cake that I baked with my oven (which is already more than 1 year old). The last time I baked a cake was more than 10 years ago. However, this one didn't turn out well. The top overburnt and the bottom wasn't completely cooked. TOTAL DISASTER. I shall blame it on the lousy, small oven of mine. :p

The top browned too fast while the insides took so long to cook. I thought the cake's ready when I tested it with a wooden stick. Then I found that it's a bit wet in the middle when I cut it. So I put it in the oven again. That's when the top overburnt. Arrrgh!

I think another problem was because I used a smaller baking tin. So the batter was almost filled to the brim before baking. Maybe that's why it's very difficult to cook coz it's too thick? *scratch head* I don't know.

The cake is sweet enough but a bit too oily for my liking (I've already put less butter wor *scratch head again*). And definitely not fluffy. But the kids love it. Of course I scrapped off the burnt top and took away the wet part before giving it to them.

~ the ingredients ~

~ batter almost filled to the rim ~

~ after 1st round ~

~ 2nd round, overburnt :( ~

~ see the wet patch at the bottom? sigh... ~

Anyway, I'd like to share the recipe here with you. I'm sure you'll do much better. :-)

FAMILY NESTUM CAKE (taken from Agnes Chang's Baking Made Easy recipe book)

Ingredients :
240g butter/margarine
(I used 210g butter coz that's the remainder I have)
200g castor sugar (I used 160g and it's sweet enough for us)
1 tbsp honey
4 eggs
50g Nestum
200g self-raising flour, sifted
150ml milk

Method :
1. Put butter/margarine, sugar and honey into a mixing bowl and cream till light.
2. Add in eggs one by one, beating well after each addition till creamy.
3. Add Nestum and mix well.
4. Divide flour and milk into 3 parts and fold in alternatively till well-combined.
5. Pour mixture into a 22cm/9in lined and greased square baking tin, baked in a pre-heated oven at 180ÂșC till golden brown and cooked, about 45 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, leave to cool before serving.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

i don't bake either,not a fan of cake... but Nestum cakes sounds yummy because iloved nestum when i was young! thanks for the recipe, i might try one day:)

Kristie said...

dont worry, it's a good try! at least ur kids love it :)

Health Freak Mommy said...

Not too bad for a 'virgin' baker. I'm sure your cakes will turn out better and better if you try baking more. Practice makes perfect. BTW, Nestum cakes sounds yummy!

NomadicMom said...

Yes. Think your tin is too small.
Also, your oven might not be warm enough when you put your cake in, i.e. NOT pre-heated to correct temperature.

Mmm..Nestum cake. Never heard of that before. Maybe will try it one of these days.
Thanks for the recipe

michelle@mybabybay said...

Oven too hot issit?

Fussy mum said...

It's Ok...I'm sure you can bake better the next time. Try cover the top of the cake with aluminium foil when it starts to crack.

Thks for sharing the recipe, i might try it one day too :)

Nina @ BabyBoon said...

slavemom dear, i think the pan was too small too. i usually bake my cakes at 175 degrees and no problems so far. this happened to me once when i started baking and i too wasnt sure what i did wrong. i'm definitely no pro yet but in this case i think a larger pan would help, and if the top burns too fast next time while the middle is still wet, lower the temp further to perhaps 150 degrees. i still think its a great attempt! and who cares how it turned out as long as the kids love it??

Anggie's Journal said...

no wory ... good try ... bake more, u will get the one u want later ...

Mummy Moon said...

Practice make perfect! Do practice more haha... I don't beke too, no oven at home...

Anonymous said...

honey over fill la... kena pakai bigger tray...
mesti try your recipe... mesti sedap sbb ada nestum . well..i prefer bake muffin..easy..no mess ....should i baking tonite??

Alicia said...

its ok even if u dun like it coz the kids like hehehe

andrewjune said...

at least you tried right?
oppss, as for me, i still dont hv the guts to try baking or cook something more complicated hahaha...

anyway, the kids love it!

Chinneeq said...

i have the same book and this is one of my favourite recipe too...Yummy!!

Cheffie-Mom said...

A for effort, right? (: Thank you for the recipe! Love finding new ones!

Anonymous said...

practice makes perfect. u will get to it one day..at least u put effort in it which is already good

Anonymous said...

Practice more times, sure u can master the skill.

Anonymous said...

Yup. You have to practice more often. At least you've tried. Still looks okay from the inside.

Oliveoylz said...

Doesn't matter that it got burnt and all...the kids still love it! That's all that matters...and u can try again and am sure this time ur "not-so-virgin" cake will turn out fab! I volunteer to be ur guinea pig too...coz I'm into "eating" cakes (not baking tho')

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Irene said...

practice makes perfect! hehehe... :)

Anonymous said...

wahkakakakaka.....................
ok ok enuf laughing edi, eh virgin bake is like that wan lar...where got 1 time success wan!!
slowly bake more lar, ok...dun give up wor!!

gotta be aware that there r lots of factors that determine the outcome of a cake:
temperature of oven
type of oven
yes size of tin matters too
ingredients too etc etc etc

slavemom said...

Tq so much for ur words of encouragement. I'll not give up (jes yet :D). Will try again some other time, after I get the 'proper' equipments (a bigger tray is 1st on the list). :-)

2xMum said...

Hmm... not sure whether it's the butter which caused the wetness on the cakes.

I tried Buttercup brand to bake butter cake and my cakes wet at the bottom but it's edible lo.

Then I changed to SCS or golden churn butter, this problem didn't occur.