Breadcrumbs or flour when greasing and dusting a cake form?
I unthinkingly followed a recipe for a type of chocolate cake where it said to dust the cake form with breadcrumbs after greasing. Unsurprisingly the toasted breadcrumbs were clearly visible on the outside of the cake after baking.
This wasn't a big deal and the crumbs were easy enough to brush off anyway, but it got me thinking: when is it better to dust with breadcrumbs and when is it better to use flour?
For my chocolate cake, if I'd stopped to think, I would have used a flour/cocoa mixture. If I were making a delicate sponge most likely I would go for flour there too.
What about breadcrumbs though? Perhaps the batter is less likely to stick to the form if dusted with breadcrumbs? Or would you use breadcrumbs to add a little crunch to the cake's outer surfaces (can't say I noticed any crunch myself).
Best Answer
i only have one recipe that calls for breadcrumbs, which is my hungarian torte (uses almond meal) and I use fine purchased breadcrumbs. I've never really noticed them but the cake does come out nicely. There's no issue from a flavour perspective as they're often used in sweet foods (like strudel) to absorb the moisture in the fillings. I would use flour unless the recipe called for breadcrumbs, but you only need a very light coating...shake around then tip out and tap well.
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Do you grease and flour the sides of a cake pan?
If your cake has a high sugar content, it is a good idea to flour your greased pan. The caramelized sugar on the edges of the cake can stick to the sides of the pan, tearing when you try to unmold the cake. A sprinkling of flour will act as a protective barrier between the sugary batter and the greased cake pan walls.Why do you dust cake pans with flour?
Coating a greased cake pan with a thin dusting of flour creates a barrier between the grease and the cake batter, which prevents the grease from melting and disappearing into the batter as the cake bakes, allowing it to do its job in the end, after the cake is baked.How do you dust a cake pan with flour?
Place flour in the the pan and tap it around to cover all of the inner surface of the pan. Give the pan a sharp tap over your kitchen sink to discard the excess flour. Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper as described above.How do you grease and flour a cake?
How to Grease and Flour Cake Pan Properly? Dust pan- No Butter paper No Issue |Multi Reviews
More answers regarding breadcrumbs or flour when greasing and dusting a cake form?
Answer 2
Using breadcrumbs is not that unusual in the US, I found out especially in the Southern States. First issue to address is the breadcrumbs that we see on the chocolate cake. This is most likely due to the fact that the breadcrumbs were not processed fine enough. An example would be dried bread processed finely in a food processor or fine breadcrumbs purchased. Once the pan was greased, the breadcrumbs would be added, then twirled around all over the bottom and sides of the pan and the excess thrown out (I do this over my kitchen sink so there is no mess, no fuss). The breadcrumbs instead of flour are for bundt cakes, tubes, and fluted pans and especially for the intricate bundt/fluted cake pans that look like castles and special designs. You paint the inside of these pans with butter, put the breadcrumbs in, twirl around and when it bakes the appropriate time, you and invert the pan and it drop out like butter. This is wonderful for intricate pans especially since you don't have to patch it together. Now, was your chocolate cake a flourless one? If so, breadcrumbs were used to keep it flourless. Just a thought. Last idea, in the Southern US they make a Coffee Crumb Cake and use breadcrumbs instead of flour on the bundt cake pan. I found out that they do like crispy bottoms because it sort of goes with the crispy sweet crumb filling they have through out the cake (inside and out), which can also be made in a rectangle pan. I also found a reciepe for carrot cake using breadcrumbs instead flour for the pan lining. Delicious. Google Substitute breadcrumbs for flour for pan lining and Birthday Cake Recipes and Memories by Kathryn Kleinman and you will find a wealth of info on this subject. Good Luck and Enjoy
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