I usually make a big Christmas cake (2lbs fruit, 6 eggs, 2 cups flour, etc., that usually takes a good two hours to cook, problem is, there are now only two of us, and we never get through it.
If I divided the mix into 2 or 4 individual cakes (some for gifts) how long would it take to cook? It's hard to tell because the cake is so moist (traditional recipe) that a skewer does not necessarily come out clean when cake is cooked. How can I ensure that the smaller cakes are cooked, and any suggestions for how long they should cook? Thanks.
With the big cake, how do you tell when it's done? Does it pull away from the sides/look and feel the same in the middle as near the sides? (Excuse the Americanism) but does it feel goopy? in the middle. You don't want goopy. If the center is nearly as firm as the sides away from the pan, or better yet, if the sides are pulling away (so long as the pan is approx. the same ratio//If the big pan was 8x10 the smaller one would be 4x5/more or less. Common sense; the cake cooks from the outside in to the middle. You want it to do the same small or large. Figure it out then go ask a friend who bakes and ask if it sounds right. So I can't give you a time, but I think from this you can figure out when to open the oven to test it. Wishing you all the best.
Sometimes I just bake in the large pan as usual and then as soon as it's cool I cut it into smaller sections and wrap, wrap, wrap and freeze. That's unless I do as kffrmw88 does.
Bake it half the time or less then test with a knife or tooth pick to see if it's done. Also put a pan of water in oven while baking cake. It helps to keep it moist, good luck.
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