The cake and the raisins
When you bake a cake, like a cake or pound cake, you may have already encountered this thorny problem: How to make sure that the raisins, or the candied fruits, or any other small filling, do not fall to the bottom of the pan during the baking process?
12 K 4.7/5 (22 reviews)
Keywords for this post:CakeCakePastryRaisinsDoughFillingLast modified on: May 31th 2019
The cake and the raisins
It's not that simple to have this even distribution, basically you want to have this:
Rather than this:
For this, or rather to avoid the second option, bakers all learn in their training the following method (let's say you want to make a cake with diced candied orange):
You put the diced candied oranges (or raisins, etc.) in a bowl, and sprinkle them with a little flour taken from the flour provided for the cake batter. Note that no extra flour is added.
Mix everything carefully, with a fork, to coat all the orange cubes with flour.
This is quite easy with candied fruit because it is sticky, if you use raisins that are a little too dry, to which the flour does not stick, moisten them very slightly (1 tablespoon of water) before pouring in the flour.
Then make your cake batter as normal, add the excess flour from the bowl, and just before putting into the tin, add the floured candied fruit, mix quickly, put into the tin and bake.
Well, I have to be honest with you, it's not a 100% sure method, the great Gaston Lenôtre himself, when he explains this method in his books, adds at the end "in theory...".
So I propose you another method that I like:
To sum up: To prevent the filling of a cake from falling to the bottom of the pan when baking, you have to either coat the filling with a little flour, or incorporate the filling into a very cold dough, or both.
Rather than this:
For this, or rather to avoid the second option, bakers all learn in their training the following method (let's say you want to make a cake with diced candied orange):
You put the diced candied oranges (or raisins, etc.) in a bowl, and sprinkle them with a little flour taken from the flour provided for the cake batter. Note that no extra flour is added.
Mix everything carefully, with a fork, to coat all the orange cubes with flour.
This is quite easy with candied fruit because it is sticky, if you use raisins that are a little too dry, to which the flour does not stick, moisten them very slightly (1 tablespoon of water) before pouring in the flour.
Then make your cake batter as normal, add the excess flour from the bowl, and just before putting into the tin, add the floured candied fruit, mix quickly, put into the tin and bake.
Well, I have to be honest with you, it's not a 100% sure method, the great Gaston Lenôtre himself, when he explains this method in his books, adds at the end "in theory...".
So I propose you another method that I like:
- You make your dough normally, once finished, you do not put it in the mold, but in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour
- At the end of this time, the dough will have firmed up because of the butter it contains => add the raisins or candied fruits at this time, and stir well (be careful, it is much harder than a dough coming out of the mixer)
- Put it in a mould and put it in the oven immediately
To sum up: To prevent the filling of a cake from falling to the bottom of the pan when baking, you have to either coat the filling with a little flour, or incorporate the filling into a very cold dough, or both.
Lasts posts
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".April 25th 20251,0195
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...April 10th 20251,5665
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.January 27th 20253,087
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...December 25th 20243,5415
The little trap of thick cream
When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...December 13th 20243,6275
Other pages you may also like
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...June 14th 201360 K4.5
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021140 K4.5
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...November 26th 201850 K4.6
Baking a cake at the right time
When you make a cake, which most likely contains butter, a cake for example, chances are that as soon as the batter is finished, you put it in the pan and bake it immediately. Classic, everyone does it like that, and then if, on top of that, you have a few kids around you who are getting...April 18th 202017 K4.5
The super powers of cornstarch
I start this new year by evoking an old product, that you most probably have in your cupboards, a white powder, often in a small cardboard package with a slightly outdated look, only the "gluten free" is relatively recent, it is simply cornstarch, hence its name of maïzena. It's used for a lot...January 14th 202211 K
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.