Ginger Cake - Divalicious Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why does my ginger cake always sink in the middle? ›

My cake has sunk in the middle.

There are three main reasons for this: a/ the oven door has been opened before the cake has set, b/ the cake didn't go in the oven as soon as the mixture was ready or c/ there's too much raising agent.

Why do cakes not rise? A: No or insufficient raising agent, mixture too stiff, mixture overbeaten or air knocked out, or insufficient whisking (whisked sponge). Too cool an oven.

Baking a cake in a too-hot oven for the recommended time will dry it out. And baking a cake in a not-hot-enough oven will dry the crust before the center is fully baked.

Gingerbread came to the Americas with settlers from Europe. Molasses, less expensive than sugar, soon became a common ingredient and produced a softer cake. The first printed American cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, contained seven different recipes for gingerbread.

Cake sinking after baking can be prevented by ensuring the oven is preheated correctly, using the right size of baking tin, avoiding opening the oven door too early, checking for doneness with a toothpick, and allowing the cake to cool gradually in the oven before removing it.

The oven temperature is too high. If the top crust forms and sets before the cake has finished rising, the middle will try to push through the crust as it continues to bake, causing it to crack and possibly dome. Check your oven with an oven thermometer and reduce the temperature accordingly if it is running hot.

Most cake recipes call for setting the oven at 350°F. Instead, drop the temperature to 325°F. Lowering the oven temperature slows the rise in the leavening agent, so instead of the dreaded dome, you'll get cake with a beautiful flat top. Do keep in mind that the lower temperature will require a longer bake time.

Too much raising agent would cause the cake to rise up a lot then shrink back on cooling, giving a rubbery texture. If the surface of the cake is wrinkled or has bubbles, then this is a sign that there is too much raising agent.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

Bulla cake, usually referred to as bulla, is a rich Jamaican cake made with molasses and spiced with ginger and nutmeg, sometimes dark-colored and other times light-colored. Bulla are small loaves that are flat and round. They are inexpensive and easy to make using molasses, flour and baking soda.

Why is ginger cake called parkin? ›

The recipe does go back a little further than that though; most likely created some time during the Industrial Revolution by working-class folk as oats and treacle were important elements of the diet in those times. The word parkin was a popular surname in Yorkshire and means Peter.

Definition of 'ginger cake'

1. a moist brown cake, flavoured with ginger and treacle or syrup. 2. a. a rolled biscuit, similarly flavoured, cut into various shapes and sometimes covered with icing.

You could always try rolling it in flour before adding to the mixture, helps to dry it out and stop it sinking.

1) If the cake is under-baked or the oven door is opened too many times before the cake is fully baked, the gingerbread may sink. 2) If the batter sits too long before making its way into the oven, the baking soda can begin to react with the other ingredients too quickly.

In order to bake cake evenly, you have to insulate its edges. Preventing the temperature of batter at the edge from increasing quickly allows the cake to rise longer before it sets. A cake whose edges rise at nearly the same rate as its center will remain flat across the top — no dome, perfect for stacking and icing.