Text 16688, 76 rader
Skriven 2011-10-17 11:41:10 av bill swisher (1:3634/12)
Ärende: Pumpkin cake in a jar -- redux, un
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Kirsten Dixon | Oct 15, 2011
www.alaskadispatch.com/article/pumpkin-cake-jar-redux

Years ago in the early 1990s, I wrote a small cooking column for a local
magazine.  One recipe that we ran around the holiday season was entitled
"Pumpkin Cake in a Jar". It's a fun little recipe to make and give as gifts or
bring to a host of a party. Several years later, in 1993, I included it in a
cookbook I wrote and I haven't honestly thought about it since.

This week, looking at pumpkins everywhere reminded me of it. I took a spin
around the Internet and saw that our recipe is still alive and well out there,
in some unusual places but with few variations on that old original formula.
The
old pumpkin cake recipe called for using shortening as the fat component to the
cake. Someone asked me what the difference was between using shortening,
butter,
or oil in cakes.

Making a cake is pure chemistry and a cake recipe is a chemical equation. To
answer the question properly, I felt I needed a few good resources. I looked to
two go-to books on my shelf. First was my ragged and stained copy of "The Cake
Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. The second was "Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of
Successful Cooking with over 230 Great-Tasting Recipes" by Shirley O. Corriher.
Both books are fantastic for explaining the complicated components of basic
cake
making, as well as other things.

The original pumpkin cake in a jar recipe called for shortening and sugar
creamed together, and then eggs and pumpkin beaten in. Next, the dry
ingredients
(all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices) were added to the
wet ingredients. Those are the basic characteristics of a category of cakes
called "shortened" or "butter" cakes.

I learned that shortening, butter, and oil can be used virtually
interchangeably
in cake recipes.  The big difference is in aeration. Shortening by nature
creates fluffier cakes and cookies. It doesn't have the same negative health
connotations these days as it did when it was loaded with trans-fats. Since
2007, most shortening has been reformulated to be trans-fat free. When
shortening is used in baking cakes, it creates a light and airy product. One
problem with using shortening is it doesn't add any flavor. But, if you use it
in flavor-dense cakes (like a pumpkin cake), the end result is positive. Bottom
line: beat cake batter for longer to aerate it more when using oil or butter.

I decided to make two styles of pumpkin cake: our old recipe using shortening
and all-purpose flour and another using oil and cake flour. I used a recipe
from
Rose Levy Beranbaum's book for inspiration. In her pumpkin cake recipe, she
used
cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Cake flour has much lower protein content than all-purpose flour and changing
this will help to make a more tender cake. Cake flour is chlorinated so it is
slightly acidic compared to all-purpose flour. There are some advantages to
that. The acidity enhances the flour's ability to absorb water and fat sticks
to
chlorinated flour better, and that all means a finer texture to the cake.

If you prefer to use fresh pumpkin rather than canned pureed pumpkin, you'll
need to do some extra work to get the texture nice and smooth. Basically, roast
cut-up pieces of pumpkin in the oven for about one hour or until the flesh is
tender, scrape off the meat, and run it through a food mill. I have a nice,
sturdy hand-operated food mill that I love for getting textures smooth.

The cake made with shortening was lighter and fluffier, for sure. The cake made
with oil was a little denser and more pound cake like with a nice walnut oil
flavor. I asked every person in my office which they preferred -- the answer
was
split, equally down the middle.

Here are both recipes. Give one or both a try. Perhaps serve these little cakes
with a chocolate sauce or a dollop of ice cream. You can screw the canning jar
tops on, wrap with ribbon and they make nice gifts.

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