Recipes

[SaveTheTurtles]

So, I made a cherry torte from the Settlement cookbook tonight. It had 4 eggs (separated) sugar, cherries, panko crumbs, chopped walnuts and a tsp of cinnamon. I sawear I read the directions multiple times and followed them completely. Welp, all was good until I took it out of the oven and the thing had completely sunk in the middle and looked..uh shall we say not good. Such a waste of ingredients and time. Does anyone have any idea what I did wrong? I looked online but couldn't find anything. This was my first attempt at this kind of dessert. 

[deepwaterdotter]

I'm not familiar with this recipe.  Does in instruct you to whip the egg whites until frothy?

If the egg whites are not whipped with enough air in them, they may fall when baked.

[RedTop]

Hope you didn't toss it; I would've just cut it and served it in individual cups with extra toppings.   I don't waste food. 

[SaveTheTurtles]

@deepwaterdotter @RedTop  Yes, the egg whites where whipped until stiff and then folded in to the batter. I was careful to fold them in so as not to deflate them.  Unfortunately it did get tossed as it was not salvageable even in individual cups. I don't like wasting food either. Thank you for your responses.

[on the bay]

It's hard to know but the times I've had a cake or baked Alaska fall is if I didn't open the door gently enough or wasn't gentle getting it out. Also if I opened the door to look and shut the door too hard.

[Desertdi]

BAD WEATHER can cause ANY cake to fall!    Just a crack of thunder will do it...

[gardenman]

Things baked from scratch tend to be a bit more delicate. They lack the chemical stabilizers used in the commercial boxed mixes. Growing up, we'd have to tiptoe whenever there was a cake in the oven to prevent it from falling. Even then it was a fifty-fifty proposition. Modern cake mixes solve those issues and kids growing up today don't have to live in fear of their footsteps causing a cake to fall. My mom would inform us, "The cake's going in the oven, so no running or horseplay for the next half hour." If you dropped something or made too much noise, there would be a quick look in the oven to be sure the cake hadn't fallen.

The good news is while the torte may not look perfect, it should be cooked all the way through and taste good. The texture might be off a bit, but the flavor is still there, and whipped cream covers a multitude of baking sins.

[WORKING GAL]

@gardenman- You are wise on so many levels, I enjoy all your posts.  You are so right about this torte.  I remember growing up and my grandmother who lived with us telling me she was baking a cake and not to run around.  Can't wait for your next tv show reviews.  Are you watching the BB Reindeer Games?  I watched the first one and was not too thrilled.  It was 2 hrs. which I thought was too long.  I will tune in to the second one and decide if I want to continue watching.  Happy Holidays!