Why was my chocolate cake gummy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you make the substitutions? And what was the point of adding the banana? When you make substitutions, especially in baking recipes, you always substantially increase the risk of failure.

Oil and sour cream are not the same and will not have the same outcomes. There's a reason we use milk in cakes and rarely cream. You can't just swap one liquid for another or one fat for another and expect the same outcome.

It reminds me of these online reviews that say I changed this and that and replaced X with Z and used a different sized pan, and it was TERRIBLE so I'm giving this recipe NO STARS.

I was trying to add nutrition for my kid. Also I found a reddit/bakeoff thread that clarifies stodgy vs claggy

I hear you. I am all for sneaking fruits and vegetables into stuff. But you can't mess with baking like that, and expect it to come out well.

[Anonymous]

I used to post on Chowhound back in the day and there was a new poster who wanted to bake "healthier" cakes and his idea was to throw in mashed beets into a cake batter. I did have to laugh because adding beets isn't going to make a cake healthier. Cake isn't supposed to be healthy! If you're that worried about health, make something else.

I suspect what happened with OP is that by swapping sour cream for oil and adding a mashed banana, she added a lot more moisture than the flour could handle and that's why it ended up too moist and claggy. It's probable that the sour cream alone would have been ok but the banana went too far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did you make the substitutions? And what was the point of adding the banana? When you make substitutions, especially in baking recipes, you always substantially increase the risk of failure.

Oil and sour cream are not the same and will not have the same outcomes. There's a reason we use milk in cakes and rarely cream. You can't just swap one liquid for another or one fat for another and expect the same outcome.

It reminds me of these online reviews that say I changed this and that and replaced X with Z and used a different sized pan, and it was TERRIBLE so I'm giving this recipe NO STARS.

This. OP, your cake failed because science. Oil and water don't mix. Sour cream and water do (rather grossly). Baking isn't cooking, there's chemistry involved and you need to be careful with your subs or you'll get texture issues or outright fails.

[Anonymous]

You can't cook

[Anonymous]

OP, what nutrition is in a banana that makes an appreciable difference in an entire cake? Truly. Unless we are talking allergy substitutions here, this is diet culture gone wrong and you don't even realize it.

[Anonymous]

Why is everyone jumping down OP’s throat? Changing a recipe isn’t blasphemy. People alter recipes all the time, how do you think people come up with new recipes for new foods?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone jumping down OP’s throat? Changing a recipe isn’t blasphemy. People alter recipes all the time, how do you think people come up with new recipes for new foods?

It’s not that you can’t change recipes. Especially in baking, you have to know what you’re doing, or you’ll end up with a fail. So the most straightforward/correct answer to OP’s question is ‘Because you altered the recipe’.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone jumping down OP’s throat? Changing a recipe isn’t blasphemy. People alter recipes all the time, how do you think people come up with new recipes for new foods?

It’s not that you can’t change recipes. Especially in baking, you have to know what you’re doing, or you’ll end up with a fail. So the most straightforward/correct answer to OP’s question is ‘Because you altered the recipe’.

+1 OP asked why their box mix cake didn't turn out as expected. The answer is: baking is science and you didn't follow the recipe.

God will still love you, and your cake will be gummy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone jumping down OP’s throat? Changing a recipe isn’t blasphemy. People alter recipes all the time, how do you think people come up with new recipes for new foods?

It’s not that you can’t change recipes. Especially in baking, you have to know what you’re doing, or you’ll end up with a fail. So the most straightforward/correct answer to OP’s question is ‘Because you altered the recipe’.

I think OP is very aware that they didn’t follow the recipe and had a bad outcome. Their question is why the alteration caused the outcome. And shrieking that changing a recipe is a deed never to be done is just ridiculous. I bake all the time and I alter recipes all the time. I live at 8000 feet, so I am always adjusting something. Sometimes I don’t have eggs. Sometimes I don’t have ingredient x, y, or z. Sometimes I imagine that it would taste better with a instead of b. Sometimes I don’t have the right dimension pan. Sometimes I want a lighter crumb, or a denser filling, or a crisper texture. Keep experimenting, OP.

[Anonymous]

r/ididnthaveeggs

[Anonymous]

Too much moisture