I made this cake recipe for the occasion of my daughter's birthday. To be sure it would be a successful cake, I did it 3 times. The first time was a catastrophe. If you recall, I have a bundt cake book that I love in terms of a combination of ingredients but it is way unbalanced when it comes to quantities. So, every cake is a real challenge. But I do not give up, because this is how I learn to adjust the recipes. The more I fail, the more I search for the mistake and I fix it with the next bake. This is how I grow my experience with baking.
The first one rose nicely in the oven but when cooling it fell down to a level lower than before the baking. I've learned 3 lessons: first, the butter needs to be at room temperature when I bake this type of cake, second, never trust the timing mentioned in the recipe book and third, if you feel there is not enough flour to make a consistent batter, simply add it. My cake was undercooked in the middle and overcooked on the crust. The combination of those factors led to the cake falling down.
The second bake was a control bake and is the one you see in the photo. It turned out with a great crumb, exactly as I wished for. The third one was the cake that my daughter brought to school for her birthday and went exactly like the second one.
I learned my lessons and I've put another brick in my baking experience.
Ingredients:
- 350g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 230g (must be at room temperature)
- 250g sugar
- 5 eggs (at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons of lemon zest (or the zest of 2-3 lemons)
- 125ml fresh lemon juice (that is from 2-3 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 240g sour cream
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Be sure you have all the requested ingredients at room temperature.
- Start by whisking the butter with sugar. The butter must be at room temperature otherwise it won't work. Whisk until light, creamy and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time and continue to whisk.
- Add the zest, the vanilla essence and the lemon juice. The composition might curdle a bit but it is normal.
- In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Add this flour composition alternatively with the flour into the butter composition and continue to mix.
- Bake at 160ºC for 60-75 minutes or until a stick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
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