I tried to bake some cake, but have a question :)

[Little owl]

I am not a very good cook, I do not have a lot of experience. But I decided that I wanted to be able to bake cake, and started trying. I wanted to put the products together myself, instead of bying cake-mix that is already made perfect.
I tried three times now, and there does seem to be some progress. The one on the top-left was the second try and the one below the tirth.

The cake rizes, and the color looks ok, the taste was also fine. But the structure was odd, too.. heavy? Not sure what word to use but it seems like that there is not enough air inside. Its too compact.
I was hoping for some advice on this it would be lots of fun to be able to make a good cake.

The products that I used are:
-150 grams of sugar
-150 grams of self raising flour (I hope I translate it right)
-75 grams of butter
-75 grams of curd (again I hope the translation is right. I mean a type of yoghurt that is more sturdy then yogurt. It was put in the recipe to give the cake a less drie bite and to make the cake less fatty)
-vanilla extract
-a bit of salt
-3 eggs

55 minutes in the oven on 150 degrees (celcius)

What in all of this is wrong? Is the curd causing the problem, or the oven time/temperature, or something else?
 

[Goomba]

I'm not much of a desert baker so I had to bust out a trust food science book of mine....here is my advice based off my reading and personal experiance.

I would start by not using a self rising flour. This flour does not allow you to have control over the chemical reaction needed to create a airy comb. I would also highly recommend a lower protein flour (cake flour) if you have access to it. It has made a huge difference in my baked goods.

With your self rising flour, it's usually just baking soda mixed in with the flour so if you wanted to actually fix it with just that you would need to add baking powder to balance it taste wise while still getting a chemical boost.

Here’s the science: baking soda is a “base.” It needs and “acid” ingredient in order to start the chemical reaction that makes it work, such as buttermilk, cocoa powder, lemon or orange juice, etc. If you add too MUCH baking soda, though, it will make your cake taste bitter. So if you need your cake to rise more, do NOT add more baking soda than is called for in the recipe. Instead, add baking powder, which contains both base AND acid leaveners. This will help your cake rise without making it taste bitter.
So in the end, switch to a recipe that will allow full control over the ingredients added... Hope it helps.

*Goomba*

[EmmaJean]

im no expert either, but maybe sift the flour and use a 'folding' technique when you mix the ingredients to get more air into it. (in case you dont know what folding is, its easy to look up online, and it basically means taking something like a rubber spatula and making a folding motion when you mix it)...and try not to mix it too vigorously

[Goomba]

oh yes...and over mixing would kill it for sure. Batter should not be fully smooth. lumps are ok. over mixing would cause a ton of gluten.

[Jinjeet Phoenix]

Your recipe sounds fine, it just looks to me to be a "heavy" or dense cake recipe.  You may just want to change recipes to one that is more moist and light.

[NightOwl21]

I've baked for awhile now and I second the omitting the self rising flour.  Great for other things but not your cake here.  If you can' find cake flour normal cake flour, normal flour will work just use just a bit smaller quantity.  As well as, over mixing could be causing it to come out like this as well.  Are you doing this by hand or machine?   Depending on the cake you just want to make sure everything is mixed in, and there are no huge lumps. 

[Goomba]

I've baked for awhile now and I second the omitting the self rising flour.  Great for other things but not your cake here.  If you can' find cake flour normal cake flour, normal flour will work just use just a bit smaller quantity.  As well as, over mixing could be causing it to come out like this as well.  Are you doing this by hand or machine?   Depending on the cake you just want to make sure everything is mixed in, and there are no huge lumps. 

I really do find that over mixing tends to be a pretty big issue...I can admit to zoning out and doing it even though I know better.

[smallhold]

Did you sift the flour before using it? Most people sift it above the container in which they are going to mix it.
Plus after adding flour, carefully fold in. A lot of people let that whisk fly and that takes the air out.

If you did all of the above and it's still heavy, call it special Christmas heavy cake

I see my answer was already posted.    Been cooking and baking since I could crawl with a baker as a father.
Overworking could sure make this happen. Dense cake....

[Little owl]

I'm not much of a desert baker so I had to bust out a trust food science book of mine....here is my advice based off my reading and personal experiance.

I would start by not using a self rising flour. This flour does not allow you to have control over the chemical reaction needed to create a airy comb. I would also highly recommend a lower protein flour (cake flour) if you have access to it. It has made a huge difference in my baked goods.

With your self rising flour, it's usually just baking soda mixed in with the flour so if you wanted to actually fix it with just that you would need to add baking powder to balance it taste wise while still getting a chemical boost.

Here’s the science: baking soda is a “base.” It needs and “acid” ingredient in order to start the chemical reaction that makes it work, such as buttermilk, cocoa powder, lemon or orange juice, etc. If you add too MUCH baking soda, though, it will make your cake taste bitter. So if you need your cake to rise more, do NOT add more baking soda than is called for in the recipe. Instead, add baking powder, which contains both base AND acid leaveners. This will help your cake rise without making it taste bitter.
So in the end, switch to a recipe that will allow full control over the ingredients added... Hope it helps.

*Goomba*

Wow, that is seriously helpfull info. I did not know that I needed to add a more acid ingredient to make the cake rise more. The funny thing is that when I was buying my ingredients, I stood next to the lemons for a moment feeling that it would be good to add some lemon juice. But I decided not to, too unsure about the experiment what it would do lol. I should have done it!
And about cake flour, we do have that here. I thought about buying that too but decided to go with the self raising flour because I figured I would be able to use it for other stuff too. But the cake flour is not expensive so I can get it.
Love your tips and advice, thanks! I will use it for sure!

NightOwl,
I do not have a mixing machine so I do it by hand, so I was also worried a bit about if I had mixed it well enough. Its a bit hard to do it by hand.
And the flour advice is great, thanks

Jinjeet,
Thanks, how should I make it more moist? Just add more moist? (lol, fluid stuff I mean) or should I do that with something specific?

Emma,
I looked it up and understand it. I will also use that technique next time.

Smallhold,
I did not sift it, so I can most certainly also try that next time thanks! And yes, I can also call it the special Christmas heavy cake. lol
The taste is ok, so why not 



If I use all the advice here I am sure it should become a perfect cake thanks everyone.

[smallhold]

Little Owl, if you used a kind of yoghurt, it's already got some acidity in that. It takes just a lillte.
Grated orange- or lemonpeel is fantastic too. Adds acidity and makes a delicious cake.

Go on, decorate that cake. Slice in half, fill with jam and spoon a light frosting on top.
Could be onto a winner here