lift a loaf cake

Cooking Discussions Baking, Sweets
1

I’m wondering if doing a 5 minute temperature blast, 425 ish, then lowering to the given recipe temperature will give a lift to a loaf cake as it seems to do with cupcakes and muffins…

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

2

If it’s made of the same stuff, why wouldn’t it?

Do you find a more open crumb, or only more of a dome shape?

Higher temps produce more of a dome because the outer edge cooks before it can rise, forcing the rise to the middle.

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3

I haven’t tried this yet, but King Arthur Baking recommends not preheating the oven for a higher rise on loaf cakes and muffins. The article also says that not preheating the ovens eliminates my nemesis, fully baked sides with a gummy middle.

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4

Dylan Hollis is a youtube guy who likes to test old recipes (primarily desserts and breads) he finds in church cookbooks, periodicals and the like. He says he’s looking for how people really cooked vs. how it might be set out in a professional cookbook.

This episode is one where he tests a cold oven cake recipe from the `70s. If you watch to the end, his curiosity kept nagging him so he did the exact same recipe but preheated first. He said the cold start was definitely superior.

I wonder how much differences in preheat time matter. Maybe less than differences in oven set points, but my oven seems to take a long time to preheat to 350°F. It’ll beep saying it’s arrived in 15 minutes, but the oven thermometer will still be down around 300 at that point. It’ll take another couple of burn cycles before it actually gets to 350, taking easily another 15 minutes. I can punk this a bit by fanning the door just before it (thinks it) gets to 350 which causes it to burn longer in the first instance, getting it there in about 20 minutes total, or just setting it initially at 390. But I’ve used electric ovens while vacationing that seem to get to temp in less than half the time mine does.

5

There are several startling findings in that link, eg starting Dutch oven bread in a cold oven.

6

Thank you all for taking this deep dive into domed tops with me! I think I’m gong to like Dylan as I too prefer heirloom, old timey, recipes that have been fully vetted by bakers of yore, tried and true family favorites and pot luck popular.
Great reading and watching for a rainy, raw day in Boston.