He is 9 y.o, and was so excited to make his own cake. There was basically no rise, and it's rubbery. I've attached a photo of the recipe too. I'm assuming he missed an ingredient, but I didn't watch him, because he wanted to do it all by himself.
by opalandolive
28 Comments
The chances of retracing the actions of a 9 year old are Zero.
No leavening, claggy. Might be time to try a more conventional recipe for the retry, and not the Boiling Water / Thin Batter type. And it’s a learning opportunity to retrace some steps which might be responsible. Make sure baking powder and baking soda are mixed into dry ingredients. Don’t overbeat the batter. Make sure oven is actual, correct temperature and preheated. Don’t keep opening the oven to check. Learn the toothpick test (or knife test) for doneness. Good luck!
Maybe a baking powder issue. This is an excellent recipe so I would try it again and help him measure out ingredients
He likely just missed a step. I have used this recipe countless times and it makes a wonderful cake.
Good for you letting your boy do it all by himself. I was about 10 or 11 when I started messing in the kitchen. My mother left me alone to make my own mistakes. Which I did. Lots of them, but I learned from all of them. The first thing I tried was chocolate mousse. It was awful. LOL.
i’m guessing either the batter wasnt mixed thoroughly (you can see all those pockets), or baking powder/ soda issues or some measurement issues
also, while using boiling water is normal to help the cocoa bloom, you have to pour the water it gradually to “temper” the batter.
The density here looks like you poured it all once and cooked it
This may be completely wrong, but this looks a lot like that time I severely overmixed my batter. It became flat, super rubbery and chewy. Still tasted okay, just not a particularly pleasant texture.
I would guess not enough baking powder or baking soda. Or he put in one and not the other. You might also want to test them to make sure they still react.
He forgot the baking powder, I bet. It’s okay! That’s how we learn! Teach him to mis en place, or to set everything in its place. This means to measure all ingredients out and double check before mixing. Does it taste like fudge? It doesn’t look bad, honestly.
It looks like maybe it was overmixxed a bit + no levening, so it just looks like a big brownie o:
I imagine he missed a step, mismeasured something, or overmixed the batter (or a combination of the above). I assume you set the oven temperature for him and assisted in putting the cake in and taking it out, otherwise I would also guess that the oven may be too hot or it was overbaked.
I’d recommend trying again with some degree of adult supervision or potentially a simpler recipe, I think that a recipe that involves boiling water is potentially too complicated for a 9yo who hasn’t baked before to be trying alone. Certainly don’t let this hurt his baking spark, it’s great that he’s taking initiative and wanting to try things by himself!
Looks like he either forgot his leavening or mismeasured the flour or perhaps both? How was the flavor?
I hope he’s not disheartened and tries again! We all have baking fails – the fails make the successes even sweeter.
It looks like he might have measured the flour incorrectly or even the leavening. Another thing could be that the oven wasn’t preheated properly.
This is a great teachable moment. The best way to learn is to make mistakes. Help him the next time. Be his eyes to double check everything. Have him measure out everything into separate bowls and then watch him do the steps.
I started baking around his age and I am now a professional Pastry Chef.
Watching him bake is really essential for helping him learn. Teach him about mise en place. Have him get all his ingredients out and line them up in order of use on the counter. Then have him get all his equipment out. Read the whole recipe one time without doing anything. Then go step by step. Once an ingredient is used, move it to another spot on the counter.
It looks like he is missing leavener or possibly severely over mixed. Did the batter sit for a significant period of time before going in the oven? Once the hot water is added, it really needs to be baked immediately or the leavener will spend themselves and it won’t rise in the oven.
It’s the fact that he tried and had fun making it, that’s all that matters. But probably missed the baking powder and/or baking powder
I love his gumption! Sounds like a great opportunity for learning. Maybe a “Let’s try again and you can show me what you did, and maybe we can figure out what went wrong.”
I bet when he goes through the steps again, something will click as an “oh… I didn’t do that last time.”
My guess is that he may have added the water first and other wet components second – hot water and flour = rubber. Or he might have also added all wet+dry together, instead of mix flour / mix oil+sugar+eggs / _stir_ in h20.
That middle step is crucial to get the sweetness dispersed, the flour bound with flavor oils, and the mixture already wet and emulsified before the water it added to thin and add volume.
Don’t let him get discouraged, mistakes happen. My dad misread the amounts for pie dough and dumped in waaaaay too much liquid. It was soup, had to toss it. I would have him try it again but be there as backup to make sure every ingredient is hit and there’s no over mixing. (This is what I do with my kids).
Maybe your baking powder is expired and not effective?
One time my brothers made my birthday cake, but they didn’t mix it well enough so one corner was just all the egg. Congealed into chocolatey scrambled egg. The rest of the cake was fine somehow. Another time one of them was making a spice cake from a box, but added quadrupe the water. It came out like a baking pudding, very jiggly.
Which is to say, who knows. Maybe he measured some of the ingredients wrong, and then probably over-mixed. I’d chalk it to them, show him how to carefully read and measure amounts, and teach him the right way to mix cake and the importance of not over-doing it. Also reassure him that adults make these mistakes all the time! Perhaps show him some of the flops on this sub from people foregetting to add the flour lol
Looks like is missing flour
My first baking attempt at around the same age was failed chocolate chip cookies. 2 1/4 c flour in my young mind was two scoops with the quarter cup measuring cup. Wonder if he did the same? Beautiful decorating though!
Reminds me of when I decided to do bake on my own around same age. I learned a drinking cup is not the same thing as a measuring cup.
I am looking at the bright side, he’s only 9 ? Impressive that he even attempted to make a cake 🤯
Just use a scoop of ice cream to cover the holes! I think he did a good job for being so young and experienced.
To be honest, it looks delicious and I’d probably still eat it. Rubbery texture and all 😂
Still looks 1000x better than anything I would have made at 9 years old by myself! Great job, and to think he’ll only get better.