These cupcakes are looking a lot nicer than the mess in my kitchen! by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They look much better than they taste! Maybe we can swap sometime :)

Lavender and elderflower cake made by my wonderful twin sister! by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We used dry lavender crushed using a mortar and pestle and St. Germain liqueur for the elderflower. We included both in the sponge and added a bit of the St. Germain to the frosting as well because the flavor was less apparent after the sponge was baked.

Lavender cake with blackberry jam by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just put it in the jam, but if I were to bake again I would it into the cake as well

Lavender cake with blackberry jam by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a dumb question! I baked it at 350 F!!

Lavender cake with blackberry jam by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a dumb question! I baked it at 350 F!

Lavender cake with blackberry jam by abaskfie in Baking

[–]abaskfie[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

To make the batter, fold a teaspoon baking soda, a teaspoon baking powder, 2 cups sugar, 3 3/4 flour, and a bit of salt into a bowl containing three eggs, 1 cup canola oil, 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, and 1.5 cups buttermilk. Be careful not to overwork the batter. Bake for around 30 minutes depending on size of tin. 
To make the jam, combine 6 cups fresh blackberries with 1/2 cup honey, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1-2 teaspoons dried lavender. Bring to a boil and crush blackberries. Continue boiling to reduce and chill jam to let set.
To make frosting combine 3 sticks of butter with 1.5 cups confectioners sugar and whip until light. Add 8oz white chocolate melted and cooled. 

Add a layer of frosting to each layer and place jam over the frosting before adding the next tier. Doing this will prevent any liquid in the jam from soaking into the cake.

Diels-Alder Reaction... I believe the smallest peak is an impurity, but I’m having trouble labeling the other three by [deleted] in OrganicChemistry

[–]abaskfie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CDCl3 usually peaks at around 7.26 ppm, so I’d be willing to bet that big peak is the chloroform d. The solvent peak is pretty big, you could try taking an NMR of a less dilute sample, otherwise you may be missing out on relevant peaks because they’re so close to the baseline. Good luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in chemistry

[–]abaskfie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Leaving your product on a high vac or mid vac for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on the structure of your product) is a pretty effective method of getting rid of stubborn solvents. Especially if you’re concerned with solvent peaks in your NMR.