BRATTLEBORO — Many people remain calm in the kitchen amid clanging pots and pans, carrot peels in the sink, simmering sauces on the stove, and roasts in the oven. Ladles, spatulas, and wooden spoons are juggled with ease, and fabulous meals suddenly appear, seemingly with little effort.
But mention cake baking, however, and skin turns pale, eyes glaze over, hands begin to tremble, voices crack.
What is it about baking that so intimidates otherwise-confident cooks?
It is true that you can't really see what is going on in the oven, and to peek inside would mean certain ruin. You either need brave faith or studied knowledge in the chemistry of baking, or you need a few foolproof recipes.
There is not room here in this column to give the thrilling chemistry of baking its due. There is enough space, though, for a few recipes that take very little effort and no special equipment yet make truly great cakes, each of which can be made in one bowl.
Before we start, here are five golden rules for cake baking, which, not to add to the intimidation, really is a science. These guidelines will help you succeed.
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First, find out the temperature of your oven, because most ovens are not accurate. If you have ever had an over-baked cake, or a cake that is still wet in the middle, you'll take this rule seriously.
Get a reliable oven thermometer, and adjust your oven temperature accordingly. And even if your oven is perfect, it is good to start testing a cake for doneness after maybe two-thirds of the baking time has elapsed.
To test for doneness, insert a toothpick or a cake tester near the center of the cake. If it's dry, the cake is overdone. If it is wet with batter, the cake is underdone. If it just has a few moist crumbs sticking to it, the cake has cooked perfectly.
Most ovens also have serious hot and cold spots. Try this test. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Put 6 pieces of plain loaf bread on a sheet pan and bake them for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Take them out and look at them. Are they evenly browned?
What you see will tell you a lot about how your oven bakes. You might need to rotate pans halfway through baking and/or adjust the rack height as well.
Number two is pan size. If a recipe calls for a 10-inch pan and you cook it in an 8{1/2}-inch pan, the results will be completely different. Use the pan size called for!
The third golden rule is to use quality ingredients and make no substitutions. If a recipe calls for white sugar and you use maple syrup or brown sugar, the chemistry will not be the same and thus, neither will the result. Whole-wheat flour behaves very differently from unbleached white flour.
Pay attention to egg size as well. Most recipes call for large eggs. Using small or jumbo eggs will get you a very different cake.
Ever have a chunk of cake stay in the pan when reversing it on a plate? The next rule is to cool the cake on a cake rack for the amount of time called for in the recipe. Doing so will allow the cake to shrink from the pan and release easily.
The last rule is to read the entire recipe from beginning to end before you start making the cake - in fact, you should do so with all recipes. There is nothing like turning a page and reading “cover and chill for 6 hours,” when it's two hours before dinner!
And with cakes you must follow the recipe. Cooking is about improvisation. Baking is about accurate measuring and following instructions.
The world is filled with endless and marvelous cakes. Some require mastering the art of creaming butter or making Italian meringue or expertly folding sifted flour into airy egg whites without losing volume.
These three recipes require a bowl or two, a whisk, and a spatula. One is richly chocolate, one is the essence of lemons, and one is the perfect apple cake. Let's start with the apple cake.
French apple cake
This is the best apple cake I know. It is moist and rich with butter, filled with lots of fruit and the deeply complex, almost fermented, flavor of rum. A smear of whipped cream or crème fraîche only makes this better. The recipe is adapted from Dorrie Greenspan's Around My French Table.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and adjust the oven rack to the center.
Heavily butter a 9-inch springform pan, and place it on a rimmed cookie sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk:
¶{3/4} cup unbleached white flour
¶{3/4} teaspoon baking powder
¶Pinch of salt
Peel, core, and dice into 1-inch pieces:
¶4 large apples; use a mix of varieties (pears work well, too)
In a large bowl, beat with a whisk until foamy:
¶2 large eggs at room temperature
Whisk in:
¶¾ cup sugar
¶3 tablespoons rum
¶{1/2} teaspoon vanilla
Whisk in half the flour mixture, then gently stir in:
¶8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the fruit until well coated with batter. Scrape into the pan, smooth the top a bit, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until done (see above).
Let the cake cool on a rack for 5 minutes, run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan, release the sides of the pan, and let it be until completely cool.
At this point, you can leave it on the metal bottom of the pan or reverse it on a rack and remove the bottom.
The cake is quite moist and will keep for at least 3 days, covered with an overturned bowl.
Clementine, orange, or lemon cake
This cake, adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat, is so simple yet so fantastic. It is dense and wet and rich and full of the flavor of citrus. It keeps well and actually tastes better as time goes by. Serve with whipped cream and a few raspberries on the side. It is also great just plain, for breakfast.
Place in a pot with cold water to cover:
¶Slightly less than 1 pound of clementines, lemons, or oranges
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 hours. This makes the entire house smell fantastic.
Drain and when cool, cut the fruit in half, remove the seeds, then finely chop the whole business – skins, pith, fruit. Or put the whole mess in a food processor until finely chopped.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan, then line it with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk until foamy:
¶6 large eggs
Add and mix well:
¶1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (1{1/4} cup if using oranges or lemons)
¶2{1/3} cup finely ground almonds
¶1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
Add the chopped fruit and mix well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 50 minutes. Test after 30 minutes. If the cake starts to brown too much, loosely cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil.
When the cake is done, remove it to a rack and let it cool completely in the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate and remove the pan bottom.
Flourless chocolate cake
We all need a killer chocolate cake from time to time. This one, from The Gourmet Cookbook (edited by Ruth Reichl) is it: dense, rich, chocolately, and ridiculously simple. It is all about the ingredients, so try and get the best you can find.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter the paper.
In a medium metal bowl, melt over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth:
¶8 ounces chocolate, bittersweet
¶{1/2} lb. butter, unsalted
The trick here is to use very low heat. Don't let the pan touch the water, and keep stirring.
As soon as the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in:
¶1{1/2} cups sugar
Whisk in, one at a time until well combined:
¶6 large eggs
Sift over the mixture:
¶1 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
Whisk the cocoa powder until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until done, about 35-40 minutes (see above).
Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan. Continue to let the cake cool, then invert onto a plate and remove the pan bottom. Serve with whipped cream.
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These simple cakes are not mere substitutes for the 'real' thing. They are the cakes I make time and time again, for their flavor, their texture, and their complexity.
Learn all you can about baking and its intriguing chemistry. Take on genoise and sponge cake and Dobos torte. Mix and whip and beat away.
However skilled you become, you will return to these three beauties. What better way to spend a slushy March than perfecting sweetness in the kitchen?