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A Swedish chocolate cake called Kladdkaka, a large fondant/brownie hybrid underbaked in the middle. I have done this cake maybe 30-40 times, and sometimes it turns out fantastic, and sometimes it's too underbaked or too dry.

Kladdkaka

Most recipes recommend baking this at 180°C for about 20-40 minutes, depending on which recipe, on regular settings (over/under heating).

I want to get a consistent result with minimal dry edges. Can I utilize the convection setting in my oven? Or will that make it worse? Should I lower the heat and instead bake it longer?

Fralle
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    Convection should help keep it consistent, but will certainly alter (shorten) the time from non-convection. Might combine with lower temperature setting, at a first guess. Somewhat surprising (or indicative of a wonky thermostat?) if you've made this the same way in the same oven 30+ times and not managed to hone in on a time that works consistently for that oven and process. – Ecnerwal Nov 03 '22 at 12:39

1 Answers1

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I'm not a fan of convection for cakes and brownies, in my experience it tends to dry them out or burn them, I would usually only use convection for brownies when I am concerned about consistent airflow. However, in your case when you want a nice and done outside with a gooey inside convection may work well, although you can use conventional mode with a slightly higher temperature to achieve the same thing.

Rather than looking at this from a time and oven temperature perspective I would suggest you go by internal temperature to see when it is done. I use a digital instant read thermometer to take temperature measurements, if it's below I keep it in a few minutes longer and check again. For gooey brownies I aim for a temperature of 85°C(185°F), give or take a couple of degrees C in the dead center of the brownie.

The benefit of this method is that you can use a range of temperatures and times but you'll always have the right gooeyness. You can then vary the oven temperature and mode to find what gives you the right outside result. Write down your temperatures and results and within a few batches you'll have it nailed.

GdD
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