As I gathered all ingredients getting ready to melt the butter and chocolate, I realised my eggs were refrigerated! Darn... I left it out for a while to reach room temperature, and carried on stirring the melting chocolate. Did not occur to me then to dip them in hot water so they warm up quicker. By the time I was ready with the eggs, they were still relatively cold. It seemed to take longer for the eggs to reach the 'light and fluffy ' stage. Then I knew it is gonna be a flop. :( I increased the mixer speed and was jumping for joy when it was light and fluffy!
I ran out of self-raising flour and substituted with plain flour and baking powder - minus the salt. The sifted flour was added into the egg mixer and as I was folding in, I noticed the egg liquid beneath the fluff - something I have never experienced or seen before. As the flour was evenly distributed, the liquid was no longer visible. The batter looked alright then and I poured in the warm chocolate and butter at a go and continued blending. The batter looked heavy and as I was scooping the batter into the muffin cups, I noticed the oil separating from the batter.
I baked the muffins anyway to see what the end result is like and tasted. It was hard and really dry.. :(
The cold eggs is definately one of the reasons for the flop, and I probably overbeat the eggs causing separation. However I do not undertand why the oil got separated when I was mixing in the chocolate. Is the chocolate too hot when I poured in? I allowed some cooling time but do I have to let it cool completely? I also experimented with a mix of Lindth and Cadbury chocolate (Cadbury being my 1st time). Is Cadbury giving this problem? Nevertheless, I got fresh eggs to give this another go.
2 comments:
Eggs need at least an hour to reach room temperature. And the chocolate butter mixture needs to be cool not warm.
If I am making a mud cake I don't tend to beat - I use a whisk to combine all the ingredients and once the flour is completely incorporated I stop and start pouring into cupcake liners.
I hope this helps.
And brand of chocolate doesn't really matter (unless it is cheap and nasty cooking compound chocolate). It is the type - I always use dark chocolate in unless it says otherwise.
Keep baking - look forward to your next batch
Thanks for your advice Minko! :)
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