Nigella buttermilk cake, question

[fufulina]

Hello,

Dd is turning one in a few weeks so I am making the Debbie brown chick. But, I find Debbie's Madeira cake too dry. So, I am using the nigella buttermilk cake. Just did a test run, used double quantities and used a 0.5 litre bowl and a 2 litre bowl.

Baked at 180 for 45 minutes (small) and 90 minutes (large) and both are underdone. So, can anyone suggest temperature and rough cooking times for an enormous bowl cake and a smaller one?

Thank you in advance!

Are they cooked on the outside but underdone in the middle?

I would try 150 for an hour or more. But keep a close eye.

Someone once told me that when using bowls you have to kind of expect that the bake might not be the best because the outside will cook quicker.

Thank you! Yes, underdone in the very middle. But I think the buttermilk cake is quite dense anyway. Thank you very much for the response!

The hemisphere pans from lakeland may work better.

Watching with interest as I wanted to try the buttermilk cake!

Alternative recipe is the plain sponge:

2 eggs
125g self raising flour
125 g caster sugar
125 g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk.

Quantities can be adjusted as needed.

No need to cream butter and sugar, just blitz it all in one go, couldn't be easier!

I did the buttermilk one for a barbie cake for dd1 in December, and it was delicious. But that was a 1 litre pyrex bowl. for the chick, its a 0.5 litre and a 2 litre so I'm using a six egg mix. A lot of cake to bugger up! Do you think the sponge would hold the sugarpaste?

Just looked up the hemisphere pans! They look amazing, but don't want to spend more money... This sodding chick is already costing me a fortune in eggs and sugarpaste!

The sponge will hold the sugarpaste. But if one of the cakes sits on top of the other (trying to visualise, the small cake is the head yes?) you should use some dowels.

If you cant find dowels normal straws will do the same job! Just press them into the bottom cake and cut to size. They will then support the top cake.

It sounds lovely. Please post pics when its done :)

If you find the outside is browning before the middle is done, wrap it like you would a fruit cake, it will protect it. Also, put a bowl of water in the oven to stop it drying out

Would love to see pics when its finished

Precisely that, wannabe. Small bowl is head, and big bowl body. It's from her 50 easy party cakes book. You build up the big cake at the top with sugarpaste so the head sits properly. I also did her dotty dinosaur and used some dry spagetthi to keep it all in place! That was the cake that was as dry as the Sahara.

If you are using a 6 egg mix add half a 125ml tub of plain yoghurt.

Thats my go to recipe for cakes. I did that for DD1s cake on sat there and everyone loved it. It makes it lovely and moist!

Thanks wannabe. It has 400ml of buttermilk in a six egg. I wondered if that was part of the problem. Too moist?

Oooh. Yeah I would think far too moist.

Nigella can be a bit odd sometimes. :o

Nigella can be a bit odd indeed! I made her blonde brownies the other day....moist isn't the word!

Good luck!

Hi ladies, the cake is done! Photo in my gallery on profile (I hope), but he is not the right way round. Sorry. Us beak keeps sliding off.

I did lower temp, 150, and the big bowl took just over two hours. Pretty dense, but cooked. All report back tomorrow on taste!

Thanks for all your advice. X

Buttermilk cake recipe works fine for me straight from the book - but it definitely needs long, low temperature cooking when in deep /awkward shape tins.