Here are more questions from my (Jun Jun de Guzman) students who were part of the demonstration class I had two weeks ago.  It’s funny that the more questions you send, the more I learn.  Thanks again for your continuous support.
 
Q: Why is my cake shrinking in size as it cools? Does this really happen? why does it not occur with some of the other cakes that I make? (Chennie of Quezon City)

Jun Jun: Chennie, I have a big feeling that the cake you are making has a huge amount of egg whites in the form of a meringue in the recipe. Shrinking is a natural occurrence with this type of cake.

Make sure to have a very even method of cooling the cake. Either remove the cake and cool it the way it was baked so that the top part will not stick to the cooling rack or by cool it upside down so that the release of the hot air is very equal.  The tendency to have movements on the side happens since all cakes with meringue are attracted to the hottest part of the cake therefore it shrinks. 

Adoree: Chennie, this happens to fragile cakes like sponge, chiffon, and angel cakes. To prevent shrinkage, you have to cool the cakes inverted while they are still in the baking pans.

Q: Is it a general rule to do the toothpick test to find out if a cake is baked? At times when I do it, the cake still comes out raw and shrinks in the middle? (Marie of Manila)

Jun Jun: It is a favorable guideline in the baking process. It will always give you a baked cake but once there is a mistake in the recipe then it will not come out as such.

The baking time is still the right gauge. Another method is touching the cake in the middle and seeing if it bounces back. After, do the toothpick test on the center of the cake; this will ensure that the complete baking of whatever you are making.  Also, this should only be done on a cake and not a bar, brownie or  cookie since they have different methods of baking.

Adoree: Marie, when you do the toothpick test, the toothpick should be inserted in the middle of the cake and it should be stuck all the way to the bottom. The toothpick should come out clean.

You can also check by gently pressing the cake in the middle; the cake should be springy and bounces back when pressed. Errors usually happen when the toothpick is stuck on the side part of the cake or when the toothpick is not stuck deep enough into it.

Q: Why do some cakes have a dome middle while others are just flat? What does this depend on? (Samantha of Makati)

Jun Jun: Cakes that have domes or rises in the center could have been baked at too high a temperature or the chemical leaveners were more than what was needed in the recipe.

This also happens when the container you used is not the recommended one or is smaller in size. The batter should only be one-half to two-thirds the level of the cake pan. 

Adoree: The dome effect usually happens if the oven temperature is too high. You have to put an oven thermometer inside the oven to ensure the accuracy of the temperature. If needed, you may have to reduce the temperature a little to create a cake with a more even top.

Q: This may be a very funny question to others but it is quite important to me. I use a lot of egg whites and I usually have a really hard time measuring egg whites. How many egg whites are there in one cup?

Jun Jun: There are times that you really have to know this information. This is very important when you have a lot of egg whites in excess of egg yolks.  One cup of egg whites is equivalent to six to seven egg whites.  One egg white is around three tablespoons or 37 grams. I hope that this answer will be of great help to your baking business and whatever else you want to do. 

Adoree: To make one cup of egg whites, you need about seven pieces of medium eggs or about five to six pieces of large eggs. If you do the math, an egg white is more or less three tablespoons.

Questions? Email us at mbdining@gmail.com.