Taming of the Shrew

I think I'm getting really close to taming this darn cake. I have been confounded by its propensity to volcano right out of the cake pan, and it's been absolutely maddening to me each time it happens. I have an irrepressible drive to gain control over it, and I feel that I'm almost there. It's a case where it's just not good enough until it's been tamed, and I'm pressed forward by the knowledge that there are people who understand and know how to control such things. I know that it can be tamed, and yet I also know that I don't know enough to master it. That spurs me on to do more and more research, to read and read again from the books I own on the science of cooking, to surf the net, looking for clues and hints, always with the hope that I'll find the answer. I think this weekend I may have finally learned what it is that I needed to know.

I believe what will finally tame this cake is the use of an unlikely ingredient, something that no one really ever has in their pantry: Potato starch. That, along with changing to cake flour instead of all purpose, and increasing the amount of leavening.

It's all complex, but incredibly fascinating to me. Potato starch "gelatinizes" at a lower temperature than wheat flour, which means that it sets it's structure sooner. Based on what I read, I theorized that if I used a little bit more leavening, the cake would expand quicker and fill the pan sooner. I could actually put less batter in the pan, get the cake to rise more, and then have it set quicker because of the added potato starch. I hoped that this would solve several of the problems that I realized were causing the cake to crack and rise out of control.

This was the first cake in a long time that I've pulled out with a sense of satisfaction, rather than irritation. That's a good thing, and it means I'm close to being done. My theory seemed to work, and with a little tweaking, I think I will finally be able to say that this cake is the best I can come up with. At that point, I know I'll finally be done.