Tell me more ×
Seasoned Advice is a question and answer site for professional and amateur chefs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I decided to mix pumpkin pie filling into a mixture of spice cake mix. I mixed the filling in well and in every try, the filling stays in the middle, with the cake moving to the outside.

I am wondering why this happens and if there is a way to control this separation, since I am seeing more cake moving to the top and just a thin layer on the bottom.

Update: I did not alter the cake recipe and i just pored the pie filling directly from the can into the completely mixed cake mix. Mixed them together and pored into the pan. I did not change the baking time or temperature.

share|improve this question
Is your "pumpkin pie filling" just the canned spiced pumpkin puree? And is it separating during baking? – Jefromi♦ Mar 12 '12 at 23:04
@Jefromi yes and yes. – Paul Mar 13 '12 at 0:43
I neglected to ask: did you prepare the mix as normal, or did you compensate for the addition of pumpkin by removing oil/water? (Not sure how your mix works.) – Jefromi♦ Mar 13 '12 at 16:20
There are recipes for pumpkin cake (or bread, or muffins). I'd start with one of those, and add the desired spices, rather than the other way around. Or maybe mix a pumpkin cake and spice cake recipe. – Flimzy Mar 14 '12 at 4:11

2 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

I wonder if this has something to do with the density of the cake vs the pie filling. This may be a similar phenomenon as when chocolate chips or nuts sink to the bottom of a brownie during cooking.

I am not entirely sure how to solve this but one thing to try would be to mix the pie filling with the wet ingredients for the spice cake mix and then mix it all together. My hypothesis is that the pie filling isn't incorporated into the cake mix well enough (even though it may look well incorporated) and mixing it with the wet ingredients thoroughly may allow the eggs (i'm assuming eggs were involved) to set the mixture as a whole more evenly.

share|improve this answer
up vote -1 down vote

This is similar to replacing eggs in a cake with applesauce. That ratio is about 1/4 cup of applesauce to 1 egg. On a basic level, applesauce is simply an apple puree. That's pretty much what pumpkin is as well. So try reducing the number of eggs based on the aforementioned ratio.

share|improve this answer
I don't see 1) why it should be similar - pumpkins don't have the high pectin content of apples, so not much binding and 2) if it is similar, why it would separate, after all high-egg batters don't separate. – rumtscho♦ Mar 16 '12 at 1:41

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.