Cassava Starch Usage In Making A Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake

udinawatikUncategorized

Ok… such a long title

I made a sponge cake using cassava starch this evening and I learned about things:

Problem:

  1. The first cake: it was totally failed. The dough didn’t raise. It was flat.
  2. The second cake: It was succeed but apparently, my thought of one thing have been proved with this. The cake is also crumbling on the side-round.

What I did in making first cake:

  1. I moved the dough in the middle of mixing with flour to bigger bowl. Seems like it destroyed the dough. Somehow. Or may be, there was another thing but I didn’t know.
  2. I also did 6 ‘times’ mixing. I mean, i poured 1/3 flour and 1/3 margarine, one after another. Perhaps, that was, too, the caution of  messed dough.
  3. I hit the pan on the table several times.

What I did in making second cake:

  1. I only did less than 3 times mixing. I poured all the flour and then 1/2-1/2 liquid margarine.
  2. I baked around 165-170C / 40 minutes  with 2 heaters (top and bottom). I put on the second rack from the bottom.
  3. I didn’t hit the pan on the table.
  4. Also, even though the dough is already on the ribbon state but I add more rounds until i’m sure no bubble anymore and it was still in ribbon state but THICKER.
  5. I poured last drops from bowl on the top. Although I had blended it (i thought, i had done it well. I don’t know), the drops was like separated from main cake. It was also like becoming weigh on the top so the dough part on which the drops were on were like taken down or decreased.

Conclusion:

  1. When using non gluten flour, the cake nature is quite ‘fragile’. The top can be baked well, brown, and looks firm but it is peeled quite easily. The cake texture and feel is also more spongy and lighter than if using regular flour.
  2. No drop on the top. It is always like this actually each time i did it. May be it is ok with good blending but I don’t know. I always feel i blend it well but apparently, doesn’t work.
  3. Make sure no moving the dough on bigger bowl. Make sure use the right bowl since the beginning. Using 4 eggs, must use no high bowl and around at least 30cm diameter bowl.
  4. No too-many mixing times. Using wide bowl can be help when pouring the flour before mixing. The flour won’t concentrate in one area and the wide bowl also make it easy when mixing using folding technique. I’m not good in mixing, so I try to use tools and stuff that makes me easier to do mixing.
  5. No need to hit the pan/mould to release the bubble (?). I’m still not sure about this but I’ve been noticing that i I do that when the flour used is non gluten, the cake is always a mess @.@ . Again, i’m not sure and I think, i don’t want to take a risk and prove it for my own sure. Haha. I did may be 2-3 times like this and it was always a mess. You may prove it for yourself.
    1. May be since the flour create a slightly decreased finished cake, if I make the bubble loose, the cake becomes flat. You know, the cake itself inside, there’s less air and thus the cake becomes like balloon with no air…haha…No air to ‘push’ the dough upward . It is just my theory. Whatever, I won’t do it anymore.
  6. Must be very careful when using knife to help releasing cake from the mould. The cake is very fragile.
  7. The cake must be taken off the mould right away. I don’t wait until it’s cold like before. The heat from the mould may make the cake looks decrease and it shocks me once. Haha. It was ok but I was shocked myself…haha
  8. The nature of the cake using non gluten flour, it may rise well while being baked but then the cake decreased. After some baking, I notice, it is always like that; the texture and taste are ok but the cake is not as high as one using regular flour.
    1. Perhaps, it’s because the non gluten flour create the cake that is fragile. So, the cake is not firm or as strong as one using regular flour; this what i, then, see as the cake is decreased.

 

THE PICTURES OF THE CAKE ARE ON MY NEXT POST.