In my eagerness to aid Haiti one treat at a time I posted a recipe without trying it. Bad idea. I took the ingredients for the Haitian Cake to our standing Thursday night get together. We all kind of pitched in and eagerly anticipated the outcome.
I attempted it in cupcake form so I could pick from several different icings. That may have been mistake #1. (Notice I began a numbering sequence.) Mistake #2 not having soft enough butter. I had a few tiny clumps in the batter and when they baked out, it was a grease fest! Mistake #3 was guessing at the cook time for cupcakes vs. large rounds. The sides were beginning to brown but there was still liquid bubbling up so I didn't think they were ready. When I did the toothpick test, I was surprised that they were done and that the pick was meeting a good bit of spongy resistance. From all of this, I have deduced that using 5 eggs for a cupcake recipe is probably not the best idea. The result was a very eggy, custardy, quiche-esque cupcake! It wasn't horrible but it wasn't repeatable either.
Some of you more experienced bakers may have some input here... I wondered a few things
- Would it have had a different consistency if I would have baked it in 9" rounds?
- I used cake flour which is supposed to be much finer than regular flour. Would that have made it more "quiche-esque?"
- Did I over mix it? I used my friend's amazing Kitchen Aid stand mixer for the first time. So exciting, but much more thorough than I am used to!
At any rate, I knew we were in trouble when someone thought it would be really good with some bacon and served for breakfast... I might try again tomorrow with less egg-age. If you have any revision suggestions let me know.
It did cross my mind that I have no idea what Haitian cuisine is supposed to taste like and it might have been spot on. I guess I just decided that if I was going to sell this to raise money, I would have to doctor it up a bit to meet the sweetness standards of our Western palate.
I will say that I suggest a coconut pecan frosting. It was a really good combo. And to be honest, I don't even like either one of those separately. But, it really worked.
More soon... for now, here's the pitiful picture from tonight :)
2 comments:
Iam thinking that they meant all purpose flour, using cake flour instead will make a difference and the cake won't come out the same. I also to think that the cupcake vs. rounds will make a difference in this type cake. Also did you reduce the milk enough, it would make a difference. See this is the reason I so much more a cook than a baker. Too much chemistry that can get messed up. You may over mixed it as well, I would so no longer than 2 minutes, most recipes call for 2 mins of mixing. I hope that helps some.
I made this again today and it was MUCH better.
Here are the changes I made:
I hand mixed everything with a wooden spoon. (Now I don't have to work out tonight!)
I used all purpose flour
I only used 3 eggs.
I baked it in the round pans as instructed...
And VOILA... much better... I guess it was all my wild improvisatory ideas... Stick with the program, Lani!!!
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