UnCake: Meringues

Meet my new Tool. My last electric mixer was a hand-me-down that was barely alive and only lasted me a few weeks before giving up the ghost. That was a few years ago, and I’ve muddled through without one for a while.

But when a girl wants to make meringues, she needs something more than elbow grease. After using 13 egg yolks for my Gold Cake, I ended up with a lot of egg whites.

The Recipe

3 large egg whites
175g (6oz) caster sugar
pinch of salt

1. Heat the oven to 140C (gas mark 1). Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2. Place the egg whites and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on a low speed for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and whisk for another 2-3 minutes, or until the egg whites form stiff peaks. If you lift the whisk attachment out of the bowl, the mixture should look fluffy and cling to them, while the peaks remain stiff and moist-looking.
3. Then, while continuing to whisk, gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is stiff and glossy – this may take 5-10 minutes.
4. Using a large, metal spoon, place freeform shapes on to the prepared baking trays.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the meringues are pale and dry. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

My Alterations

So yeah. I used a LOT more egg whites than called for. When multiplying the recipe, I realised that it would require about a pound of sugar to sweeten so many egg whites. I wasn’t down with that, so I used about half. The mixture was still sweet, though.

This is how they looked when whipped up:

The Results

I probably should have made a Pavlova rather than meringues, because I just didn’t have the space in my oven to cook them, and had to make two batches even so.

Unfortunately, making meringues is harder than you would think. Or maybe you already know that making meringues is difficult, and I was just hopelessly naive to think I could whip some up one afternoon when I was too rushed to pay close attention to what I was doing!

At any rate, they didn’t turn out very well. The first batch, as pictured above, were undercooked. The tops were that lovely meringue texture and flavour, but the rest of them was too gooey and tasted of sweet eggs. Kind of gross, but you kept going back for more. Yeah.

With the next batch, I was determined to cook them all the way through. I ended up with these specimens:

Not what I would call store-quality, really.

The Verdict

The moral of the story is this: If you have a hankering for meringues, go buy some. Easier, less hassle and mess, and you can enjoy them straight away!

Ah well. I enjoyed watching those egg yolks fluff up into the lovely white sugar-egg mixture. That was kind of fun, actually.

The Rating

1/5

Choice between undercooked sweet eggy goo or burnt meringue. Mmm boy.

Day 4: The Perfect Fairy Cake Recipe

As an American living in England, I am used to a certain way of baking, and I haven’t wrapped my head around the idea of weighing all my ingredients. I have a kitchen scale, but the battery ran out and I haven’t bothered to replace it. Personally, I just prefer using cups and teaspoons. It’s also easier for me to alter a recipe or double/halve it if it’s in American measurements.

But, since I live here, and sometimes American ingredients are hard to come by, I will make the attempt from time to time to use an English recipe. Today, I attempted to make fairy cakes (cupcakes) with my children. In theory, it is an easy recipe, and my kids had a blast creaming sugar, breaking eggs, and mixing batter, but I messed it up. Big time.

Taken from iVillage website.

The Recipe

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz softened butter

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz caster sugar

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz self-raising flour

• 2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Either butter the tin or place the paper cases in the holes (see above). In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon.

2. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, whisking to incorporate, then beat in the vanilla.

3. Sift in half of the flour and fold into the mixture. Add the milk and the rest of the flour and fold until well combined.

4. Spoon into the tin and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing from the tin.

My Alterations

So, without the means to weigh my ingredients, I thought I could wing it with a half cup of each of the main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour) and stick to the same measurements for everything else. I failed to take into consideration that flour weighs a LOT LESS than butter, so we used far too much butter for these cakes. Far, far too much.

We followed the rest of the recipe as closely as possible with two young children in charge of the mixing. Wooden spoons all around; even if I had an electric whisk, there’s no way I would have let my 5 year old and 3 year old anywhere near one!

The children put decorations on the cakes before baking – mostly multicoloured sprinkles and little silver balls. I find it’s easier to bake the sprinkles into the cake itself than it is to make icing and do it after the cakes have cooled.

The Results

I didn’t notice anything amiss in the batter when we were spooning it into the paper cup liners; it wasn’t until after they were finished baking that I noticed the paper liners looked really greasy. My heart sank; I knew I messed up the recipe.

The cakes tasted very greasy when warm, and only less so when cooled. My kids didn’t mind it, and the cakes have now gone into the freezer for storage. These cakes will probably be reserved for kids’ treats only, depending on how well they hold up frozen.

The only redeeming quality of the cakes were the batch with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top before baking. When eaten warm, they tasted like delicious doughnuts. When eaten cold, not so much. Ah well.

The Verdict

I totally messed up this recipe. I’m sure the cakes would have turned out “perfect” if not for my bungling, so their greasy taste is all my fault. Luckily, my kids didn’t seem bothered, and it was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon with them. Sometimes baking isn’t just about how the finished product turns out.

The Rating

2/5

The only passable batch were the cinnamon sugar ones, and they only tasted good when warm. This recipe will probably be reattempted at some point, and made correctly!

Day 1: Carrot Cake

Recipe from Deseret Recipes cookbook. Most of the recipes in this cookbook are pretty bland, but they are also incredibly simple and easy to add to or change around. Recipe is reproduced as it appears in the book.

The Recipe

1. Beat until light and lemon colored……….4 eggs

2. Add…………………………………………………2C sugar, 1C oil

3. Sift together and add to egg mixture……2C flour, 3 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp soda, 1 tsp salt

4. Add…………………………………………………3C grated carrots, 1C chopped nuts (optional)

5. Bake in two 9-inch layer pans at 350F (175C) for 30 minutes.

My Alterations

I actually made this cake twice in one week. The first time, I was in a terrible rush and needed it for a party at my regular playgroup. I didn’t feel like digging out my sifter, so I just dumped the dry ingredients in the bowl and hoped for the best. I also had run out of white flour at that point, so I used some fine whole wheat flour that I had in the back of the cupboard. I didn’t know if anyone at playgroup had a nut allergy, so I used dessicated coconut instead. I was also in the mood to be fancy, so I used my tube pan instead of the 9-inch layer pans that the recipe called for. The cake turned out great (Even after it broke when I took it out of the pan while it was still hot. Sigh.), so I decided to use the rest of my carrots to bake another cake for my family and this blog a few days later.

The second cake was different in a few ways. I had white flour to use this time, so I used that instead of the wheat flour. I didn’t have as many carrots, so it wasn’t the full 3 cups called for in the recipe. I didn’t mind so much, though, because I HATE grating, and I was using the super-fine grater, so it took forever to grate the little suckers. I only had about 1/2 cup of coconut left, so I dumped in a small package of chopped nuts to the recipe along with the coconut. It was about 1/2 cup’s worth as well, so the quantities evened out even though the ingredients weren’t quite right. I used my tube pan again, because that pan turns simple cakes into something really pretty and special without any extra work on my part.

Because the cake was baked in one large tube pan rather than two smaller round cake pans, the baking time was increased to 45 minutes, with me checking on it every few minutes thereafter to make sure it was done. Be careful with this cake, because the cinnamon makes the cake look browner than it really is.

The Results

The first cake turned out perfect. I’m a fan of coconut in cakes, and according to a friend of mine who ate some, the cake had a gingery taste to it. I’m not sure why, since there was no ginger in it at all, but perhaps the combination of carrot, cinnamon and coconut make a ginger taste. I only ate one piece, but it definitely had a pleasant spicy taste, ginger or not. It was very moist and spongy.

The second cake was also very tasty, but with fewer carrots, it didn’t have that distinctive carrot cake taste. This cake definitely needs the minimum 3 cups of carrots, and I am willing to bet it would work just fine with up to 4 cups of grated carrot. The chopped nuts gave an interesting texture, but my husband definitely likes nutty cakes more than me. I like nutty banana bread, but that’s about it. Because of the smaller amount of carrot and coconut, this version of the cake was overpoweringly nutty. Still a great flavour and texture, but I personally preferred the first cake.

I didn’t notice a huge difference in the flours I used. The wheat flour was labeled as “super fine” and “perfect for cakes”, and it was quite as soft and fine as the white flour. If there was a difference in taste, it was minimal.

The Verdict

This is a very easy, versatile cake. It has a great taste, is very moist and spongy, and can stand alone without any frosting. If you don’t have the exact ingredients in your cupboard, you can easily substitute for others without compromising flavour.

I don’t know how long the cake lasts; the first cake went fast at playgroup (the highest praise a cake can get!) and the second cake died an early death. I made the mistake of storing it in the oven on a plate with a knife alongside it, and when I went to make dinner that night, I preheated the oven. By the time I discovered the cake, it was thoroughly charred and the knife handle was completely melted. Super chef, I am not!

I will be saving this cake for special occasions. The effort involved in grating the carrots is more than I’m willing to put into a regular, everyday cake, but that’s just because I hate grating. If I had a fancy gadget that grated stuff for me, I would probably change my mind.

The Rating

5/5

All in all, this is a fabulous cake. Definitely worth five stars.