How to bake a victoria sponge in the Alps? Post Reply

[Victoria Sponge]

Hi!
A first world problem but it always seems to be my daughter's birthday when we are away skiing and I can never get a cake to rise? Are there any seasoned skiiers and bakers who could share any tips or a recipe even that will mean I can offer a homemade cake v a sad flattened biscuit looking affair on her birthday. We will be in Meribel, so around @ 1700 metres if height makes a difference?!
Thanks so much!

[juliantenniscoach]

Boyle's Law "volume is inversely proportional to pressure over temperature".  Basically as you get higher, air pressure is less, so boiling point is lower.  I'm no baker but I'm guessing hotter oven and a longer bake>  But check first, I don't want the responsibility of ruining the day!  

See:- Altitude Baking | Jennifer's Cakes (jenniferscakes.co.uk)

[jickjax100]

You have to replace the butter with oil and use yogurt. It’s all to do with pressure. And plenty of baking powder

[clarecarrierphoto]

I’m from Johannesburg and the altitude is 1700m so similar to what you say Meribel is. Stick to the recipe - no need to substitute oil with butter or add yogurt. Definitely don’t add more baking powder as it will impact the taste. Does the recipe work when you normally use it?

Ensure all the ingredients are fresh and the scale is accurate. And once the batter is mixed get it in to the oven quickly.

[Bchalet]

Yoghurt cake - beloved of chalet girls for years. Works perfectly every time.
Base sponge cake

Please note all measurements are in ‘yoghurt pot’ quantities:

1 x natural yoghurt
1 x caster sugar
3 x self-raising or gateaux flour
1 x vegetable oil (good quality preferred)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
4 x medium eggs (free range ideally)
Mixing it up with all shapes, sizes and flavours

The beauty of this recipe is that you can either use just the base sponge and dress it up as a simple yet effective Vic Sponge or you can add basically any flavouring you wish (trust us, we experimented on our guests with pretty much any flavour out there!). You can also serve this as an individual cake, loaf, muffins or cupcakes. Is there no end to the wonders of the yoghurt cake?! Flavour ideas:

Victoria sponge
Frozen berries & white chocolate muffins
Lemon drizzle & poppyseed loaf
Coffee & hazelnut cake
Chocolate cake with ganache
Banana & choc chip loaf
METHOD:

Preheat oven to fan at 190C
Take yoghurt pot and empty yoghurt into mixer or mixing bowl
Add all the basic sponge ingredients into mixer or mixing bowl (use the empty yoghurt pot to measure out the sugar, oil and flour)
Turn the mixer on or give it some welly with a balloon whisk until the mix is a smooth consistency
Gently fold in the flavourings
Butter the cake or muffin tin
Pour in the mix
Bake for approximately 20 minutes (muffin tin) or 30 minutes (individual cake) until a knife or skewer comes out clean
Leave on a rack to cool before icing
Simples.

[Victoria Sponge]

Thank you all so much for the replies and the recipes!

@B chalet please can I double check - when you say yoghurt pot - it that a small single person yeo valley size pot or the large family one!

Will be trying out for sure!

Many thanks!!

[ronangel]

Knowing nothing about baking but from an engineers point of view the problem appears to be one of pressure. What if the cake was put inside a pressure cooker the pressure would always get higher but never lower with the adjustment weights being set at atmospheric pressure at sea level found at your location by very small cakes being baked one at a time by trial and error, a one of exercise.
Results could be published?
I will continue to eat bread as normal and Matzos/biscuits  if I go into the mountains!

[Rebeccaloves101]

Meribel centre has a fab bakery on the road that will bake a cake to order! We go every year during our son’s birthday. They will even pipe a message.