Question on tweaking a cake recipe: I'm making this today, so a quick reply is crucial

[MagickMuffin]

I'm finally going to make my b'day cake and have a question about tweaking the recipe.

I'm making a Red Velvet Cake and the recipe calls for 2 eggs, however, the icing I'm making uses 3 egg whites and I didn't want to save the yolks and thought I would add them to the cake.

Do you think that will effect the cake recipe?!?!?

TIA

[The empressof all]

1. I wouldn't add them It will affect the cake

You can use them to make a custard for a filling though between the layers.

[MagickMuffin]

5. Thanks Empressof all

I had thought of making a custard with them, however, I plan on making cupcakes.

I'll still probably end up making a chocolate pie in a couple of days.

[grasswire]

2. scramble some eggs for supper

why risk it?

[MagickMuffin]

6. I decided not to risk it

Thanks for your reply!

[Warpy]

3. Make some pasta with the yolks

because, yes, they will greatly affect the chemistry of that cake.

It's best to stick to the recipe when you're baking cakes.

[MagickMuffin]

7. Yikes, I've never attempted to make pasta

not sure I would be up to the task. Good idea though. Thanks for your response!

[housewolf]

4. I wouldn't add 3 extra egg yolks to a cake recipe

It will affect the liquid-to-dry ratio and also the structure of the cake. In general egg yolk adds tenderness and richness to a cake, so I'd be afraid that 3 extra would make the cake so tender that it wouldn't hold up plus the added liquid could work against it.

I'd save them for something else.

[MagickMuffin]

8. I'm glad I asked here first before going forward

I ended up saving them for later.

Thanks for your input.

[MagickMuffin]

9. My experience and experiment

I did however, add a Tablespoon of sour cream to the batter. Which didn't seem to effect the outcome. But in my state of being upset over my cake flour having bugs in it, I left out a whole cup of flour. I thought the batter looked a little to thin, and then when my first batch of cupcakes came out of the oven deflated I wondered what happened. Lo and behold after checking the recipe again I realized I only added a 1.25 C of flour instead of 2.25 C. D'oh! I went ahead and added extra flour to the remaining batter and hoped for the best. Apparently they turned out okay, nice and puffy.

I had this recipe on my computer, looks like I need to print it out to add to my collection of recipes I've been saving there. This was a recipe I found recently that was in some of my childhood hand written recipes.

Live and learn. The next time I buy cake flour it's going in the freezer.


I appreciate everyone's help and insights. It probably saved me from another disaster.