trouble with ATK recipe need advice asap

[starkrazi]

hey guys I just baked the Strawberry cream cake that America's Test Kitchen published and it keeps smelling like scrambled eggs. I have baked it twice now and don't know what i am doing wrong here is the cake recipe

1 1/4 c. cake flour
1 c sugar minus 3 T for egg whites
2 T water
6 T melted and cooled butter
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla.

5 eggs 2 whole and 3 separated
mix dry ingredi and 2 whole eggs + 3 yolks, 2 T water and vanilla and cooled butter
whip egg whites till foamy add 3 T sugar slowly whip till soft peaks and then fold into cake batter bake at 325 degrees

the first time i baked it i didn't cool the butter all the way so the next time i made it i cooled the butter all the way down. don't you think the ratio of eggs to liquid ingredients could be the culprit. I am so frustrated. I trust ATK to give out good recipes as the do test them a lot till they get the best results but I am not understanding why the cake comes out smelling like eggs. gross

[todao]

When I saw the first signs of daylight this morning your stated problem came to mind and I remembered something I was told by a baker at some point in my life. When beating egg whites to add into any recipe it's important not to overbeat them. I was told that the difference of just an additional minute too long can have adverse affects. He said that overworking the protein in the egg whites causes them to fail with the first sign of heat. Something to do with the water to protein ratio. Anyhow, thought I'd share that with you just in case it makes sense in the process you're going through.

[starkrazi]

thanks that is what i thought but my tres leches cake has never smelled like eggs even though i also incorporate beaten egg whites into the batter.

with the recipe i gave, it asks for soft peaks but with my tres leches cake it asks for stiff peaks. i think maybe that was the difference in having it smell.

[walker]

Were your eggs really fresh? I've started using only the best organic eggs I can find, will not buy eggs from Trader Joe or Costco.

[starkrazi]

i actually did get mine at Costco. If I could get them fresh I would. Where do you get yours.

[walker]

Isn't there any health food store or Whole Foods you can get to? I shop in San Francisco and Berkeley and they are easy to find here. I stopped buying them at Trader Joe because they have a white gloppy thing attached to the yolk. I don't know why this bothers me. The good ones from the health food stores don't look like this. I prefer brown eggs and always look at the sell by date on the end of the box.

[eLizard]

is this the one that is cut into three layers with strawberry puree and whipped cream between each layer?

if so, i follow the recipe exactly as is using large eggs and i don't believe i've had that problem. i've made the recipe at least half a dozen times. does the cake still smell after it has cooled and is the taste affected? it is a souflee'ed chiffon cake....

is this the cake: http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g15...

[starkrazi]

yes!! that is the cake i am making. mine didnt smell so bad once it cooled. could you give me advice on what to do next time. is it worth all this headache when i saw it being made it looked out of this world. i hope its worth all the effort

[eLizard]

i feel so terrible....i've gotten such great advice and so many terrific suggestions from this website, and all i can say is that i follow the recipe except when i don't have kirsch i sub in orange juice in the puree or leave it out entirely. and i know oj and kirsh are really not in the same ballpark, but it works just fine...... i don't think i'm too diligent about completely cooling the butter, either

have you finished and assembled and tried the cake? or have you just baked it and then not liked the aroma and tried again?

i really get raves from this one. of course, it takes around 4 hours and i usually make a make ahead meal that requires little work (like ham and potato salad, with room temp asparagus or sausage and peppers....) because the cake is so labor intensive. but it is a showstopper. if i didn't make it for easter, i would be in maj trubs...and it really is delicious.

[jeanmarieok]

Nice looking cake!!

[starkrazi]

it is i hope mine looks good.... oh and tastes good.

[eLizard]

thanks!!

[itryalot]

Wow - nice cake. The recipe above is the whole thing or is there something about the strawberry and filling too that is not included above. I 'd like to give it a try.

[eLizard]

the recipe above is the tip of the iceberg. there's two pounds of strawberries to contend with in order to make a filling and the pretty boarder and there's the cream filling, too.....if someone doens't get to it first, i'll try and paraphrase it later. or if you're a member of the cook's illustrated website, you can pull it from there. it's a bit lengthy.

[starkrazi]

did the strawberry filling spill out of yours because mine did? i wish i could find a video of them making this cake.

[eLizard]

didn't spill out a drop....how thin is yours?

[starkrazi]

It was like gravy consistency. was yours thicker? i think i used too many strawberries. everyone liked it :) but i didn't like how it looked :(

[eLizard]

mine was very thick. pourable,. but when the cream and additional layer was applied, there was no seepage.

[todao]

You may not have mixed the batter long enough. If the egg isn't thoroughly mixed into the batter the finished product can smell like cooked eggs in a cake crumb crust. Try beating the batter longer at a lower speed.
I agree that the egg to flour ratio in your recipe appears somewhat out of balance but chiffon cakes, some pound cakes, etc. use four or five eggs so the number of eggs in the recipe is not suspect to my judgment as the cause of the problem you describe.

[starkrazi]

i mixed it enough. it didn't smell so bad once it cooled down thankfully. when i make a tres leches cake i use 6 eggs but the cake doesnt smell like eggs once its baked.