Can you tell me why a Christmas cake could crumble - it is not at all dry.
A cousin of mine has made the same recipe for years and it has always been successful but this year they crumble.

Take you pick..

1. ingredients - check your flour: if the flour used does not have enough elasticity [gluten] required to hold the fruit together, then it will crumble during cutting.

2. ingredients - any dried fruits that are too dry will absorb a lot of moisture from the batter during baking. The technique of soaking or boiling the fruits plumps the fruits so thet they do not need to take moisture from the surrounding batter.

3. technique - when placed in the tin, the bulk was not adequately smoothed down. The mass needs to be packed so that all parts are firmly interlinked but not packed so tightly that it produces a dense cake. An incorrectly packed cake can leave gaps around the fruits/nuts which will cause the cake to crumble when force is applied [viz cutting].

4. technique - overbaking will make the cake dry, even if it appears moist. The fruits, and the soaking liquid used during aging, can mask the dryness of the cake. While cutting, it will crumble.

Interseting..in my case it may be the random quality of ingredients (point no. 1 above) as I did nothing different this year than the last 25 years and my cake was crumblier than earlier cakes...esp when being cut despite looking good and still being reasonably moist (but not sticky). I do chop the brazil and almond nuts roughly to reduce the cake breaking when cut.
I do all the other things mentioned. It still tasted good though.Oh well, hope next years cake is better.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2010 07:47AM by Maryloo.

Auzzi, thanks for your input. I think it was overbaking as she cooked two of the cakes in a different oven and they took a lot longer to cook. These are the two that were crumbly.
I am sure she will be relieved to hear this as it has never happened before and she is using the same recipe for wedding cakes.