Why does a sponge cake rise and fall in the oven? Why does a sponge cake settle after baking: sorting out the mistakes

The most important tip for preparing something delicious, not just baking, is to be in a good mood! Cook with joy, anticipating the pleasant surprise of your family; Imagine how delicious the pie will be, how nice it will be to drink tea with homemade cookies, and then everything will work out! If you are making dough, and there are only gloomy thoughts in your head, or, even worse, you are quarreling with someone, then it is unlikely that it will turn out tasty, tested by many! The dough only loves a good mood, that’s how capricious it is.

How to bake in the oven: basic principles

In stores, pay attention to the rack with baking products; now they sell a lot of different toppings for pies and cakes, decorations, etc.

An irreplaceable thing is baking powder; there is no need to extinguish the baking soda, as is suggested in many recipes.

By the way, slaked soda is soda that has been dripped with vinegar. Take the baking soda indicated in the recipe, for example, 1 teaspoon, and add a few drops of vinegar directly into the spoon. The soda will hiss and rise into white foam, then settle. This will be slaked soda, pour it into the dough.

In addition, you can extinguish soda by putting it in sour cream or kefir, if the recipe calls for their use. It is imperative to extinguish the soda, otherwise the dough product will acquire a disgusting taste, and all your work will go down the drain because of such a trifle.

We have prepared a lot of tips for you on how to bake properly at home. Tips that we hope will help you please your loved ones.

The tightly kneaded dough sticks to your hands, but can be rolled out well with a bottle of cold water.
To prevent the yeast dough from sticking to your hands, rub them with vegetable oil.
The cake can be easily removed from the mold if the mold is placed on a cloth moistened with cold water and then cooled.
If you are going to add raisins to the dough... then after you wash it, dry it thoroughly, otherwise voids will form around it during baking.
The flour must be sifted through a sieve, this way it is saturated with oxygen. Yeast dough is especially good from this flour.
You can roll out the thin dough with a rolling pin wrapped in a clean rag, but if the dough is too raw, then roll it out directly through a sheet of parchment.
Butter will not darken when frying if the frying pan is first greased with a small amount of vegetable oil.
Egg yolks can be preserved by placing them in a jar of water and placing the jar in the refrigerator.
If you need protein, you can remove it from the egg by piercing it with a thick needle on both sides. The yolk will remain in the shell.
Use a paper funnel to separate the white from the yolk.
If sunflower or olive oil becomes cloudy and has an unpleasant odor, you need to add a spoonful of table salt per liter. After a few days, the settled oil can be drained.
In order for the cakes to come out of the mold well and easily, it needs to be greased with cold butter and sprinkled with flour.
A crumbly cake is easy to cut by dipping a knife into boiling water for a minute.
Bread does not go stale for a long time if you put a piece of raw potato in the bread bin.
To prevent the dough from burning, you need to place a frying pan with water under the baking sheet or put an asbestos sheet.
The rolled out dough can be easily transferred to a baking sheet by rolling it onto a rolling pin and unrolling it onto the baking sheet.
Walnuts for cakes and pastries will acquire a pleasant taste if they are lightly heated before cooking.
To prevent walnuts from going rancid, they should be stored in a cool, dry place.
To prevent the cottage cheese pie from settling after baking, you need to carefully remove it from the oven and cut it 2 cm deep around the perimeter of the mold.
If the cottage cheese turns out to be raw, you can dry it by wrapping it in gauze and hanging it or placing it under a weight.
It is better to store rye and wheat bread separately; they will not go stale longer.
Plastic bags for bread should be washed occasionally with warm water and dried well.
Puff pastry should be baked at a temperature of 210-231 C. It is more difficult to bake at a low temperature. The egg white beats well if it is fresh and chilled. It is better to do this in a cool place.

Yolks and sugar are easier to mash when slightly warmed.
You can add ghee to the butter for fried pies (300 g of ghee per 1 kg of butter), then they will turn out more flavorful.
Before use, it is better to dilute soda with water, or mix thoroughly with flour.
The casserole trays must not only be greased, but also sprinkled with breadcrumbs so that it does not stick to them.
Products made from unleavened dough will be crumbly if you add a spoonful of cognac to the dough.
Frosting for cakes and cookies can be colored red with beet juice, and orange with orange juice.
A good glaze can be made by melting chocolate and mint candies and adding a couple of spoons of water or milk.
The apples in the pie will cook faster if you put a pot of hot water in the oven.
Peeled apples and pears for the filling will retain their color if they are wrapped in a napkin soaked in vinegar before cooking.
When cooking, yeast should not come into contact with salt or fats, otherwise they will lose their leavening ability.
You can grind yolks and whites only in enamel, porcelain, earthenware or clay dishes.
You can whip egg whites much faster if you keep them in the cold before doing so.
The more fat and less liquid in the dough, the more crumbly the product turns out.
Shortbread dough can be stored in the refrigerator at 10-12 C and taken as needed.
When preparing shortcrust pastry, flour must be mixed with other products for no longer than 2-3 minutes, otherwise the product made from such dough will become rough.
There should be no draft in the room where the dough is prepared, as this will result in a rough crust on the products.
Over-salted dough can be corrected by kneading a new portion without salt, and then mixing them thoroughly.
Salt must be placed in the dough carefully; Over-salted dough does not ferment well, and products made from it turn out pale.
An excess of soda in the dough gives the products a darkish color, an unpleasant color and taste; if there is a deficiency, it does not loosen well.
You can put a little soda in the flour for gingerbread and dough, and add a little vinegar or citric acid to the water for the dough.
You can determine the readiness of the dough without removing it from the oven by inserting a wooden stick into it. If there is dough on it, then the product is not ready yet.
If there is little sugar in the dough, the product turns out pale. If there is too much sugar, the dough rises less and the middle remains unbaked.
When baking with choux pastry, only lightly grease it, otherwise cracks will appear on the underside.
Dough products are first greased with butter and then sprinkled with sugar, otherwise the sugar will quickly dissolve and be absorbed into the butter.
For use, cardamom must be peeled from the white shell and then crushed with sugar.
The dough rolls out better if you cover it with parchment or oiled paper.
Baking dough will not burn in the oven if you pour salt into the pan under the dough.
The dough is tightly kneaded and sticks to your hands, but can be rolled out well with a bottle filled with cold water.

The surface of the table on which the dough is rolled out can be lightly greased with vegetable oil. Then the dough will not stick.
Salt should not be added to dough mixed with margarine.
If the dough mixed with yeast is not suitable, then it needs to be heated to 30-35 C. If this does not help, then you need to add fresh yeast.
Before using, cinnamon should be dried a little on the stove and then crushed with sugar.
Yeast will not lose its properties for several weeks if it is mixed with flour, rubbed, dried and placed in a glass.
Yeast should be stored at a temperature no higher than 3-4 C.
If you add a spoonful of cognac to the unleavened dough, the products made from it will be crumbly and airy.
If you need to add soda to the finished dough, then it should be diluted with water and added to the dough.
Thinly rolled out dough can be transferred if you sprinkle it with flour and roll it onto a rolling pin.
Yeast dough will not stick to your hands if you rub a little vegetable oil into your hands.
If the homemade cookies are a little burnt, let them cool, then rub them with a fine grater several times and sprinkle sugar on top.
You need to brush the dough product with egg 5-10 minutes before the end of baking. This should be done carefully so as not to wrinkle the product.
All products for preparing yeast dough should be at room temperature.

Tender, airy, aromatic, fluffy and light - a sponge cake... Not everyone and not always manages to prepare the right sponge cake. And even experienced housewives have failures. But only an experienced housewife knows all the nuances of preparing this dough, as well as how to fix a failed sponge cake.

To make a sponge cake you need only 3 products: eggs, sugar and flour. Sometimes you can add citric acid if the eggs are not beating well.

We will not dwell in detail on the preparation of biscuit dough, since recipes are a dime a dozen. Let's look at just a few nuances that are worth paying attention to, since without them you won't get a fluffy sponge cake. So, if the inside of the sponge cake is raw, sagged in the oven or not completely baked - what to do and how to fix it?

The quality of a whipped sponge cake depends, first of all, on the quality of the eggs: freshness, size (the larger the better), and careful separation of the whites from the yolks.
Dishes and all utensils used in cooking must be absolutely dry and clean. Therefore, before whipping the mass, it is necessary to wash the dishes themselves, whisks, spoons and mixer attachments with warm water and wipe dry.
When adding flour, the mixer can precipitate all the whipped foam, so you need to stir the mass while adding flour with a spoon. You need to mix the whipped egg whites and flour carefully, but quickly, not in a circular motion, but from top to bottom, so that air bubbles remain inside the dough, which will not allow it to settle.
If the recipe contains other bulk ingredients besides the three indicated (for example, starch, vanillin or cocoa), then these components must first be mixed with flour and then added to the whipped egg whites. But you need to add zest, candied fruits or poppy seeds to the dough after adding flour.
After preparing the dough, it must be immediately poured into the mold, otherwise there can be no talk of any splendor.
The baking dish also needs to be greased correctly. If you plan to make the layer of biscuit thin, for example, for rolls, then the bottom and walls about 1 cm high are greased with soft butter. If the dough is planned without a crust, then the mold must first be lined with baking paper, and then greased along the bottom with butter. If the biscuit dough contains baking powder, then you need to grease the entire mold - from the bottom and walls to the top, and then sprinkle with flour.
You need to place the pan at the middle height of the oven. If the top of the dough burns, you should cover the pan with paper soaked in water. The crust on top can prevent moisture from evaporating and the crust will remain undercooked and soggy in the middle.
Correctly selected temperature is a guarantee of a good biscuit. There are recipes indicating different temperatures, however, the cake is best baked at a temperature of 180’C, and if it contains cocoa or chocolate, then at 170’C. Some housewives advise, after forming the crust and increasing the volume of the biscuit, to reduce the temperature to 160’C and bake until done.
It is better not to open the oven during the baking process, otherwise the cake may settle (at least for the first 15 minutes for sure). If you still need to open it, then you need to do it very carefully and not for long. At the same time, biscuit dough does not like shaking, knocking and screaming.
To get a light sponge cake, you need to dry it on a wire rack for at least 4 hours, and before soaking it - all 8. Therefore, the cake can be baked in the evening, and you can make masterpieces out of it, soak it and prepare cakes in the morning.
It is better to cut the sponge cake with a fishing line or a very sharp knife.
The biscuit pan must not be removed from the oven for inspection during baking. The finished biscuit is only then cooled and removed from the mold.
To make the sponge cake easily removed from the mold, the bottom and walls can be lined with parchment.
The sponge cake must be removed from the mold when it has cooled, and pies made from yeast dough after baking are immediately laid out and cooled without a mold.
The sponge cake is ready when it becomes soft and easily pulls away from a wooden skewer.
The sponge cake will not fall off if, after baking, you turn it over onto a wire rack and let it cool without removing it from the pan.
If you add starch to the biscuit dough, it becomes more crumbly.

How to fix a spoiled biscuit?

Problems and their solutions during the cooking process

Problem #1 – Egg whites don’t whip well.

Why:
1. There may be yolk in them (you'll have to start over)
2. Or you added sugar too early (beat in a water bath)

Problem No. 2 - The biscuit is dense, the dough does not rise well in the oven

Why:
1. The ingredients may not be whipped well.
2. The finished dough was stirred for too long
3. Place the dough in a cold oven
4. The dough stood for a long time before baking.
5. Too much flour in the dough, flour was poured by eye

Problem No. 3 - The biscuit is not baked

Why:
1. Baking temperature is too high (with a crispy crust and raw inside)
2. Baking temperature is too low (the cake is low and light)

Problem 4 - The biscuit is difficult to remove from the mold

Why:
1. The mold was not sprinkled with flour, but only greased with oil.
2. The mold has an uneven surface, very old
3. There is too much sugar in the dough

Biscuit dough is one of the most common and easiest to prepare. It would seem that even a child can do it, all you need to do is mix flour, sugar and eggs, put it in the oven, and here it is, fluffy and fragrant. If you want to assemble a cake, you want to roll rolls. In fact, everything is approximately like this. But incidents often happen to it - it rises poorly, falls off after baking, or crumbles too much. To avoid all this, check out some rules and tricks of sponge dough.

The biscuit is made from sugar, flour and eggs in a ratio of 1:1:2
Use large eggs at room temperature. The biscuit does not use soda; the fluffy porous structure is achieved by whipping the whites into a strong foam. Logically, large eggs have more protein.
Bake the sponge cake only in an oven preheated to 180°.
The baking dish must be greased with butter, but not all of it. Only the bottom and walls no more than 1 cm in height are greased, otherwise the walls of the biscuit will not be able to rise, but the middle will rise, the biscuit will not be even and may crack. After the mold is greased, you need to make a “French shirt” - dust the mold with a thin layer of flour, turn the mold over and shake out the excess flour.
Up to 25% of flour can be replaced with potato starch. Starch will retain moisture, the biscuit will not dry out and will crumble less.
During the first 10-15 minutes of baking, do not open the oven or move the pans. Baking time depends on the thickness of the dough. If you are preparing cake layers with a height of 3-4 cm, the baking time will be 40-50 minutes. If you are preparing a roll (about 1 cm thick) - 10-15 minutes.
To prevent the biscuit from falling off, it is cooled in the molds. Then turn it over onto a wire rack so that the biscuit cools evenly on all sides.
After the finished biscuit has cooled, it can be wrapped in cling film and placed in the refrigerator overnight. This way the moisture inside the biscuit will be evenly distributed, the biscuit will not crumble, it can be cut into several cake layers, and its taste will become much better.
There are 2 ways to prepare sponge cake - cold and hot. When it is cold, it is necessary to separate the whites from the yolks; when it is hot, this is not necessary. If you suddenly decide to prepare a sponge cake using a cold method, but when separating the whites from the yolks, a drop of yolk gets into the whites, do not rush to throw it away. Prepare the sponge cake hot.
When preparing sponge cake, we use a mixer only to beat the whites and yolks. Then the mixer must be removed. You need to stir the flour into the yolk mixture and add the whites with a wooden or silicone spatula, stirring not in a circle, but from top to bottom. This way we will mix all the ingredients and maintain the porous structure of the dough.

How to make a sponge cake hot and cold

Ingredients:

6 fresh large eggs;
200 g flour;
180 grams of sugar.

Cold way

Step 1. Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the yolks with half the sugar for 5-8 minutes. The mass should increase 3 times, become almost white and hold its shape for 10 seconds.

Step 2. In a clean, dry, fat-free bowl, beat the egg whites with clean, dry whisks until the mass increases 3-5 times. Add the remaining sugar in a thin stream and beat until sharp peaks form.

Step 3. Mix the beaten yolks and a third of the whipped whites with a silicone spatula from bottom to top; there is no need to stir for long.

Step 4. Add flour in a thin stream and continue stirring from top to bottom until the flour is combined with the mixture. Not longer.

Step 5. Add the remaining whites and mix gently from bottom to top again, literally for a few seconds.

Step 6. Fill the greased molds 2/3 full and place them in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. We check readiness with a wooden skewer; it should be dry.

Hot way

Step 1. In a water bath, beat the eggs (both whites and yolks) until they warm up to 40-50 degrees.

Step 2. Continuing to beat with a mixer, remove the eggs from the bath, add sugar in a thin stream, beat until the mixture cools to room temperature and increases 2-3 times.

Step 3. Pour flour into the mixture and use a wooden spatula to knead the mixture from bottom to top.

Step 4. Pour into molds to fill 2/3 of the volume and place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Housewives often encounter such a nuisance as a sponge cake settling after baking. You can find out why this happens from the article. Let's look at the common causes of settling and how to bake a fluffy sponge cake.

Possible causes of subsidence

To get a lush dessert, you need to know not only the tricks of its preparation, but also possible mistakes in the process of preparing the sponge cake.

Poorly beaten egg whites

This error is considered the most common and main reason for the biscuit to settle. It is quite simple to explain such a mistake. The dough is almost half air. Protein molecules are able to hold it, because when whipped, they combine with oxygen, due to which they coagulate with it. This structure is maintained for a long time.

If you add poorly beaten egg whites to the dough, the sponge cake will become active and rise when heated. But the protein does not have a strong enough structure to retain air after a sharp drop in temperature. Therefore, a sponge cake containing insufficiently beaten whites inside will quickly collapse when removed from the oven.

Mixing ingredients too intensively

Whipped yolks and whites must be mixed very carefully and portionwise with the dry ingredients (flour, starch, baking powder, sugar). If you do this very quickly, the air will escape from the dough, which will lead to falling even before immersion in the oven.

Incorrect temperature

It is forbidden to place the dough in a very hot oven. Even with proper beating and mixing of the ingredients, it will not be possible to save the sponge cake from settling if you bake it at a temperature of more than 180 degrees. An incorrect setting may result in protein molecules not being able to connect with air and retain it when moving the sponge cake out of the oven.

Work breaks

When preparing a biscuit, it is strictly forbidden to be distracted by anything or take breaks, because every minute counts. You should not be distracted by telephone conversations, watching TV, leaving already beaten egg whites, prepared dough or a preheated oven. Such pauses can cause the dough to settle.

Wrong recipe

You can often come across recipes online that were invented on the fly. It would seem that you strictly follow the instructions, but the product still settles. In this case, it is better to seek help from friends or housewives on the forums - they will suggest a recipe that has been tested through personal experience more than once.

Oven door opened at the wrong time

Such a seemingly harmless action can instantly reduce all efforts to a minimum. Due to the temperature failure, the sponge cake will not take a fluffy, but a lowered shape, becoming like a flat pancake.

Wet dishes

Utensils are important when preparing biscuits. Thus, it is undesirable to use wet dishes when beating eggs and preparing dough - water affects the quality of the dough, which can cause it to settle. The dishes must be dry. It is better to first cover the pan with parchment paper for baking, then there will be no problems with separating the finished cake from the walls of the dish.

Spoiled biscuit: problems and their solutions

It is not always possible to save a spoiled biscuit, but with some mistakes there are ways to solve them. Therefore, you should focus on possible problems - this will help eliminate them in the future:

Egg whites don't whip well. This may be due to the fact that the yolk got into them, then you will have to start again. Perhaps the hostess added the sugar too early. It is recommended to beat the product in a water bath.
The biscuit does not rise. Most likely, the ingredients were poorly mixed or the finished dough was mixed for a very long time. Often the reason is that there is a lot of flour in the dough or it was sprinkled by eye, the dough was sent to an unheated oven. You cannot knead the dough for a long time, leave it, or put it in a cold oven.
The biscuit is not baked. This happens most often due to too high or low temperature. At high temperatures, the biscuit turns out raw inside, and the crust becomes crispy; at low temperatures - the cake is low and light.
The biscuit is difficult to remove from the mold. The reason for this problem lies in the fact that a lot of sugar was added to the dough, the mold has an uneven surface, or it was not previously sprinkled with flour, but only greased with butter.
The sponge cake has sagged after baking. He just didn't have time to bake.
The biscuit has settled in the oven. A common reason, common when working with the test for the first time. This happens due to the fact that the temperature in the oven is incorrect, or rather, the temperature is high.
When cutting, the biscuit crumbles. This problem occurs due to a dull knife or too much starch in the dough.

Making a fluffy sponge cake

There are several secrets to making a fluffy sponge cake after taking it out of the oven. It is necessary to follow some rules, and the baked goods will turn out not only beautiful, but also tasty:

Prepare the baking dish correctly. The procedure is performed as follows:

grease the bottom of the mold with butter;
cover with parchment paper;
grease the paper with a thin layer of oil;
put the mold in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes;
pour the prepared dough into the cooled pan;
Place the mold in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Preserve the splendor of the dessert shape. Starch is used at the rate of 1 tsp. for 1 cup flour. Mix it with all dry ingredients.
Beat the whites correctly. They should transform into a strong and stable foam. In order for the process to work, it is necessary:

make sure the eggs are fresh;
choose a large product - it contains more protein;
for whipping, use only dry dishes;
Cool the whites before beating;
beat the product for 5-10 minutes.

Add whites gradually. This is a very responsible process. Whipped whites need to be introduced into the dough gradually - a few spoons at a time. Gently mix them into the flour using a wooden or silicone spatula.
Mix ingredients correctly. It is advisable to mix products not in a circle, but from top to bottom. This will keep the air bubbles inside the dough and prevent the finished biscuit from settling.
Maintain temperature conditions. Bake the biscuit at 180 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn up to 150 degrees.
Do not open the oven door. The biscuit is baked for 20-30 minutes. During this time the oven must not be opened.
Check product readiness. In order to avoid problems at the very last moment, it is advisable to check the readiness of the biscuit. To do this, use a spatula: lightly press on the surface of the biscuit. If it springs, the product is ready. But using a toothpick is extremely undesirable, because through even a small hole left by it, all the air will escape from the biscuit, which will lead to its settling.

Don't let the biscuit lose its shape. After removing the product from the oven, place the pan on a damp towel for 3-5 minutes. This is necessary for further removal of the biscuit without sticking to the walls. You cannot wait for the product to cool completely. To ensure that the biscuit remains fluffy, it is transferred to a dish while hot.
Use dry flour. To prepare the biscuit, dry flour is used, which is checked as follows:

pour a little product into your palm and make a fist;
open your palm.

If the flour remains loose, it is dry. When lumps appear on your hand, this indicates that the flour is wet and is not suitable for sponge cake.

Don't get distracted. While preparing the biscuit, you should not be distracted by extraneous things. The work must be organized: preheat the oven on time, do not leave the dough, do not shake it, do not forget to grease the mold with butter, etc.

It is necessary to take a responsible approach to preparing the biscuit, try to avoid mistakes, and carefully follow all the rules so that the product turns out fluffy and does not settle. Making a sponge cake is a responsible process, and even if it didn’t work out the first time, next time you will be able to make a delicious cake from the prepared dough.

Biscuit is a capricious pastry. But biscuit dough can be “tamed” if you understand the main principles of its preparation:

beat the eggs and sugar well - this is it,
carefully add flour - two,
set the correct temperature - three.

In this article we will analyze the main mistakes due to which the sponge cake does not turn out fluffy and beautiful. If you have already encountered any of them, do not despair! Even experienced confectioners have misfires. The main photo shows the recipe, one of the most successful and simplest (follow the link to see the step-by-step guide). And if it’s more convenient to watch, welcome to my YouTube channel

Why does the biscuit settle in the oven?

So, you look into the oven through the glass and your soul sings: the sponge cake is fluffy, rosy, the pleasant smell intoxicates you and makes you quickly get the desired baked goods. Don't rush! Start checking the readiness of the biscuit after at least 20-25 minutes have passed. If you open the door ahead of time, the dough will settle and will not rise again.

What happens in the oven? As soon as the airy dough enters the hot air, its walls begin to bake/fix and thus retain air inside. According to the laws of physics, air molecules expand during heating. We clearly see this when we look inside the oven through the glass. But if you sharply lower the temperature in the oven, according to the same laws of physics, the air in the dough will “compress”, and the dough will settle after it. In this case, the walls of the dough molecules will break due to sudden air movements, lose their shape, and even after the temperature in the oven is restored, they will not be able to return to their former volumes.

In the photo: . One of the site’s popular recipes (a step-by-step cooking guide can be found at the link)

The next reason for the biscuit dough to settle in the oven is that the proportions of the products are incorrect (not enough flour). To avoid this mistake, weigh everything on a kitchen scale. They are inexpensive, but believe me, they will save a lot of nerves, time and products in your kitchen!

One last tip: prepare your cake pan properly. I grease it with a piece of butter, then dust it with flour, shaking off the excess: I get a thin flour layer on the entire inner surface. What does this do during the baking process? The dough rises evenly in the oven, “clinging” to the walls of the mold. If the walls are too slippery, it will slide down. Therefore, I do not recommend greasing only with oil; be sure to dust the mold on top of the oil with flour.

why the sponge cake is not baked inside: it turns out sticky and not airy

The main reason for this failure is poorly beaten eggs, so the biscuit dough is of the wrong consistency. Beat the eggs with sugar into a fluffy white foam until the mass increases 2-3 times. A powerful mixer will help you do this correctly.

Mix the flour in small portions, using a spatula (not a mixer). Make sure the dough is homogeneous so that there are no lumps in the dough. Using a mixer will ruin the whole thing: the air will dissipate from the dough, and the structure of the sponge cake will turn out incorrect: sticky, too dense.

Another reason for a sponge cake to become sticky is too high a temperature in the oven. If the top is golden brown and delicious, but the inside of the dough is sticky and raw, then you have set the temperature too high.

Bake the dough at 180 C.

Why does the sponge cake turn out too dense and rubbery?

The cakes will be too dense if the proportions of the ingredients in the dough are incorrect (too much flour has been added). Follow the recipe strictly!

In some cases, housewives deliberately want to bake dense sponge cakes; for this, additional starch is added to the flour.

why does biscuit smell like eggs?

So, your sponge cake was a success: airy, fluffy... in a word, gorgeous! But after taking a sample, you are upset by the obsessive smell of eggs. Personally, I never feel this taste/smell, but some, especially sensitive individuals, get so upset that they cannot even bite off a piece.

Note: you can prepare it using sponge cakes (recipe at the link).

Yes, you can’t bake a sponge cake without eggs; the recipe requires a large amount of them, so all that remains is to flavor the dough with lemon zest or vanilla extract. As a rule, this works; the finished baked goods are aromatic and without unnecessary aftertaste.

In addition, removing the top film on the egg yolks also helps. If this kind of jewelry work doesn’t scare you, go for it! Remove the film and knead the biscuit dough!

There is an opinion that eggs from village hens are much more “fragrant” than store-bought ones. But, again, I often use these eggs for recipes and don’t notice any aftertaste.

Baking soda in the dough can enhance the smell of eggs. Therefore, replace it with baking powder. Although the classic sponge cake does not require the addition of soda or baking powder. If you have prepared the dough correctly, the sponge cake will rise in the oven due to well-beaten eggs and sugar.

Why doesn't the biscuit rise in the oven?

Biscuit dough is 50% air. This airy structure is achieved by vigorously beating eggs and sugar. It doesn’t matter what you use to beat: with a hand mixer, in a planetary mixer, in a stationary or some other device - achieve an increase in mass by 2-3 times. Eggs with sugar should increase in volume and become lighter. Some recipes call for beating the egg whites and yolks separately to help make the process easier. If you have a powerful mixer, it is absolutely not necessary to separate the whites from the yolks.

In the photo you can see how light and airy the mixture of eggs and sugar is.

So, we added air to the dough by whisking. Now you need to carefully add the flour without losing the accumulated air in the dough. Therefore, mix the flour in small parts, carefully, using a spoon (no mixer). Make “pick-up” movements from bottom to top, not clockwise.

If you add flour to the dough using a mixer, the foamy mass will settle and the result will disappoint you.

The biscuit dough should not sit for long before baking. Otherwise, the air will partially evaporate, and this will affect the result. Therefore, preheat the oven in advance and place the pan with the dough in the hot oven immediately after kneading.

When baking: do not slam the door back and forth; sudden changes in temperature will cause the dough to collapse.

Why does the biscuit turn out dry?

Some housewives leave the freshly baked cake inside the oven to cool (while opening the door). This is motivated by the fact that this way they save the biscuit from sudden temperature changes and it will definitely not settle after baking. In reality, you can't do that. To protect the cake from sudden changes in temperature, just keep it in the oven for 10-15 minutes, and then you must take it out and continue to cool on a wire rack at room temperature.

If the cake is left in the oven until it cools completely, it will lose a lot of moisture and become dry and hard.

why is the biscuit hard?

The reason is the same as in the previous paragraph (you cannot leave it in the oven until it cools completely).

Why does it settle after baking?

This happens if you don't bake a sponge cake. The dough did not have enough time for the walls that hold the air inside to harden. Being not yet strong enough, with a sharp drop in temperature, the air in the dough is compressed, and the partitions immediately break. The cake goes from tall and fluffy to flat and ugly.

Baking in the photo. You can view the detailed recipe by following the link. The peculiarity of this cake is that it does not require impregnation.

Another reason for the sudden collapse of a sponge cake after baking is a sudden temperature change. Some recipes suggest keeping the cake inside with the door open for a few minutes (6-10) after turning off the oven, and only then take it out completely and then cool it at room temperature. I don’t use this advice in my recipes, because I’m fine with the fact that the sponge cake settles a little after being removed from the oven (as a rule, if the cake is finished baking, the settling is insignificant).

Why does the biscuit turn out mounded in the middle?

This happens if the temperature in the oven is too high. The top of the cake looks beautiful, but inside the dough is raw: it boils, seethes and “asks” to come out. Therefore, it turns out that the dough, which has already had time to bake, breaks and sometimes even flows out of the center of the biscuit. The cake looks cracked, with a volcano in the middle. To avoid mistakes, do not set the temperature above 180 C. In addition, be sure to test your oven to ensure that the actual temperature matches the sensor readings. To do this, it is convenient to use a special oven thermometer. If there are no such devices, experimentally select the appropriate temperature for baking biscuits.

Some soda biscuits always have a raised surface (for example, “Chocolate one-two-three”), regardless of the temperature. Therefore, housewives cut off this top with a knife.

Don't be discouraged if the biscuit doesn't turn out right the first time! Dough requires certain skills that will definitely develop with experience. I wish you good luck!

If you have any questions, be sure to ask, I welcome feedback!

Biscuit translated from Italian means “twice baked.” A classic sponge cake is made from flour, sugar and eggs. A delicious sponge cake recipe may also contain cottage cheese, sour cream, kefir, chocolate, etc. Preparing a sponge cake, as a rule, does not take much time. It is for the speed of preparation and excellent results that many housewives love to prepare biscuit dough. Products made from it are lush and delicate. Baking biscuits can be very diverse. There are sponge cakes for cakes, rolls, pastries, etc.

How to make a sponge cake? A simple biscuit recipe, however, has some cooking features. It is the well-beaten egg whites and yolks with sugar and flour that give the baking its splendor. The quality of the biscuit largely depends on the freshness of the eggs, as well as on the temperature of all the ingredients included in the composition. The duration of whipping and baking mode play an equally important role. Our recipes will tell you how to prepare a biscuit. Preparing sponge cake at home will not be difficult if you follow all the cooking rules. To obtain the fluffiest and most tender sponge cake, it is recommended to carefully separate the yolks from the whites so that they do not mix. Egg whites are less susceptible to whipping if yolk or fat gets into them.

There are many biscuit recipes. The dough recipe may include grated lemon or orange zest, vanilla sugar, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, poppy seeds, raisins and other fillings. They must first be mixed with flour. You can add sour cream and kefir to the classic sponge cake, the recipe of which consists of eggs, sugar and flour. Sponge cake with sour cream and sponge cake with kefir are even more delicious and fluffy than the classic one. The recipe for sponge cake with sour cream will not cause you any difficulties. Chocolate sponge cake, the recipe of which includes cocoa powder, is especially popular among children who require preparing chocolate sponge cake regularly. We recommend making a very popular sponge cake with apples – charlotte. You can even try making a sponge cake without eggs - using vegetable oil and soda solution.

Cakes are baked from biscuit dough. The sponge cake recipe can be found on our website. The combination of sponge cake with various creams, fresh berries, fruits and nuts allows you to get a variety of delicious confectionery products. An important component for such sweet products is biscuit cream. The biscuit cream recipe may include cottage cheese or chocolate. Curd biscuit can contain cottage cheese both as a filling and as a component of the dough.

How to cook a biscuit? You can use two ways to prepare this delicacy - cold and hot. Beat egg whites only in completely clean containers without traces of fat. If the whites are not whipped well, they need to be cooled. You need to beat the whites until a stable foam forms. Overly beaten egg whites with small bubbles cause the dough to shrink during baking. The yolk must be ground white with sugar and whipped until foam forms. Mix the whites and yolks immediately, adding flour at the same time.

Cooking the sponge cake warm speeds up the process. How to make a sponge cake using the hot method? In a water bath at a temperature of 40-50 degrees. You can immediately beat the eggs with sugar. This sponge cake turns out denser and more crumbly than a cold-cooked sponge cake. It is best to beat the resulting mass in an electric mixer, but you can also beat it by hand. The finished dough should be immediately poured into special molds and baking should begin immediately.

How to bake a biscuit? A delicate structure and thin crust are obtained only if the sponge cake is baked correctly. Bake the biscuit over even medium heat. Do not open the oven while baking. But the finished biscuit needs to be left in the open oven for a while. This is done so that it does not fall off. A freshly baked sponge cake does not cut well, so it is advisable to let it sit for about a day after baking.

How to bake a sponge cake quickly? You can also cook the sponge cake in the microwave. This method is simpler than the previous one. The dough itself is a bit dry, so you need impregnation for the sponge cake. You can use chocolate, various syrups or alcohol as impregnation.

Prepare a sponge cake! Recipes with photos on our website will tell you how to do it correctly.