Rombauer - The Joy of Cooking: Cakes!

Butter cakes call for butter, or other shortening. The following general rules apply to both types of cake, special rules being given later. The ingredients used in cakes must be measured accurately. The majority of recipes are very carefully balanced, and this balance must not be disturbed by careless measurements. All the measurements given in this book are level, unless otherwise stated. Flour and sugar should be sifted before they are measuredand after being measured the flour should be sifted three times.

The sugar need not be sifted again unless the recipe calls for it. These ingredients should be handled separately. It is a help to use two squares of stiff paper in sifting the sugar and flour. Bend the paper when you wish to transfer these ingredients. Use a tablespoon, or a small scoop to handle the sugar and flour when measuring them. Heap the flour lightly into a cup.

Do not shake the cup. Fill it to overflowing, then level off the top with a knife. Cake flour makes a light and delicious cake. Use it whenever it is available, but if bread flour is substituted, use 7/8 of a cup instead of 1 cup of flour. If cake flour is substituted for bread flour, use 1 1/8 cups instead of 1 cup. If flour has been exposed to moisture, it will make a streaky cake.

Be sure to spread flour in shallow pans and dry it well in a slow oven before using it, if there is any doubt about its being dry, or sift it four or five times before the open door of a hot oven. Sponge Cakes Beat the egg yolks until they are light and lemon colored. Add the remaining ingredients as directed in the recipes, using sifted sugar and sifted flour. Do not beat a sponge cake batter unless the recipe calls for it. Fold in the ingredients lightly until they are blended onlyenclosing as much air as possible. Either the flour or the beaten egg whites may be folded in last.

Do not beat the egg whites until you are ready to use them. Add a few grains of salt to the egg whites, and beat them on a large platter, using a flat wire egg beater. Beat them until they are stiff, stand up well in peaks and keep their shape, but not until they are dry. Fold the stiffly beaten egg whites into the cake batter, that is, heap them onto the batter and with a downward motion of the spoon take up some of the batter and fold it lightly over the egg whites. Enclose all the air, do not stir or beat it out. Repeat this downward cut and upward folding motion until the ingredients are blended.

Have a cake pan ready, and pour the batter into it. The dough will cling to the sides of the ungreased pan and will rise higher than if it were greased. Bake a sponge cake in a moderate oven325, or place it in a somewhat slower oven300 and bake it with a slightly increasing heat. Test the cake by inserting a wire cake tester, or a straw. If the tester emerges perfectly clean, the cake is done. The cake should be lightly browned and should be beginning to shrink from the sides of the pan.

If pressed with a finger, it should at once come back into shape. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the pan until the cake is entirely cold. Then run a knife around the sides and across the bottom and remove the cake from the pan. Trim off the hard edges, if there are any, (there really should not be), sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, or cover it with icing. Butter Cakes Place the butter called for in the recipe in a warm place. Permit it to become soft, but do not permit it to melt, unless the recipe calls for melted butter.

When the butter has softened somewhat, beat it with a wooden cake spoon, or work it with the hand until it is creamy. Add the sugar slowly and beat or work it into the butter until it is entirely dissolved. This first step in the making of a butter cake is a very important onedo not hasten it. Cream the butter and the sugar until they are fluffy and foamy. Next beat in the egg yolks, one by one, add a small amount of flour, which has been sifted with the baking powder, then a small amount of milk, or whatever liquid is called forthen alternate the flour and the milk until all of it has been used. Beat the batter well after each addition of flour, or liquid, as this will give the cake a fine grain.

If beaten too long, the cake will be close. Place the egg whites on a large platter, add a few grains of salt, and whip them with a flat wire egg beater until they are stiff, stand in peaks and hold their shape, but not until they are dry. Do not beat the egg whites until you are ready to use them. Fold in the beaten egg whites, that is, heap them upon the cake batter and with a downward motion of the spoon take up some of the batter and fold it lightly over the egg whites. Enclose all the air, do not stir or beat it out. Repeat this downward cut and upward folding motion until the ingredients are blended.

Have a greased cake pan ready. Pour the dough into it and bake the cake in a moderate oven350or place it in a somewhat slower oven325and bake it with a slightly increasing heat. Test the cake by inserting a wire cake tester, or a straw. If the tester emerges perfectly clean, the cake is done. The cake should be lightly browned and should be beginning to shrink from the sides of the pan. If pressed with a finger, it should at once come back into shape.

Invert the cake pan for five minutes. Then loosen the cake from the sides and the bottom of the pan, invert it onto a plate and turn it right side up on a cake cooler, or on a rack, so that the air may circulate from the bottom. This will keep the crust dry and prevent it from becoming soggy. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, or cover it with icing.