6 common mistakes when making a cake

It is no secret to anyone that in these moments of confinement, every day we become addicted to sweets and biscuits, but sometimes the result is not as expected, and here are some of the reasons why it may not turn out as you wish.

Not correctly calculating the proportions of the ingredients

There are many cupcake recipes, but the most basic one has a very easy to remember recipe. "It's the so-called four quarters, a quarter of each of the four ingredients," says Betina Montagne, who was part of the triad of judges at Bake Off, the pastry contest that Mediaset issued last year. In other words, to get a 1 kilo piece, we will use 250 grams of sugar, and the same amount of flour, egg (4 eggs) and butter. It has no loss. And as always, that they are of good quality will guarantee a good result.

Another fundamental requirement before we get our hands on the dough is that the ingredients are tempered, "an egg fresh from the fridge, which is 0 to 4 degrees does not serve us," says the pastry chef.

That the butter does not have the temperature and the percentage of fat necessary

Whipping the butter is the first step in making a sponge cake. We must have it at about 22 degrees Cº, the ideal room temperature before starting to beat it for 5 minutes until it is fluffy. We can mount it with manual rods or with an electric mixer at medium speed. "It is very important that we do it well because when we inject air it will double or triple its size and in those alveoli that appear, the flour, sugar and egg will enter and they will be able to emulsify," says Betina Montagne. For you to read well, the proportion of fat that butter must have is 82-85%, "the normal supermarket butter". Betina is not in favor of replacing it with margarine "because butter melts at 25 degrees and the human body discards it more easily than margarine, which melts at a higher temperature."

Add sugar very fast

Once the butter is well beaten, it is time to incorporate the 250 grams of sugar. The secret? "Sprinkle it in the form of rain so that it can penetrate the air voids," says the pastry chef who owns Wonder Cookies, a 200-meter space where craft delicacies without preservatives come out. We must emulsify the sugar for 7 minutes with the butter until it mixes well. We can do it with electric rods but also manual ones. "I tell my students in the workshop to work with their arms, or is it that if there is no mixer you are no longer a pastry chef?" Jokes Betina with her sweet singing voice. She comes from a family where gastronomy was always present, and also her aunts and mother were very good pastry chefs.

Mix eggs all at once at low speed

Egg is the natural emulsifier that will unite fat with solids. It must be at 18-20 ºC so that it can emulsify well. The 4 eggs, which are better to be of size M, should not enter the bowl where we are making the cake at the same time, but one by one. "Every time we put one, we mix it at low speed but immediately we increase the speed of the shake because if we are afraid and we do it with little cane the emulsion can cut us", explains the energetic Betina, who, after going through a major New York workshop, has worked with Oriol Balaguer and has been a teacher in Espai Sucre.

We do not add the second egg until the first is well integrated, and so with the next, until finished. "The egg will prepare the mixture for the entrance of the flour." Final texture must be satin and shiny, it is a cream without lumps. Bright, yellow sponges.

Put yeast if it is not necessary or choose the one that is not convenient

If we use wheat flour and emulsify the mixture well, "it is not necessary to add chemical yeast or baking soda to make our cake because the dough will rise on its own," says Betina Montagne. Now, if we have not thoroughly worked out our dough, we can use this resource taking into account that a yeast for bread is not the same as chemical or baking yeast, which does not need time to rest the dough (like bread) but that acts with the heat of the oven. "We are not making a bread dough that rises, develops gluten, rests and doubles in size, we are making a whipped dough," argues the pastry chef.

When is it strictly necessary to use chemical yeast or a substitute?

"When our cake has milk or yogurt it is essential to use 5 grams for every 120 grams of flour." We place it at the moment of adding the flour. For a one kilo sponge cake, a 125 gram yogurt works well for us. "We will put a tablespoon of yogurt and one of flour at the time of beating, until the liquid ends."

Not using the right mold

It may not seem like it to us, but the choice of the mold can make our cake not perfect. "If our cake does not contain chemical yeast, we should use a rectangular-shaped mold, the typical ones for making plumcake, so that it rises evenly and is spongy," explains Betina in detail. If we use a round one we can even cause the structure to break.

Once chosen, we must place a baking paper, (a reusable and non-polluting element) before introducing the dough or spraying with an anti-grease spray. Our expert does not like to cover it with butter and flour because we can have a thicker layer than we want to achieve, we increase the caloric content and we also waste material.