Which of us does not like delicious cakes and pastries, which make it so pleasant and effective to seize up any stresses and troubles! And what kind of hostess would not like to bake a miracle of culinary art during especially significant family celebrations - crumbly and light homemade cake. Trying to cook a magnificent sponge cake at home, many women were faced with the fact that it is not always that it turns out to be of excellent quality. What is the reason that instead of the laid light and air cake there is a flat and dense pancake? How to bake a biscuit? About it - further. And the thing is that there are rules for baking a biscuit, knowing which to bake high-quality cake is not so difficult.
What does the hostess need?
Baking a porous and weightless cake will require considerable experience and dexterity, which are gained in the process of regular practice. Over time, you can learn how to feel the dough, but a lot of factors are of great importance in baking biscuit - the freshness of the products, the order of their mixing, the number of ingredients, the size of the baking dish, as well as the baking temperature of the biscuit and the time spent in the oven.
Definitely, the products for the test should be of high quality and fresh, and the dishes and the device for whipping are perfectly clean and wiped dry. The baking dish is prepared in advance - the bottom and walls are covered with special baking paper to avoid sticking of the finished cake, or smeared with plenty of butter, you can thoroughly crush them with flour. If the baking technology of the biscuit is done correctly, then the cake will come out very appetizing and aesthetic in appearance.
Mixing order
In order of mixing products, you should adhere to the following scheme:
- eggs, be sure to beat them at room temperature until a strong foam appears;
- add granulated sugar, beat again;
- add wheat flour last, which should be mixed with starch and sifted through a sieve - to add splendor.
Cooking features
It is best to beat eggs with a mixer - this is faster and the mixture is better, but you can work with a regular whisk, however, you will have to beat for a very long time, until the mass is three times larger and does not look like cream in density and color. Adding sugar mixed with vanilla, it should be administered in small portions so that the grains are completely dissolved in the mixture, and beat for 10 minutes. Flour is introduced gradually at a minimum speed of the mixer. Knead the dough for no more than 15-20 seconds, otherwise the cake will be too dense and heavy.
Pastry masters simply stir the flour with their hands and do it for no more than two minutes, but housewives can decide on it only when they already have rich experience and practice, because inept actions with the dough will lead to the loss of airiness and lightness by the confectionery. You can add zest to the dough for taste, but only after the flour has been completely mixed. When the dough is ready, it must immediately be sent to the oven, since it is impossible to stand after beating. Carefully pouring the mass into the mold, it should be carefully, without shaking and loud noises, transferred to the oven and continue to remain silent, because from any sharp knock or pop the dough can instantly settle down and no splendor and airiness will come out.
Temperature and baking time
Since the temperature and baking time of the biscuit is very important, serious attention must be paid to this point. At the time of putting the dough into the oven, its temperature should be 180 degrees. At this temperature, cake is baked for 30 minutes, during which it is not recommended to even approach the oven, not to mention opening it or looking in there. After baking for half an hour, the temperature is reduced to 160 degrees and baking is continued.
The fact that the baking temperature of the biscuit in the oven plays an important role in the baking process of high-quality cake is illustrated by the fact that the dough during baking can inflate and become a “hump”. This trouble happens when the oven heats unevenly. In order to avoid this next time, you need to place an additional baking sheet on the upper level. When burning the bottom of the cake in the lower part of the oven, put water in a heat-resistant container. After the biscuit is completely baked, it needs to be kept in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, then removed and carefully free the form.
The biscuit is cut with a special string, so the cakes come out smooth and neat. To bake a biscuit, you will need chicken eggs - 10 pieces, saraha-sand and flour - 250 grams each, vanilla sugar - 2 teaspoons, starch - 1 tablespoon.
What temperature and baking time are required?
Ensuring the correct temperature regime when baking a biscuit dough is one of the most significant conditions for obtaining a successful result. Without this, a good pie will not work. But the degrees of baking a biscuit in different devices may vary, as well as the cooking time. At present, housewives have a wide choice on which heat appliance to cook food and where to bake a biscuit. Only their features should be taken into account: the baking time of the biscuit in the oven, slow cooker, bread machine is set depending on the technical characteristics of the device. It is possible that in the first case, the process of preparing the product will take longer.
Baking a biscuit in a gas oven
The optimal temperature for baking biscuit in a gas oven lies in the range 175-185 degrees Celsius. It is determined on the basis of physical processes that occur during thermal exposure to the dough. The dough becomes airy thanks to air bubbles that have stuck into the dough mass along with protein foam and oxygen-enriched sifted flour. These bubbles during the baking of biscuit expand significantly and make the mass fluffy and chubby. But if at the same time the temperature inside the oven is below 175 degrees, the expansion of the bubbles will not reach the desired level in volume, and at 185 degrees a hard crust will begin to form on the surface, although the inside of the cake remains insufficiently baked. In addition, the thickness of the cake itself is of considerable importance.
Baking the base for the roll, the hostess must set the baking temperature of the biscuit immediately to 200 degrees. The process will take, as required by technology, 30-35 minutes. One of the main drawbacks of gas-heated ovens is that the bottom in them heats up too much, and to adjust the temperature you have to line the bottom of the chamber with dense foil or use a special baking stone to reduce the heating level. And the form itself is set on the middle shelf of the chamber, for the top is no less hot than the bottom.
Baking in the electric oven
If the hostess uses an electric oven, the baking temperature of the biscuit in the electric oven can remain identical to that set for the gas furnace. That is, 175-185 degrees. But ovens with electric heating are equipped with a convection function, which contributes to the uniform distribution of temperature throughout the space of the oven, which ensures good baking of the dough. It should be understood that when applying convection, which provides good airflow to the oven, the baking temperature of the biscuit increases significantly. Therefore, if this mode is activated, the oven should only be heated to 160 degrees.
Baking a biscuit in a multicooker
To prepare a pie in a slow cooker, it is enough to mix all the ingredients and load them into a special compartment, then turn on the baking mode. As a rule, baking a biscuit in a multicooker takes place at a temperature of 160 degrees, and this takes about one hour if the bowl is quite large in the device, or 80 minutes if it is small. When the cake is ready, the multicooker will give a signal, but it is not necessary to turn it off yet - let it stay in the holding mode for 10 minutes after heating. The cake in the slow cooker comes out lush and high, and besides, its top remains white. If desired, it can be browned by turning it over and sending it to the oven for another 10 minutes. After that, the rosy fluffy biscuit is ready for cutting.
Microwave Biscuit Baking
Microwaves are also suitable for baking cakes. Only they should be round, otherwise the corners of the cake will dry out. To use a microwave for this purpose, you need to determine how many degrees it needs to provide for baking a biscuit. True, this device takes into account not the degrees as such, but the power of the device itself. So, with a power of 700 watts, the baking time will be 6 minutes and 25 seconds, and at 850 watts - 5 minutes and 20 seconds. Every 50 watts of power increase reduces the time it takes to prepare a biscuit by 20 seconds. When the biscuit has matured, it can be removed after 5-7 minutes. In this case, the cake will be completely white.
Baking biscuit in a double boiler and in a water bath
A double boiler can also be used to make such a pie. Furthermore, the baking temperature of the biscuit, taking into account the convection function, is 120 degrees. And if necessary, you can cook a decent biscuit in a water bath - at a temperature of 100 degrees. The container with the dough is placed in a large pot of boiling water for 40 minutes, covered tightly with a lid. In this case, the cake comes out very tender and incredibly airy, but this method is not very convenient, therefore it is rarely used.
What to do to prevent the biscuit from settling?
Many housewives had to watch how baking a biscuit in the oven leads to a very deplorable result - the cake settles and becomes dense and flattened. Why does such a nuisance happen to him? Consider the causes of this unpleasant phenomenon.
Baking a biscuit is a very delicate matter, requiring a special approach and some practical skill. But even with strict exposure to baking parameters, the finished cake suddenly loses its bulk and porosity and turns into a flat pancake. What factors affect the height and splendor of the product? Consider the mistakes when baking sponge cake.
One of the common mistakes is not well-beaten proteins. Their airiness is achieved thanks to air molecules that have fallen into the dough. They hold its curvaceous after cooking. Badly whipped proteins do not allow the dough to rise enough when heated, so after cooling it will settle quickly, as the air leaves it. But too broken proteins are also undesirable, in this case sugar will have an astringent effect on the dough, and it will become like rubber.
Another reason for cake settling is improperly mixed foods. The dough for making a biscuit is very delicate, which is why it is mixed in a certain order, carefully and gently, otherwise airiness will not work.
In some recipes, it is advised to lubricate a bowl with lemon for a better whipping of proteins or add a pinch of citric acid directly to the protein mass. It’s better not to do this, otherwise all your work will be lost, because protein, coming into contact with acid, can simply curl up.
Another common mistake made by many housewives is long pauses in the process of preparing the dough. Starting to make a biscuit dough, all products should be prepared in advance and distributed in the order of preparation. Having started the process, do not be distracted by anything, perform operations in strict order and do not interrupt it for more than 15-20 minutes. Otherwise, you risk getting a very unsuccessful creation.
The cause of failure may be hiding as a flour that does not contain enough gluten. And this is not the mistake of the hostess, but the wine of the manufacturer of the product. Visually, the level of gluten cannot be determined, so first you need to check it on other types of baking. After making sure that the dough does not float, you can use this flour to make a biscuit.
It is possible that the wrong mode is selected when the temperature and baking time of the biscuit do not meet the standards. Proteins stick together from too high temperatures. Because the air in them evaporates very quickly. For this reason, the temperature set in the oven should not be higher than 180 degrees.
Well, the last reason is peeping at the biscuit cake while it is in the oven. But opening the oven door earlier than set time leads to a sharp temperature drop, and this will negatively affect the splendor of the cake.
The secrets of baking a sponge cake
Having studied the possible mistakes, you can move on to various culinary secrets and small tricks used by professional confectioners. Here are some of them:
- The baking dish needs to be prepared in several stages - grease the bottom with softened butter, cover it with special baking paper, grease it again on top, put the mold in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, then pour the dough into it.
- To achieve good splendor, flour is mixed with starch - 15 g of starch per 1 cup of flour.
- Sift flour with starch before adding them to egg yolks.
- Gently separate the proteins from the yolks, cool for 10 minutes in the refrigerator and beat well in a dry and clean bowl.
- Sugar to add gradually, on a teaspoon, and whisk all together.
- Whipped whites with sugar, 2-4 tablespoons, add to the mixture of yolks with flour and starch, mix gently from top to bottom.
- Bake the cake for 15 minutes in an oven with a temperature of 180 degrees, then reduce it to 150 degrees.
- Do not touch the oven door for 20-30 minutes from the start of baking.
- Do not check the readiness of the biscuit by piercing it with wooden toothpicks, for this it is enough to press the top of the cake with a silicone spatula - if it is springy, then it is ready.
- Put the finished cake in the form on a wet towel for 3-4 minutes.
The perfect biscuit can be cooked at home. Here are some recipes that will diversify the range of baked biscuits.
Classic biscuit
Products that will be required: eggs - 4 pcs., Premium flour - 140 g, sugar - 200 g, vanilla.
Cooking:
- Separate the protein and cool it.
- Heat the yolk to ambient temperature.
- Sift flour with vanilla.
- Beat the yolks with sugar until completely dissolved.
- Beat the chilled proteins with a cold whisk.
- Add the vanilla flour to the yolk-sugar mixture.
- Carefully introduce the foam from the protein, the operation is carried out manually using a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula.
- Put the resulting mass (in density as sour cream) into a mold and send to the oven.
Sponge cake
For cooking you will need: eggs - 4 pcs., Sugar and flour - 150 g each, baking powder - 1 tsp.
Cooking:
- Break the eggs, mix them with sugar and set in a water bath with very slow fire.
- Beat the warmed mass with a whisk until completely homogeneous and remove from the water bath.
- Beat with a mixer at the highest speed for 8-10 minutes.
- Add flour with baking powder, mixing from top to bottom.
- Put in the form and bake.
Easy biscuit, which will work for everyone
Products for preparation: butter - 300 g, sugar - 350 g, eggs - 6 pcs., Flour - 300 g, starch - 100 g, milk - 100 ml, baking powder - 15 g, salt - a pinch.
Cooking:
- Mix oil with salt and sugar, beat until fluffy.
- Drive eggs one at a time, stirring constantly.
- Flour mixed with starch, as well as baking powder, add to the butter and egg mass, alternating with milk.
- Pour into a paper covered and greased dish and bake.