Well, I can tell you....cake disaster, that's what happens. As you know I have recently moved house and with the new house comes a new oven. Although, I have used this oven before and baked in it many times so it's not exactly new. So what went wrong on Wednesday night? I think it has something to do with the Fan Assistedness of the oven.
Up until now I have pretty much put the oven at the temperature that is required by the recipe, even though it is a fan assisted oven. I know that sounds mad. I should, of course, be reducing it by 20 degrees. But up until now I haven't had any problems. However, the honeymoon period is over, the oven is fighting back.
After my success with Mary Berry's Vanilla and Chocolate Marble cake a few weeks ago I received a free book from the publisher Mary Berry 100 Cakes and Bakes and have new cookbook will bake. I was visiting a friend the next day and promised cake and chose the apple and cinnamon cake which caught my eye as I flicked through.
Ingredients:
225g butter, softened
225g self raising flour
225g light muscavado sugar
3 large eggs
400g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
100g walnuts, chopped
100g sultanas
1tsp cinnamon
2tsp baking powder
extra sugar and walnuts for the top
It's very easy this one, pretty much just put all the ingredients except the apples and the cinnamon in a large bowl and beat until well combined. Then put half the mixture in your already prepared tin (greased and lined at the bottom), spread the grated apple and cinnamon on top and then spread the second half of the cake mixture over that and smooth. Sprinkle the extra sugar and walnuts on top and bake.
And here we come to the problem. Mary says a 180 oven or 160 for fan assisted for 1 and a quarter hours or 1 and a half hours. I decided to split the difference and put it at 170. After 50 minutes it had risen well and was starting to look cooked on top, I checked it by pressing the middle and it was still a bit squidgy (technical term) so I thought, give it another five minutes. Despite the fact that this was at least twenty minutes shorter than the time given. After the extra five minutes the top was starting to look a bit burned so I took it out and left it to cool in the tin. I had used a springform tin to I removed the spring bit and left it to cool a bit more before removing the bottom. It was the removal of the bottom that highlighted the problem, I took it off and the cake just collapsed in on itself and it was clear it wasn't cooked in the middle.
I managed to get it in a cake tin but it didn't get to my friend (thank you Maison Blanc for stepping into the breach), it wasn't for for purpose!
So, I think I now have to treat my oven as the fan assisted oven that it is and follow the instructions given by people with a lot more experience of these things than me. Having said that I've just had a piece and its mmmmmmmmm!
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