Usually when novices make cakes at home, the cakes they make according to the recipe are not as fluffy as they imagined, and are a bit close to pizza dough. Have you noticed which part of the making process is not in place? The following are the reasons why sponge cake making is unsuccessful. I hope it can help you. Reasons for failure in making sponge cakes

1. Why can’t my whole eggs be whipped?

The first reason why many people fail to make sponge cakes is without exception that the sponge cannot be whipped. Cake is different from chiffon, chiffon uses separate egg beating method, and the egg whites can be whipped easily as long as the egg beater is clean. However, the sponge is made by beating whole eggs, and whole egg custard is more difficult to beat than egg white custard. How to ensure the success of beating, here are a few very key operating points:

⑴The eggs must be fresh< /p>

This may seem like nonsense, but it is very likely the key to success or failure. If the eggs are stale, they will be loose yolks when beaten. It is very likely that they will not be able to be beaten. The more they are beaten, the more watery they will become. So picking fresh eggs is the first step.

⑵ The proportion of the formula must be correct

Because whole eggs are harder to beat than egg whites, so the proportion of sugar in the sponge cake formula is generally high, and some people’s tastes It is relatively light, and I think eating too much sugar will be unhealthy, so I like to reduce the amount of sugar to a certain extent when I get the recipe. However, in the sponge cake recipe, it is best not to reduce the amount of sugar easily. If you add less sugar, you may end up with it. It directly affects the beating of eggs, so that whole eggs cannot be beaten.

The golden ratio of sponge cake recipes is generally 4% butter, 44% eggs, 26% flour, and 26% sugar. As long as your recipe is basically within this range and there is no big difference, it is considered a good recipe. Only a good recipe is the guarantee of success.

　⑶ Temperature control

The most important thing about beating whole eggs is that they need a certain temperature when beating. If you use eggs at room temperature, you can beat them directly. If you take them out of the refrigerator To freeze eggs, you need to bring them to room temperature in advance. In summer, when the room temperature is around 30 degrees, you don’t need to sit in hot water. If the room temperature is low in winter, you need to sit a basin of hot water under the egg beater when beating whole eggs. To maintain the temperature of the egg batter. Note that the hot water here does not mean that you have to boil the water in a pot and heat it all the time. Generally, you take a large basin or pot, add half a pot of water and heat it to about 80 degrees, then turn off the heat.

⑷Egg Beating Efficiency When beating whole eggs, the most important thing is to beat them in one go. It is best not to pause in the middle. Therefore, the general standard procedure is to beat the whole eggs with a whisk at low speed until they are rough, and then add all the sugar (all sugar) at one time. Eggs are not as easy to beat as egg whites, so there is no need to add sugar in three batches), then change to high speed and beat the eggs in one go. Generally, beat the egg batter until it flows down in ribbons when you lift the whisk head, and the pattern will not disappear immediately. Unlike The chiffon should be whipped until it can pull out the hard egg white peaks, because whole eggs cannot be whipped in this state. If it really wants to be in this state, it must have been beaten. It is precisely because of the characteristics of beating whole eggs that there are certain requirements for the quality of egg beaters. Generally, high-power and high-end egg beaters can quickly make standard sponge egg batter, while low-power and low-quality egg beaters Even if the eggs are beaten for a long time, the egg beater will not meet the requirements. It is more likely to beat a little at first, and then beat harder and harder. And long-term whipping without rest can easily damage the motor. According to incomplete statistics, the most likely way to burn the machine in baking is to use a whisk to beat the dough, and the second is to beat the sponge egg batter. Therefore, it is recommended that you choose a high-power and high-quality egg beater. A good egg beater can take as short as 5 minutes and as long as 8-10 minutes to beat whole eggs. If your egg beater lasts for 15-20 minutes, Before the fight started, you had to consider whether to change it. 2. Why doesn’t my sponge cake rise? The purpose of beating eggs is to get as much air into the egg batter as possible, and then use the principle of air expansion when exposed to heat during the baking process to make the cake rise. The egg batter is baked from wet to dry to build the joint structure that supports the cake body. This is similar to the principle of building cell walls first and then allowing the cell walls to harden.

Based on this principle, there are only three reasons why the cake cannot rise. First, the eggs are not beaten well; second, the beaten egg batter loses the air that was originally beaten during the mixing process of adding flour. The bubbles are eliminated; thirdly, the eggs and batter are not baked to a sufficient hardness, so they cannot build a strong joint structure, causing the cake to collapse due to excessive internal moisture.

So the key points to pay attention to here are: ⑴ The operation should be fast. After the whole egg batter is beaten, it is best to quickly add other ingredients, mix evenly quickly, and then quickly bake in the oven, so all It is best to prepare the ingredients in advance. The butter is melted in advance, the flour is sifted in advance, and the powdered sugar is weighed in advance, so that it can be added quickly during the production process and completed in one go. If you beat the egg batter and then sift the flour, weigh the sugar and melt the butter, the egg batter may defoam during the operation, affecting the final rise. ⑵How to mix the batter. The method of mixing the sponge batter is the same as that of the chiffon batter. It is mixed in an irregular manner or from bottom to top. In view of the chiffon batter, you can mix the egg yolk with the batter first and then add it to the egg white batter. Mix well. For sponge egg batter, dry flour is usually added directly to the batter. Therefore, the sponge egg batter is easier to defoam during mixing, so you need to pay more attention to the technique. If you are confident in your mixing skills, you can directly add all the batter at once, and then quickly mix from bottom to top. When lifting the rubber spatula, tap lightly on the edge of the basin wall to break up the lumpy dry flour particles. . Some people say that flour should not be added at once. It is best to add flour in two or three times and mix. This is not the case. The longer the mixing time, the more defoaming the egg paste will be. Adding flour in two to three times will increase the mixing time. Time will make defoaming easier. As for the fact that it is not easy to mix, it actually does not exist, because the proportion of eggs in the sponge formula is quite high. The whipped sponge egg batter is very large compared to the flour, and the volume is basically 20 : 1, so it’s easy to mix and it won’t be too dry to mix. ⑶ Do not stir the batter. This is a mistake that people who have just started making cakes can easily make. People who have just started making chiffon and are used to it will habitually make a few strokes when making sponges. The egg batter of the sponge cake is different from that of the chiffon cake. The egg batter of the chiffon cake is more delicate. Pumping the batter a few times can make big bubbles, but small and thin bubbles cannot be made. The batter can obtain a more delicate cake body structure. The bubble structure in the sponge egg batter is inherently larger than that of hurricanes. If it is broken, you will find that the big bubbles will never be filled up. The more bubbles are made, the more bubbles will be made. Instead, a lot of honeycomb surfaces will appear on the originally smooth surface. , the surface of the final finished cake will be very rough, so after pouring it into the mold, it is best to shake it left and right and let it level slowly. If it is uneven, you can gently tap it a few times to make the surface smooth. Be careful not to tap it vigorously. ⑷Baking time Generally, the baking time of sponge cake depends on the size and thickness of the mold. Generally, a medium square mold should be baked at 160-170 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If a large baking pan is used to bake a relatively thin batter, the time About 25 minutes is enough. If the temperature is too high and the time is too short, the surface will be burnt and the middle will be uncooked. If the surface is already colored but the baking time is not enough, you can cover it with tin foil halfway to prevent the color from getting too dark. If your cake is burned or undercooked at a similar temperature and time, you have to check whether the temperature of your oven is inaccurate, and then adjust the time according to the temperature of your own oven. 3. Why does the sponge cake crack or there is a big bag in the middle? This is actually a question that generally does not arise, but I still have to say a few words. Sponges are not as good as chiffon and light cheese. Because they are not made from egg whites, the expansion force is not that great, so they are not prone to cracking. If this happens, there are two reasons. One is The temperature of your oven is too high, and it expands so quickly that it cracks; the second reason is that your recipe contains a leavening agent such as baking powder. Some people’s recipes are found randomly on the Internet, and the sources are not rigorous. Some people also feel that the defoaming is serious during the process of mixing the batter. In order not to waste the egg batter, they want to add some baking powder to remedy it. Although This situation is not common, but it does happen, so it will inevitably cause a big bag or cracks in the middle of the cake, because the baking powder and egg batter have different swelling powers, and their expansion is different. balanced. After mastering the above points, you will definitely be able to make a perfect sponge cake.